Archives: October 2009

July Food for Thought: Stalking the Wild Blueberry

Take a walk in the woods for a tantalizing snack or a sophisticated condiment Over 20 years ago I remember hiking in northern New Hampshire just outside of Errol and stumbling upon the famous wild blueberry bushes that decorate the landscape. These tasty little treats are indigenous to Maine and Canada, and are usually called wild Maine blueberries. But I…

June Food for Thought: Limes or Lemons? Ask Your Pocketbook

Lemon prices are rising along with gas prices. Here’s an easy guide to switch over to the more reasonably priced lime. Move over lemons – limes are getting a second look. Cooks all over are finding more interesting ways to use limes, especially now that lemon prices have gone up. The other day at the supermarket I saw lemons priced…

May Food for Thought: Brandied Nut Cream

This recipe for brandied nut cream is one of my all time favorites. The combination of peanut butter and brandy sounds a bit odd but they really do taste so good together. Other flavor combinations that have worked well, but sounded questionable, are strawberries and crushed pink peppercorns or maybe ice cream flavored with balsamic vinegar or chocolate combined with…

April Food for Thought

J-E-L-L-O can be made at home along with simple cookies to re-imagine your childhood, but even more tastefully. Several recipes come to mind when I start reminiscing. Shortbread cookies were all the rage for years until butter had to take a back seat to margarine and shortening. Like I said several months ago, butter is back, and so is the…

March Food for Thought: March Maple Madness

It’s a Yankee tradition. You just need clean snow and a good supply of March gold. Does anyone eat sugar-on-snow anymore? I must say the first time I had the opportunity to sample sugar-on-snow I just didn’t get it. Eating a candy-like confection (made by pouring boiling hot, extra thick maple syrup over powdery snow) served with dill pickles and…

February Food for Thought: Spoon Up the Sauce

Dulce de Leche, cajeta, majar or milk jam – this sweet sauce made from caramelized milk is a treat in any language. Milk jam or milk candy just doesn’t sound as fancy or intriguing as confiture de lait from the Normandy region in France or dulce de leche from Latin America or cajeta from Mexico or manjar from Chile. But…

January Food for Thought: The Comfort of Home Cooked Food

Chocolate pudding is a great nostalgic dessert at home or finish at the finest restaurants. Chilled chocolate pudding isn’t just for snack time anymore. It belongs on menus in the finest of restaurants if it’s made with passion and quality ingredients. Most of us grew up eating chocolate pudding made from a box and it was the consistency that everyone…

The Outsider November: Get the Habit

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. In the case of becoming a runner it took me over 30 years … and then 21 days. I ran track in high school, avoided running in college (with only the occasional mad dash to English class) and then in my mid-twenties took up what could only be…

November Q&A: Ancient Arts

Kung-Tai Tsay came to this country from Taiwan back in 1975 when her husband was accepted into graduate school here. But, in all the years since,Tsay never forgot the Chinese traditions she grew up with. She pursued the ancient arts of Chinese knot tying and classical dance. Today – when she’s not helping with the family business or enjoying her…

January Q&A: Football Fantasies

Frank Coppola says he was a bookworm during his school days and never participated in organized sports, but in the years since then (he’s now 32) he’s become a major player in the state’s fantasy football craze. The Lee resident, who’s assistant sports editor for the Seacoast Media Group, writes a column about fantasy sports for Sunday Seacoast and spends…