Squash season is starting, and everyone I know is always looking for new ways to use the bounty. Everything old is new again though, so I pulled out this recipe. In recent years, I have seen an explosion of fancy squash salads on restaurant menus and on Pinterest. The trend seems to be thinly slicing the squash lengthwise to create long ribbons. It does make for a pretty salad. … [Read more...] about Marinated Summer Squash Salad
celery
Old Fashioned Chicken Salad with Cooked Dressing
I am a late in life lover of chicken salad. As a child, I had an aversion to this type of mixed up dish coated in dressing – I felt they were primarily tools my mom used to hide things I didn’t want to eat. I was always concerned that chicken salad or casseroles were stealthy ways to get me to eat my vegetables. But I got over that as an adult, in part because I reached a stage … [Read more...] about Old Fashioned Chicken Salad with Cooked Dressing
Cream of Celery Soup
Celery, for many years, was a mystery to me. I know it adds the important base flavors to a million dishes, so I sauté it up with the green bell pepper, onion and celery trinity of Cajun cooking, and with carrots and onions in the soffrito of Italian and Spanish food and the mirepoix of the French. But I never really liked it on its own. Probably because the only experience I … [Read more...] about Cream of Celery Soup
Hachis Parmentier (French Cottage Pie)
My introduction to this French country dish was, oddly, in London. And the first time I had it, I had never heard of it. Since my graduate school days, I have made an annual pilgrimage to London, extending the trip each year, to spend enough time to settle in and not feel rushed or overwhelmed. Sure, I go to museums and historical sights and see friends, but my main focus, … [Read more...] about Hachis Parmentier (French Cottage Pie)
Homemade Bloody Mary Mix (with canning instructions)
When tomatoes are is season, or growing on my vines if I’m lucky, I preserve them in any way I can think of. I make sauce, tomato soup base and just plain old puree and stack them up in ziptop bags in the freezer. Sometimes I can whole tomatoes, but now I’ve learned you can freeze them whole for later cooking. This year, I’ve been looking for a new and … [Read more...] about Homemade Bloody Mary Mix (with canning instructions)
