|
Right Food for the Season -
Early Spring
|
|
Written by Karen Covey
|
 I think growing up in New England has really made me appreciate the changing of the seasons and after a long, cold winter there is nothing better than the beginning sights of spring. Flowers begin to peek through the ground, grass begins to turn it's desired shade of green and the markets seem to be busting with fresh produce.
What I've come to discover is that this time of year makes me crave vegetables more than any other. I'm ready to tuck away my stock pot in exchange for my first handfuls of fresh peas and hearty stalks of asparagus. Asparagus has come to be one of my favorite spring vegetables and the first time I saw the white variety available at my local market, I knew I wanted to give it a try. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Right Food for the Season -
Early Spring
|
|
Written by Jane Ward
|
 My mother was the pie queen and not the cake maven; she would have no qualms telling you this herself. And because she had seen too many of her attempts at producing springy butter layers become instead collapsed and leaden discs, she stuck with her strengths, making flaky pie crusts with tart fruit fillings whenever possible. This meant that when most birthdays rolled around, unless one wanted a birthday pie, Duncan Hines made a guest appearance in the kitchen, his all-butter golden or devil’s food layers gussied up with a delectable homemade buttercream frosting.
But there is always an exception to the rule, and the one exception to my mother’s disastrous results was the Daffodil Cake. She turned out a perfect one every time. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Right Food for the Season -
Early Spring
|
|
Written by Jane Ward
|
 For Easter dessert I always crave a ricotta pie from Modern Pastry in Boston’s North End. Alas, I don’t have one reserved this year. The craving hit me last minute so I hadn’t planned a trip into town, hadn’t even thought of placing an order at the busy bakery. In these last few days before Easter Sunday, anyone without a reserved pie (like me) will be out of luck. The lines at Modern Pastry will be long, every last pie and pastry spoken for. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Right Food for the Season -
Early Spring
|
|
Written by Jane Ward
|
 Some people will acknowledge spring’s arrival with the sighting of their first robin. Others by the synchronized unfurling of hard, tight buds on their trees. Me? I’m more of a bud watcher than a bird watcher, and the bud I watch for is the forsythia, its overnight explosion of lemony yellow flowers on previously spindly, bare branches. Once that happens, the air smells fresher to me, sweeter; spring is almost a sure thing. But only almost. After a long and cold winter, I need a little more convincing. I need to see some rhubarb – shooting up from the ground, fanning out in clusters, its stalks ranging from palest celadon to vibrant raspberry pink, the crowning touch the ruffled elephant ear-like leaves. Rhubarb, rhubarb, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. I love you, soft and caramelized, on the upside down part of an upside down cake. I love you preserved as a jam. Or bottled into a chutney with walnuts and raisins and brown sugar and a splash of cider vinegar. I love you sweetened just the slightest bit and stewed or blended into a fruit sauce still tart enough to make my mouth pucker. And of course I love you on your own in a pie, your juices thickened and rosy pink, but you’re equally loveable thrown into a pie that’s been made sweeter and ruby colored with the addition of strawberries. |
|
Read more...
|
|
Right Food for the Season -
Early Spring
|
|
Written by Lizzy Butler
|
 First, there’s the growling stomach. It starts at a whisper and gains volume with every minute it’s ignored. Then, the lethargy hits. Time’s slower, you’re slower, sitting is a chore. Finally, the world turns against you. Somehow, someway, everyone and everything has acquired the same ultimate goal: to annoy you mercilessly. The symptoms are classic. Hunger strikes again, and it will stop for nothing until its satisfied. Low blood-sugar episodes are no fun, and it is one of my main priorities to avoid them at all costs. This is why in almost every purse, backpack, and even jacket pocket of mine, you’ll find some sort of snack tucked away. I call it my emergency stash. Some people carry around epipens, I carry granola. I guess we all have our issues… |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
|
.png){kind=small}
