When I was a little girl, I would sometimes curl up in my grandmother’s bed in the early mornings, where she’d tell me stories of our family and sing to me in French. She called Connecticut home, though she lived more of her life in New York than Connecticut. Still, the Nutmeg State was where our family’s homestead was located, where she’d spend summers on the shoreline with her mother, sister, aunts and cousins. It was where holidays were spent, gathered around a big table.

By the time I was born, the family homestead – a Victorian house and farm – had been sold and much of the family had relocated to Cape Cod. But the house is still there, just a few miles from where I live now. It’s no longer a home or a farm though. The land has been sold off, and the house loosely converted into offices.
Still, it retains the charm and magic that captivated my family for nearly 70 years.

I spent summers here as a child with sandy feet and salty wet hair from the Long Island Sound and for the last 10 years, I have called it home.

When Better Homes and Gardens asked me to represent Connecticut in their State Cookie Contest, I said yes right away. A state cookie? No problem! Naturally, I turned to the recipes of my Connecticut Yankee family.

This recipe is adapted from our family cookbook, The Moulding Board, a 30-year-old book that combines recipes from my extended family and diary pages from my Great-Great Grandmother compiled by my cousin Barb. A former neighbor at our family’s homestead, Mrs. Phil Webber, used to make these cookies for my Great-Great Aunt Sarah, my namesake.

Fresh nutmeg ... grate it with a Microplane

For my rendition of these classic cookies, I’ve replaced shortening with butter, changed the method a little and added nutmeg — in honor of Connecticut (which is the Nutmeg State. Don’t ask me why – I don’t know either).

They’re soft, a little chewy, with a rich flavor and a slight bite. They’re sweet but not crazy sweet. They would be amazing served with coffee, shared on a sunny front porch with a cousin or neighbor.

EDITED: You can vote for your favorite cookie in the BHG State Cookie Contest. I’d be honored if you voted for my Connecticut Spice Cookie.
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Yesterday was my 31st birthday, a day that seemed to sneak up on me without warning. No longer am I “barely 30.” No longer am I “practically still in my 20s.” I’m firmly planted in my 30s. And it’s okay.

For my birthday, I relaxed. I sat on a sun porch and read several chapters. I took the kids to the beach and built drip castles and played in the water. And I took everyone out for lunch.

It wasn’t a healthy lunch. It could have been, but I indulged. Fortunately, this post isn’t about indulging — it’s about being healthy even when you are eating out. And normally, I try to do just that.

For instance, when Cate and I were in Seattle, we often split dishes. It allowed us to sample more without overdoing our portions. But even on a non-food lovers trip, it’s totally possible to eat out and still be your healthy self. Swear.

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When Cate and I went to Seattle last month, we were lucky to enjoy a lot of really amazing food. Seattle is a total food town, and one that prides itself on its attention to local, sustainable ingredients. How could you not love it?

On our first night there, we arrived late and hungry. Though we’d hoped to try a nearby restaurant, we found that the only thing open was Lola in the lobby of our hotel, Hotel Andra.

Fortunately, just because it was our only choice doesn’t mean it should ever be considered a last resort in Seattle. Lola, one of Tom Douglas’ restaurants, serves up breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner with Greek flare. Situated in the lobby of Hotel Andra, it’s walking distance to Pike Place Market and other memorable parts of Seattle. Read the rest of this entry…

Grilled slices of Tuscan bread. Thin slices of fresh mozzarella, melted onto it. Garlic scape marinated roasted red peppers.

Hang on, I need to wipe away the drool. This open faced sandwich was so good.

I ate this for lunch last week, whipping it up in  just a few minutes over the grill. It’s a perfect summer dish. Served with a salad and it’s a whole meal — a light dinner even.

Making this is so simple. You brush the bread with olive oil (or spray it) and then grill for a few minutes until it starts to brown. Then you flip the bread and top with the cheese. Grill it for a few more minutes until the mozzarella starts to lose its shape. Then you top it with the marinated red peppers and cook for just a minute or two more. Remove from the heat and enjoy.

As for the peppers, they start with Garlic Scape Vinaigrette (a new recipe I developed for Tablespoon). It’s simple to make and is fabulous over salads or for a marinade like with these peppers. If you aren’t familiar with garlic scapes, they are the curly tops of fresh growing garlic. They are available right now, so if you see them, pick ‘em up (and freeze extras).

Of course, if you can’t get garlic scapes, any vinaigrette will work in this recipe. But I really have to recommend using the garlic scape vinaigrette.

Anyway, you mix up the vinaigrette with roasted red peppers, like the recipe for making roasted red peppers on the grill that I shared last week. Close the jar, chill for a day and then they are all ready to go.

Once that’s done, they can be used on everything from salads and sandwiches to crostini. Look, I wouldn’t normally ask you to make three recipes (roasted peppers, garlic scape vinaigrette and these marinated peppers) to get to the final dish … but this time, it’s totally worth it. Swear.

Have you had garlic scapes?

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When I read this week’s topic for Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011, I smiled. It’s a great topic, and one that we should all consider now and again. The topic is ‘What makes you happy?’.

The simplest answer I can give is so many things …

That little boy above makes me sublimely happy. So does his little sister? Their gleeful giggles and vivid imaginations are amazing and infectious.

Another thing that makes me happy? Summer strawberries, plucked straight from the plant and popped into a waiting mouth. Nothing compares to a sun-warmed fresh berry on a perfect summer day. Saturday was a lovely day for berry picking (though the fields were a tad wet still from Friday’s rain). The kids had a great time, eating their body weight in berries and occasionally helping with the picking too. Read the rest of this entry…

There is something about holding a marshmallow over a fire, slowly turning it for even browning, that ignites great summer fun and makes amazing memories. I love it. My kids love it. I mean, really, how couldn’t everyone love it?

So, if someone asks me to do something with s’mores, I am all over it.

A few weeks ago, I received an email from The Motherhood asking if I was interested in participating in a new project involving the Hershey Company. They want to spread the word about their Say S’mores campaign, which started on June 16. Families can capture and share their s’mores memories this summer on the Hershey’s Facebook page. They’ll be entered to win s’mores-themed prizes.

I’ll be writing another post about my s’mores love soon. In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of the prizes, straight from The Motherhood and Hershey Company.

The grand-prize is a Canon Rebel Camera, slate marble outdoor firebowl, $250 SnapFish gift card, roasting skewers set and all of the ingredients needed to make S’mores, including Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars. Families who visit the Hershey’s brand Facebook page on or after June 15 can download the Say S’mores application to participate in monthly photo contests and receive a $1 coupon good toward the purchase of any two Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar 6-packs.

DISCLOSURE: This post is part of my participation in the Hershey’s “Say S’mores” Promotion. All opinions expressed are mine.

When I came home from work the other day and set up to, well, work, I discovered that my home internet wasn’t working. And to make matters worse, tech support was closed. So, I worked offline for a bit (getting a ton done!) before going to bed early. The next morning I woke up early and found that my internet still wasn’t working. Joy.

But then I really did find joy in the situation. I got up, read for a little while and then started working on a few new recipes and techniques in the kitchen. Before I knew it, I had several dishes done, had fed the kids and myself and it was 9 a.m., when tech support opens again.

I cannot tell you how great it felt not to be tethered to the internet or my computer for those hours. It makes me want to take time away from it on purpose. Actually, I really know that I should.

One of the things I was working on that morning was these Grilled Roasted Red Peppers. It’s a super easy technique that doesn’t heat up the kitchen and does produce juicy, sweet, smoky peppers. Oh, they are so good — perfect for sandwiches, sauces, on salads and so much more (and no, not all the uses begin with ‘s’!). Read the rest of this entry…

Do you ever just want to cheer from the rooftops? Maybe let out a loud whoop? Or perhaps jump on Oprah’s couch … oh wait, that’s just Tom Cruise.  Anyway, even if you aren’t couch jumping, everyone feels like this sometimes … where something thrills you so much that you just want to tell everyone. Right. Away.

That’s totally how I feel about this kale dish. And yes, I am being absolutely serious.

Although the kale is braised, it retains that texture that makes it so special. It’s softened, but still definitely leaves. In fact, that’s one of the things I love about kale and chard: they don’t turn to mush when cooked. It’s that mushiness that makes spinach and I have a tenuous relationship.

In any case, this is dinosaur kale … aka Tuscan kale. The leaves are sweeter than other varieties of kale, and milder in flavor. They are delicious when used raw, but also good for cooking.

This kale is a little sweet, but totally savory. And the lemon and Romano finish make it simply spectacular.

And perhaps the best, bestest, best part? This is local kale. I dropped by my cousin’s organic farm earlier and bought this, chard and scallions — my first local food of the season. There is nothing like it. And I couldn’t be more thrilled that the local season is here at long last.

Have your farmers markets opened yet? Are they open year-round?
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Some days, the words just flow. Those are the days where I can sit down and write a post in minutes, and have time for edits and rewrites and rereads. Then there are days like today, where I sat down hours ago to write this and got exactly nowhere.

My head is just filled.

It’s a good thing that Eat. Live. Be. For a Better 2011 prescribes a topic for days like today.  Today, the ELB crew is sharing tips for cooking or healthy living. I really had to think about this one. There are many tips I could share, but choosing the right one was the challenge.

Finally it came to me. I mean, I am sitting here, my head stuffed with to-dos and worries, and the best tip I can give is the one I need to remember myself:

Healthy Living Tip: Say no when you want to say no. I think it’s one of those super hard things, but saying no makes everything so much better. I worry like crazy about disappointing people and about missing out. But saying yes to everything can make you wildly stressed and totally unpleasant. So, when you want to say no … just do it. Everyone is better off for it.

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The end of school for this year is almost here and it’s really hard to believe. Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was freaking out about catching the school bus, and adjusting to having two kids in school? Surely it was mere days ago that I was figuring out how to pack cool lunches for Will and worrying that he had enough to fill him up at lunch. Right?

Ok, ok. We all know that was really10 months ago. It just went so fast. Where did the time go?

Now that school is ending, we like to give tokens of appreciation to the teachers and bus drivers who made a difference in my kids lives this year. And after three years of having at least one child in school, I have the whole appreciation gift thing in control. (Well, at least in better control than in years past.) Sort of.

I decided on a dual gift for the teachers — something special from my kitchen and a gift certificate.  For Teacher Appreciation Week, I’d given a few of the teachers Chocolate Chip Banana Bread in a Jar, so that was out (along with anything else in a jar). And I wanted it to be something a little bigger — something they could share if they wanted. Mini-loaves of bread were the perfect solution.

I went with this mouthwatering recipe for Cinnamon Zucchini Bread Mini-Loaves. They have a lighter crumb and a fabulous, rich flavor. If you’ve never had zucchini in bread before, ignore that it’s in the title and try this anyway. As long as you like cinnamon, you will love this bread. The zucchini lends a moist crumb to this bread along with speckles of green — but that’s it. So, don’t fear the zucchini, I swear.

When I was making this, I modeled this bread after my Cinnamon-alicious Zucchini Bread. But really, they are different loaves. This one is a little less sweet, but with a bigger punch of cinnamon. Try it warmed, it’s so good like that.

What’s your favorite food gift to give?

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