I have such a conflicted relationship with zucchini. I have read countless tales of neighbors passing off the excesses of their zucchini crop to one another. I have seen beautiful expansive plants in my friend’s gardens. I have lusted after their zucchini blossoms and loved the gifts of zucchini bread. How hard, therefore, can it be to grow zucchini? Harder than you would think, at least for me. The first year, my plants never made it past a few feeble blossoms before developing a mold that had them brown, shriveled and goopy. The second year I moved them into raised beds and watched ...
Baking
TURN THE BEET AROUND: BLUEBERRY AND BEET MUFFINS
I like beets well enough. I am not someone who raves about beets but I enjoy them in salads. That sentence pretty much encapsulates my relationship with beets. Outside of a salad, what can you do with them? The last time I tried to do something different with beets I used them in a 1980’s British dish called “Ruby Beef”. It was not a success. My family (read children) took umbrage at being offered beef in a pale pink Play-Doh colored sauce and, bolstered by their father’s similar refusal, held a full-scale rebellion. And that is where my experimentation with beets ended. Until this ...
CORN, TOMATO AND ZUCCHINI MUFFINS, DON’T FORGET THE CHEESE!
A friend recently asked me why I grow vegetables and get a CSA share from my local market. It’s a fair question. But for me the two things serve completely different functions. My CSA share stretches me. Left to myself I would spend the whole summer eating my holy trinity of vegetables: tomatoes, corn and zucchini. I would, and do, walk happily by the produce shelves loaded with greens, root vegetables, and other less favored foods straight to my go-to’s. I can’t do that with my CSA. The dang things are in my home! In my refrigerator right now are Japanese eggplants, radishes ...
PEACH MINT JULEP HAND PIES
(It's Summer and things are heating up. So in order to bring you seasonal recipes when you need them most I will be posting twice a week from now on. Look for my new posts on Wednesday and Sundays. Sign up to receive notification of new posts above. I promise I will never, never, never give your email to anyone else!) You might not think it based on this but there are other things I like beside food. Food just always makes good times even better! One of the things I like a lot is the theater. I have always been involved in theater: acting, directing, teaching, working with kids, ...
COOKING WITH FRIENDS: A SMASHINGLY BEAUTIFUL TOMATO GALETTE
It’s tomato time! Happy dance everyone! First off, let’s just agree that a big, ripe, juicy tomato right off the vine is one of the best things out there. But after you’ve filled yourself with tomato sandwiches and made pasta sauce by the bucket loads what else can you do with these beautiful babies? Fortunately, my friend Billy and I can help! Remember Billy and his wonderful Baked Goat Cheese Rolls? You may recall that I mentioned that he had made a “smashingly beautiful tomato galette”, the recipe for which I was going to share with you when tomato season was upon us. Well, ...
FRUSTRATION CAKE
Lately, I have been running into a lot of frustration in my life. Things aren’t happening the way I want them to, when I want them to or how I want them to. Do you ever look up the meaning of words you know the meaning to? I do. My definition of frustrating is having no power to change or fix the problem. The dictionary definition is to “cause (someone) to feel upset or annoyed, typically as a result of being unable to change or achieve something.” And the list of synonyms includes exasperate, infuriate, annoy, vex, irritate, irk, try one’s patience, disappoint, discontent, ...
CELEBRATE SUMMER (AND THE FOURTH OF JULY) WITH A WATERMELON CAKE!
I read in the paper this week that the tourists were gathering in the Great Smokey Mountains to watch the fireflies. And I thought how grateful I was that I don’t have to fight for a space or sit with a crowd to see the fireflies. I look out my window at the grass and trees surrounding me and I can see them rising from the ground to hover in the air. The occasional firefly makes it in through my screen which interests my cat until he tires of chasing the light. My daughters say my house in Asheville reminds them of their grandparents’ house in Connecticut where they spent many lovely ...
FIRST DATE ROSEMARY RHUBARB MUFFINS
The other night I went on my first date in 45 years. Now just try and get your head around that because Lord knows I have trouble with it. It’s been a very long time since I have felt attractive and desired so I am not averse to the idea of meeting people who are interested in getting to know me. It feels good. On the other hand, I just got out of a 37 yearlong marriage, more than half my life (!), and I am enjoying doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I knew right after I said yes that this man was not going to change my mind about my freedom. But then I thought why did he ...
EASY AS PIE! STRAWBERRY GALETTE
The growing season is finally here and in order to get recipes to you in a time for you to use the ingredients at their best, I am doubling up on posts this week. Two things I really, really like: fresh, fresh, fresh local fruit in season and fruit pie. So when my CSA basket came with a half-gallon of sweet strawberries, I knew just where that was going: Strawberry Pie. Truth to be told, I’ve been planning it for weeks! And since I am still working out of my tiny rental kitchen it was going to be a rustic pie, made without a pie tin. I’ve been thinking of making a rustic pie ...
COCONUT CAKE FOR GRETCHEN
They called me on Thursday to tell me that my friend, Gretchen Huffsmith, was leaving the hospital and going into hospice care. Gretchen had been fighting pancreatic cancer for almost two years so we all knew what that meant. I thought of Gretchen on and off all weekend long. I remember the first time I saw her coming out of the kitchen at Honey Hill, the bed & breakfast she operated with her wife, Cheryl. Gretchen was tall with a wide smile and a gentle manner. Her short hair lay in wispy blonde curls on top of her head. I don’t know of anyone who didn’t love Gretchen from the ...
