While other people are waving flags at the Fourth of July town parade, I celebrate by filling flats at a pick-your-own berry farm. Once home, the canning kettle is dusted off and the mason jars come up from the basement. Recipes for jam should come with a warning label: “Danger, habit-forming process ahead. May result in eating […]
Strawberry Ice Cream Recipe
Fourth of July and Strawberry Ice Cream go hand-in-hand and at our Landgrove, Vermont, celebration we make it the old-fashioned way with a hand-cranked machine packed with ice and salt. It requires a lot of patience and a modicum of strength, but there’s something about working hard that makes the final reward even sweeter. Follow the basic […]
Yogurt
YOGURT Makes 8 cups or eight (8-ounce) mason jars As gardeners, we know how important breakfast can be to start off the morning. Naturally, a bit of homemade granola to go with the creamy yogurt will make breakfast the best meal of the day. I’ve been in the habit of making homemade yogurt for several years now, and I […]
Fiddlehead Tart
FIDDLE HEAD TART Adapted from The Vermont Country Store Cookbook Printer Friendly PDF: Fiddlehead Tart Recipe Serves 8 After a long winter, a short and fickle spring teases Vermonters, and we take heart in spring miracles that restore hope and spirits, like fiddlehead ferns foraged in our woods. Only available a few weeks in April, fiddleheads […]
Asparagus Soup
Garden Tools
Plan to invest in a set of good hardworking garden tools that you can rely on each season. Keep them organized on hooks in your garage or better yet, build a toolshed to keep them clean and away from weather. Good garden tools make your job easier and will last for generations. Garden Centers are […]
Seed Boxes
Seed catalogs are stacked neatly on the dining table and each time I make a pot of tea, I flip through the pages. But where are those beautiful seed boxes from the past? Nowhere can I find a beautiful, yet practical seed box to keep all my seeds neatly organized and safe, so it’s high time that I make […]
Vermont Whole Wheat Bread
Makes two 4” x 8” loaves or one big loaf Vermont Whole Wheat Bread is a classic recipe made in the traditional way, with flour, buttermilk and yeast. Easy to make, it is a flavorful everyday sandwich bread, or toast for breakfast with a slather of Carrot Orange Marmalade. This recipe is adapted from my newest cookbook, The […]
Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake
Gingersnap Pumpkin Cheesecake This makes one very large, irresistible cheesecake that is perfect for a special occasion. The tawny pumpkin topped with sweetened sour cream looks festive, the filling is rich and smooth, and the crunch of the gingersnap cookie crust adds the texture and flavor boost that brings it all home. It’s best to […]
Heirloom Harvest
HEIRLOOM HARVEST – Book Review Modern Daguerreotypes of Historic Garden Treasures By Amy Goldman with Photographs Jerry Spagnoli Bloomsbury | 192 pages | Retail $85. Amy Goldman is the award-winning author of Melons for the Passionate Grower, The Compleat Squash, and The Heirloom Tomato, and a longtime champion of heirloom plants. In Heirloom Harvest, she takes her expertise and dedication […]
Vegetable Literacy
VEGETABLE LITERACY Book Review Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom. Written by Deborah Madison. Ten Speed Press, 2013. 416 pages. Hardcover: $40 For most gardeners, planting a garden is all about flowers, yet for cooks it is about food. Leave it to Deborah Madison, author of Vegetable Literacy and leading […]
Growing Beautiful Food
GROWING BEAUTIFUL FOOD -Book Review A Gardener’s Guide to Cultivating Extraordinary Vegetables and Fruit by Matthew Benson. Rodale Press, New York, New York, 2015. 252 pages. Hardcover: $32.50. It is said that eating involves all the senses, yet the first bite is taken with the eyes, notes organic farmer Matthew Benson in, Growing Beautiful Food. His […]
