making life delicious blog
Polenta isn’t typically the first dish I think of for Thanksgiving dinner, but after tasting this baked polenta with the roasted butternut squash and smoked Gouda, I’ve changed my mind. This dish would make a delicious substitute for traditional stuffing and has a lovely rustic appearance. The combination of the roasted squash, smoked Gouda, and [...]
Wegmeyer Farms is off the beaten path, you might say. The last bit of road that goes out to the farm is definitely country with gravel, dirt, an old single lane bridge, and a number of deep ruts. But it’s a beautiful ride and well worth the trip to see their gorgeous hillside pumpkin field [...]
Are you ready for some football? I never played the game myself, but I did march with high school and college bands in football pregames, half times, and post games for 6 years. For me, the best part of football season was doing all the band stuff and having fun with friends before, during, and [...]
Autumn at Ticonderoga Farms means pumpkins, hayrides, and plenty of outdoor fun in their huge play area. Their pumpkin patch is a short walk from the entrance or the hayride will take you right there, though I recommend the hayride, which takes you around the bamboo maze and part of the Christmas tree forest. It’s [...]
Country Captain sounds like such an unusual name for a chicken dish, but once I learned the origins it made sense. A “country captain” was a captain of native troops paid by England in the colonial days, and it’s very likely that this dish or something very similar was introduced to England by a native [...]
It’s apple butter season! Ok, well, it’s apple season, and just like every year I find myself craving apple butter, apple pie, apple dumplings, apples in salads, apple cakes, apple cider, I could go on for a while. I like Empires, Honeycrisp, Cortland, and Fuji for eating out of hand, and usually bake with Granny [...]
After the feasting on Thanksgiving Day comes the leftovers, which we look forward to as much as the feasting day itself. We usually have plenty of turkey and cranberry sauce leftover, as well as some stuffing and gravy. One of my family’s favorite ways to eat leftover turkey is to lay slices on hot toast [...]
As the big day approaches, our anticipation grows. For the first time since we moved to Northern Virginia, my whole family will be joining us for Thanksgiving, and we are thrilled that everyone is able to make the trip. When we were kids, our family would make a 22-hour nonstop drive from Kansas City back [...]
Monkey Boy has an incredible amount of energy, and he ran us all over the farm during our visit to a local pumpkin patch last week. The farm had cornstalks and pumpkins piled near the entrance and he spent a few minutes touching them all and explaining which one he liked. After the hayride we [...]
If the weather forecast is correct, then we need to shake a leg and finish harvesting the garden before frost on Friday night. And I need to get the garlic planted, a task that I put off after an old back injury reared its ugly head last month, leaving me lying in the floor with [...]
It's spring in the U.S. and the following foods may be in season in your area:
artichokes, fennel, fiddleheads, radishes, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, cresses, spinach, spring lettuces, chard, cabbages, chives, cilantro, collards, tatsoi, mustard greens, spring onions, asparagus, rosemary, wild garlic, ramps, strawberries, blueberries, cherries
Eat fresh seasonal produce to stay healthy and help your food budget.Learn more about seasonal and sustainable cooking at Sustainable Table - In the Kitchen.
