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A Feast for the Eyes from Persia
Mediterranean cuisine is currently trendy for its healthy use of vegetables and meat. But the focus tends to be on Greece and Italy. Instead, I’ve been digging into the food of Persia – or Iran, as we know it today.…
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Making Stock of the Christmas Feast
Holiday feasts are the gifts that keep on giving – and I don’t mean the leftovers. You can do great things with the bones from your roast, whatever than might be, and the vegetables that didn’t get used. Yes, I’m…
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Just a Small Group This Year? Deck the Halls Anyway!
For many of us, this holiday season could be the “small-idays” – smaller get-togethers. I’ve heard from any number of friends who plan to keep their festivities intimate, just with two or four for Christmas dinner. One couple is planning…
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The Pie’s the Thing
Pies have always been my favorite dessert. But even though I grew up watching my mother and grandmother make pies, I don’t think I have the skills necessary to make a great pie. It’s all in the crust. However, I…
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C Is for Chilly – and Chowder
It’s chowder season here in New England. After years of cooking here, I’ve come to appreciate our local specialty. The Oxford Companion to Food points out that chowder was first cooked up in the early 1700s and is likely derived…
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Harvest Pick: Japanese Sweet Potatoes
Some people (like me) grow a few vegetables in their garden plots. Then there are my friends Catherine and Greg, who live nearby. Their large gardens yield bushels of vegetables throughout the growing season. As we approach a potential frost,…
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Fun with Fungi (Mushrooms, That Is)
Old habits die hard, especially if they’re driven by fear and caution. When I was growing up on the farm, we were on constant alert for a corn disease we called smut, a fungus that impacted yields, especially when growing…
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Soup’s On!
Soup season is one of those times when food truly warms the body – and the soul. That big pot of meat and vegetables bubbling away on the stove not only warms the room, but fills the air with a…
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Cooking Meat: It Doesn’t Have To Be Tough
Comfort food season is upon us, now that autumn has arrived. When I was growing up, one of my favorite comfort meals was a braised chuck roast. Thanks to our farm that fattened 150 prime beef cattle, we had the…
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You Gotta Have Tart!
“Lemon tree very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, But the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat.” Remember that Trini Lopez song from back in the mid-1960s? Great tune, but way off base from a culinary…
