(with a wave to William Carlos Williams)

Thank you for the peach pie

red gold, gooey, thick and crusty:

peaches carried heaped in a basket

up the hill from the tree we planted

seven years ago, watched over,

pruned, debugged, (harvested

one rock of a peach that first year)

and now its branches bent to the ground

on the uphill side, their burden of fuzzy

softening fruit almost more joy

than they can bear. Read on… »

There’s a reason, of course, that stone fruits and almonds are such a natural match, flavorwise–the pits of peaches, nectarines and apricots contain a kernel that is called the “poor man’s almond” because it tastes almondy, if a bit bitter. The kernel also contains cyanide (it sucks to be poor). It’s also what amaretto liqueur and those delicious little amaretti cookies are flavored with, as the cyanide apparently dissipates when the pits are roasted or processed. (Booze and cookies, the poor man’s salve.)

This cakey cobbler, or cobblery cake, pairs almonds and summer fruits with delicious results. It’s a very light dessert, perfect for a summer brunch or breakfast. I enjoy it straight, but you can gussy it up with Greek yogurt or a dollop of sweetened sour cream or mascarpone. Read on… »

Summer is my favorite food season. I know, I know–I just said that spring was my favorite. But I was just caught up in the lamb and peas and fava beans. I’ve also repeatedly claimed the fall as my favorite–all that squash, and pie!–and winter, since I love pot roast and potatoes. But in summer, we grow our own bounty chez moi, and there’s just nothing can beat that.

One of our annual harvests is the olallieberry, which winds delicately around our patio and every year gives us just enough berries to top our cereal or desserts. (An almond-milk blancmange I recently concocted was a natural fit.) I was first introduced to olallieberries when I was a kid and spent summers in Santa Cruz. We made a pilgrimage most Julys to Phipps Farm in Pescadero, CA, where we ate and picked our way through the day, and then went home purple-faced to stuff our freezer full of berries for the year to come. Read on… »

Most of my Christmas presents this year were bottles of limoncello, a delicious lemony liqueur that originated on the Italian island of Capri. One surmises that they have bumper crops of lemons each winter, much as we do here in Southern California. Aside from being an incredibly tasty quaff (particularly once the hot weather hits), this is a fabulously thrifty gift: I reused lemonade and vinegar bottles with resealable caps, and since the liqueur is made only with peels, you still have all that lovely juice to make into lemon curd (as my mom did for her gifts), or to freeze in small blocks to be used once citrus season wanes.

I made my limoncello 100% organic by using Rain vodka (which is only 80 proof, but has a wallet-friendly pricepoint and notable smoothness) and organic sugar (which gave it that mellow earthy color, as opposed to the almost neon yellow that processed sugar allows). And of course, organic lemons from my dad’s bounteous tree.

It’s a perfect warm-weather aperitivo (pre-dinner drink) or digestivo (after-dinner drink); due to its sweetness, I would emphasize the latter. But mixed with soda water, this makes a refreshing grown-up soda, very much akin to San Pellegrino Limonata–with a kick. Read on… »

This old-fashioned stack cake made with dried apples, molasses, and spices is a traditional centerpiece of the Appalachian Thanksgiving table.

Ingredients

1 pound dried apples
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon Read on… »