Popsicles on the back porch, garlic scapes and radishes in the skillet and lemonade for all. School's out this week and it feels like summer. This is my week too to pick strawberries with friends and kids. Because I like to can jam, I can't get enough strawberries! One of my favorite jams came after ...
Kitchen Chronicles
“One Step Ahead”
“That’s what a good cooking partner is,” Debbie said the other day while we were making pies together for various upcoming BBQ’s. (How nice it is to have a stash of berry and rhubarb pies waiting in the freezer for just the right alfresco dining opportunity.) I’ll be honest. It was a rough ...
Days of Picnics and Potlucks
We're on our fifth of the past week and have many more on the horizon, so it officially feels like summer--the days of picnics and potlucks. As fun as they sound, they can also be stressful--what to bring? Will there be too much of something or not enough of another? If you have a big crowd, I ...
Progressive Picnic Time
The lake club I belong to is celebrating its 75th anniversary this summer and to kick things off, I suggested that we hold a “Progressive Picnic,” where members open their grills, tables and food to one another as a way to meet and mingle with friends, new and old. I thought an event like this ...
Alone in the Kitchen Making Ravioli
Although I often make homemade pasta, I'd never made ravioli before. So I was thrilled that my friends Katrina and Lauren would join me on this adventure. I prepared the dough the day before and set out my pasta maker and ingredients for mushroom ravioli. But then, Katrina emailed to say her son ...
Freezer Fridays
Freezer Fridays Every Friday night, my husband comes home from work to a sparkling, just-been-cleaned house and asks the same question: What’s for dinner? And every Friday I steer him towards the freezer and let him choose. Ok, so dinner isn’t cooking when he comes in, there’s no fabulous aroma ...
Shopping For Our Gardens
Last week my friend Suzanne and I went shopping for our gardens at one of our farmer's markets for tomato plants, pepper plants, herbs, and a few random buys like homemade cranberry coconut peanut butter. It really does pay to have your neighbor along, the one who knows just how you are building ...
Stuffed
One of my friend Lynn’s favorite foods to make is stuffed bread and since I’d never made it before, she invited me to make it with her for her son’s birthday party. It’s an easy, impressive and filling snack that can be frozen ahead of time and simply re-heated the day-of. Plus, it’s a ...
Baking With Friends
These last few weeks of school are a great time to host a bake sale for Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale. You might know that Cooking With Friends is a huge fan of SOS and their goal to end childhood hunger. Now, we have our own Baking With Friends page on the Share Our Strength site: ...
FMNT (Frazzled Mother No Time) Seeking Helpful Friend
I was completely frazzled, freaked out and stressed. I had too much going on. It was late in the day on Thursday and I hadn’t yet found the time to make the darn carrot muffins I had promised to bring for the teacher appreciation lunch the next day. It was one of those days when I was trying to do ...