I have not known watermelon until this moment. I obsessed over the watermelons in my garden at Tulipwood this summer. "How do I know if they're really, truly ready?" I proclaimed across the woods, and then on twitter, and facebook, and to random family members who gave me funny looks. Twitter produced the most answers,…
Before I begin, I need to share a tip. I was reminded via twitter by my friend Paul over at Foodcrunch of this important summer tomato rule, so if you take nothing else away but this, I'll be happy. If you want your juicy summer tomatoes to last longer... simply rest them on the windowsill…
I’ve been trying all summer to grow corn. I planted the seeds in two long rows and waited patiently. Out of one hundred or so seeds, about six sprouted. Then a woodchuck came along and helped himself to about half of those. So I went to the gardening store and bought some in containers that…
When I was cooking in France, there was a pastry chef who was always running around frantic with all of the things he had to do. He was fairly sure that the executive chef was going to kill him. Sometimes I helped him because I wanted him to get through the night without panicking. Sometimes…
I get such a craving for Asian food sometimes. I’m not very good at cooking it myself, there’s something about the flavor combinations that aren’t intuitive to me while cooking, but are so delicious when put in front of me at a dinner table. In my recent piece for Tasty Kitchen, I featured one of…
Right now, I'm on a mini road trip from Little Rock, Arkansas to Austin, Texas. Don't worry, I'm not the one driving as I write this. I've been traveling as much as ever, without a kitchen most days, save for the times when friends and family let me take over theirs. As many people witnessed,…
I'm pickling a lot these days. That seems to be the way it goes with summer gardening. You hoe and weed and till and sow and water and worry and then it all comes pouring in at once, faster than you can eat it.When I have this problem, I pickle.Folks, get ready for a lot…
When I was in Arkansas I made a new friend. And one night, while we all were digesting our 237th feast, she told us about this recipe she'd dreamed up using shrimp she'd had. It was smothered in scallions and tomatoes and lots and lots of butter. She agreed to make it for us as…
There's a man in my hometown here in the Hudson Valley who defines the word "local." He's been a local forever. He is this place. He has a commercial crab operation that he runs from the pier and he brings in all sorts of blue crabs every day. He drives his truck around and it…