Lemon, Fig and Lavender Marmalade with Sarah B Hood

Lemon, Fig and Lavender Marmalade with Sarah B Hood

Last year my garden burst with lavender. This spring, only a few leggy plants survived. Too little snow. Too much thawing. Too  much freezing. Or maybe the plants sensed my neediness and fled. I need lavender this summer, and lots of it. For the esthetics, 

Nut & Seed Brittle

Nut & Seed Brittle

I feel this is cheating. Healthy nuts, good-for-you seeds, and a whack load of sugar. This nut and seed brittle recipe was vegetarian chef Nettie Cronish’s compromise with her kids. Nettie is all about healthy eating. Kids? Not so much. I used to beg for store bought 

Whole Bowls with Smoky Corn, Black Bean and Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto

Whole Bowls with Smoky Corn, Black Bean and Cilantro Jalapeno Pesto

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Judge it by how long it takes to pry from your friends’ hands. Whole Bowls: Complete Gluten-Free and Vegetarian Meals to Power Your Day by Allison Day (Skyhorse Publishing ©2016)  was passed from guest to guest while I put 

Root Vegetable Chips

Root Vegetable Chips

I’m on CTV News at Noon today helping Nancy Richards make homemade root vegetable chips. On the mess scale they’re more work than stovetop popcorn but less bother than pie. And that’s with making your own tzatziki for dipping. Last night I was making chips for the demo 

Last-Minute Sugarplums

Last-Minute Sugarplums

I always assumed sugarplums were plum-shaped candies made of marzipan and dusted in sugar. When I asked friends and family for their theories, guesses ranged from holiday jellies to booze-soaked prunes. We had never seen, let alone tasted one. To us, these Christmas confections existed only in Clement Clarke Moore’s poem 

Black Bean, Corn & Barley Salad

Black Bean, Corn & Barley Salad

So, Eric Idle came to dinner and was seated beside me. We were going to entertain the other guests with a ripping rendition of The Dead Parrot skit. Only I was so busy thinking up clever tweets I forgot my lines. So I went upstairs to 

Black Currant Jam

Black Currant Jam

When I was very little, I thought my mother knew everything. Absolutely everything. If I had a question, she had an answer. If I had a problem, she had a solution. She cured my near-fatal bout of the mumps with teeny-tiny vanilla cupcakes. She could 

Spicy Grilled Broccolini

Spicy Grilled Broccolini

Developing recipes for unfamiliar culinary tools is a bit like having coffee with someone you met through an online dating site. You’ve memorized their profile, you’ve Googled them to see what others think, and you’ve figured out how to make them like you. But no matter 

Chocolate Coconut Paleo Crack

Chocolate Coconut Paleo Crack

These are for my sister. She doesn’t know it yet, but they’ll arrive at her door later today in a box with some pathetic attempt at a heart drawn on the lid. She’s in the middle of the Kitchen Reno from Hell and needs some