Different Drumsticks
… and other dishes that beat out the usual prospects on a holiday weekend that kicks off the good ol’ summertime.
Honest ABE
All hail asparagus, which at the farms where it’s cultivated often is the first major vegetable to reach harvest in spring. McCormack Farms picked its first round on Wednesday and it sold faster than Taylor Swift concert tickets.
Rabes to the Rescue
Bridging the traditional leanest-season produce gap are lesser-known but decidedly not less-flavorful greens: kale rabe, spring rabe and arugula rabe.
Cinnamon Stick Tea
… and other flu-soaked sob stories from the leanest time of the year for a diehard Jersey-grown freshest-food addict.
New Year’s Eve: Dining In
Dinner-and-a-movie – a celebration at home, where slippers-and-a-fuzzy-sweater are in style, and food can be equal parts festive and flavorful without engaging in too much fuss. Own your farewell to 2022 by shopping smart and mastering the art of the put-together.
Fishing for Ideas
Hosting or contributing to a traditional Feast of Seven Fishes this Christmas Eve? Planning a seafood fest during these holiday weeks or sometime in early 2023? The team at Sweet Amalia’s has a blueprint for success mapped out and ready to inspire.
Doughnut Royalty
Hanukkah’s crowning confection takes center stage at Erie Coffeeshop & Bakery in Rutherford, as chef-owner Renee Faris and her team mark the holiday with a special bake of sufganiyot.
Jarring Experiences
Minimal effort brings maximum appeal and top-notch eating when fun fare comes wrapped to please. Ella sees making edible gifts to present in glass jars as a most fulfilling task.
10 No-Fuss Thanksgiving Dishes
When you don’t have time to preserve anything other than your own sanity, do what you must do and cut back. It’s OK. Very OK. Think of it as starting a new cherished tradition.
Peak Interest
The smartest shoppers know the time is now to hit our Garden State farmers’ markets. The selection is sizable, the quality and community can’t be beat, and the camaraderie the kind of contagious we actually appreciate. Buy as local as local gets this holiday season, and make a resolution to continue that practice in the new year.
The Littlest Pears
Take all the time you need to pick yourself a peck of pears. You’ll make up for it in the speedy baking and no-fuss serving.
Power to the Pumpkin
Get to the heart – or, rather, the guts – of the matter and follow Ella’s lead: Cook more pumpkins this month than you decorate. You’ll find it’s fun to carve them, but even better to fashion into dinner.