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Half empty jar of sorghum syrup January is a funny time of year for a Farmers’ Market Find post. The only farmers’ market that I have been to in the past three months is the Saturday morning farmers’ market in Naples, Florida, which is actually quite fun. Zuzu likes it for the freshly made kettle [...] The other night I defrosted a pound of ground turkey intending to make a white turkey chili recipe that features green peppers, white beans and tomatillo sauce. It was only once I began to cook that I realized I was out of white beans. That’s odd for me. I consider cannellini beans to be a [...] The first of my Twelve Parties for 2012, a casual family dinner party, went off without a hitch this weekend. That is, unless you consider one of your guests locking herself in the bathroom to be a hitch. When entertaining with kids, the name of the game is flexibility. Don’t expect to finish a sentence, let [...] Are you surprised that I’m recommending soup for a quick weeknight dinner? Do you think of soup as a dish that is labor-intensive or requires a long cooking time? Sure, some soups require you to chop a long list of ingredients and simmer the concoction for hours on end. Those kinds of soups are perfect [...] Italian sausage and peppers in a rich tomato sauce As someone who teaches canning lessons, I often get asked about canning tomatoes. My answer is usually that I don’t recommend it. The exception to my rule is if you grow your own tomatoes. If you grow tomatoes in your garden and have a surfeit come [...] Turkey pumpkin chili warms your heart on a chilly fall night. Halloween is over. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. The leaves are flaming out and falling to the ground in droves. In other words, it’s November. November would be my favorite month if it were not for the sense of foreboding that I feel [...] Homegrown green tomatoes Fall in Chicago is characterized by bizarre weather. This week has been day after day of abundant sunshine, crisp autumn air and afternoon temperatures in the 70′s. In other words, it’s been perfect. But last week, we had nonstop rain and the temperatures were in the 50′s at best. The nights got [...] Beautiful Damson plums I have mentioned before that one of my favorite things about shopping at farmers’ markets is finding unusual, old-fashioned or heirloom crops that are not available anywhere else. At the Oak Park Farmers’ market, I have found garlic scapes, wild ramps, tayberries, gooseberries, squash blossoms, ground cherries and many other new-to-me fruits [...] It seems like the whole country is experiencing a heat wave this week. In Cook County, we are looking at a string of temperatures in the high 90′s and even triple digits. In hot weather, everyone talks about not wanting to turn on the oven. I don’t mind turning on the oven so much, but what I [...] Dessert pizza by the slice Three people in my life are cherry enthusiasts: my dad, my husband and my daughter. Those three dream all year long of the few weeks in July when the cherries are really ripe and exquisite. All three could sit down with a bowl of cherries and eat until they had a [...] In my personal life, I crave stability. You could count the number of serious boyfriends I’ve had on one hand. (Actually, Rahm Emmanual could count the number of serious boyfriends I’ve had on one hand.) I’ve lived in the same metropolitan area for the past ten years. After my judicial clerkships, I’ve had exactly one [...]
Zuzu accompanied me to the Oak Park Farmers’ Market last Saturday morning in exchange for the promise of a powdered doughnut. (I wish I had taken a picture of her face covered in powdered sugar — she looked like a half-made up Geisha girl) We were in the market for cherries, but we quickly [...] Pizza with scapes pesto, tomatoes and fresh ricotta Because it is the season right now, I am reposting this piece from last June with two ideas for using garlic scapes, a fun farmers’ market find. Chances are, if you have a share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) or are a farmers’ market regular, you have [...] A savory potato, asparagus and cheddar tart As a weeknight dinner solution, a savory tart has much to recommend it. It’s a quick and cheap one-dish meal much of which can be prepared in advance. Moreover, a savory tart requires only ingredients that you are likely to have on hand – namely milk, eggs and cheese — and is infinitely adaptable, [...] Yogurt cake with lime zest and strawberries A few months back there was an article in The New Yorker about food allergies called “The Peanut Puzzle” by medical writer Jerome Groopman. Needless to say, my husband and I read the article with avid interest and at least a dozen friends and relatives called or emailed to [...] Moroccan meat ball stew When I was a junior in college, I spread the year studying abroad in Paris. I had many wonderful, unique experiences that year, from traveling all over Europe, to eating marvelous food to getting to know the ins and outs of one of the world’s greatest cities. But one of the most [...] A quick and easy fish stew is a great weeknight meal My husband doesn’t eat fish. Seriously, if it grows or lives under water, he’s not having any of it, thank you very much. (My husband also doesn’t eat pork, mushrooms, eggplant, bananas, avocado, mayonnaise, sour cream — should I go on?) I, on the [...] For me, grocery shopping is a race against the clock. I have to get everything in my cart and check out before either 1) the child riding in the cart turns into Damien or 2) it is time to pick up said child from preschool. As a result, my basic M.O. is to grab stuff off the shelves and run, and occasionally [...] Chicken pot pie with a biscuit crust I grew up in a house where dinner did not come out of a box or the freezer. My mom cooked meals from scratch and actually my brother and I longed to try the exotic products that we saw advertised on television, like Stove Top stuffing or Rice-a-Roni. (To this day, I have never [...] It all started with the Meyer lemons. I was doing my just-buy-the-necessities-because-we-are-leaving-town shopping trip last week when a display of vibrant yellow Meyer lemons caught my eye. I cannot resist Meyer lemons, which are bigger and sweeter than typical lemons with an especially shiny smooth rind, because they make an exceptional lemon curd. (For the lemon curd recipe, go [...] Pepperkakor with crystallized ginger When cooking and baking for a family member with a tree-nut allergy, the cook has three options. One, avoid recipes with nuts. Two, make recipes containing nuts but simply omit the nuts. And three, make recipes calling for nuts and substitute another ingredient. I use all three of these options at [...] Grown-up dinner: squash soup with fried sage leaves Last night, at about 7:30 pm, I put out a desperate plea for help on Twitter: “Quick! Want to fry sage leaves as a garnish for butternut squash soup. Advice needed ASAP.” My friend Caitlin from Wee Windy City responded with instructions and then a postscript: “P.S. [...] |
 
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