Cooking Articles

My Giant Pumpkin

We had a great growing season this year--with the exception of my much anticipated giant pumpkins. Every year, my pumpkin patch has produced enough bounty to keep the neighborhood children happily supplied...

This Halloween, The Great Pumpkin Is For Real

Like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin to appear, every year people just like me eagerly await Halloween if only for the promise of everything pumpkin. Sure carving Jack O’Lanterns is great, but what...

Trick or Treat?

This week I did something that I think would have surprised myself ten or twenty years ago. I bought a sack of individually wrapped Halloween pretzels to give out along with our Halloween candy! They...

There is a pumpkin shortage this year in the Northeast. Hurricane Irene may not have caused quite the havoc to metropolitan areas that was originally predicted, but much of the rich farmlands of New Jersey,...

I love theme parties. Call me a cheeseball, but hey, aren't parties supposed to be fun? At my shindigs, you let your hair down and a while later stick a lampshade on your head. And no one else minds because...

What do bat’s wings, baked worms and bleeding popcorn all have in common?  Yes, you got it—it’s Halloween time again.  This is when we not only get to enjoy a change of season along the East Coast,...

My favorite holiday of the year is, indeed, Halloween. Ever since I remember I was fascinated by the holiday. I was one of those kids who was into monsters and make-up and fake body parts. I subscribed...

The Recipe That'll Make You Fall in Love With Mincemeat

Eeeww! That's gross! What's mincemeat? Is it minced meat? And why is there meat in my Christmas pudding anyway? Why would anyone want to put meat in their sweets? I know you've asked yourself these...

Your Breakfast Awaits

My usual breakfast routine consists of grabbing something quick--a banana or some granola--on the way out the door in the morning. If I am really pressed for time, I wait until I get to work and then...

Oh My, Umami

We all know the four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. But did you know there is a fifth taste as well? You mostly likely experience this taste everyday and don’t even realize it. When...

A New Way For Baby To Eat

Lately I have been hearing a lot about a relatively new concept called Baby Led Weaning. Instead of starting off spoon feeding young babies pureed foods at around four to six months, little babies are...

Swish Swish Your Way to a One-Pot Meal

What if I told you that dinner tonight could be on the table in 20 minutes, would include vegetables, beef, and soup, you could eat at a leisurely pace, and it just might entice the kids to sit down at...

Pizza Night!

It’s the end of a busy week and everyone’s burnt out. We’re all in the mood for a dinner that’s quick, easy, and super yummy. So almost every week we go for the natural Friday night choice ñ...

The Apple Dumpling Gang At My House

Usually the cooler autumn weather stirs up the desire to attend a handful of local fairs or—since we’re in farm country—ubiquitous farm shows. And it just so happened that after trying our hand...

The Tenderest Pork Ever

Ideas. They’re what keep the world goin’ round. It’s been said that there aren’t any new ideas in the world, that it’s the specific slant or angle that you put on an idea that makes it special,...

Before the Meat Season, Fall for Fish

Beware, for we are about to enter the carnivorous season. The months ahead promise both the white and the dark turkey, plates piled high with ham, trays of meaty canapés, and perhaps the occasional holiday...