In church last Sunday, someone gave me a strange-looking squash. At first, I thought it was a zucchini, but it was the fattest, roundest zucchini I’d ever seen. It turned out to be a kusa (also spelled kousa). Like all squash, it originated in the Western Hemisphere. Like tomatoes in Italy ...
Most of us know autumn as apple season — but it’s pear season too! With the abundance of crisp fall apples from local Champlain Valley orchards, pears get short shrift. Yet to French pastry chefs, sweet, juicy pears are king among fruits. And the Greek poet Homer in the Odyssey referred to ...
I thought berry season was over ... then on the way home from the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake, I found chokeberries. Then a friend bought late-season raspberries at Rulfs Orchard. All berries are tiny powerhouses of nutrition that have been touted as superfoods. They’re low in ...
It’s fall. Farmers markets are full of cauliflower. Not just old-fashioned white cauliflower. Today, the vegetable comes in shades of purple, yellow, light green. Mark Twain called cauliflower “a cabbage with a college education.” That has proven true today. As Americans attempt to ...
It’s the second half of September, and so far, we’ve avoided frost. That means eggplants and tomatoes (as well as zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, beans, and other frost-susceptible veggies) are ripe for picking. This is especially important for eggplant - a subtropical plant that needs hot, ...
It’s September, and farmers’ markets are brimming with fresh veggies. There, next to the humble squash, is the cucumber. Cukes belong to the same vegetable family as pumpkins, zucchini, watermelon and other squashes. But while squashes are native to the western hemisphere, cucumbers are ...
“Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes / What would life be like without homegrown tomatoes / Only two things that money can’t buy / That’s true love and home grown tomatoes.” — John Denver It’s September. Farmers markets and farm stands have all types of tomatoes. It’s ...
Summer is time for fresh fruit — and fruit can be a great base for smoothies. These blended meals don’t require turning on the oven, or even a stove. On a hot summer day, they also help you cool down. In our hectic world, smoothies are quick, sweet and filling — comfort food that slides ...
Summer is winding down — and it’s time for blackberries! These dark, luscious berries have been with us for millennia and were eaten in prehistoric times by hunter-gatherers on both sides of the Atlantic. There are many varieties — some native to the Old World, others to the New — ...
Zucchini. Pac choy. Summer beans. Swiss Chard. Carrots. It’s mid-August. The farmers’ market is teeming with fresh goodness. An easy way to use up that produce is in a stir-fry supper. A half-century ago, stir-fries were relatively unknown in America. Then in 1972, President Nixon made a ...
“The first week of August hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning ... The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn ...” ...
At the Farmers’ market, crisp white stalks topped by loose, dark green leaves call out to me: Bok choi or Pac choy. There are many alternate spellings... In the Orient, there are many choys (Brassica rapa var. chinesis). These are mild cabbage-type plants that don’t make a tight head the ...
In the summer, I plan my menu around what is available at the farmers market or farm stand. At last week’s farmers market, I purchased chevre, which will be good on bread for breakfast or lunch, with either the tomatoes or sweet Japanese turnips I also bought, as well as feta cheese, which ...
Bunches of beets are abundant at farmers’ markets and farm stands this time of year. But many don’t know that the humble beet offers three vegetables in one. At a farm stand, I watched as a customer asked for the stems and greens to be cut off. Later, I met a friend at the farmers’ ...
Strawberries have come and gone, but other fruits are here! I’ve purchased sweet red cherries, peaches and raspberries at a local farm stand. And at the farmers’ market, Rulfs Orchard was selling blueberries and raspberries, as well as two berries I was unfamiliar with: pine berries and ...
Most of us think of a salad as leafy greens with tomatoes and a dressing. But a salad can be any combination of vegetables — and doesn’t even need to include greens. There are also tuna salads, chicken salads, macaroni salads, rice salads, fruit salads and gelatin salads. A salad, ...
Luscious, sweet, tender peas are one of the finest treats of summer. Freshly picked, stripped from their pods, steamed quickly and tossed with some sweet butter and just a pinch of salt — if you’ve never had fresh peas, you’re in for a treat. They do not compare in flavor or texture to ...
It’s June, and ... everything is green! After a dry May, June rains made the grass green. The trees’ light early spring sheen has now become a bright, full summer green. Farmers’ markets and farm stands are full of green! So many greens to choose from. There is, of course, the ...
The bright green, grass-like tubular leaves of chives are one of the first perennials to pop up. They will last through the summer and past the first few fall frosts. This delicious herb grows well in our Adirondack climate. Chives are versatile. They add flavor to potatoes and potato ...
It’s almost summer! Memorial Day is behind us, and school will be out soon. Summer tourists are flocking to enjoy our lakes and mountains. Farm stands and farmers markets are open, selling the season’s freshest produce. Last week they were even selling strawberries — though they ran out ...