Recipes
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Cocktails, Cooking, Maple Syrup, Recipes, The Seasons, Trees, Trees for Fall Foliage, Vermont, Woodland plants
Early Spring’s Sweetest Things…
The New Sugar Shack at Deer Ridge Farm in Guilford, Vermont Spring, oh spring, where are you? You certainly are a bit coquettish this year; teasing us with early catkins on willow, then snapping us with a sharp, cold sting. Yes, Spring has been withholding many early-season pleasures here in New England, but she always […]
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Celebrations, Citrus, Cocktails, Full Moon, Native Plants, Nature, New England, North American Trees, Recipes, Vermont, Vernal Equinox, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Oh Sweet, Sweet, Sugar Moon: Celebrate The Vernal Equinox & Celestial Beauty With a Seasonal, Maple Syrup Cocktail…
The Sugar Moon: A Maple Syrup Cocktail to Celebrate the End of Winter & March’s Full Moon at Perigee With the full moon at perigee, Winter’s end and Spring’s beginning, it seems there’s plenty to celebrate this weekend. Last night —eager for a preview of tonight’s celestial events— I took a tour of the local Connecticut […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, ornamental grass, Ornamental Grass in Containers, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter Garden
The Scent of Homemade Bread on a Honey Drizzled Morning…
Homemade Whole Wheat Bread and Farm-Style Butter I Keep Dried Ornamental Grass —Miscanthus sinensis cut from the Garden– In My Bedroom Through Out the Winter Months. I Love How the Feathery Plumes and Golden Curls Catch Morning’s First Light… Of course, I also enjoy looking at ornamental grass in the garden throughout the winter. This […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Recipes, The Seasons, Winter
Vanilla Sky & Blueberry Breakfast…
Hot Popover Pancake with Summertime Blueberries Pulled from the Freezer Blue sunrise. This morning I awoke to find every windowpane blasted with frozen droplets of water from last night’s winter storm. Thunder, lighting, snow and freezing rain; it seems all four seasons passed through New England yesterday in the blink of an eye. And today […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, Home, Indoor Gardening, Nature, Recipes, Reflections, Root Cellar Storage, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Winter
A Twilight Walk Along the Wintry River And Hearty, Potato-Cheddar Soup…
Winter is Soup Season: A Bowl of Potato-Cheddar Really Warms the Spirits “The Dead of Winter”. I spent a good part of yesterday ruminating on this phrase. Is winter really dead? I suppose it might seem that way if you spend all of your time indoors. But if you are curious, and bundle yourself up […]
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Cooking, Frost, Hoar Frost, Home, Recipes, Winter, Winter Garden
Ruby-Gold Cake & Silvery Snowflakes: Warm Cranberry-Apple Buckle, with Sweet Vanilla Crumb, Kisses the Dawn…
Cranberry-Apple Buckle with Vanilla Crumb – Lace Plate by Virginia Wyoming Why pine for springtime when winter mornings arrive with sparkling frost and sunlight pouring across the hillside like sweet honey? I savor the slow, quiet days of winter, and I’m in no rush for spring. For now I’ll linger in my cozy chair, indulging […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Gourmet Garden, Herb Gardening, Home, Indoor Gardening, organic gardening, Recipes, Woody Plants
The Delights of a Cozy Winter Kitchen: Warm Oven, Fragrant Herbs & Freshly Baked Focaccia with Onion & Rosemary
Freshly Baked Slices of Focaccia with Rosemary and Onion Rosemary Blossoming in my Kitchen There’s just something about cold, wintry weather that makes a girl want to bake… Know what I mean? Yes it’s nippy outside, but here in the house, things sure are warm and cozy. The wood stove is popping and cracking and […]
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Cocktails, Recipes, The Seasons, Trees, Winter, Winter Solstice, Woodland plants, Woody Plants
Celebrating the Winter Solstice: Welcome the Season with a Sparkling Ode to Krampus…
The Ode to Krampus As the final hours of Autumn slip away with the low sun, and Winter arrives in her frosty chariot, I’ll be celebrating the Solstice this evening with friends and family. Marking the Winter Solstice is one of my favorite holiday traditions. And this year, while searching for a special cocktail to […]
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Cooking, Gifts for Gardeners, Glamorous Gardens, Gourmet Garden, Green House Gardens, Home, House Plants, Indoor Gardening, Indoor Table Arrangements, Kitchen, New England, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Recipes, The Seasons, Trees for Fruit, Tropical Plants, Unusual Plants, Woody Plants
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast…
Love in the Afternoon: Delightfully Decadent, Lemony French Toast Oh yes. I know what you’re thinking. What is she doing, lounging about in the afternoon with a plate of French Toast? Oh the sloth, the sloth! It’s just nothing but wickedness {smirk}. OK. Yes, Santa Baby, I have been a little —how shall we say— […]
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Red Riding Hood’s Delightfully Tart Cranberry Christmas Cake…
Red Riding Hood’s Cranberry Christmas Cake For an adult, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about fairytales (as you may have noticed). And no, I don’t mean those saccharine, watered-down characters you find at Disney amusement parks. I’m talking about the dark, weird, fantastically-twisted and sometimes frightening characters from the Grimms Märchen (Grimms Fairytales, […]
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Celebrations, Cocktails, Home, Late Autumn Garden, Recipes
Savoring a Quiet Moment & Raising a Glass to Friendship and Good Company: Soul-Warming, Spicy Mulled Wine…
Mulled Wine and a Thanksgiving Toast to Friendship The last few days and hours before a holiday are always a busy time. With all of the necessary preparations —shopping and cooking, packing and travel— it’s easy to lose sight of the more important aspects of our gathering amid all the hustle and bustle. Sometimes it […]
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Autumn, Autumn Color in the Garden, Cooking, Ferncliff, ornamental grass, Paths and Walkways, Recipes, Shrubs for Winter Interest, Shrubs with Colorful Twigs/Stems, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Spicy Cream of Carrot & Ginger Soup And the Last Rays of Golden Sunlight…
Spicy Cream of Carrot & Ginger Soup Alas, another late autumn weekend is drawing to a close; November sun flickering as it slips beyond bare tree-tops. The wood has been stacked, the bulbs all planted and sweet carrots harvested for soup. What a gift, these late-season days of warm weather. I love working in the […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
The Never-Ending Vegetable Harvest & Penne with Roasted Potatoes, Arugula and Rosemary…
Penne with Roasted Potatoes, Arugula and Rosemary from Alice Waters’ Classic Cookbook, Chez Panisse Vegetables Ah, New England and the sudden changing of seasons. It really feels like late fall now… There’s even snow and sleet in tomorrow’s weather forecast. S-n-o-w. I feel chilly just typing those letters. The word always has a certain weight […]
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Cookbooks, Cooking, Nature, Recipes, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Harvest Gold: Sweet, Sauteed Butternut Squash and Yam with Warm Spices…
Autumn nights are growing colder now; wood smoke curling from chimney-tops on still evenings. And although still vibrant, the forest is slowly shifting from red and orange to burnished bronze and rust. On walks along woodland paths, fallen leaves carpet the floor, and my feet kick up a familiar, October-crunch. Radiant as stained glass, the […]
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Cooking, Potatoes, Recipes, The Seasons, Tomatoes, Uncategorized, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager, Vermont
Welcome October! Capture the Beautiful Flavors & Colors of Harvest Season with Autumn Vegetable Stew…
The Colors of the Season – Autumn Harvest Stew I am a true New Englander. And while I do treasure all of the year’s beautiful seasons, I have to admit that October is my favorite month. I love autumn’s unique combination of fleeting, sensory pleasures; the subtle, changing light, intensely colored foliage, rich textures, savory […]
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Cooking, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Toward a Bigger Brussels Sprout: Special Guest Post by John Miller…
Hands up to all whose first reaction was: “Why brussels sprouts at all?”. And now a tip as to how to make them bigger? I can not think of another vegetable so reviled. They also seem to be the poster child for unimaginative marketing; having been promoted as an unappetizing vegetable, forced upon us by […]
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Autumn Color in the Garden, Cooking, Dining Outdoors, Fire Features, Home, Recipes
A Prelude to Autumn in Red & Gold: Roasted Beet and Fresh Arugula Salad with Goat Cheese and Balsamic Glaze…
Roasted Red and Gold Beets with Fresh Arugula, Goat Cheese and Balsamic Vinegar Glaze… As I look out past the terrace this evening — down into the Green River Valley— bright orange, gold, rust and red flashes pepper the the nearby hillside and mountains beyond. There’s no denying it now… All of nature’s signs point toward […]
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Cooking, Cooking with Kids, Garden projects for kids, Gourmet Garden, Kitchen, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Tomatoes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
A Garden of Bold Tastes and Colors: Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Ruby Red Chard, Fresh Herbs and Vermont Cheddar…
Golden Tomatoes, Stuffed with Chard and Cheddar, Oven-Roasted to Perfection Every garden year is different, and in the northeast, 2010 couldn’t be more opposite from 2009. A summer ago, the weather was cold and wet, and I was rained out of more projects than I care to remember. By the end of last year’s growing […]
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Cocktails, Color in the Garden, Garden Party, Music in the Garden, Recipes, The Seasons
Sweet September Sangria…
Sweet September Sangria The Colors of Early September – Rudbeckia hirta ‘Becky Mixed’ Along the Terrace The Colors of Late Summer Celebrating the end of summer?…What? The autumnal equinox is September 23rd (3:09 UTC)… That’s still more than a fortnight away! Call me a pagan if you will, but as far as I’m concerned, September […]
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Books, Cookbooks, Cooking, Dining Outdoors, Ferncliff, Garden Rooms, Gourmet Garden, Potatoes, Recipes, Seeds, Terraces, The Seasons, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Dinner in the Sun-Drenched Garden… New Potatoes in a Bistro-Style Salad: Pommes À L’Huile from Patricia Wells
Pommes À L’Huile – Warm Potato Salad with Fresh Herb Vinaigrette Late Summer Dinner on the Terrace There’s something absolutely delicious about the last weekend in August. What brings on this delightfully hypnotic, wonderfully relaxing mood? Perhaps it’s the warmth of the sun radiating from the stone-slab terrace, or maybe it’s the color of the […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening, Vegetable Gardening/Potager
Golden Days of Summer Gazpacho… Celebrate the Queen of August Gardens: Glorious, Sweet, Juicy Tomatoes…
Golden Days of Summer Gazpacho Oh, sweet, sweet tomato. All winter long, how I long for you; how I pine for your sun-ripened sweetness and juicy flesh. Oh how I worship your delicious flavor. And now, in the mid-August heat, I kneel at your humble earthen alter. With toes stretched out in warm, golden straw […]
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