I’ve been playing around with eight-pointed stars lately. The best tutorial videos I’ve found on the subject are done by Edyta Sitar and the Fat Quarter Shop. She shows some great methods for getting all the points aligned just right. I made this 32-piece one following some, but not all, of her advice. I was working with odd-shaped scraps of fabric, … Read more
Blender ice creams are one of my favorite ways to eat fruits. They feel indulgent while actually providing a lot of nutrition. I had a disappointment recently when the peaches I’d bought at the grocery store ripened to a mealy texture. Biting into them was not the treat I had expected. Then I remembered that my blender doesn’t care if … Read more
Martha Stewart Living had a recipe for one-pot turkey curry in this month’s print issue. I adapted it to include different vegetables — beans have been a bountiful crop this year, so someone’s got to eat them — and whole grain rice instead of white. I changed the spices, too. Hmmm … When does recipe experimentation cross the line from “adapting a recipe” … Read more
Mindy Celeste made an awesome pesto pasta salad when I was visiting her in Oregon last month. I asked her for the recipe and planned to make it this week. But as often happens with me, I neglected to buy half the ingredients when I was at the grocery store. So I changed the recipe to suit what I had on … Read more
We got a lot of basil in our farm box this week. Time for pesto! Ingredients 2 cups fresh basil leaves 1/3 cup shelled pistachios 1/3 cup grated Asiago 1/3 cup olive oil 2 cloves garlic, peeled 1/4 teaspoon salt Instructions Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until a thick paste. Refrigerate for up to a week. Great with pasta, … Read more
It’s that time of year when summer squashes become almost perverse in the profligacy of their fruit production. Those who are usually glad to benefit from summer’s bounty mysteriously disappear when they see a gardening neighbor come down the walk with a box full of zucchini. Farmers can barely give the things away – really. Each week when we go to pick up … Read more
Today was hot, humid and horrible – the perfect weather to forgo cooking of any kind and eat healthified ice cream instead. With a lot of fruit, a little yogurt, and a dash of cream, it’s the nutritional equivalent of fruit salad. But it’s the taste equivalent of a creamy fruit gelato, and it takes just two minutes to make – which is … Read more
A while back I posted about Lilo, the Incredible Fabric-Eating Cat, and how she scarfed down the corner of a throw pillow my mom made for me a a few Christmases ago. After she made it her prey, it looked like this: I let it sit in the mending pile for many months, because I wasn’t sure how to fix it. … Read more