spring

Strawberry Festival

May 12, 2013

Every year on the first weekend in June, my dad would take my sister and me to the Strawberry Festival. This was in the ’70s, in the wilds of central New Jersey. Well, technically it was suburban New Jersey, just up the hill from our house and down the road from the Dairy Queen. But [...]

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Laundry Is Forever, Fava Beans Are For Now

April 16, 2012

It’s fava bean season, and I’ve just returned from picking a basketful of fat green pods from my lovingly tended terraced and trellised hilltop garden, with its fairy tale view overlooking that quaint medieval village… and…CUT! The truth is, I feel a little disingenuous writing about fava beans. I don’t have any growing in my [...]

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Peas…with a little news tossed in

May 20, 2011

When my kids were little, I used to make them shell the peas I brought home from the farmers’ market. This accomplished several things: It kept their little hands busy, and it freed mine for other tasks. Also, it made them participants in the preparation of dinner, which I liked. My son, the oldest, used [...]

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In Season: Asparagus

April 27, 2011

On a recent Sunday I hit the Dupont Circle FreshFarm Market, where I found asparagus and…asparagus and…more asparagus. OK—I’m exaggerating a little; I also bought a bunch of baby turnips and some rosy radishes, and there were tender salad greens, too, but it was pretty clear who the star of the show is right now. [...]

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