…For more than a day, maybe that is when my tomatoes will turn from lime green to a sumptuous red. With the new apartment came a little plot of land, not quite a garden, but this is our attempt. Brian and I planted tomatoes, five plants to be exact. They range in variety from Cherokee Purple, to tiny Grape, and the aptly named, Early Girl, which were the first to fruit.
This fruit came weeks ago, and at first I was patient. (No easy task if you are me.) The blossoms withered and died, and little fetal tomatoes grew in their place, and they continued to grow. At first I was happy for all of rain, it meant little watering had to be done. But then it rained, and it rained some more, and if you weren’t wet enough– here, have some rain. [...]

Our farmers’ market is finally getting going. The stinky man selling soap (the irony is almost too much!) is having to share booth space with vendors actually selling produce. The woman selling wool yarn has packed up her wares until the fall, but alas, the man selling treacly maple syrup will always be there. Last Saturday there were strawberries, in those adorable, frosty blue quart containers, the nubby cardboard working hard to contain the luscious berries.
Here in Connecticut there has been a lot of rain lately. A lot– you would think we were in Oregon. But last weekend there seemed to be a break in the weather. The sun peered through the clouds on Saturday morning, and it seemed as though everyone had the same idea. Brian and I used to live just down the street from the farmer’s market. We would [...]

So I think this is going to be a quick one today. Why? You might be asking. Well, Brian and I are moving again, just across town, but still, we are on the move again. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you, moving is a royal pain. It’s like a blister that just popped on your heel when you still have a mile to walk. (That’s how much I like it!) This year I can blame all of the difficulties on James Beard and Craig Claiborne. Let me make that statement a bit more explicit, I blame it on their books.
In Niantic, Connecticut there is a funky, used book store, in a ramshackle house and several out-houses, called The Book Barn. It may not be the best book store ever, but it is one of the most charming. I [...]

Sometimes, at the close of a weekend full of errands, dinner with friends, and general busy-ness, the most you can do is tumble onto the couch with the book review section of the New York Times. And then you remember that, oh yes, you have to feed yourself. What to do, what to do?
Growing up, my mother called Sunday suppers, “Fend for Yourself Night.” I must have gotten this propensity for laziness from someone. Usually my mom would do some cobbling together: there would be leftovers, or a can of tomato soup with some elbow macaroni bobbing about in the broth, there were eggs to cook, and if things really got slim, a bowl of cereal usually did the trick. But the one thing that these dishes had in common– mom didn’t have to spend much time in the kitchen.
Last Sunday I found myself throwing [...]

I think that rhubarb is really one of those vegetables that is best served as a fruit– like a tomato in reverse. That is not to say that I have never been swayed to try out rhubarb as a savory component to my meals. If I remember correctly, several years ago, I tried out a pork tenderloin dish with roasted rhubarb and sage. It was bad. Needless to say, as I was ingesting the relaxed, roasted rhubarb, all I was thinking was that I wished I had stewed the rhubarb in sugar, and forgotten about the pork entirely. But you have to give things a shot to determine their worth.
Rhubarb is an odd vegetable/fruit. It can range in color from a gentle celadon to a shocking pink, all in the same stalk, making it look like celery’s racier cousin. I am always [...]

When it comes to meals with my husband, most of the time I am quite alright with a table for two. When we go out, it usually means that there is sure to be leftovers brought home and enjoyed at lunchtime the following day. Or when I cook at home, it means that Brian and I can share a large strip steak for dinner, seared in my cast-iron skillet, and cut on the bias. Yes, most of the time, I am able to be convinced of delicious intimacy in dining for two. But then I think of dessert, and the joyful clatter of dishes turns to angry silence.
For those of you that have been Nosheteria readers for some time, you are very familiar with my love of the final course. I have a very mean sweet tooth; it bites when not fed regularly. The [...]

I try to eat seasonally, and locally is even better. But I must admit, it is about this time each year, as I plunge my hand into the produce bin at the market, only to retrieve yet another clump of chard, or spinach, or dandelion greens– I curse my fate. I try to keep my cooking somewhat innovative, so I thought I had tried eating my greens most every way I could. There was steaming, braising, simmering in soup, or sauteing with a splash of vinegar. Each method was like watching a favorite movie on cable– aggravating with all of the commercials. I needed something more.
We may be more than two weeks into spring, but here in Connecticut, it is still staunchly winter. I wore a wool scarf on Easter Sunday. It was darling, teal green, and knitted by my mother, but nonetheless, [...]

Let’s pretend it’s still March shall we, because that is when I prepared this comforting bit of soup. March can be a month of maybes, a time of indecision. Is it spring or is it still winter? The thermometer may reach into the 50’s during the days, beckoning you outdoors, only to fall once again below freezing at night, forcing you to pull on you woolen socks to complete your wintertime, pajama ensemble. It all can be a too much to confront.
When I am tired, maybe a tad lazy, and find myself in the kitchen with nary an idea of what to prepare, this soup is ideal. Cream of Tomato Soup is rich, calming, and satisfying, and can be made with what most of us have in the larder on a good day. It is the apotheosis of comfort food. Macaroni and cheese, [...]

As you probably can guess, from being a food blog writer, I also read a lot of food blogs. And if there is one common thread that is sewn amongst my fellow bloggers each February and early March it is that spring cannot come soon enough. So I feel that it is safe to speak for a few and say: we are tired of soup, and braised dishes are lovely and rib-sticking, but—bring on the grill and we are all dying for a peach!
But speaking from 30 years of experience, let me say, as the wind whistles round us, we have some time to wait before Spring’s arrival. So why not enjoy it? Dust off that soup pot for just a while longer, braise yet another interesting cut of meat, and discover the wonders of citrus fruit. To me, nothing invokes warm weather fare like [...]

Potatoes. Boiled, baked, sautéed, and fried– it seems that this season I cannot get enough of them. Maybe it’s the cold weather. The crunchy ice paving the sidewalk outside my apartment makes me want to stay in near the fire, a stack of books to my left, and a piping hot tuber to my right. Carbohydrates, how I love ya! The potato may be perfect in all of its grubby glory, but when you are eating them for days on end (as I have been), they may require a bit of gussying up to make them special once again. Enter the twice-baked potato:

My mother comes from a fairly large family that, for years, gathered together at my grandma’s house for every holiday imaginable. There would be piles of food, far too much for even this family with so many hungry mouths to [...]