Concord Grapes Hit the Market and I Clean Out the Fridge
I do not get excited about seedless grapes. I buy them rarely unless I see a good deal and want to dehydrate them for raisins. I don’t dislike them. I won’t refuse to eat them. But I am likely to...
View ArticleEating in transitional seasons
The calendar says it’s summer: it will not be fall until the autumnal equinox in the third week of September. The local trees begin to turn anyway: they do not care that officially fall is almost a...
View ArticleThe Improvised Breakfast: Zucchini-Carrot-Apple-Ginger-Ricotta-Walnut Muffins
I knew this day was coming: three days ago the half and half went bad and yesterday the milk curdled when I heated it for coffee. When I did not bestir myself to go to the health food store for milk...
View ArticleBerry Season
I remember my grandmother’s jam. I was too young to know what she put in it, or to ask for the recipe, or to make it with her, but not too young to see and taste it, small jam jars of shiny red-purple...
View ArticleMonday AM Practice Group Summer Sessions 2026
Dear Readers and Writers, For those of you who like to jump off the dock or dive in headfirst with no prior thought — “Just get me in that water now” — the first summer session of 2026 starts Monday....
View ArticleIndian Food at Home
I had out of town friends visiting last Sunday and we ended up going to the new Indian restaurant in town for dinner. After a very long wait, we enjoyed chicken vindaloo, Indian eggplant (bartha),...
View ArticleMaking the Best of What You Have
I recently made homemade phyllo (or filo) for the first time, following instructions I found on YouTube. Every stage was easy until I got to dealing with the stacked sheets of thin dough rolled out to...
View ArticleAll Things Orange Syrup
On May Day when we were all boycotting spending and staying home I took the time to candy all of the orange peels I had saved in the freezer. I had enough to fill a stock pot. After you blanche orange...
View ArticleIn Search of Bright Things
I have not taken my Christmas tree down, nor put away my Christmas tins. Christmas was over on January 7th, even for those of us who celebrate it as a season rather than a day. Last week I washed the...
View Article12-Week Writing Practice Group Begins on Monday January 5, 2026
Happy New Year everyone. I love to teach Natalie Goldberg’s writing practice. I hate to market my classes. Here’s the deal. I am a dharma heir of Natalie’s and studied with her for more than twenty...
View ArticleChristmas Cookies Redux, Part Five
Today, on December 30, 2025, I frosted my last batch of pfefferneusse for the year. I baked them yesterday right before a guest arrived for tea and cookies (I served her previously baked and frosted...
View ArticleChristmas Cookies Redux, Part Four
Today, Christmas Day, I took the day off from baking and cooking. I had planned to cook a roast lamb feast, but had no takers, and I had a last-minute invitation to a turkey and trimmings Christmas...
View ArticleChristmas Cookies Redux, Part Three
When I walked in the door this evening my house smelled like maple. I spent all day rolling, cutting, decorating and baking batches of Smitten Kitchen’s Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies. I have to say that...
View ArticleChristmas Cookies Redux, Part Two
I thought about the kitchen. I wrote about the kitchen. I tried to avoid thinking about the kitchen. And then I went down to the kitchen. Onyx followed me down, hoping that I would open a can of cat...
View ArticleChristmas Cookies Redux, Part One
I am avoiding my kitchen at the moment. This is my first Christmas in my own house in a December where I have misplaced my house keys, contracted a virus, hired men to bring pallets into my garage and...
View ArticleA Quince Experiment: Quince and Apple Pie
A few weeks ago, one of the vendors at the farmers market had quinces for sale. I have heard of quinces but have never tasted one, so I bought one. I discussed with the vendor adding it to an apple...
View ArticleDear Madge (a Letter to My Deceased Mother)
Dear Madge, My Thanksgiving dinner was two days late this year. I got a virus a week before Thanksgiving and was not well enough to shop and do food prep. My neighbor Eileen, who lives just around the...
View Article“What’s in the cupboard” baked oatmeal
I like to make baked oatmeal. I make stove-top oatmeal too, but I like having breakfast made ahead for those mornings when I don’t want to fuss with anything beyond feeding the cat and making coffee....
View ArticleOn grass roots
Dear Readers, I have not written in a long time. I bought a house in June (for the first time) and it is taking much longer than I thought to get settled and to get things done. I have been in...
View ArticleI Won!
Dear Readers, Please excuse my long absence: I bought a house and moved and things are complicated and busy. I may not be blogging regularly for six months, but I popped in to say that I won Robert...
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