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Have a (Meat) Ball
When I say “meatball,” what comes to mind? I suspect for most of us, it’s that family staple, good old Italian-American spaghetti with meatballs and red sauce. Culturally, my history with meatballs varies from my New England neighbors. In my…
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No Place But Home for the Holidays?
The holidays are approaching, but they won’t be the same this year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has just released its Thanksgiving 2020 safety guidelines, and the only low-risk approach is a small dinner with other members of the…
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Cinnamon: Think Outside the Bakery
Cinnamon has always been my favorite spice. In my youth, toast with sugar and cinnamon was a breakfast treat. And on occasion, there were cinnamon rolls. When my mother made pies, she’d roll out the leftover pie dough, spread it…
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Mom’s Fastest, Easiest Supper
Every once in a while, my mother would send me out in the late afternoon to gather a dozen-plus eggs for supper, as we called the evening meal. I recently asked her why. Was it that we were short on…
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Revisiting the Ever-Adaptable Eggplant
Are you one of those who doesn’t like eggplant? Or who doesn’t know how to prepare it? Or, if you think of the poor eggplant at all, maybe you associate it with one of those gooey, cheese-laden preparations – or…
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Get on a Roll Designing Your Own Sandwich
Something about a sandwich makes us smile, and under our current conditions, that’s not a bad thing. Think about your favorite sandwich: it’s portable, you can eat it with your hands, it’s an interesting combination of ingredients, and you can…
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The Joys of Eating Local, or Where Does Your Dinner Grow?
When I moved from the Farm Belt to New England, my diet and way of eating gradually changed. Not much meat and potatoes. More rice, more fresh vegetables. Where I had grown up to shun fish because it was never…
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Pumpkins – The Oldest Sister
I have a warm spot in my heart for pumpkins. They are, after all, the oldest of the Native American “Three Sisters” – corn, beans, and pumpkins. The squash category of vegetables was likely first cultivated in Central America over…
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Welcome to Comfort Food Season
Tis the season for something substantial. The cool temps at night means that most diners are not in the mood for a salad. Nature agrees. The summer birds have headed south, and the leaves are beginning to turn. One advantage…
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Pass the Gravy, Please!
When I asked my friend Tom about his favorite childhood food memory, the reply was swift and certain: bread and gravy. His mother was a master cook, he said, with 200 cookbooks and three linear feet of 4-by-6-inch recipe cards.…
