Archives for May 2015

Buckwheat Butter Cookies

May 27, 2015

Do you remember the “lipstick theory”?

It’s an idea that relies on lipstick sales as an economic barometer.

When times are tough, the theory goes that consumers will actualy indulge more in certain small luxuries, like lipstick, even as overall spending declines. Lipstick is seen as an affordable splurge, a more prudent pick-me-up than a designer bag or expensive pair of pumps.

I, for one, don’t think I’ve ever satisfied a shopping urge with lipstick.

It’s not that I never splurge. It’s just that I don’t do it with lipstick

I’m much more prone to the edible indulgence: a jar of jam I don’t really need, an obscure herb from the Asian market, a flamboyant tropical fruit….

Paneer (Indian cheese)

May 21, 2015

When I was growing up, our refrigerator was always home to lots of questionable odds and ends lurking at the back of the shelves: half-empty jars of duplicate jams; tiny containers housing a forkful or two of aged leftovers; cheese sporting unintentional mold; a jumbo-sized squeeze bottle of Heinz ketchup that moved with us from house to house, its cap slowly scabbing over with tomatoey goop.

In college I would sometimes return home for Chanukah or Christmas (we celebrate both) and open the refrigerator to find the month-old remnants of Thanksgiving dinner still biding their time.

It was like the place where good food goes to die….

Pasta with peas and gorgonzola cream sauce

May 13, 2015

You might think, with a name like Please Pass the Peas, that this website would laud the lowly pea now and again. But I recently realized that I’ve so far posted just one recipe featuring green peas — and then only in a supporting role.

All the while we’ve been eating peas on the regular, mostly paired with pasta and doused in a luscious but oh-so-simple cream sauce….

Small-batch strawberry jam

May 7, 2015

Lately, the little one and I have been going through strawberries at a rate of about one pound per day.

This takes place mostly at breakfast when we eat them over yogurt (me) or speared on the end of a tiny fork and paired with a chaser of milk (him). And, in case you are wondering, at 22 months his appetite matches mine berry for berry.

A week ago we bought a big flat of strawberries at the farmers market and then, last weekend, we went to the fields and picked some ourselves.

Picking strawberries has always been a favorite springtime ritual and I was excited to share it with E., who wasted no time filling his bucket with ripe, red specimens.

I expected his haul to be full of either under or overripe fruit, but he took his job very seriously, carefully pushing aside leaves to seek out the best berries then calling out “nice one!” before freeing each new find from its stem.

In the end, we picked nearly 10 pounds of berries. Even our berry-laden breakfasts aren’t enough to make it through that much fruit before spoilage sets in, so I pulled out the jam pot and got to work….