Archive for the 'produce' Category
Social Shopping
March 5th, 2010by Caroline
I love peeking in other people’s shopping bags and baskets. The other day a fellow Trader Joe’s shopper snagged my cart by accident and as I wheeled hers up and down the aisles, I marveled at what different groceries she found — it was as if we were shopping in different stores — but [...]
California out the window
February 25th, 2010by Caroline
Every Sunday morning, just two blocks from my house, our neighborhood farmer’s market lets me witness the seasonal cycles of California produce and other farm products. Valentine’s Day was the last day for satsumas, for instance, so I bought several pounds for our trip; the woman who sells me eggs explained she’d run out [...]
Pasta with Beets for Valentine’s Day
February 14th, 2010by Caroline
There was a time when Valentine’s Day had me making heart-shaped chocolate sandwich cookies, or even, just a few weeks before Ben was born, brownie ice cream sandwiches (I’ll never forget the lady who saw me standing in the ice cream aisle — I was looking for flavor inspiration — and commented, “It’s a [...]
Pear Bread
February 7th, 2010by Caroline
The other day I saw a bus ad quoting Ralph Waldo Emerson’s line, “There are only ten minutes in the life of a pear when it is perfect to eat.” I was so surprised to see Emerson’s words on the side of a bus that it took a while before I stopped to think [...]
Winter Citrus Pasta
January 12th, 2010by Lisa
This recipe is an adaptation from my favorite cooking magazine: La Cucina Italiana. Sometimes the recipes are complicated and not friendly for weeknights or busy families, but the articles and pictures are terrific, and the recipes often astonishing.
Our orange tree is reaching its peak, and on a very rainy Saturday afternoon, this dish looked [...]
Learning to Eat Quinces
December 3rd, 2009by Caroline
Winter fruit in California is maybe not quite so varied as summer fruit, but with satsumas, pomegranates, and pears, I’m not complaining. This winter, I’m also optimistically awaiting a new addition to our winter fruit menu: the quince! After years of beautiful flowers from the raggedy little tree in the far corner of our [...]
Thanksgiving Favorites, Old and New: Kale Salad and Lemon-Parsley Stuffing
December 1st, 2009by Caroline
Like Lisa, I had a Thanksgiving without cooking, but my younger son and I were both too sick for me to be thankful for it. Instead, I was thankful for my sister’s oven repairman, and her own ability to produce several dozen of my mom’s wheat germ rolls, two pies, a pumpkin-ginger cheesecake, roasted [...]
Something New for Dinner: Soba Noodles with Roasted Squash & Tofu
November 17th, 2009by Caroline
Like any family, we fall in to dinner ruts, when I feel like our meals fall into two categories: something with rice or something with pasta. This is exacerbated by the fact that I’m feeding two fairly picky eaters, and of course we are also limiting ourselves by choosing not to eat meat or [...]
One City Garden
November 10th, 2009by Caroline
I grew up in a little town (it calls itself a village, and while I find the word a little precious, it fits) of big, pretty houses on smallish lawns. The yards weren’t fenced, and my neighborhood didn’t have sidewalks, which made it a pretty soft place for a kid to grow up running [...]
It’s the Great Pumpkin Pancake, Charlie Brown
October 30th, 2009by Caroline
Today after school we will finally carve all the pumpkins that have been sitting on our front stoop this month. I’ll save the seeds, to toast and eat during a post-dinner showing of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and then I’ll need a quick dinner that doesn’t add much to the general pumpkiny [...]