CANDY FOR BREAKFAST?

For weeks Steve Rosazza has been delivering some very delicious acorn squash. This variety, along with Butternut, Spaghetti, and Festival, are just some of the winter squash available locally at Wolff’s. Years ago, while working on a small farm in Baltimore, I had the opportunity to cook lots of squash. A heavy bumper crop made…

What Exactly Is a Seckel Pear?

Never heard of Seckel Pears?  Well, you’re not alone.  The Seckel Pear is relatively unknown across the country, but it’s one of the Delaware Valley’s hidden treasures. It was developed here in the Southeastern Pennsylvania in the early 1800’s by a farmer named Mr. Seckel, and it’s had a following here ever since. Seckel pears are small in size–almost bite-sized– but…

Time for a Tall Glass of Lemonade

During my summer in Provence, France, I’ve been learning to make use of the many abundant herbs, some that grow wild, and some that grow well in our gardens. It’s very hot and dry here, so not everything grows easily in this climate. Since it’s so hot and dry, naturally, one of the first things…

Thai Pizza with Sweet Chili Sauce: A New Twist on a Pizza Tradition

I was probably about six the first time I can remember my mom baking her own pizza dough.  After that, it became a family tradition: Friday nights were pizza nights, and her homemade dough, stretched to the corners of a cookie sheet, formed the basis of creations the family sometimes helped to make. This week,…

Please Pass the Cranberry Sauce

I sat across from my cousin’s nine-year-old son this Thanksgiving.  A big platter of cranberry sauce gleamed on the table between us.  Greedily, we both stared at it. “Well, my friend,” I said.  “Looks like there’s half for you and half for me.” “Not if I get it first,” he said. Cranberry sauce is one…

Soup’s On: 4 Soup Recipes

In my apartment’s tiny kitchen, the whole room warms up when a pot simmers on the stove top.   This is one reason I love to simmer soup and stew this time of year.  The other reasons are more universal:  the chance to load a bowl full of vegetables, the frugality of re-purposing odds and ends…

Corn on the Cob, Fresh off the Grill

Fireflies.  Volleyball.  Sandy toes.  Lemonade.  Grass poking through a picnic blanket.  Campfires.  Corn on the cob.  All of these bring summer vividly to mind, and fresh, locally-grown corn on the cob, with its buttery-sweet crisp crunch, is one of the perfect tastes of summer.  Summer may be coming to a close, but all the way…