I've hired a caterer for all my kid's parties and that caterer is me (and my friends). Whether it's with a friend or solo, I've been cooking and freezing throughout the years to successfully host celebrations. I've got my kid's many friends in mind as I mold crab cakes, stuff empanadas and brine ...
Fiddle-de-Diddle Fiddleheads
What are those strange looking tightly curled up things? The ones that look like "rolled up asparagus" to a ten year old. Fiddle de diddle, they are Fiddleheads, a strange and wondrous vegetable that look and taste like no other. And they are in season, farm fresh, here in the ...
Savor Summer in a Two-Bite Morsel
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Hiding in the Catskills all summer has made me miss two things about Jersey: the organic corn and tomatoes. I’ve waited weeks to sink my teeth into a just-picked piece of sweet Jersey corn and so this time when I returned for the day I made sure to stop at my favorite farm stand to get some overripe ...
Bittersweet Barberries
Zereshk is the Persian name for barberries and that's what they'll always be known as to me. As I write this post, I do so bittersweetly. Just as the tartness of these tiny berries are sweetened slightly with sugar, so too are my thoughts as these berries evoke fond memories from my ...
Black Girl Baking, By Jerrelle Guy
This cookbook, by Jerrelle Guy is the most fun that I've had reading and flipping through the pages of a cookbook in I don't know how long -- maybe ever! The author's energy literally jumps off the page with absolutely gorgeous photos. Her deliberate choice of descriptors for her recipes separate ...
Spring in a Bowl
That's what Suzy named the delightful fennel salad we created for lunch a few years ago. With several feet of snow piled outside the windows, we sat down to enjoy a light and lemony lunch. Just maybe, by making and eating something so bright and refreshing, we could revitalize our snow weary souls. ...
Carrot Cake Mini-Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting
Somehow, Easter equals carrot cake for me. Maybe it's an honor for the Easter Bunny, but for me it's an excuse for these delicious bite sized muffins. Moister than most other muffins, this has a secret ingredient (pineapple) and is beautiful with traditional cream cheese frosting piped on top. They ...
Thanksgiving Leftover Pie — Best Ever!
What to do with Thanksgiving leftovers! Once again, we can look to the past for inspiration -- thank you Margaret Ruskin for the idea! That's the buzz this week everywhere in the world of food. Forget about the meal itself, let's fast forward to the day afterwards when we will create an array of ...
Serve up a Farm Fresh Freaky Halloween
Transform your farmers’ market veggies into eerie foods for a pre-trick-or-treat party with deliciously daring (and healthy!) Halloween nibbles! Lizard Skin -- With just a bit of imagination, kale chips become crispy pieces of lizard skins this Halloween for a melt-in-your-mouth crispy ...
Countdown to a Farm Fresh Freaky Halloween — Jack-o-Lantern Potatoes
Use Halloween cookie cutters to transform potatoes into crispy Jack-o-Lanterns, ghosts & goblins. You’ll need the largest sweet potatoes and potatoes you can find and some small to medium sized Halloween cookie cutters. To create these treats, peel the skin off of the potatoes and slice ...