Back when we rented our house out for summer weeks, we’d drive away with trepidation. There were problems — nothing terrible, but we knew we hadn’t plugged enough of the […]
Recipe Box
FROM THE LARDER
It’s Not Dutch, and It’s Not a Baby
End of summer supper with Pops
It’s weird how much I long for both the coming of summer and its end. We’re breathing a little more easily now, as the year shifts into a slower tempo, […]
MARKET REPORT
Not Apple Pie. Not Honey Cake, Either.
A dessert worthy of a prize, no matter what you call it
When I am not in Wellfleet, I spend a lot of time on the bench in my local dog park in Brooklyn, kibbitzing. Occasionally, an idea for an outing — […]
CRAVINGS
Hello, Halo-Halo
An all-mixed-up cupful of icy, creamy, fruity, sweet, tart tastes from the Philippines
Halo-halo, a beloved dessert from the Philippines — one that’s as valued as ice cream is in America — found me through PBS Kids and my Filipino godmothers, Rina and […]
MARKET REPORT
A Pork Shoulder to Make an Exception For
A rub? Maybe. A little sauce? Perhaps. This roast rewards the lazy.
I am an aspiring vegetarian. I love the idea of eating low on the food chain, and I think there are considerable ethical arguments for doing so (not to mention […]
FROM THE WILD
Beach Plum Bliss
As brandy, liqueur, or cordial, fruit picked now is Cape Cod sunshine at the solstice
Of all the delights that can be made with beach plums — the jam and jelly, sauces, cakes, and tea — for me nothing matches the pure pleasure of beach […]
SEASIDE GARDENER
Kale by Any Other Name
The search for a seedling’s Portuguese culinary roots
I saw the dark green, somewhat spindly plantlets this past May at Bayberry Gardens in Truro. The hand-lettered sign contained a single word that I’d never seen before — “couves,” […]
COOK’S KITCHEN
Beyond Remembrance of Tea Sandwiches Past
A cucumber and purslane salad brings home flavors of the eastern Mediterranean
Cucumber sandwiches are one of the indelible memories of my childhood visits to Chatham. My grandmother served them with warm milky tea after sailboat races in Stage Harbor. These were […]
TRADITIONS
A Polish Grandma’s Pickles
In this family recipe, ‘there can never be too much dill’
When I visit my grandma in Poland, she always prepares a meal that’s more than I can eat. Saying no to her cooking is not an option, though: food is […]
MARKET REPORT
A Nectarine Torte, With Thanks to Marian Burros
After raspberries resist the calling, other fruits make the summer cake
I had to leave the Cape for a couple of weeks just as summer settled in. Aside from all the other inherent longings of homesickness — in this instance mostly […]
COOK’S KITCHEN
Liberate Your Summer Pie
Zucchini and tomatoes baked into a savory free-form galette
“We made great time, just over the bridge,” said the text. Friends were arriving after a long drive — but hours earlier than I expected them to. I would have […]
FROM THE LARDER
Low and Slow Is the Way to Go With a Bumper Crop of Beans
Sweet and luscious green beans, braised the way a Louisiana grandmother made them
I had a lot of things for the first time in college. Sex, for example — that was a keeper. And bagels. We didn’t have bagels where I grew up. […]
THE ESSENTIALS
A Summer Skillet Dinner of Peaches, Zucchini, and Chicken
Cooking brilliantly for the season starts with a book from the 1970s
As soon as I spot peaches ripening on the little tree in a corner of our yard, I count them. If there are enough to eat straight off the tree […]
FROM THE DUCHESS OF SANDWICH
Rebecca Orchant’s Memoir Simmers and Sears
The queer kitchen stories of one steamy Provincetown sandwich maker
Rebecca Orchant had me with grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast. Her father made her one every morning in the kitchen of their house on Quixote Drive when she was growing […]
MARKET REPORT
Beet Greens Get the Quiche Treatment
A cook lets the farmers decide what’s for dinner
Sometime during the early spring of 2020, a friend told me about an enterprising young couple who were, for a reasonable fee, building victory gardens in and around Wellfleet for […]
