Apropos of the fall weather and the approaching holidays, I thought I’d share my secret pie crust recipe. Good for any and all types of pies—single crust, double crust, lattice, you name it.
There are a bazillion pie-crust recipes out there. So why is this perhaps the best? Because it uses science to help get the best flake and the best taste.
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 stick cold unsalted butter
8 oz shortening
1/4 cup … Read More
If you’re a gardener and you don’t know about the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog, you should. The catalog always comes in early December, and I always find a few new plants and veggies to try. The diversity and uniqueness of their offerings is fantastic. I dare you to not find something you can’t wait to add to your garden.
I consider this my Christmas present to myself. And now I hope it becomes a Christmas present you give … Read More
I love my Concord grapes. I love the way they look as a live privacy screen on my fence. I love getting to eat them off the vine in the fall.
So when I had to severely prune them back last fall in order to make repairs to my fence, I worried that I might have killed them. Over-pruning can really impact grape production.
You can see the hatchet job I did on this poor … Read More
Happy days are here again! Nothing blows off the winter doldrums like getting my Bakers Creek Heirloom Seed Catalog. Because I grow organically and save my own seeds, I especially love these guys.
They offer one of the largest selections of 19th-century heirloom seeds from Europe and Asia. So if you’re looking for something out of the ordinary—and sustainable, look no further.
From their website: At Baker Creek, our mission is to provide the seeds of a sustainable food … Read More
It’s mid-September and, by the looks of it, my summer garden has been a huge success and looks to be still going strong.
In one way it has been. Just not in the way I would have wished. Because of all the rain we’ve had this summer, I got lots and lots of foliage. But not so much in the way of actual veggies.
While “lush” is pretty, you can’t eat it.… Read More
There’s a trick to getting not-soggy, not chewy, but perfectly CRISP kale chips every time. And I’m going to share 2 of my secrets to ensure your success. But first the recipe!
1. Start with a bunch or two of kale and rinse well. (As it so happens, I have several bunches from the garden that need using.)
2. Use a salad spinner to dry well. [SECRET #1: You need to start with very dry kale pieces—moisture contributes to sogginess.]… Read More
Ok, between covid cabin fever and winter snowstorms, I am SO over it. To keep myself sane, I’m thinking green!
As in this kind of green. I’m dreaming and planning for my summer gardens.
Over the years, my gardens have shrunk in size for lack of time to keep up with them.
I started going back to raised beds this past summer. For now, this is the perfect, manageable size.
But I’m thinking of going one step further. I’ve been … Read More
While this year has seen some damages to some of my fruit trees–I lost all my plum trees and one cherry tree–I continue to get a bumper crop of Asian Pears.
My three trees are bearing so many pears this year that I had to pick at least half before they were fully ripe to prevent the branches from breaking from the weight. Even with that, I lost one limb in a windstorm.
So what do you do with the … Read More
