We plant and some years the yield is a cup. This year, the yield is truly a bumper crop. After 15 years of growing garlic, this year’s garlic crop is the best ever. I’ve canned jar-after-jar of currant jelly. And we are overrun by potatoes. We are eating potatoes every single day; luckily, there are […]

Are there any puns in chocolate-pistachio shortbread? If anyone can come up with a play on words, it’s Ruth Sparrow, the Kitchen Conservatory director of puns and clever titles. Ruth schedules the cooking classes and writes our quarterly newsletter while dreaming up titles like “Honey, I Blue Up the Kitchen”, “Just Dough It”, and “Peach […]

Our field of garlic is ready to harvest, about a week early. Why am I digging garlic on the hottest day of the summer? Because the garlic said so. The leaves have yellowed and died. If the garlic stays in the ground, the heads will break apart in the dirt. Stop by Kitchen Conservatory to […]

When is a macaroon not a macaroon? When it’s a macaron! Americans associate the egg-white-based macaroons with coconut, but the French bake deliciously tender-crisp cookies with ground almonds. French macarons are totally delicious. Stop by Kitchen Conservatory this week and taste a true macaroon. This delicious treat deserves to be made with the highest-quality ingredients. Valrhona bittersweet chocolate […]

Since 2005, Barb Nack has efficiently managed the cooking school at Kitchen Conservatory as we have grown from 450 classes to 700 cooking classes each year. Barb has also specialized in teaching girls’ night out classes (especially on chocolaty desserts), dynamic participation classes for couples (especially with shellfish menus), and the introductory Basics of Cooking and Prep […]

Our field of garlic (1,200 heads) is about two weeks away from harvest. The stalks look thick and healthy. We are so impatient for this year’s crop that we dug one plant just to see how it looks…what a voluptuous beauty! Our freshly dug homegrown garlic will be available at Kitchen Conservatory for purchase on July […]

Yesterday, we dug and ate our first home-grown potatoes of the year (pictured). Last night, I taught a cooking class on how to make potato gnocchi. Several students took the class because of their previous gnocchi-making failures. We discussed how much flour to add to the potato and how to knead the dough. Then Heidi […]

Food is divided into several groups: protein, grains, vegetables, fruits. And then there is bacon, which is in its own food group, called Addictive Food. Bacon is sweet, salty, and crunchy, which means we want to eat it at any time of day. If a piece of bacon is left on a tray, it will be […]

The New York Times in today’s food section gives a shout-out to our favorite peppermill, the Peppermate. This pepper grinder is fully adjustable, easy to fill, and the large handle is easy to turn to get a volume of freshly-ground pepper. The mill is available in either white or black (I use the white mill for white […]