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Pantry Items

good food, good friends, giving thanks

November 20, 2012

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, which is probably common for people who love to cook. It’s a giant stage on which we do a soliloquy, expressing ourselves with burnished birds and burbling pies and happy bellies. This year, I’m particularly aware of the “thanks” part, and wish to focus on the “giving.” Too late, I’m [...]

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greens ‘n’ eggs. or, have you seen my car key?

November 10, 2012

My mother – an English professor – would tell a story about her first year teaching. There was another young teacher with whom she shared an office. He taught three sections of Freshman English – the same workload as my mother. Each class had about twenty students, and every week the students had an exam, [...]

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aubergine is just a fancy name for eggplant

September 11, 2012

Really, isn’t aubergine a great word? It’s sexy. Much hotter than eggplant, which just sounds like a bad idea. When you offer your family aubergine with buttermilk dressing, za’atar and pomegranate (from the fantastic cookbook, Plenty) you will be a superstar. Ask if they want eggplant for dinner, and the reception might not be so [...]

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make your own kombucha

August 30, 2012

I am spending the week at the beach and in my absence, my most wonderful new kitchen assistant, Ally Kirkpatrick, is here guest blogging. Today, learn to make kombucha. It’s a wonderful drink, fresh tasting and healthful. And totally easy to make yourself. Follow @Ally_T_K on Twitter and visit The Green Cabin Year. Kombucha is [...]

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habanero, apricot and honey jelly with cheese, please

August 27, 2012

It’s a spectacular year for chiles of all sorts. The markets have everything from sweet Italian peppers, perfect for salsa or pickle relish, to jalapenos, serranos, and incendiary Thai bird chiles. I’ve made a few batches of hot sauce, using this brilliant Sriracha-style recipe from Food52. I use cherry bombs to make Sriracha, easier to [...]

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Pasta Making with Domenica Marchetti

August 17, 2012

Domenica Marchetti is a multi talented woman – eloquent writer, glorious cook and Italian recipe interpreter and developer. If that wasn’t enough, her Glorious Pasta (a glorious book!) has just been selected by the editors of Cooking Light Magazine as one of the best single-subject cookbooks of the last 25 years . And she’s coming [...]

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Splendid Table

August 11, 2012

Just a quick post to let you know you can find me on The Splendid Table this weekend. Lovely Lynne Rosetto Kasper interviewed me and made me feel so comfortable. Here’s the link. The interview with me starts around minute 27, but don’t miss Lynne’s reminiscences of Julia Child, David Leite on Nutella and Ted [...]

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one-footed-ness

August 1, 2012

I’ve had a little ankle surgery. Just a small arthroscopy. Cleaning out the gutters, according to the doctor. To get ready, I made one of my favorite freezer-friendly meals. It’s vegetarian, sort of a pain to make, but worth the effort. When I posted the recipe on Food52, I called it Swearing Like a Sailor [...]

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putting green beans up for winter

July 25, 2012

The green beans look beautiful this year. So do the purple beans. And the yellow ones. I can’t seem to leave the market without several pounds. But that’s okay. I love dilly beans and that is the best way to put beans in jars, as far as I’m concerned. But I also adore crisp, fresh [...]

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