Recipes

Consumer Reports, an independent and non-profit organization, maintains its praiseworthy integrity by paying for all the products it rates, and by not accepting paid advertising or even test samples from manufacturers. Moreover, Consumer Reports does not allow its name or content to be used for any promotional purposes. In contrast, with the overwhelming marketing, promotion […]

In the past couple of months, we’ve shared worrisome information about unhealthy lead levels in dark chocolate and in baby food. Although it’s not written in stone, it is reasonable to limit consumption of dark chocolate to no more than 1 ounce (or less) on a daily basis for an adult, and citing the advice […]

There is an undeniable sadness to think about a friend who died this past September and is no longer present for a friendly chat as we approach the celebration of Christmas. A master teacher, who taught up until his death, Richard was always rereading and sharing with his students this time of year the “new […]

Roxbury Farm’s CSA (community supported agriculture) farm share of 24 weeks has been bountiful right up to the final weekly delivery this past week to a pick-up site at a neighbor’s house in my Albany, NY neighborhood. At a cost of $28.00 per week, it has been an economical way to enjoy the local growing […]

With the flavorful ingredients of cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, maple sugar, coconut, crushed pineapple, pecans, raisins, and homemade applesauce (made with an extra-sweet and aromatic Macoun apple), it would be hard to imagine a tastier muffin or a better way to start the day, especially on a holiday like Thanksgiving Day, which is fast approaching. Morning Glory muffins […]

With a plentiful supply of zucchini and summer squash included in this season’s weekly farm share, little doubt that homemade zucchini bread will prompt heating up the oven to 350 degrees on a morning when the temperature is not too scorching hot. Of course, recipes for zucchini bread do not require very much zucchini, but […]

A couple months ago, we shared a recipe for Chocolate Chocolate Chip & Pecan Banana Muffins. Some justification for baking the delicious, sweet dessert was rooted in spotlighting the “powerful phytochemicals” in cacao beans, which are present as well in cocoa beans. But it is important to understand the distinction between cacao beans and cocoa […]

Dumpling Day (Barefoot Books, Concord, MA, 2021), a children’s book described by its author Meera Sriram as “For little kitchen helpers everywhere,” is a book for a family to treasure, and to have handy, especially for a rainy day when the young ones need some positive “entertainment” by cooking up a delicious treat. Barefoot Books, […]

NYT Cooking is a “digital cookbook and cooking guide alike,” available as a subscription service of the respected newspaper, “that helps home cooks of every level discover, save and organize the world’s best recipes, while also helping them become better, more competent cooks.” Over the past few years, as a daily reader of the print […]

A recipe on Anson Mills’ website inspired the making of delectable dumplings made with cornmeal back in early December. The cornmeal used however was not from Anson Mills. To make amends, it seemed only fair to place an order for some of this remarkable company’s products. Anson Mills is one of the 3 dozen family-scale […]

Until a recent pancake lunch at the wonderful Phoenicia Diner in the heart of the Catskill Mountain region of upstate New York, this pancake/waffle indulger never before had buckwheat pancakes: What a delicious eye-opener, especially when enjoyed with a couple cups of this remarkable diner’s coffee from Java Love Coffee Roasting Company based in Bethel […]

My local food co-op, the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, NY, is a wonderful source for a fresh and local, pasture-raised turkey which can be ordered a few weeks before the holiday celebration.  For the past few years, this home cook has pre-ordered a fresh turkey from Hidden Camp Farm, and the Thanksgiving Day […]

The extended growing season in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York has coincided with this backyard gardener’s extraordinary harvest of “volunteer” pumpkins and squashes growing out of a compost bin. For the past few years, there’s always been a pumpkin or two. But this year, it was a bountiful supply of various pumpkins and […]

If there’s at least 30 minutes to spare for breakfast, a bowl of homemade oatmeal made with steel-cut oats and topped with walnuts, sliced banana, berries, a sprinkling of ground cinnamon and some plain kefir milk is my go-to edible start to the day. In the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter from the Friedman […]

It was an easy decision to bake up some raspberry walnut muffins as a special treat in late summer given the still bountiful crop of raspberries in my backyard garden in early September in upstate New York. For Thanksgiving a few years ago, I posted a recipe for cranberry pecan muffins which tweaked a muffin […]

It’s been four years since environmental advocacy groups paid for an independent laboratory to test for industrial chemical phthalates in cheese. The testing resulted in the detection of phthalates in 29 of 30 varieties of cheese products. Ten different phthalates in all were identified with up to six in a single product. The results in […]

The website Allrecipes has a remarkable number of Christmas Dessert Recipes, now numbering more than 1400. Its Favorite Old Fashioned Gingerbread recipe, described as “everyone’s holiday favorite, even the busy cook’s, because it is so easy to make” caught this home cook’s eye when I searched on the internet for a gingerbread recipe. A few […]

Alexa Weibel’s 17 Recipes for a Small Thanksgiving Dinner in the New York Times (11/20/20) caught my eye in making preparations for a cozy meal of gratitude for only three. Alexa Weibel, the newspaper’s senior staff editor for NYT Cooking, a digital source for thousands of recipes from The New York Times along with how-to […]

This fall, NYT Cooking spotlighted a A Recipe For Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes in the print edition of the New York Times, which was clipped out by this pancake/waffle lover. About the same time, King Arthur Baking Company sent an e-mail highlighting a breakfast meets autumn recipe for flavorfully spiced, pumpkin-laced pancakes. The King Arthur pancake […]

Over the past couple years, we’ve shared recipes for two fruit crisps: (i) an easy-to-make blueberry crisp using local and organic blueberries from Grindstone Farm E.I.E.I.O. (Excellence in Edible Incredible Organics) and (ii) an apple crisp using local and organic apples from Hemlock Grove Farm. We’ve also shared two recipes for fruit cobblers: (i) a blueberry-rhubarb […]

If you search the internet for Mason Jar Ice-Cream, what pops up is a simple recipe by Lena Abraham, the Food Editor at Delish. With a prep time of only 10 minutes, and a total time to prepare of 3 hours 10 minutes, which includes freezing for three hours, this recipe might seem too good […]

It’s always been an easy decision to extend a seasonal CSA (community supported agriculture) farm share of 24 weeks of organic vegetables from Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County), NY to the heart of winter with delivery of three boxes of 30 pounds of organic root and storage crops at the start of December, January […]

Mountain Rose Herbs is widely-known for its organic, sustainably sourced and wild harvested products, particularly its bulk organic herbs, spices and essential oils. Founded over 30 years ago, the business now has 200 employees and recently opened a brick-and-mortar store in downtown Eugene, Oregon to complement its mail order operation. It offers an impressive range […]

This home baker has sung praise before for the ever-handy cookbook, Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (New York, NY: Scribner, 1997). The encouragement given in the classic cookbook to try your hand at baking up a batch of tasty muffins, is a great motivator to warm up […]

In mid to late summer, I keep an eye out when wheeling the shopping cart through the produce department at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany for blueberries from Grindstone Farm E.I.E.I.O. (Excellence In Edible Incredible Organics) in Pulaski (Oswego County) in upstate New York. When they appear, they become a daily part of […]

When the weekly farm share or backyard garden is “runneth over” with zucchini and summer squash, this is a handy recipe from the All Purpose and well-used Joy of Cooking by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (New York, NY: Scribner, 1997). I love the encouragement given in this go-to cookbook: “Remember that muffins […]

Earlier this month, we shared herbalist Juiliette Aibgail Carr’s herbal bug spray recipe included in the Heirloom Gardener (Spring 2019) issue. After following the recipe’s direction to infuse the five herbs specified in the recipe in olive oil in a cool place for up to three weeks, the finishing touches required by the recipe to […]

The current issue (July 2019) of Consumer Reports (CR) includes a “Health Alert” article on Tick Protection: Top Repellents + Advice  by Kevin Loria which includes advice on how to protect against ticks (1) before you go outside, (2) when you get inside, and (3) if you find a tick. Besides the suggestion before you go […]

Special occasions call for a delicious and indulgent dessert even for folks who closely watch their sugar calories. My preference is for a dessert like a fruit crisp or pie where the spotlight is on agriculture’s sweet bounty, carefully cultivated. In early May in upstate New York, there is no fresh, local fruit to use […]

In a recent article in the New York Times, What’s the Secret to Reaching 111? ‘Avoid Dying,’ but ‘Porridge Is Helpful,’ (3/31/19), Palko Karasz reports that there are more than 14,000 centenarians living in Britain according to the most recent statistics. The oldest person on record living in Britain is Grace Jones, a woman who turned […]

Using the very finest ingredients, including homemade sauerkraut, which used up two cabbages included in the final winter box of veggies in a CSA farm share from Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County), New York, to smother all beef hot dogs was a surprising meal for this mostly vegetarian, mindful eater.  But as I awaited […]

For nearly a dozen years, a full vegetable farm share from Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County), New York has meant 24 weeks of biodynamic veggies during the season, running from early June to mid November. Next year, in 2019, the full vegetable share at a cost of $630.00 means for approximately $25.00 each week, […]

In the 1970s, commercial blends of dried herbs, typical of the Provence region of southeast France, became popular and successfully marketed as Herbes de Provence. According to the Wikipedia article on this mixture of spices, Provençal cuisine has traditionally used many herbs which were often characterized collectively as herbes de Provence, but not in specific combinations, and not […]

With a bushel of delicious, crispy, juicy and slightly tart organic Empire apples from upstate New York’s Hemlock Grove Farm in West Danby (Tompkins County) to enjoy and share this fall season, a recipe for Morning Apple Crumble included in the All About Sweeteners brochure of the National Co-op Grocers (NCG) seemed a good way […]

This has been the summer for growing eggplant in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York. Eggplant included in a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) farm share from Roxbury Farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County) plus a planting of eggplant in my backyard garden has been challenging to use even for a household that loves baba […]

A few weeks ago, in a Here to Help column appearing in the New York Times, Molly O’Neill shared a recipe for Chez Panisse’s Blueberry Cobbler. O’Neill noted that the recipe prizes the berries above all, using only 1/3 cup of sugar. A blueberry cobbler from the kitchens of Chez Panisse, the mother of all […]

In the current issue of Yankee Magazine, which for decades has been a welcome sight in the mailbox, a recipe for the summer specialty of popovers, at the non-profit Common Good Soup Kitchen in Southwest Harbor (a town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County), Maine, was a reminder of my mom’s popovers cooked up […]

Despite a sweet tooth for cakes and pies and the appeal of indulging in a sweet dessert on Valentine’s Day, with the stirring film Fed Up still in mind, an organic cherry cobbler with a scoop of organic ice-cream (or some tangy plain farmstead yogurt!) seemed a better way to satisfy the taste for a […]

[Editor’s Note (FWB): We previously posted an appreciative review of cookbook writer Tracey Medeiros’s The Vermont Farm Table Cookbook, 150 Home-Grown Recipes from the Green Mountain State (The Countryman Press, Woodstock, VT, Distributed by W.W. Norton & Co., New York, NY, 2013), which our reviewer noted was a collection of 150 carefully curated recipes, featuring […]

The Food of a Younger Land by Mark Kurlansky (Riverhead Books, member of Penguin Group, New York, 2009), reviewed here this past summer, is A Portrait of American Food before the national highway system, before chain restaurants, and before frozen food, when the nation’s food was seasonal, regional, and traditional- From The Lost WPA Files (as noted on […]

For the 2017 growing season in upstate New York’s Capital District, I decided to grow a mixture of peppermint, spearmint, and basil plants in hanging pots on the front porch of my home in the Pine Hills neighborhood of Albany. With the mildest autumn I can remember in the nearly 40 years of hanging pots […]

After harvesting in mid July this season’s garlic crop from two small raised beds, this backyard gardener decided to plant a fall crop of bush beans in those beds. One reason to plant a fall crop of beans is to have fresh from the garden green beans to cook up in tomato sauce made with […]

A couple of years ago, we posted a glowing book review of Kristin Kimball’s The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and Love (Scribner, New York, New York, 2011). Kimball’s memoir is a page-turner that tells a very personal story on how the acres she farms with her husband became their life together and the […]

A little over two years ago, I clipped an eye-catching article with the playful title, Crunch Factor: Crackers, Jacked, from Saveur magazine on artisanal crackers by Keith Pandolfi, who noted “Ten to try, and one DIY” (do it yourself). The short article was illustrated with beautiful photos of each of the ten crackers “worth seeking out.” […]

Reporter Sam Roberts’ story in the New York Times last month on the death at 98 of Beatrice Trum Hunter, who was the author of The Natural Food Cookbook (first published in 1961 and the first of her 38 books), caught this home cook’s eye by including three appealing recipes as a sampling of her […]

I take to heart the advice of Michael Pollan: notably his short and sweet Rule 82 from his Food Rules: “Cook.”  According to Pollan, “Cooking just might be the single most important thing you can do for your dietary health…Cooking for yourself is the only sure way to take back control of your diet from […]

Who could have predicted that tart cherries would become a popular remedy for sleeplessness and anxiety in America? Last month, Bloomberg Business Week’s Productivity page focused on ways to sleep better in a column by Gayleen Schafer (1/14/17), Get Some Rest! Schafer’s suggestion to enjoy an evening smoothie caught our attention. Referencing Dr. Robert S. […]

Artist Laura Shore who specializes in artwork described as “painted produce from local farms” developed a friendly relationship with farmer Everett Rau of Pleasant View Farm in Altamont (Albany County) in upstate New York from her patronage of a farmers market near her home. Last year, after weekly visits with Everett Rau and his wife […]

I was recently greeting by the pleasing sight of organic Cape Cod cranberries for sale at the Honest Weight Food Co-op in my hometown of Albany, New York. Last autumn, the co-op’s Produce Department wasn’t able to get a supply of this seasonal fruit from Cape Cod (a popular vacation destination for people who live […]

This hot weather treat is remarkably simple to prepare and packs a tasty, refreshing lift as a healthy, no sugar added, dairy-free dessert. Turning frozen bananas into a kind of ice-cream has become a bit of a summertime phenomenon, with the NY Times last month sharing its “outrageously easy,” one ingredient banana ice-cream recipe. With local, […]

Although the winter of 2015-2016 lacked snow in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York, it was a long winter and spring has been slow in coming. Now with spring here and Albany’s 2016 Tulip Queen anointed, it’s time to be on the lookout for (local and organic) rhubarb and asparagus, in particular, but recent […]

When the sap begins to run and boiling kettles start producing sweet and savory maple syrup, my mind turns to waffles, hot off the iron, topped with maple syrup. I love the combination of sweet and sour, and maple syrup and tart cranberries are a perfect combo. This recipe for cranberry pecan waffles is a […]

Francesca’s Pumpkin & Kale (or Spinach) Lasagna Francesca Zambello, the Artistic & General Director of The Glimmerglass Festival (in its 2016 season offering performances of Puccini’s La Boheme, Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Robert Ward’s Crucible, based on Arthur Miller’s dramatization of the Salem Witch Trials) in Cooperstown (Otsego County, NY) has shared […]

Celery Root & Leek Soup Danielle French, a creative chef and the owner of South Pond Farms in the Kawartha Lakes area of Ontario, about 75 minutes from Toronto, has shared a favorite soup recipe that eases the chill of autumn. With its deeply rich celery taste, this hearty and creamy soup has a pure vegetable […]

This summer’s CSA (community supported agriculture) share in the bounty of Roxbury Farm has surpassed earlier years.  And for the first time in the past five years, we have received Delicata squash, a cream-colored winter squash with green and orange stripes, from the farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County, NY) in our weekly shares on a couple […]

The sweet and sour combination of strawberries and rhubarb is a seasonal treat.  Indulging in a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie is tempting, but much healthier and in many ways even better is turning the morning bowl of oatmeal into something special by cooking up a stalk of rhubarb with rolled oats and then adding […]

The opportunity to have a share in a CSA (community supported agriculture) family farm is one of the hopeful developments in American agriculture in the past couple of decades.  Although arguably nothing is better than growing your own food, a close second in our modern age is participating in a CSA farm.  In addition to […]

The 2014 growing season in New York’s Hudson Valley has produced bountiful deliveries of biodynamic produce from Roxbury Farm, a CSA (community supported agriculture) farm in Kinderhook (Columbia County) which I have belonged to for the past four years.  Once a week from June to November, my across-the-street neighbors and I take turns picking up […]

This year’s summery Memorial Day holiday in upstate New York signals the start of the season for picnics in the park.  A simple to make and satisfying bean burger is a treat not only for picnickers who are vegetarian or vegan.   This bean burger is so good that beef eaters might just be persuaded to […]

Once a month, I purchase a log of Vermont Creamery’s [www.vermontcreamery.com/] fresh goat cheese (priced at a reasonable $7.25 for 10.5 ounces at the Honest Weight Food Co-op [www.hwfc.com]).   I enjoy spreading this tangy and creamy cheese on homemade bread or a slice of Berskhire Mountain Bakery’s [www.berkshiremountainbakery.com/] German-style grainy whole meal spelt bread […]

With Valentine’s Day a few days away, these delicious meringue cookies are a sweetly tart treat, made with no oils or shortening, but with the very finest local eggs, whose whites are whipped, sweetened and flavored.  Michael Pollan [http://michaelpollan.com/] in The Omnivore’s Dilemma (The Penguin Press, New York, New York, 2006), praises the organic ideal […]

As part of a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share in the bio-dynamic bounty of Roxbury Farm [www.roxburyfarm.com/] in historic Kinderhook (Columbia County), New York, we were given the option of choosing either Italian eggplant or oblong Asian eggplant.  One of my favorite meals is traditional Italian eggplant parmigiana, so my choice was the more […]

As part of a weekly CSA (community supported agriculture) share in the biodynamic bounty of Roxbury Farm [www.roxburyfarm.com/] in historic Kinderhook (Columbia County), New York, I was pleased to receive a bunch of broccoli rabe with the second delivery of produce for this 2011 growing season.  The Joy of Cooking [http://catalog.simonandschuster.com/] by Irma S. Rombauer, […]

Hummus served with sliced carrots, celery, and, of course, pita bread, for dipping is a healthy “fast-food” treat and perfect for a New Year’s Day party.  The simple goodness of hummus is a reminder that a “quick and easy snack” need not be a product of a fast-food system, with its highly processed, food-like substances, […]

For nearly 40 years, I’ve baked homemade loaves of bread, and one of my favorite recipes comes from Beard on Bread (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, New York, 1973).  The title of this wonderful book always makes me smile:  James Beard was born to love bread, and with the transposition of one letter, his name […]

It was a fairly lengthy debate on what type of turkey to purchase for this Thanksgiving holiday dinner.  My local food co-op, the Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, N.Y., www.hwfc.com, was offering two types of farm raised turkeys:  an organic turkey from Stone and Thistle Farm [www.stoneandthistlefarm.com] in East Meredith (Delaware County), New York […]

It’s been a couple of years since I first noticed that my local food coop, the Honest Weight Food Coop in Albany, N.Y., www.hwfc.com, was stocking in the bulk foods department an unusual grain, native to Ethiopia where it is a staple food crop, called teff.   As an alternative to using rice or couscous, I […]

Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes and Black-Eyed Peas- Perhaps potatoes and beans don’t go together as easily as a horse and carriage or more on point, rice and beans. Still, combining local and organic Russian banana fingerling potatoes with delicious and easy to cook black-eyed peas makes for a hearty meal.  Using “banana” to describe these […]

Red Lentils & Roma Tomato Stew Served on Whole Wheat Couscous & Topped With Vermont Feta Cheese- A friend with a community garden plot in the Chuck Shoudy memorial garden near Lincoln Park in Albany, New York,  which is one of 46 cooperative neighborhood gardens in Upstate New York’s Capital District, (www.cdcg.org/) has a bountiful, […]

Red Quinoa Pilaf With Sweet Cherries, Dried Apricots and Walnuts- Quinoa (keen-wa) has the highest protein content of all the grains (although technically it is not a true cereal or grain since it is not a member of the grass family). An important food for 6,000 years in South America’s Andes Mountains (called the “mother […]

Black Bean Soup with Red Spring Onions and Garlic Scapes- With a beautiful crop of garlic scapes from my home garden and red spring onions available at the Troy Farmers Market, www.troymarket.org, which is near my home in Albany, N.Y., as well as a big jar full of organic black beans, grown near Ithaca in […]

Three Grain Cinnamon/Currant English Muffins Hot Off The Griddle- For years, I settled for store-bought English Muffins until I decided the ingredients were not to my liking. Time to learn how to make English Muffins at home, with honey instead of sugar, a quality oil or local butter, and organic whole grains. The secret is […]