There are a few things I like about the end of summer: the sound of crickets at night, eating tomatoes, saving seeds, and rethinking my garden design. To me, that’s the best part about growing a kitchen garden – it is always changing, evolving, and transitioning. I’m not a person who likes change of any […]
Drawing a Flower
In Praise of Drawing a Flower It’s a day in June, and I am sitting in one of the most beautiful flower gardens in the northeast, Hollister House Gardens in Washington, CT. On my lap rests a spiral-bound sketchbook; at my side is a knapsack containing a set of graphite pencils, a box of colored […]
Elderberry Shrub
Elderberry Shrub and Cordial Recipes for shrubs vary greatly and date as far back as pre-Colonial times. They are simple to make by combining equal parts berries, vinegar, and sugar, then leaving alone to ferment. Generally, shrubs are poured over ice or served with a bit of sparkling water. By themselves, they are not alcoholic, […]
Pesto Bread
Basil is summer. Shredded fresh on tomatoes, added to salad, spooned over steamed vegetables or chopped into mayonnaise for burgers and grilled cheese sandwiches. Yet my favorite way to eat basil is to make pesto, fresh on pasta or in this Pesto Swirl bread. It’s easy! Make a batch of pesto, and spread it over […]
Rose Hip Jam
In August, when the rose hips were ripe and ready to harvest, I filled a basket with about two pounds of hips. The plan was to make my grandmother’s recipe for jelly. It was one that she learned to make from a friend and handed down to me and I remember making it with her […]
Green Tomato and Pepper Piccalilli
Green Tomato and Pepper Piccalilli | 6 pints Sweet pickles have been my summer staple, and make them every August with small pickling cucumbers. When a friend gave me her family recipes for Piccalilli, I found this spicy relish so much more useful that I’ve almost given up pickles forever. Piccalilli is often served with hotdogs […]
Strawberry Ice Cream
The fourth of July and strawberry ice cream make the perfect duo. It’s the day before my birthday, too, and for many years I celebrated in a remote house on Cape Cod. Surrounded by beach, the house was built in 1880 and has been in my family since the 1930s when my grandmother bought it. To get […]
