As the Outer Cape’s long trek to spring begins, Christopher and I are grateful for the reprieves we’ve had this year from winter’s cold grip. A good number of magically […]
FORAGING
A Restorative Sip for the New Year
White pine needle tea is ‘like drinking the forest in winter’
My friend Ingrid Bratberg knows all the best places to find stinging nettles, wild onions, blackberries, and elderflowers. Ingrid’s a professional baker by day — her shortbread is legendary — […]
FROM THE LARDER
Baking Brings Out the Beauty of a Knobbly Fruit
A dessert-inspired resolve to bring back the homely but fragrant quince
Before we came to Truro, we lived in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, where I grew salad greens and root vegetables in a community garden plot. That’s where I […]
VANCOUVER DISPATCH
A Spicy Curry Soup to Come Home To
A light, aromatic bowl is an antidote for travels and turkey dinners
Now that travel is a thing again, Christopher and I decided to revive our tradition of getting out of town for a bit just before Thanksgiving. We’d been missing the […]
FROM THE LARDER
Conjuring the Coziness of Choucroute Garni
Homemade sauerkraut is Alsace’s counterpoint to smoky braised pork
The change of seasons has been gentle this year, but with Thanksgiving ahead my mind roams to cold weather meals. And especially to ones that overcome loneliness as much as […]
MATERIAL WORLD
Where to Borrow a Mixer, a Ukelele, and a Sewing Machine
Libraries grow a culture of lending that extends beyond books
I hesitated as I stood face to face with an electric sander in the West Roxbury Home Depot. I knew that if I bought it I would probably use it […]
GRENOBLE DISPATCH
Chicken Forestière Brings Home the Pleasure of a Plat du Jour
Booze, cream, and mushrooms sauce a fall supper
Is there a single person on the Outer Cape who doesn’t pine all summer long for September? Friends and neighbors talk about it all year long — it’s mythic. Why […]
D.I.Y.
Sculptures That Sparkle in the Late-Season Garden
Getting creative in good company brightens a gardener’s mood, too
Lucy LaFleche is one of the people who helped get me through the pandemic. And it wasn’t just the big-girl-size Cosmos she was known to pour moments after five o’clock. […]
THE STROLL
Wellfleet, Late August
Seen and heard on the weekly gallery walk
Frying Pan Gallery 250 Commercial St. Friends Heather MacBride of Mashpee and Debbie Ward of Sandwich are dressed up for a night on the town. Having just enjoyed oyster happy […]
FROM THE LARDER
You Say Tomato, I Say Tonnato
An Italian tuna mayo made for late summer lunches
Vitello tonnato is one of my summer specialties. But when I told Teresa about it, she turned me down cold. “That’s such a weird dish,” she said. The version I […]
FROM THE LARDER
Stalking the Elusive Red Currant
A once-forbidden fruit becomes a sparkling jelly
I got this text in mid-July: “Dani says to tell you that she has ripe currants if you’re interested.” Currant cultivation was, I had thought, forbidden in Massachusetts. But legal […]
THAT’S ITALIAN
Connecting the Dots From Sicily to SpaghettiOs
Ian MacAllen savors the role of red sauce in the making of Italian-Americanism
I want to get this out of the way at the get-go: I was raised on SpaghettiOs, and I loved them. Surely you remember Chef Boyardee with his jaunty toque, […]
ACCOMMODATION
Shouldn’t We Be More Alarmed?
Overall, Americans do not seem to be shocked by recent shifts in politics and society
I lie awake at night more often than I’d like to admit wondering if this is how it felt in 1933 at the end of Germany’s Weimar Republic. Did people […]
FROM THE LARDER
A Couple’s Flavorful Connections Between the Cape and Kalamata
Fresh Greek olive oil is the secret to a silky gazpacho
Olive oil may have always been ubiquitous in some lucky American subcultures, but it wasn’t in mine. I remember the first time my mother ran across olive oil on an […]
FROM THE LARDER
Neighborly Recipes for Midsummer Parties and Family Visits
Cold carrot soup and pound cake as a palette for berries from a community cookbook
Almost everything seemed to go quiet as those early days of the pandemic unfolded. But messages kept coming from Wellfleet Preservation Hall. Word from there was a comfort, reminding me […]
