Last Sunday a small pine grove in Hingham erupted in picnic tables covered with food and hundreds of people. The little-known annual celebration was the 51st local Festa della Madonna della Luce – the Feast of the Mother of Light. It takes place every year on the late August … [Read more...]
"Something happened, you ate"
I can't think of anything more quintessentially sweet than a cookie. Not sweet as in sugar, although of course cookies are sweet in that way too. It's their personality that I'm referring to -- think about it: In the holy trinity of desserts, pie is good, friendly, filling, and … [Read more...]
The Greatness of Greens
A long time ago I saw an episode of Julie Child's TV show that I never forgot although I don't remember it that well either. What I got from it, though, that I've never forgotten was that Julia put a lot of time and many ingredients into what ended up being about a half pint of … [Read more...]
Garlic’s Little Brother
For the past ten days, I've been tracking the scape harvest across the microclimates of Massachusetts and can announce with surety that the time is now: Scapes are out there in the gardens, farms, and markets of Boston's South Shore this week. Do you know scapes? Or garlic … [Read more...]
Artisanal Coffee Roasting
As Bob Weeks offers me a cup of coffee made with a stock of organic Ethiopian beans he'd roasted the day before, I can't wait to see how he's going to prepare it. His kitchen is outfitted with choice coffee-making hardware, including a restaurant-caliber espresso machine and a … [Read more...]
A Promise of Dinners to Come
In Italy, where my mother's family is from, almost every place where there's even a bit of dirt, people have vegetables growing. Small spots and of course enormous fields. But it's the small spots I like. I like them because I imagine that regular people do the planting in a … [Read more...]
