This was my grandmother’s, and I claimed it long before I was into cooking. I just liked that it was made out of clear glass, that it doesn’t take up much space, and that it looks good. These days, I use it fairly frequently. I juice lemons for lemonade and jams, limes for yogurt cake [...]
Archive for June, 2008
Kitchen Tools I Can’t Live Without: Citrus Juicer
Posted in Kitchen Tools, tagged Juicer, Kitchen Tools, Lemonade on June 29, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
No-Knead Bread aka Beer Bread
Posted in Recipes, tagged Beer Bread, Mark Bittman, No-Knead Bread, Sullivan Street Bakery on June 27, 2008 | 1 Comment »
This bread is crazy good. It’s the bread invented by Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery (perhaps the best bread bakery in NYC) and made famous by Mark Bittman in the New York Times.
The recipe I use is an adaptation; it’s from Cook’s Illustrated. They added some beer for extra yeast and flavor, a [...]
More on Strawberry Jam
Posted in Recipes, tagged Red Currants, Strawberry, Strawberry Jam, UK Observer on June 26, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty well obsessed with jam lately. If I’m not actively making it, I’m cursing the weather for being too hot to comfortably stand over a stove and I’m researching recipes I want to try. Should I move the air conditioner into the kitchen? I ask myself. But then how [...]
Chuck’s Honey
Posted in Shopping, tagged Burlington, Honey, terroir on June 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve just returned from a long weekend in Burlington, VT, visiting my sister and her family. My older nephew turned 11, my younger nephew taught me how to throw and catch a lacrosse ball, and it took me two days to get home (thanks, US Airways!).
One of the highlights of the weekends was tasting [...]
Strawberry Balsamic Jam
Posted in Recipes, tagged Balsamic, Jam, Strawberry on June 17, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Strawberries and balsamic vinegar and sugar are such a tasty, delightful combination that I decided to try them together in a jam. You don’t taste the vinegar in the final product, but it really enhances the strawberry flavor, and adds depth to the overall taste.
This is another small-batch jam. Because the quantities are tiny, I [...]
Peeling an Orange by Virginia Hamilton Adair
Posted in Poetry, tagged Virginia Hamilton Adair on June 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Between you and a bowl of oranges I lie nude
Reading The World’s Illusion through my tears.
You reach across me hungry for global fruit,
Your bare arm hard, furry and warm on my belly.
Your fingers pry the skin of a navel orange
Releasing tiny explosions of spicy oil.
You place peeled disks of gold in a bizarre pattern
On my [...]
Favorite Products: Olio Carli Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Posted in Shopping, tagged extra virgin olive oil, Olio Carli, Olive oil on June 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Since I discovered this olive oil on igourmet.com, I haven’t used any other. It’s the olive oil I’d been looking for my entire life. OK, maybe not quite, but it’s really good. It has a great fresh olive-y scent and delicate, lightly fruity flavor. It’s neither heavy nor acidic.
Why is this stuff so good? [...]
Fun Facts About Oysters: A Geography of Oysters
Posted in Books, Fun Facts, tagged Books, Oysters on June 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
I’ve just finished reading Rowan Jacobsen’s A Geography of Oysters: The Connoisseur’s Guide to Oyster Eating in North America. It covers a history of oysters in this country, with very articulate descriptions of the different species and varieties, lists of good oyster bars and festivals and growers who ship direct, and all manner of oyster [...]
Strawberry Lemonade
Posted in Recipes, tagged Lemonade, Strawberries, Strawberry Lemonade on June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
It’s 95 degrees outside, and I can’t think about cooking anything that involves heat. Turning on the oven is just not going to happen. It’s all about fruit salads, yogurt, sandwiches and cold beverages.
Lemonades were on sale at the fruit stand today, so I bought a half dozen and mixed their juice with some [...]
Homemade Mayonnaise
Posted in Recipes, tagged Hellman's, Homemade Mayonnaise, mayonaisse on June 6, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Mayonnaise is one condiment about which I’m pretty ambivalent. Bury my fries in ketchup, drown my sausage in mustard, but when it comes to mayo, go easy. Frankly, it can gross me out pretty quickly. I’ve thrown sandwiches away, unable to eat them if they had too much mayo on them.
I hate Miracle Whip [...]
