Sweet Home Allegra

Truly a beautiful summer treat, when both nectarines and blueberries are abundant at the Farm Market. I also make this in the winter with frozen berries but there is nothing like the taste of local, fresh, fully ripe nectarines, fresh from the local orchard. So simple. Puff pastry from the market, ready to roll out on its own parchment paper. I use an egg wash ( one egg whisked with water) on the edges. Whisk a cup of ricotta cheese with 1/4 cup powdered sugar and a bit of va

My family’s undisputed favorite condiment, these blazing rings of sweet heat bring all foods to life, from hummus wraps to hot dogs, charcuterie, salads, Mac n cheese, tacos, soup garnish, no limits. Once experienced you will want them on your pantry shelf forever. These are not complicated to can up. And, BTW, they make splendid culinary hostess gifts in tiny 1/4 pint jam jars. Best of all, good jalapeños are generally available year round so don’t be seasonably stressed to

Quintuple chocolate, more like fudge than cake, here are the secrets to create this ultimate brownie! Boxed brownie mix brings the ease and consistency, but the real magic happens with the type of pan you bake in, altered ingredients (do NOT follow the box’s directions), my quite specific chocolate delivery techniques, and an eye for an exact cooking time (they must slightly undercook). Yes you can! Practice just a bit, get to know your own oven’s temperature/timing, and soon

A French twist on Irish Colcannon, this is an elegant and beautiful way to serve “pumped up” peasant food! Cabbage encrusted mashed potatoes! My Mister loves cabbage and I love potatoes, so this is perfect for us! This is so easy that I succeeded on my first attempt! And we ate this happily for 4 days, it microwaved perfectly by the slice! Yes, it’s cabbage stuffed with fabulously doctored mashed potatoes. I made it just as the basic recipe suggested, with russet potatoes, sc

Here’s a tasty marinade and a sure-fire technique to make crunchy (not mushy!!) veggie kabobs for the family in 10 minutes of grill time! Prep is the time consuming (but fun) part in the kitchen! Witness my dear friend Debra so happy to be loading up the skewers: Mix up a marinade like so: Finely chopped parsley, chives, cilantro, and garlic. Add to 1/3 cup olive oil, the juice and zest of one whole lemon, and some honey. (We used hot honey. This would be the time to add some

I retain the original name as was on my early 1990s menu (through to the 2020s) for this delicious, healthy, grab and go breakfast at my luxury Bed and Breakfast. Pinterest had just erupted onto the recipe websphere with “chia pudding” as the big rage. This was intriguing to our inn’s mission to inspire with healthy breakfast options for our guests, but each time we tested an online recipe it ranged from bland to awful to inedible. My team continued testing and tasting 🤷‍♀️

Savory, crunchy potatoes? Yes indeed! Delightful with a poached egg for breakfast, with a luncheon salad, or as a supper side! Grate 3-4 peeled russet potatoes, then squeeze out the moisture and dry in a towel. (I have not tried frozen hash browns but I wouldn’t rule them out in a pinch.) To prevent your grated potatoes from oxidizing and turning brown, work fast and use them immediately after taking the water out. If holding for a bit: Soak Immediately: Submerge your grated

From The NYT, delicious with or without the salmon!

Lemon juice and lemon zest in angel hair pasta is basic, after that it’s ingredients of choice and a bit of technique. This is stolen and reworked from a shrimp scampi recipe. Kudos to the original inspiration: Once Upon a Chef. I blog it here now that it’s tweaked to the extra ingredients we love the best: fresh or frozen peas, sun dried tomatoes, maybe capers. The lemon, garlic, red pepper, good butter, minced parsley and dry white wine are essential, and the shallots caram

Green lentils are simmered in an herb bundle of thyme, rosemary and bay leaf, then cooled and dried before being added to other...

My Mister invented this veggie burger after trying out at least a dozen black bean burger recipes from a wide range of sources and still coming up short of absolute satisfaction. We freeze a few rounded into meatballs for serving with pasta weeks later. I am not sure what inspired him to add sweet corn and carrot, but these additions elevate this burger to oooo la la for flavor and crunch! Then he solved the difficult issue of the veggie patty holding together well by A: let

Easy to make, this gorgeous pie has an ideal balance of sour and sweet, a sugar cookie crust, and all the right undertones of vanilla,...

Grabbed off of Pinterest, I had little faith that these would be as delicious as they were beautiful, but ooooo la la! These were a delight! And the brine is not cooked so the tomatoes stay firm! This is a fridge pickle, not canned, so I only make a few at a time to save space. They take a week to mature and last about a month in the fridge, perfect for summer parties. I love the idea of “dill umbrellas “, placed on the bottom they seem to embrace the tomatoes. So pretty! Mul

This amazing GLUTEN FREE quinoa tomato cherries pistachio and peppermint salad with lemony pickled shallots was sooooo delicious! A first...

These are the ultimate vegetarian burger without resorting to salty fake meat or mealy overly bread-crumbed patties! These are packed...

This recipe is adapted from an online recipe with no origin that I can credit (or blame 😂). It is very easy to make. The bread requires...

Without a doubt, pickling is my favorite way to use November's seasonal cranberries. These little red pearls of pure spicy yum have...

Tuna Noodle Casserole is classic childhood comfort food. This is true even when I choose to forget that in my huge family of the 1950s/60s this consisted of sketchy tuna in over-salted Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup or weird school buffet dried out tetrazzini. I always loved it anyway. THIS updated version. on the other hand, is memory made transcendent: excellent tuna, authentic bechemel, and lots of mushrooms laced with a bit of sherry for ooo la la. There are lovely egg

Ripped but revised from an old Martha Stewart recipe, this has the quintessential heartiness and taste so craved in Autumn! The 2" chunks of roasted pumpkin balance with the oversized rigatoni pasta and the longways quarter slices of shallots roast up so creamy they are nearly liquid. Brown butter crisps up some sage leaves, then some pasta water joins with the goat cheese for the creamy finish. Sugar pumpkins are also called pie pumpkins. They are small, the flesh is sw

I make my Vegetarian Soup Stock from October through to summer food (June), so big sprigs of fresh sage are always just plain necessary....