Plants Posts
Rib of the Week: Ruby Lacquered Pork Ribs
Ah, pork. It goes so well with so many things—including fruit. So, as I was eyeing the package of pork spare ribs in my fridge last night, I noticed I had leftover raspberry sauce from the Rustic Raspberry Vodka-tini I made the other night. It’s basically fresh raspberries, sugar, and a little liquor. You can [...]
Rustic Raspberry Vodka-tini
Does the world really need another flavored “martini” that’s made with vodka, not gin? Absolutely. Indulge me. I have a penchant for smooshing up fresh fruit with vodka and gleefully declaring Happy Hour. Be careful. This cocktail is potent—and almost too easy to drink. It’s deliciously jammy and clouded with unfiltered raspberry juice. It’s really [...]
Herb Roasted Chicken Legs with Root Vegetables
I know that fall is officially on its way when I start to roast chicken. Even though I bake pretty consistently year round, I’d never dream of roasting a chicken in the summer. For some reason, that’s a cold-weather ritual, at least for me. This roasted chicken/veggie combination makes a great, rustic autumn dinner. The [...]
Hey, You: Save the Mint! And Make It Schnappy!
This week, I started to think about one of my dreaded end-of-summer chores: cleaning up the garden. Aside from all the weeding, pruning, and plucking, I needed to figure out what I’m doing with all my mint. Our front garden is positively overrun with a few different kinds—from traditional peppermint, to run-of-the-mill spearmint and the [...]
Peachberry Ice Cream Drizzle
I love vanilla ice cream. It’s kind of boring, but it’s true. I love Haagen-Dazs. I love Brighams. I love almost everything in between. Give me a Hoodsie cup on a hot afternoon or a dish of plain French vanilla, any brand, in the evening, and I’m a very happy mouse. Vanilla ice cream is [...]
Blueberry Cake-ettes
This recipe is a happy accident. I was planning on making my Coconut Bomb cookies this afternoon, and realized a little too late that I was out of, well, coconut. I had a container of fresh blueberries in the fridge, so I changed a few things and tossed them in instead. And man, am I [...]
Smoky Corn Chowder
This soup is gloriously rich and bursting with chunks of sweet corn and potato. It gets its smokiness from bacon and chipotle pepper. The pepper’s heat is tempered nicely by the creamy broth. If you’re serving it with a meal and not as a main course, I recommend dishing it out in cups instead of [...]
Sweet & Sunny Lemon Drop Liquor
Apparently, this weekend is cocktail weekend. Contrary to yesterday’s Bee’s Kiss, though, my Lemon Drop liquor is light and refreshing. It’s a great late-summer-lazy-day-sitting-in-the-yard-waiting-for-the-barbecue-to-be-done kind of drink. If you start a bottle early this week, it’ll be ready in plenty of time for your Labor Day festivities. I love lemonade, so I guess it’s no [...]
Sesame Garlic Snap Pea Salad
I’ve had a lot of requests for this lately when we have a barbecue. The crisp beans are a refreshing balance for smoky, spicy pork ribs or a perfectly charred sirloin. The toasty sesame dressing gets its sweetness from a drizzle of seasoned rice wine vinegar—and of course, from the peas themselves. Turkish Aleppo chili [...]
Fiery Tomato Salad
So it finally stopped raining in Boston. While the rain’s been bad for just about everyone and everything lately, my veggies have been loving it. I have more peppers and tomatoes than I know what to do with. Here’s a quick and easy chopped salad that goes really well with a grilled steak and a [...]
