As I picked up an apricot and blueberry turnover at today’s farmers market, the baker Cathy Pennington commented that the petite stone fruits are one of summer’s most fleeting treats. How true, even more so if they’re sun-warmed and right off the tree. One corner of my garden is home to an ailing apricot tree [...]
The only silver lining in more than a week of mercury-boiling temperatures, as far as I’m concerned, is the prospect of rapidly ripening tomatoes in my garden. I’ve had full-sized, green fruit on the vine for about a month now, but the tomatoes have taken their sweet time turning red. I managed to pick a lone [...]
This week’s A la Carte section isn’t the first to feature a personal chef. Over the past few years, a number of cooks, both with formal culinary training and without, have asked me to get the word out that they can help people eat restaurant-quality food in their own homes, no preparation required. What’s different [...]
Last year, when my mother-in-law asked my opinion on growing potatoes, it was news to me that the tubers would be part of our small vegetable garden. A novice gardener, I guess I thought one needed acres of fields for potatoes. And truth be told, I wasn’t that excited at the prospect of growing them. [...]
With temperatures soaring this week, more cooks will no doubt be keeping the heat outside and grilling their meals. This week’s A Fresh Approach column provides tons of ideas for lighter fare achieved by grilling vegetables. Jan Roberts-Dominguez’s recipes should be enticing now when gardens are just gearing up through the end of the growing [...]
Got bacon? That’s the slogan Jeff Shepherd is using to promote Lillie Belle Farms’ next chocolate coup. To be fair, Shepherd didn’t originate chocolate-covered bacon, found on seaside boardwalks and touted by the sweet-salty school of confectionery. Shepherd says that, on a lark, he whipped up a batch of chocolate-covered bacon for March’s Oregon Chocolate [...]
As today’s A la Carte story reiterated, it’s been a wonderful cherry year, so wonderful that U-pickers stormed local orchards within the past few weeks to freeze, can and dry a supply of tree fruit to last until next summer. The article omitted information on U-pick orchards only because they tend toward touch-and-go availability. When [...]
My weekend trip to the coast was complete with all the usual culinary delights: Italian sub sandwiches from City Subs in Coos Bay, canned fish, smoked oysters and shrimp cocktails from Chuck’s Seafood in Charleston and candy samples at Cranberry Sweets in Empire. Happily, those treats can be had year-round. But this time of year, [...]
Since Monday’s post on my apathy for zucchini, several readers have chimed in with suggestions, some that reminded me of a few worthwhile preparations. If you haven’t seen the comments, check them out for a zucchini-cake recipe. It’s worth, noting too, that two recipes accompanying this week’s A la Carte story on dehydrating food called [...]
