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All Things Food

 
Posts in My Columns
Everything Blueberry!

I went blueberry picking this morning with my former student now friend, Kim. She and I realized today that we’ve certainly been picking blueberries together for at least a decade! We were able to meet at her family’s property at 8am with half of the bushes still in the shade as the heat has been oppressive lately.

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A Seasonal Treat: Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Most of the time for my Berkshire Eagle column I like to offer recipes that are easy, approachable, and adaptable. But sometimes there is a dish so special that I really want to share! As long as they are available, I simply cannot resist cooking with zucchini blossoms. This recipe, which appeared in the paper this past week (link here), is the most elaborate, but I’ve also folded them into quesadillas, tossed them with pasta, and put them on pizza. Seek out those squash blossoms and give them a try!

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Summer Sides!

For many of us, long weekends in the summer mean cookouts with family and friends. Perhaps you already have your menus planned for this weekend, but if you’re still looking for a side, or something to bring to a potluck, this week I wrote a “centerpiece” for the Berkshire Eagle (link here), offering some ideas. Of course they need not only be summer sides – we make the coleslaw all the time year-round because it’s so quick and easy.

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Easy Pasta with Pantry Staples

Sometimes it surprises me when I get a lot of remarks about a column, as happened last week. I mostly try to write pieces that fit in with the season or what is going on in life these days, and when I was writing for last week’s Berkshire Eagle (link here), I was just so overwhelmingly busy that I decided to write about this easy recipe. My parents loved to make this pasta dish when they would get home late because they always had a can of beans, a can of tuna, pasta, and a lemon in the house. I like to add capers which I buy in a large jar so they are truly a staple in my kitchen, but the recipe is fine without.

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Salad Daze

I still have the small square of paper on which I jotted down my dad’s blue cheese dressing recipe. And I still miss him. Of course, I miss him for many reasons, but up there on the list is that he was very much the foodie, and first taught me how to “doctor” pasta sauce from a jar. (I now make my own tomato sauce, but it’s a special memory.)

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A ‘Flare’ for the Dramatic

I have a very long wooden spoon that I only take out when I make this recipe. It’s so long that it gets tucked away sideways in the back of a drawer, and it even is a bit charred near the scoop from all the times I’ve made this dish! But not to worry – I’ve included a non-flambéed version if you don’t really want to see flames leaping up from the pot as you stir the vodka-doused pasta! When I told Hank I want going to use this for a Berkshire Eagle column (link here), he insisted I also make a non-flambéed version. He was right about that, and also was very happy to have penne alla vodka twice as I worked on this piece!

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I May Not Be A Spring Chicken But...

This recipe appeared in the Berkshire Eagle before Passover (hence the flour in the recipe; click here for the link), but I got so wrapped up with Passover prep and enjoying family over the weekend, I totally forget to post it to my blog until this very moment!

It’s still pretty cold here in the Berkshires, but in an effort to feel like it’s spring we have been making asparagus with some frequency – and we always serve it for Passover. But it’s not going to feel like spring for real until I can forage for ramps, which will be soon, I hope!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Fresh Eggs

I very clearly remember the marketing slogan “The incredible edible egg!” And it’s true – there are so many things you can do with eggs, and if you can get fresh local eggs, you’re really in for a treat. While I know it’s not always so common to have leftover pasta (and it’s certainly not going to happen when my kids are home for a visit), if you ever can’t quite finish what you’re made for dinner, a pasta frittata makes a wonderful lunch the next day.

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Berkshire Eagle Column: Bear Season!

This was a fun and different sort of “centerpiece” column! Bears are coming out of hibernation around here, and my family has always had a lifelong love of anything with a bear. Once my father even received a mounted bear head when he left the US Attorney’s office!

Using a few local products that have “bear” as part of the name, I put together this piece. All of these can be made with substitutes if you’re not able to find the specific items mentioned here. And as I say, please do let me know if you find any other “bear” products!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: 🎶...and nosh some hamantaschen... 🎶

Although Purim has come and gone this year, these cookies are delicious any time! This column was published earlier than usual online this week – I first saw it Monday morning, whereas my columns usually don’t get posted online until late Tuesday – before the print version appeared on Wednesday. However, waiting three days before reposting here it means that it’s now after the holiday, so you can just be bold and enjoy them anytime, or set yourself a reminder for next year, which begins the evening of March 6th, 2023!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Winter Citrus

We’re in the winter doldrums. Besides the weather, it feels like we’re hardly doing anything as the gray skies just make me feel unmotivated. To brighten things up, I’ve been trying to enjoy the seasonal citrus we get from warmer parts of the country. Just eating a sweet juicy orange is a treat in itself, and I’ve also been using lemons, oranges, and grapefruit in my cooking. In addition to what’s here, I recently found a recipe for grapefruit and rosemary shortbread, two flavors that are so good together. I’m still thinking about the signature cocktail at Greta and Daniel’s wedding that used both grapefruit and rosemary!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Moussaka

On one occasion when I made this when Wilson was visiting – since I know it is one of his favorites – Hank commented on how good it was and asked why I’d never made it before. And then, the very next day, it popped up in my Facebook memories that I had made one year earlier, again for Wilson, when he was here for a visit! But I suppose this means I should make it more often!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Delicata Squash Stuffed with Orzo

Throughout culinary history and across cultures, people have used food as vessels in which to cook or serve other foods. One of my recent ideas used delicata squash to hold creamy orzo with sausage. It would be easy enough to make this vegetarian or vegan, but whatever you do, it is best to use a small pasta shape to get as much as possible into the squash “boats.” Click here for the link to the Berkshire Eagle column, or scroll down.

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Pasta with Grilled Swordfish and Corn

I am always looking for new ways to use the corn that I put in the freezer during the summer. I’ve posted about a variety of possibilities, which include ways to embellish sautéed frozen corn, corn chowder, and corn pudding, just to name a few. This most recent improvisation has already become a favorite in our house. Although we grill throughout the winter, if you don’t, you can just cook the swordfish in whatever way is easiest for you!

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My ColumnsElizabeth Baer
Berkshire Eagle Column: Edible Gifts

I am sure it’s no surprise that I love getting edible gifts! And two such gifts this month – pears and cheese –inspired the column that was in the Berkshire Eagle this past week. (Click here for link.) This savory bread pudding was such a success that I’m already thinking of other versions. Of course, I also loved putting some of the cheese I got as a gift on a juicy burger, and cutting it small pieces to put on a salad. With the pears, I also made a pear upside-down cake and a pear yogurt cake with chocolate chunks. For me these are gifts that bring many joys: the joy of cooking something interesting, of enjoying fantastic ingredients, and of sharing what I’ve made with family and friends.

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