Vermont + blue sky + June + sweet red perfection!

At the moment — words fail me.

After a good sleep and with the scent of fresh strawberries in the air, I made a strawberry sandwich for breakfast.

Strawberry Sandwich

I toasted thin slices of Red Hen Four Grain Three Seed bread, smeared it with a thin layer of cream cheese, topped with sliced strawberries and drizzled on a bit of local honey. Divine!

One of the easiest desserts I know is  Panna cotta with strawberries, fresh, simple and fast.

Here’s how I made it: … read more

Pasta salads, whether macaroni, orzo, or linguini have become commonplace, available at deli counters and appearing at every pot luck dinner and picnic. Why not use another grain as the featured player in a main course salad?

Barley

Consider barley for the lead role in a salad with a southwestern flair. Barley, a cereal grain, is a major animal feed crop. Smaller amounts are used for malting in brewing beer and in health food. In Islam, the Prophet Muhammad prescribed barley for grief and the effects of aging.

The first time I was served barley salad I didn’t know what I was eating. I had only experience barley playing a supporting role in beef soup. You can find barley in your market with the bags of dried beans and lentils.  Here’s how I made it: … read more

After a wonderful day in Barre and Montpelier I couldn’t wait to share this photograph.

Tuesday Evening

It’s dinner time, actually past dinner time, and I need to figure out what dinner will be, so I’ll fill in the details of today’s discoveries tomorrow.
Wednesday Morning

Dinner last night was a surprising and successful combination of the tiny harvest from my garden and delicious Vermont foods I found at LACE in Barre.

A bit of info about LACE before I spell out the details of dinner. LACE, an acronym for Local Agricultural Community Exchange, on Main Street in Barre, Vermont, is a non-profit organization established to promote food security by supporting local farms and connect them to their community.

Community Kitchen – A commercial kitchen where community members create value added products;
Learning Programs – offering classes in food, culture and agriculture;
Community Center – a place for cultural, educational and celebratory events;
Food Drives – providing farm fresh, Vermont food to people in need;
Fresh Cafe – offering locally grown foods prepared in a sustainable kitchen;
Fresh Market – providing Vermont made and produced natural foods and supplies.

What these details don’t convey is the friendly, inviting, thriving, community-centered business in the former Homer Fitts LACE is an example of the wonders of Vermont, make plans to go to Barre. Have lunch, buy arts and crafts created by Vermonters in the LACE Art Gallery, and shop for dinner. To read more about LACE visit their website by clicking here.

A curious but tasty meal with the following, carefully arranged, on a dinner plate: radishes and nasturtiums from my garden, the last of the yogurt cheese, a chunk of year old cheddar from the Grafton Village Cheese Company, tapenade with an extra splash of olive oil, a tiny bowl of Vermont honey, and thin slices of Four Grain and Three Seeds bread from the Red Hen Baking Company.

LACE was an unexpected treat, I went to Barre to deliver two oil painting to SPA Gallery, a part of Studio Place Arts, for their upcoming 12 x12 Show.

To see the paintings that I delivered click here.

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A son, spending a bit of time in Vermont with his parents before going off to China for a year, was the perfect reason to have a last minute, potluck dinner party.

I made a quick and easy olive tapenade to serve with warm baguette rounds. Here’s how I made it: … read more

Inspired by President Obama speech in Cairo I decided to make a dinner with tastes of the Middle East.

I decided that the menu would be lamb burgers, hummus, yogurt, butternut squash and pita bread.  Here’s how I made it. [/donot print] … read more

Fresh yogurt cheese is simply fresh, plain yogurt minus the watery whey.

Six Variations – beginning in the upper left, nasturtium petals gave a peppery punch, rose petals added a sweet scent and flavor, chive flowers are pretty but the onion flavor is too strong; bottom row – chopped dried cranberries, (my favorite because they add texture, a sweet/tart flavor and good color), chopped walnuts worked well, and the last, mint leaves gave a fresh scent but the texture of the leaf wasn’t good with the softness of the cheese, (next time, I’ll roll the cheese in minced mint leaves).

Dried apricots, currents, minced fresh mint or basil, chopped olives, diced sundried tomatoes are other possibilities.

Small rounds of yogurt cheese combined with dried fruit, chopped nuts or minced herbs served with crackers make a pretty and interesting appetizer served with a glass of wine.

Here’s how I made the cheese. … read more