Summer

When one of your best friends from college has spent most of her life in the intervening years in various countries halfway around the globe, the bad part is that you hardly ever get to see her. The silver lining (other than the part where she pretty much gets to live her dream) is that when …

I tend to think of rhubarb as a fruit, even though, botanically, it’s a vegetable. I make the traditional crisps and crumbles and jams and pies with it. I usually toss it with sugar and cook it until it slumps into a puddle of its own juices (like in this rhubarb crumble or these strawberry …

With the normal thrum of busy lives it can be tough to take time to make a real meal with fresh ingredients. But I hate to miss out on the late summer produce that’s so plentiful this time of year. I especially hate to miss out on in-season tomatoes. They don’t even have to be …

In the summer, I love rustic fruit-filled baked goods. I’ve eaten my share of crisps and crumbles and cobblers, but until recently, I was unfamiliar with the buckle. Buckles are crisps’ and crumbles’ cakier cousin. A buckle is similar to a torte or a coffee cake that’s been loaded up with fresh seasonal fruit. The …

I have a confession to make. I’m not really into the whole mint and chocolate combination. I’ve never disliked it, exactly, but it’s never been one of those things I crave. Mint chocolate chip has always been my father’s favorite flavor of ice cream, but ever since I was a kid, I could take it …

For a long time, I didn’t know what passion fruit tasted like. I associated it vaguely with tropical juice blends and  artificial fragrances in things like air fresheners and girly shampoos. For some reason, I assumed it was syrupy sweet and generally unappealing. Man was I wrong. Real passion fruit is tart and fragrant, almost …