From Scratch

As much as I love chicken adobo, I rarely make it in summer. Instead, I make this simple and eye-catching chilled chicken and pasta salad that has some of the same flavors plus the added dimension of a touch of sesame oil.
Even though the price of wheat is up substantially, pasta is still an economical […]

Like many, I try to cook with what’s in season. That’s especially true in summer, when almost everyone has access to fresh, local produce. This is the second summer for this blog and some of my favorite high-summer recipes are here, so it’s time for a recipe round-up. There might be new ideas for those who […]

It wouldn’t be summer without at least one blueberry pie. This reliable old recipe is from my aunt who had the “white thumb” and it’s far quicker and simpler than the pastry school pie I make. More important, for those of us who like blueberry pie that’s neither runny nor solid, this is not runny, merely juicy, and […]

I’ve discovered a wonderful international resource I’d like to share. It’s a website called pickyourown.org and it’s a comprehensive guide to farms and orchards where we can pick our own fruits and vegetables. If you’re in the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa or Japan, you can consult the […]

Now that the Games are underway in Beijing, cartoonist RJ Matson has his mind on the US Olympic Flip-Flop Team. Didn’t know we have one? He sketched it for the St. Louis Disptach on Thursday.

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Some of my fondest childhood memories are of biting into fuzzy, fragrant peaches so ripe the juice dribbled down my chin and made my face sticky. Today, searching for peaches like that in New England is almost futile. For two or three weeks every summer, we have reliably great peaches from New Jersey but otherwise, they’re […]

Yet another reason to eat your fruits and vegetables. A wide-ranging 12-year study by a team in Cambridge, England suggests a diet rich in Vitamin C might reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Fruits and veggies are the main source of Vitamin C in typical western diets.
More than 20,000 women and men, ages […]

I’m still incredulous.
I saw this about a week ago and have been shaking my head ever since. A 6-quart KitchenAid stand mixer for $899. What’s special about it? The finish. You have your choice of a copper or nickel alloy.
To me, this is not a tool for a serious baker. It’s a prop to be […]

When I miss Maryland, as I have been lately, the only thing short of going there that satisfies my longing is Old Bay. The seasoning mix is the integral ingredient in steamed crabs and enhances many other dishes. As Chesapeake Bay blue crab is not a staple in New England stores, I usually make this […]

This is certainly the time for fruit salad, although it means different things to different people. Some use a simple syrup of sugar and water, others use ginger, lime juice, sour cream, gelatin and even — ugh — that chemical cocktail called non-dairy whipped topping.
To me, fruit salad means lots of fresh […]

After reneging on its promise to allow open Internet access to reporters covering the Olympics, China finally relented last week amid international criticism. Sudddenly, organizations such as Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders discovered their sites were accessible in Beijing for the first time in years. Of the many political cartoons about the situation, I […]