I last used this space to recommended that you take a second look at the not-quite perfect fruits hiding behind and beneath farmers’ market tables. If you already have a favorite peach recipe, then I’m sure I didn’t have to tell you twice—and if you chose to snatch up an armload of peaches you already know what to do with them. But if, instead, you chose to blindly follow my advice (thank you!) without any idea of what to do with the fruit you’ve started stashing away in your freezer...well, I feel honor-bound to offer a suggestion. Long-time readers may recall my aversion to the fussiness of…

Next time you go to a farmers’ market, take a careful look around. Not just at everything on the tables—look under the tables as well. You may find bundles of corn waiting to be unpacked, a fellow shopper’s bags laden with produce from another stand, even a guide dog stoically resisting the temptation to snatch up the morsels rolling around under his nose. You may also find a few sad-looking peaches or tomatoes rolling around in a cardboard box. The box grows stickier by the minute as juices seep out of the bruised fruit, and by late afternoon it will be filled with table rejects: victims of …

Just over a week ago, I spied this year’s first bin of freshly dug potatoes at the Brookline farmers market. Completely disregarding what any onlookers (or farmers) might think of me, I cheered and did a little dance. Yes, over potatoes. We often think of potatoes in terms of hearty comfort food: golden home fries alongside scrambled eggs and sausage, baked potatoes piled high with onions and sour cream, flavorful morsels lending body to beef stew, crispy salted french fries, aromatic roasted tubers with perfectly browned edges. And I admit that by winter’s end I am usually ready to declare …

Summer is prime growing season—but for many of us, it is prime travel season as well. A couple of times each year, I face the challenge of what to do about our local CSA veggies when we, ourselves, will be anything but local. We could always suspend delivery while we’re away, but the problem is not with the box that arrives that week—it’s easy enough to find a neighbor to pick up our share and leave it at our door the next day in exchange for a few of the goodies inside. No, the problem was with the share we picked up on our last day in town: a veritable mountain of green leaves—lettuce, …

Brookline could hardly be considered a food desert, but my diet has been terrible ever since Enterprise’s East Coast farmshare ended in early May. Without that weekly box of produce to tackle, I have found it increasingly difficult keep up with eating “real” foods. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a few nights of macaroni and cheese....or Chinese takeout...or soup from a box...but a few weeks worth of nights like that is another story. Yes, a five-minute drive to Whole Foods (or a slightly longer trek to Russo’s, but I am nothing if not exceedingly lazy) would put me within reach of …

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a dear childhood friend for Sunday brunch. True to style, I spent the night before ignoring toys and books scattered around the living room (and dust bunnies gathered under the couch), choosing instead to fuss over the menu: a frittata infused with saffron dotted with scallion; good olive oil and za’atar drizzled over a mound of labne; garlicky wilted greens brightened with a splash of lemon juice. And freshly squeezed orange juice—for mimosas. With all those flavors, I could have just set out some good bread and called it done. But fresh pita would be …

It has not been a brutal winter, and over the past few days I could almost believe that spring is here. Still, it feels like every run of pleasant weather this season has ended abruptly in a cold snap or burst of snow—a harsh reminder that this is, after all, winter in New England. Unusually mild February temperatures coaxed the first shoots from the ground last week, only for March to defiantly assert her winter affiliation by adorning the emergent plants with a layer of snow. The brave tulips and crocuses speared their green heads up through the glittering white coating, dotting the …

It has been 15 months since my family and I received our first farmshare, and overall we enjoy eating with the seasons. But there always seems to be one fruit or vegetable that never stops coming. We managed to deal with a glut of apples this fall, and I already wish we had more apple butter waiting in the freezer. Now it appears that Enterprise is the conduit for an endless supply of local, deep-storage carrots. Before we’ve even made a dent in one week’s carrot haul, another pound (or two) arrives. Don’t get me wrong: I love carrots. But I can’t nibble a carrot for a snack—I’m allergic to …

Brownies rest at the intersection of minimal effort and maximum chocolate intensity. (What? You thought I would let Valentine’s Day go by without a mention of chocolate?) Last year I shared what I think of as the perfect brownie recipe. It should be the ideal all-occasion dessert... but it’s not. Dairy-free cooking is not just for people with milk allergies or the lactose intolerant. I keep a kosher home, which means that among other things we must separate dairy and meat at all times. So as much as I enjoyed that lovely roasted chicken dinner I just made, I cannot finish it off with one of …

January is drawing to a close, and the Super Bowl is nearly upon us. Whether you watch for the football or for the commercials, whether you’re pulling for the Pats or your heart lies with the Giants (I won’t reveal my own loyalties), one thing is for certain: You need to eat. Super Bowl Sunday is widely understood to be the second-highest day of food consumption in the United States, topped only by Thanksgiving. Popcorn, pretzels and party mixes fly off the shelves, and pizza orders skyrocket. I am hardly the world’s foremost authority on buffalo wings, though I know enough to remind you to …

While I don’t think my kids or I will ever tire of biting into a juicy, red Empire apple or spreading chocolate hazelnut butter on slices of Honeycrisp, none of us is wild about the McIntosh. The Mac has been a popular apple choice in this country since its introduction 200 years ago, but I find the flesh too soft to enjoy eating out of hand and the slices too yielding to hold up to a heavy nut butter. Still, at this time of year, I should not have been surprised when our Enterprise farmshare included a four-pound bag of McIntosh EcoApples. A few Macs met their fate diced into a green salad, …

Last winter, whenever I saw green peppers in our Enterprise farmshare box, I knew there were a few more coming to me the next morning, when my friend Adina would hand me a small bag at preschool drop-off. Enterprise included the peppers regularly in our winter CSAs (community-supported agriculture), in part because these underripe peppers travel well with minimal cushioning and can last about two weeks after harvest. They are also packed with Vitamin C, a welcome dietary supplement during cold and flu season. Hardiness and nutrition is not everything, though, and Adina and her husband are in …

As a child, I enjoyed baking cookies and cakes with my mom, but everything we made came from a mix. Fragrant, oozy cinnamon buns were the first thing I learned to bake from scratch. After making these sweet pastries in seventh grade home economics, I was pleasantly shocked to discover how easy “real” baking can be. For months thereafter, I delighted in whipping up a batch at home whenever the mood struck. I felt incredibly accomplished, though my parents probably did not appreciate my taking over the kitchen—or the sticky mess I left behind. Today I enjoy baking with my own children, showing …

Nearly every family has at least one kitchen secret. Maybe Mom and Dad ordered takeout seven nights a week, but the trick was knowing what to order where and when. More likely, there was a sacred recipe for rice pudding, or chana dal, or stuffed cabbage. The little variations in ingredients and technique are what make your grandmother’s chicken soup uniquely hers—and are also what lead to lively spousal debates about whose grandmother had it right. Any attempt to replicate the one of these dishes without years of careful observation is often doomed to failure, because the many of the recipes …

Thanksgiving is less than one week away, and it seems like every website is bursting with advice: how to coordinate serving half a dozen dishes at once; what to serve the token vegetarian; and the best technique for roasting a whole turkey. Let me save you the trouble of reading the entire Internet: most side dishes can be made one to three days ahead and warmed in a 325-degree oven while the turkey rests; keep your side dishes meat-free and include at least one with lentils or other legumes; and there’s no great way to cook a whole turkey—either defer to the different needs of dark meat and …

Autumn is here in full force, with weather blustery enough to pique our desire for hearty comfort foods—but still warm enough to warrant spending the afternoon in the park rather than the kitchen. This is the time of year when my slow-cooker, after a long summer of neglect, reclaims its prominent location next to the stove. Though it is useful year-round for cooking up a batch of dried beans without heating up the kitchen, in the fall my five-quart Rival Crock-Pot seems to be made only for soup. On a pleasant but chilly October day, when I knew we would return from the playground in search of…

Beets are a polarizing food: most people either love their deep, earthy sweetness or else reject them outright, claiming that they “taste like dirt.” I am in the former camp, savoring every hue of beetroot in almost every preparation ranging from salty to sweet to sour. And I have slowly come to accept that no umeboshi vinegar will redeem beets for those who taste only dirt—my husband included. However, beetroots appear frequently in our fall and winter farmshare, and they are also rather inconveniently attached to the beet greens that husband actually enjoys. Since I can eat only so many …

One year ago tomorrow, with the first installment of The Bounty Hunter, I embarked on a personal challenge to modify my family’s food practices. After all, how could I write about “eating seasonally, locally and mindfully” while filling my grocery cart with shrink-wrapped tomatoes in the middle of winter—even if they were organic? We plunged headlong into year-round CSAs, hoping that the weekly boxes would help me sidestep most supermarket dilemmas. I resolved to engage in urban agriculture and support local commerce, to cook in rhythm with nature, embrace abundance and appreciate rare …

As summer ebbs into fall, our lazy days and late evenings give way to mornings at school and earlier bedtimes. While many of us—my own family included—dream of having everyone sit down to dinner together each night, reality often has other plans. My husband’s work schedule and long commute mean that, on most weeknights, our children will need to eat dinner before he can be home. Sometimes I proceed with a regular family dinner plan, sitting down to eat with the kids and knowing that my husband will help himself to our leftovers later that night. But sometimes I like to take advantage of the …

Dessert can be a challenge for all but the most casual dinner parties. After the varied textures and colors of the main course—a true ensemble presentation—the finale should look appealing as well, even if it is a solo performance. Of course nobody would turn down a plate of fudgy brownies or a pan of apple crisp that grows more shapeless as each scoop is served. But it is worth the effort to put together a dessert that is a pleasure to the eye as well as the palate. A carefully constructed tart makes an ideal attractive dessert, with all the work done well in advance. My recent favorite …