Mediterranean Orzo Salad is perfect for summertime meals This Mediterranean Orzo Salad can be made hours up to a day or two ahead of when you plan to serve it. It keeps well, because of the oil and vinegar dressing. In fact, we like it better the next day. That is the beauty of a marinated salad. The dressing sinks into the ingredients and melds all the flavors together. This is a flexible recipe Though it's called orzo salad, you can use any pasta that you prefer. Orzo is nice and small, ... Read More about Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Garden Fresh
Strawberry Preserves {No Pectin Recipe}
Strawberry Preserves do not need pectin to be thick You can have thick, sweet, and fruity Strawberry Preserves with just 3 ingredients: Fresh Strawberries, Sugar, and Lemon Juice. Why not use pectin? If you prefer to use pectin, then I'm not here to tell what to do. But - there are a few reasons to try this method. Making Strawberry Preserves with pectin requires more sugar. Using pectin to thicken jams and preserves involves a chemical process that needs a certain percentage of sugar to ... Read More about Strawberry Preserves {No Pectin Recipe}
Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad
Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad is good at any temperature We get this idea that every salad has to be ice cold. I think this Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad demonstrates that is not 100% true. Don't get me wrong, now. This salad is actually very good chilled. But it is equally good right off the stove, or at room temperature. And having a salad that stays tasty and fresh without refrigeration is a great thing in the summertime. Warm or room-temperature salads are safer in the summer There are ... Read More about Warm Green Bean Tomato Salad
Tuscan Herb Salt
Tuscan Herb Salt preserves the flavor of summer I utilize a lot of ways to save all that we grow through the summer. Canning, freezing, pickling, fermenting and dehydrating all serve to hold on to the flavor and nutrition of the things we grow. Tuscan Herb Salt is a way to preserve the bright freshness of summer herbs. Not to mention garlic! Growing herbs to preserve them is a great idea As I have mentioned lately here on the blog and on social media, I like to keep some pots of herbs ... Read More about Tuscan Herb Salt
How to Freeze Rhubarb
Freezing is the best way to preserve fresh rhubarb for baking If you love rhubarb as much as I do, this is one post you will want to hang onto. How to freeze rhubarb is a handy thing to know, and so simple to do. Why I love rhubarb My favorite thing about rhubarb is how it leaps out of the ground in the spring and by the second week of May, you can begin your first harvest. It is a definite sign of a season we so look forward to, here in Upstate NY. It is low maintenance. Keep it ... Read More about How to Freeze Rhubarb
Chive Lemon Vinaigrette
Chive Lemon Vinaigrette is the perfect seasonal bridge In May we begin to see our chive plants really come into their own. We can still get plenty of nice citrus. So the combo of flavors in Lemon Chive Vinaigrette makes a lot of sense. And nearly anyone has the space to grow some chives. Chives are easy to grow Chives aren't the easiest plant to get started though. The seeds are super tiny and they take a long time to time germinate. You might give up on them entirely before they even get ... Read More about Chive Lemon Vinaigrette
Berry Blast Almond Smoothie
Berry Blast Almond Smoothie makes a healthy breakfast I admit that breakfast has always been a struggle for me. Even when I was a kid, my mom had to force me to eat anything at all. I still feel the same way, and because I do intermittent fasting, I still don't eat very early in the day. That's where I appreciate this Berry Blast Almond Smoothie. I am always happy to have something that tastes like a fruity milkshake, you know? Protein for breakfast is a good idea But, probably just ... Read More about Berry Blast Almond Smoothie
Creamy Spinach Feta Soup
Creamy Spinach Feta Soup proves it's time for something green You know that springtime feeling when you start to crave something green? Something green and fresh and right out of the garden? A lot of time that is a salad or some kind of raw green vegetable, but it's a bit early for that. It's not too early for greenhouse spinach though, and while we don't have a lot yet, we had enough to make this Creamy Spinach Feta Soup. Creamy Spinach Feta Soup is perfect for this time of year It is ... Read More about Creamy Spinach Feta Soup
Easy Rhubarb Cake
Easy Rhubarb Cake is a family favorite It is rhubarb time here in the Northeast. I think everyone around us grew up eating rhubarb because it grows like a weed here. I should note that it is definitely NOT a weed. You have to plant it. But every old house in our small towns and every farm out in the country seemed to have had a nice patch of it against some corner or another. Easy Rhubarb Cake is an easy choice when we have lots of rhubarb. Rhubarb is very tart - not really edible all on ... Read More about Easy Rhubarb Cake
Honey Lemon Winter Squash
Honey Lemon Winter Squash has wonderful flavor! This is the best time of year to grab some winter squash. Properly stored, it will be at its peak of flavor right about now - fully ripened and nicely sweet. It is just perfect with the flavors of honey and lemon too - a little sweet, a little acidity. Those flavors enhance the background richness of the squash itself immeasurably. I know, I already did a recipe with Lemon this week, but maybe you bought a bag of lemons and now you need ... Read More about Honey Lemon Winter Squash
Warm Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad
I love the flavors in this Warm Veggie Quinoa Salad. These fall vegetables are perfect with quinoa and the vinaigrette is a beautiful spark of freshness. Seriously - SO good together. I think overall, the popularity of quinoa has diminished somewhat. For a while there it was all the rage because it was a little less carby than white rice or pasta. As a person who is mostly low-carb, I still appreciate that it is similar in carb count to brown rice. I love the flavor when it's cooked ... Read More about Warm Quinoa and Roasted Vegetable Salad
Homemade Apple Sauce
The Basics Series - Homemade Apple Sauce Homemade Apple Sauce is one of the first things I remember helping with when I was a kid. Both my Mom and grandmother made applesauce. Often they did it together, and, as the kids it was often our job to squish the apples through the old-fashioned Chinois with the wooden pestle. I don't know what has become of the chinois, but I still have Grandma's pestle. It's handy for all sorts of percussive tasks in the kitchen. Because of that, I admit it is a ... Read More about Homemade Apple Sauce