Recipes

Food

Let It Be Lasagna

It all started with the last tomato from my garden.  A few weeks before Thanksgiving, right before that spell of bitter cold, I was (belatedly) cleaning up the so-called potager behind my back porch.  This was my only stab at a garden this year, and though it mostly looked like

By Editor

Food

Thanksgiving, Part III: At the Governor's Mansion in Albany

Early last summer, picking up my weekly farm share from Hawthorne Valley Farm's CSA, I was amused to see an entry for "Governor's Mansion" on the pick-up list. I was naturally curious and eventually discovered that Noah Sheetz, the executive chef for the Executive

By Editor

Food

Thanksgiving, Part I: The Beginnings

Part I is not when I discuss the Pilgrims, or the native Americans, or the various inaccuracies we've all been taught about the first Thanksgiving. It's not that I don't care about the origins of my favorite holiday;  rather, there's too much

By Editor

Food

Brunch: Beyond Bagels

When I first started visiting Columbia County, long before living here full-time was even an inkling of an idea, let alone a plan, I noticed that folks here (and by folks, I mean weekenders) often practiced the elsewhere neglected ritual of the Sunday lunch. I ate many a glorious midday

By Editor

Food

Getting Back to Our Roots

The past week of warmth and sunshine might have made you think that winter's far, far off, but a trip to the farm stand will fill you in:  summer, Indian or otherwise, is done.   Tomatoes and corn have been replaced by winter squashes, alliums (onions, leeks, chives, garlic,

By Editor

Food

Celery Root —Pretty Ugly!

The have French have a term, "jolie-laide."  Translated directly, it means "pretty-ugly," but it refers to a woman whose beauty is unconventional, not obviously pretty, but who nonetheless possesses an indefinable allure.  One might argue the same for the humble celery root, or celeriac.  (Some might

By Editor

Food

Making Peace with Beets

I seem to have an issue with beets.  In theory, I like them. I've been known to order the ubiquitous "roasted beets with goat cheese" salad in restaurants.  I even grow them in my own sorry garden.  But somehow, they accumulate.  The thought of peeling them,

By Editor

Food

Step One: Poach a Chicken

In uncertain times (is there any greater understatement?), comfort food can do wonders, if only for a moment.  A shared meal soothes frazzled nerves, and creates a sense of communal pleasure and ease.  For some, mac 'n cheese is the ultimate.  Don't get me wrong, I love

By Editor

Food

Fiesta Mexicana: Viva Carnitas!

As a former (Los) Angeleno newly transplanted to the northeast, one of the things I (and my family) have pined for is Mexican food: authentic, great, Mexican food, which, sadly, can be hard to come by in this otherwise bountiful neck of the woods.  But as I've settled

By Editor

Food

Recipes: Cocktail Hour Treat

I'm thinking about retiring the ubiquitous cheese plate to its rightful place at the end of a meal.  I love cheese, make no mistake, and it's ever-present at my house when I entertain.  But lately, I want something new—and warm—to serve to guests as

By Editor

Food

Recipe: Extending the Olive Branch

At a dinner party at our house the other night, a guest (who happens to know way more about great food than me, or you, or most anyone on the planet—trust me on this) handed me a lovely cardboard gift box, carefully packed with two slender, ribbon-wrapped, dark glass

By Editor

Food

Last Chance Barbecue

With a chill in the air and a few fallen leaves already skittering on the road, I feel the urge to fire up our barbecue as often as possible before the frost comes.  I know more intrepid grillers and smokers get out in the cold with mittens and mufflers to

By Editor