Table setting a la James

Here is our dining room set up for dinner. What wonderful dinner must be simmering in the kitchen?  Bove's take out spaghetti and meatballs, which those of you in VT know is nothing fancy. But, in our house, when we sit down at the table, it more often than not looks something like this. Well now you are saying, "Pam, the Martha Stewart abyss of good living has finally sucked you down." Aux contraire, mes amis. This is all Jim's doing.


It all started years ago in Maryland with dimmed lights and dinner music.  But, since we moved back to Vermont a few years ago, Jim has taken an advanced interest in elevating our everyday dining experience. Table clothes, goblets, matching plates and flatware, cloth napkins, candles, fresh flowers, and music. It is all very civilized, indeed.

A fall arrangement that Jim made with flowers from the cutting garden.

In addition to knowing how to swing an axe properly, Sam and Ethan are now adept at table setting and experienced in the many ways to fold a napkin. Check out the links below for some of their favorites.




Personally, I feel a little odd eating a burger and fries from The Shopping Bag on a table cloth but it does save me from having to clean the grease off the table.  [For those of you who don't know, The Shopping Bag is a neighborhood grocery store with grill owned by Jim's aunt and cousin.  Incidentally, it was written up in Food Network Magazine as making one of America's best burgers, the Scibec Sizzler.]


After buying Jim an assortment of vases at the Goodwill store,  I realized the man needed his own cutting garden.  So, I gave away all the plants in our strawberry bed and planted one for him.  Okay, I love to garden, so it kinda was for me too, but I did not feel nearly as guilty when I spent a ridiculous amount of money on new perennials as I normally would.  Maybe in the Spring, I will get some good pics up here of the various gardening projects I have going.


Napkin Folding Sites:
A couple easy folds on Youtube
Napkin Folding Guide (folds for every occasion)
The goblet fan (easy, but real fancy like)
The feather fan (if you've got some time on your hands)
Lotus fold video on Epicurious.com

We all scream for dilly beans!

When I lived in the Harrisburg area, my friends Becky and Julie participated in an annual canning ritual.  This included making dilly beans, which I found myself coveting and even begging for.  They did share, of course, and when I had a jar I would savor every dill-icious bite.  For years since, I have been thinking of these delicious beans.  This has prompted me to purchase many $5+  jars of similar beans, none of which have satisfied my craving.

Finally, in my recent canning spree, I made my own.  I had just gotten a book, Back to Basics: Traditional Kitchen Wisdom, which included a recipe that seemed like it might be close to the flavors I remembered.   It was difficult, but we let them cure for 2 weeks after canning.  This past week, we finally opened a jar and MAN, they are awesome!  Just like the ones I remember—crunchy, dilly, garlicky, with a hint of hotness.  Sam and Ethan ate nearly the whole jar.

Here's the recipe I used:

From Back to Basics: Traditional Kitchen Wisdom, Andrea Chessman, ed.

Makes 4 pint jars (so, in the words of Johnny Cochran's Granny, "If you are going through the trouble, make it double.")

2 lbs. beans (I used green and yellow), trimmed

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

4 garlic cloves

4 fresh dill heads (I just used dill weed without heads)

1/4 cup pickling salt

2 1/2 cups white vinegar

2 1/2 cups water

Pack the beans, lengthwise into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  To each jar, add 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, 1 clove of garlic, and 1 head (or small bunch) of dill.

Combine the remaining ingredients together in a pan and bring to a boil.

Pour boiling hot brine over the beans, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Remove air bubbles with a chopstick.  Wipe rims and seal caps.

Process for 5 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

The Starry Night Cafe

This past Saturday was my 44th birthday (I know—hard to believe!).  On Friday, my sister-in-law, Jen,  took the kids over night and we set out with John and Lesanne (Jim's brother and wife) for a delicious, multi-course dinner in Ferrisburg, VT at the Starry Night Cafe.   It was my first time there and I was not disappointed!

The menu, right down to the cocktails, was varied and filled with interesting and unusual touches.  For example, I started with a cocktail of tequila, cilantro, pear nectar and lime (or what I call a "fancy Marguerita"). It was refreshing and not to sweet. Our apps included some cornmeal-crusted calamari with a coconut curry dip (say that 10 times fast), a squash/pear bisque, and lobster in phyllo with a delicate cream sauce and sprout salad—all of which were quite good.  I also had a quinoa salad that was subtly sweet with crunchy apples, pomegranate, and baby greens.  It had really nice contrasting textures for a wonderful mouth-feel and was dressed perfectly.


Jim and I had a angolotti (which is the new hip way to say ravioli) stuffed with lamb in a spicy sauce, which I thought was good, but Jim did not care for.  We also shared a plate of pork shank with mashed potatoes, green, cranberry chutney, and parsnip chips.  The pork tasted to me a lot like Char Siu, that yummy Chinese roasted pork with five spice/anise flavors.  A nice combination.  For dessert were pumpkin profiterols, which were great idea but a little too loaded with nutmeg for my tastes.


The greater Burlington area has no shortage of wonderful restaurants with interesting menus, flawless presentation, and excellent service.  The Starry Night Cafe is now in my top three.  We will definitely go back again.  If you out-of-towners ever get to VT, we'll take you there.

I can make sorbet outta anything

So, this would probably have been a more appropriate post a few months ago.  But, in our house, sorbet has a year-round presence.   


Many of you know that Jim is a BIG ice cream eater.  Or, he used to be.  He kicked the habit last year and has found that sorbet fills his need for sweet frozen treats... at least mostly.  Store-bought sorbet costs $4 or more for a pint and the variety available is painfully small.  So, I have been making lots of sorbet—blueberry, strawberry-banana, peach, pear-ginger, raspberry, mango, melon, lemon, chocolate, and even kiwi.  Some days, I think I could make sorbet out of a cheeseburger if I wanted to.  Last week alone,  I made 3 different kinds.  And, NO—none of them were cheeseburger flavored!


I started with different recipes, but now I just make it on the fly.  Fresh fruit, sugar to taste, a little lemon or lime juice to brighten the flavor, and 1-2 Tbs. of alcohol or corn syrup (not sure if honey does the same thing; of course, I am partial to flavored vodkas) to keep it from freezing too hard.  Add it to my handy little Donvier ice cream maker and ta-da!—delicious sorbet.  This summer and fall I froze several quarts of berries so I could make sorbet over the summer with local produce.  I have frozen rhubarb too, but haven't gotten around to putting it in sorbet yet.


David Lebowitz's book, The Perfect Scoop, has many great sorbet and ice cream recipes.  I have a few other ice cream books and his is far superior, with great flavor combinations as well as interesting add ins.  If you like cookbooks, like I do, it is worth the purchase.  


Here are some links to a few of my favorite sorbet recipes.


Coconut Banana and Saffron  Unfortunately, I did not have saffron, but the texture and flavor of this are great.  But use the saffron if you have it, and let me know if it is as great as it sounds.


Mango  This has a nice chunky texture, but add 1-2 Tbs. of vodka or corn syrup to keep it from freezing too hard.


Lemon  Mouth-popping flavor.  I used the extra sugar mentioned to prevent my mouth from imploding. A great palate cleanser.


Cantaloupe  Got this recipe from my Takoma Park cooking buddy Jane.  It is hands-down Jim's favorite. And you don't need a ice cream maker to get great results.

Raspberry Palooza

Putting up locally grown foods for the winter has been a secret goal of mine for a while, but other than the usual applesauce it has been pretty back-burner. Last year, Jim (in one of his memorable trades) procured an upright freezer. This, along with a vacuum sealer my mother-in-law bought me, has inspired me to do a little more this year.


In September, I picked red raspberries at Paul Mazza's in Colchester.  Picking berries on a sunny, brisk fall day is truly a zen experience.  I did not have one single outside thought the whole time I was picking. I was just contentedly in the moment—finding the ripest, most delicious berries and one-by-one adding them to the my baskets.  I just had to go back again...twice, in fact. In total, I brought home around 24 quarts of delicious berries which I froze, made into sorbet, cake, and many...many jars of jam.

The jam recipe below is quick and easy.  It makes a loose, not overly sweet jam that is great on toast or drizzled over vanilla ice cream.

Not-too-Sweet Raspberry Jam

Makes about 8 half-pint jars

16 cups raspberries
2 1/2 tsp. Pomona's Universal Pectin
5 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/2 tsp. calcium water (included in pectin package)

Run half the berries through a food mill to remove seeds.  Add pulp and remaining whole berries to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Meanwhile, combine pectin and sugar and set aside. When the berries boil, stir in the calcium water then the sugar-pectin mixture.

Return to a boil, then remove the pan from heat and let it rest for 5 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  Skim foam.

If canning, ladle into jars while the mixture is still hot, leaving 1/4" headspace. Process in for 10 minutes then turn off the burner and leave the jars sitting in the water for 5 more minutes.   I assume this can also be frozen.

Adapted from a recipe for "Quick Raspberry Jam" in Put 'em Up by Sherri Brooks Vinton, 2010.