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A Guy’s Gotta Eat!
My mother was a farm wife on a 400-acre farm in northern Illinois in the 1950s. She could feed a hungry crew during the harvest and could help in the fields, when necessary. This is the environment in which she…
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Nostalgia for the Meals of a Farmboy
Lately, I’ve been thinking nostalgically about some of the dishes that I ate as a youngster. Maybe it’s because it’s the time of year when we began to prep the vast fields for planting – discing under the prior year’s…
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Cocido: The Spanish Way to Cook Seasonal Stew
What to eat this time of year? It’s too warm for winter comfort food, but spring vegetables are not yet available in the farmers’ markets. A loyal reader suggested that I write about cocido, a classic Spanish dish. Claudia Roden,…
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Lenten Season in NOLA, the Big Easy
Lent is one period in which it’s OK to be a quitter – as in, giving something up. When I was young, it was something most people in my community adhered to during this 46-day period from Ash Wednesday to…
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British Pie Week 2025
I thought I knew pies. I grew up in pie country – the farmland of the Midwest – where pies were the preferred dessert over cakes. Homemakers had high standards and were true connoisseurs of pie crusts. But leave it…
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The Comfort of Good Food and Friends
I was inspired this week by, of all things, an obituary in The Economist. This story colorfully detailed the life of Pableaux Johnson, a man I didn’t know but wish I had. And it gave me an idea. The piece…
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Eating Well in Changing Times
Given increasing uncertainties on multiple fronts, we all need to pay more attention to what’s happening to our food supply. As spring approaches, this is the time of year when farmers are thinking about the upcoming season’s crops. Weather extremes…
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The Curious Dining of Medieval England
What we eat has obviously changed considerably over time. Today, we’re pretty spoiled. We can prepare almost any food from any cuisine in the world at home. But what would likely have been on the table during the medieval period?…
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What Ever Happened to Casseroles?
I sometimes miss casseroles. When I was growing up, these baked meals were the farm cook’s saving grace – a filling meal that could be assembled and baked in the oven to satisfy a hungry bunch of harvesting farmers. Besides…
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Eat Like a Canadian
One of the best parts of traveling is the ability to sample what the locals eat. On a recent trip to Montreal, I had a chance to try some foods that were new to me. There is plenty of French…
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What to Eat When the Power Goes Out
The conflagration in California offers a good reminder of the need for preparedness. How many of us are in good shape to endure an extended period of devastation in which our usual utility services are not available? The Los Angeles…
