Year: 2013

September 9, 2013

I do so love these late summer days: warm enough to frolic, cool enough to actually cook food in the evening. And the garden is banging right now, despite June’s woodchuck invasion and the powdery mildew and squirrels, which between them devastated all of the cucurbits. The mildew killed the cucumbers and zucchini, and the miserable rodents nibbled a little bit of each winter squash so they all rotted. Their thick, waxy skins make squash impervious to the wet ground, but once punctured they turn to much in no time. How dumb does an animal have to be to see a squash, say “I wonder if that’s good to eat?” and take a bite, decide that it is not in fact good to eat, and then see another, identical squash, say “I wonder if that’s good to eat?” and take a bite, decide that it is not in fact good to eat, then see another, identical squash, say “I wonder if that’s good to eat?” and take a bite, decide that it is not in fact good to eat, and so on until they’re all ruined. I’m getting an air rifle.

September 5, 2013

In the September Chronogram, I profile Field Apothecary in Germantown. Food as medicine, medicine as food: it’s a helpful endeavor to blur the distinctions between the two.

August 9, 2013

This soup described an interesting trajectory over the course of a week, culminating in a pretty spectacular finale the other night.

August 8, 2013

I just got back from a few days in Vermont, where I did some noteworthy cooking. There’s a soup I want to talk about, but first this duck.

August 1, 2013

For the August Chronogram, following on the heels of the beekeeping article, I profiled a new meadery up near Albany. Helderberg Meadworks, a tiny operation, could be the beginning of a renaissance of the ancient craft the way distilling and hard cider have both exploded into major new sectors of the agricultural economy. Those are oak barrel staves that Peter Voelker puts in the fermentation tanks to impart the flavors his Norse ancestors would have…

July 30, 2013

Here’s a piece about Phyllis Feder of Clinton Vineyards that I wrote for the current issue of Edible Hudson Valley. I just sent off another piece about local wine that should be in the fall issue, so stay tuned for that.

July 17, 2013

It has been hot as balls around here, which will not be news to you if you live on the East Coast. While outside, though hot, there has been a breeze and thus in the shade it is not too too bad, inside without air conditioning is a wretched sauna of hatred, trickling sweat, and fetid stench. Also, the other night a skunk got spooked right outside the front door and sprayed all over a corner of the house, so with no rain in sight for weeks the air is seductively perfumed with a sulfurous reek redolent of nothing so much as a smoldering corpse wrapped in plastic that you forgot about in the trunk of your ’79 Chevy in the Nevada desert while you attended Burning Man. Good times.

July 12, 2013

Today—after what felt like at least a month of fetid, slug-covered, swelteringly humid torpor, interrupted by days of rain that only augmented the ambient moisture—dawned dry, clear, and breezy. I wasted no time, rushing out to attend to the neglected garden, mustering hours of energy despite a shitty, insomnia-dented night of inadequate sleep. There’s a lot going on, not least of which is the full arrival of what I like to call the “round food.” No longer are leaves the bulk of each day’s harvest; they’re shrinking into the minority as the roots and fruits gain girth by the day. Yesterday saw the first new potatoes of the year, roasted along with a spatchcocked chicken, taking advantage of a cooler evening to use the oven (and bake some much-needed bread). Today, thanks to a basket piled high with the various thinnings, cullings, and eager grabbings that attended my earnest horticultural ministrations, dinner comprised a perfect, seamless conclusion to the most pleasant summer day of the year so far.

July 2, 2013
July 1, 2013

For the July Chronogram, I visited Hudson Valley Bee Supply in Kingston. It was a lovely day, and the photography gods were kind to me. Check out the slideshow they put up; it’s a big glossy magazine and for those of you outside of the distribution area it offers a handsome way to look at big pictures. Sadly, they did not use this picture, but that just gives me an excuse to show it here.