Plants Posts
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 [...]
A Photo Tour: Boston’s Legendary Haymarket
It’s way too hot out. The Lady Otter and I are wading through a crowd, weaving under awnings and past overflowing stalls. It’s like a cross between a narrow Tokyo market street and the New York Stock Exchange. It’s dirty and loud. People are yelling. At each other. At the crowd. At us. Customers are [...]
Coconut Cake for Old Man Richard
The first time I made this cake, we were up visiting an old friend who rents a cottage every summer up in Gloucester, Mass. We spent the greater part of the evening out on the deck, catching up and listening to the waves wash up on the rocks. The drinks were cold. The dogs were [...]
Buttery Greek Apple Tart
Fall is coming. Boston’s been on the cold side. The stores are starting to fill up with back-to-school supplies. This means one thing to me: Apple-picking season is on its way. And I couldn’t be happier. I have a handful of apple recipes I love. Here’s one of my favorites. It’s amazingly simple to make—and [...]
