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North Country Kitchen, by Yvona Fast

The native berry you may not have heard of

Amelanchiers are purplish-black berries with many names: serviceberry, June berry, saskatoon berry, shadbush, are just a few. Their bright white flowers are among the first to bloom in spring and provide nectar for bees and other insects. The berries ripen in late June or early July in our ...

Summer is Time for Peas!

“There is nothing so innocent, so confiding in its expression, as the small green face of the freshly shelled spring pea.” — William Wallace Irwin in the Garrulous Gourmet. It’s summer. Fourth of July fireworks are behind us. Gardens and farmstands are full of sweet summer ...

Garlic scapes

I bought garlic scapes at the Farmers’ Market last Saturday. Many shoppers are still unfamiliar with this relative newcomer to American cuisine. However, these hardneck garlic flower stalks are common in Chinese and Korean cuisines. Curling as they grow, they make one or two graceful loops ...

Things to do with lettuce

Right now, our farmers’ market offers abundant fresh greens and many types of lettuce. Lettuce salads make a light, nourishing and tasty lunch or supper on hot June days. Four main types of lettuce include crisphead, butterhead, romaine and looseleaf. There are many varieties among these, ...

Strawberry season is here

It’s time for Strawberries! At last Saturday’s Farmers’ Market, I bought strawberries. Surprise! They were red all the way through. Delicious. Fragrant. Sweet. Fresh. No resemblance to those white berries from the supermarket. Delicious. On Tuesday, the strawberry full moon was low ...

Kohlrabi, the ‘turnip-cabbage’

I bought some kohlrabi last Saturday at our farmers’ market. I was surprised to find kohlrabi this early in the season — but this hardy vegetable can be left in the ground when frost hits and harvested in the spring. I’m acquainted with kohlrabi from my European roots, but many ...