Recipes & Blog

When is the Right Time for Pumpkin Spice? I love pumpkin spice whether it's in a latte, pie, donuts, cake, ice cream and even in cream cheese smeared on a well toasted bagel. But I just can't bring myself to consume this flavor before it starts to get cooler. I'm to busy trying to enjoy the last of the fresh tomotoes, corn and the like. Just like Christmas, many big-name stores start pushing pumpkin spice well before the season. I swear the coffee chain from Seattle, which will remain nameless, started offering it's pumpkin spice latte in July!  Summers in...

If you are like me, over the past number of days you have been watching all the happenings in England related to Queen Elizabeth’s death including the Queen’s funeral yesterday. England does pomp and pageantry like no other country. And the display of this did not disappoint yesterday. The funeral was certainly fit for a Queen that devoted her entire life to service and country. From seemingly perfect execution to an emotional King Charles to the tearful end when the Queen's piper played, while walking slowly away and alone down a hall while her coffin was lowered slowly into the...

A few years ago, Matt and I took a trip to Greece. It was filled with natural beauty, history and of course, lots of food and olive oil. We visited Crete and Santorini and then went on to Athens where we spent our last 5 nights. In the middle of our Athens stay, we made the last-minute decision to do an overnight in Istanbul. We took a short flight from Athens early one morning and set off for a “24-hour taste” of Turkey. In the end, what the entire trip did was make us realize going back to Greece (and...

You will never miss the mayonnaise when you try this delicious French Herbed Potato Salad. Why do I call it French? Well, it uses two types of Dijon Mustard, Champagne Vinegar and three classic French herbs... tarragon, thyme and parsley and no mayonnaise or egg like American Style Potato Salad. If you don't like the herbs used in the recipe, use ones you do like. If you only have smooth style Dijon Mustard, use more of that type, and omit the grainy Dijon (but the grainy one does make it even better!). If you are an olive fan, it is...

Our Best Tomato Salad (Easy) Serves 6-8 This recipe has been an easy summer staple with my family since the 1960s. The recipe came from my Grandma Rose's Friend Sadie Calabrese, years before.  Growing up, my Mom often had this on our Summertime dinner table, served with tomatoes from her and my Dad's garden. This is a very healthy and simple tomato salad, but packs a delicious flavor punch. The key to this tomato salad is using fresh tomatoes, not skimping on the amount of herbs, garlic, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Red Wine Vinegar & giving the salad time to...

Fresh summer vegetables are so much better than the weeks old almost tasteless versions we find at grocery stores once local gardens and farms have stop producing for the season.  Facing the long, cold winter in New England it is always a treat to take out of the freezer corn, green beans, peas and the like that have been squirreled away during June, July & August. Although not technically "fresh", they are still so delicious and make winter just a bit more bearable. If only for the time it takes to savor every last fork full. Green peppers and other...