Posted in cheese, healthy, one pot meal, pasta, soup, spring, vegetables, vegetarian, weeknight meal on Jul 23rd, 2009
It turns out that pea-picking is way more fun than strawberry picking. For one thing, it isn’t nearly as crowded. Shocking, I know, that strawberries are more popular than peas. There’s also nothing squishy lurking under the foliage, and the peas are plentiful and just demanding to be picked. And pick [...]
Posted in chocolate, dessert, favorites, fruit, pie, spring on Jun 12th, 2009
Those U-pick places tend to be better in theory than in practice for me. I do like knowing that my food is picked at its peak ripeness. It makes for some wonderfully sweet strawberries. On the other hand, ew, bugs. And thorns, and rotting berries that you can’t see under all [...]
Posted in fruit, gluten free, pork, spring on Jun 10th, 2009
For years, before I had a food blog, I primarily cooked Cooks Illustrated recipes. I did worry about whether I was relying on them too much and if I was creative enough, but because I was making great food and learning useful tricks, I didn’t think too much of it. The main problem [...]
Posted in dessert, french, fruit, pie, spring, tuesdays with dorie on Jun 9th, 2009
Once I started making an effort to eat seasonally, I realized that apples were my best bet for a large part of the year. By the end of winter, I’m impatient for strawberries to kick off the farmer’s market season. I try to avoid apples in the spring and summer, because it’s nice [...]
Posted in cake, dessert, fruit, recipe comparisons, spring on Jun 8th, 2009
I do not like oddball mixing methods. In fact, unless they’re explained, my habit is to ignore them completely. I know that muffins are sometimes mixed like cakes and that there are different types of cookies, but in general, I’m familiar with the normal mixing methods, and if something strays too far from [...]
Posted in bread, breakfast, freezer friendly, fruit, quick bread, spring on Jun 3rd, 2009
Scones get a seriously bad rap. People think they’re bland, dense, and/or crumbly. People think you can only enjoy them if you have a mug of coffee or tea with them. Branny told me that her husband thinks they taste like chalk. And these people aren’t completely wrong – some scones [...]
Posted in citrus, dessert, freezer friendly, fruit, gluten free, healthy, spring on May 21st, 2009
I think I’ve developed a warped sense of nutrition. For the most part, I maximize fruits and vegetables, minimize carbs, focus on lean, usually vegetarian proteins, and avoid alcohol. But this all gets thrown out the window on the weekends, when all I do is try not to overeat and hopefully get some [...]
Posted in bread, breakfast, freezer friendly, fruit, quick bread, spring on May 10th, 2009
What’s fun about going through phases with certain foods, like my recent scone phase, is that it gives you a chance to really explore that category. I’ve made all sorts of scones in the past few months – cream scones, scones made with lighter dairy but more butter, scones filled with fresh fruit and [...]
Posted in breakfast, dessert, french, fruit, quick bread, spring, summer on Apr 18th, 2009
When I scoped out the fresh blueberry selection while shopping for the blueberry crumb cake a few weeks ago, I caught a strong scent of strawberries. Yay! I hadn’t seen them there, hadn’t even though to look for them yet, but I definitely wasn’t passing them up. After months of apples and [...]
Posted in gluten free, healthy, side dish, spring, vegetables on Apr 16th, 2009
Asparagus was part of one of my worst eating experiences. I was spending a few weeks traveling, working with one of the top researchers in my field. She’s an intimidating woman, known for her arrogance and her temper. Fortunately, what little contact I had with her was generally pleasant. She even [...]
