one blue egg

We used to think all blue and green eggs came from Araucana or Americana chickens, but now researchers say they can be laid by any hen , usually a "barnyard mongrel" that carries the blue egg gene. When I had a large flock of Bantams, I'd often get 30% colored eggs every day. Seeing this beauty in my carton of eggs from the Egg Lady in town was a happy surprise!

warm salad of mozzarella, fresh rosemary, red-skinned potatoes, and fresh tomatoes

When I was married, and had a tween and a teenager in the house to feed, I so often roasted chickens, sauteed steak slivers, simmered pot roasts, and made carb and protein laden suppers - in between shuttling someone to soccer, lacrosse, chorus, or everlasting school shuttles. Tonight, as I shuffled through the fridge, I realized I had all the beautiful makings of a tapas for one for supper - soft mozzarella, fresh rosemary ( though if it had been fresh basil, it would've been a toss-up), large cherry tomatoes, and gorgeous red-skinned potatoes. Why we're programmed to serve enormous, stomach unsettling dinners is a mystery to me. So I flew with it.

On a small platter, I sliced a few tomatoes and some mozzarella, sprinkled on some olive oil and fresh rosemary leaves, a grind of fresh pepper and some sea salt. I'd started some slices from two beautiful potatoes boiling, and when they were tender, placed them on top of the mozzarella and tomatoes. I added a few more halves of those sweet little tomatoes, a few more bits of soft mozzarella, more rosemary, salt and pepper. I microwaved it ( sorry) two minutes, and was greeted with a lovely platter of bubbling bliss. The only thing missing was a crusty chunk of rosemary-sourdough bread and a salad. I had spinach, but no desire to rustle up a salad, so I simply enjoyed my little supper, enjoying every single forkful.

Shop wisely and from the heart and you'll never go hungry!

a visit to fishtales grocer

I love this new grocer and take-out in Peterborough, NH. I've been stopping in more and more, finding unusual foodstuffs and seeing still lifes everywhere I look. Today I found fingerling potatoes and celery root the size of large grapefruits, chestnut flour, and kumquats, fennel soup and the best coffee in the area.

the last sugar pumpkin soup

It was the last sugar pumpkin from Abenaki Springs farm. I felt such sorrow seeing this last beautiful sugar pumpkin - it was the closing of last year's bounty from the farm, and the months of joy of buying from them at the Keene, NH farmer's market. I hesitated before cutting into it - would it be moldy? Would it have shriveled into a dry shadow of its former self? Not a bit. It was juicy and colorful as it was when I bought it last October. That's what you get when you buy organic, local, and fresh.

So I felt I had to celebrate this incredible vegetable. I Googled, I surfed the Net, but there was nothing. So I came up with a soup that celebrated the autumn earthiness of this vegetable, and I hope in a way you can also taste the flavor and fullness of this beautiful pumpkin. It involves all the flavors of Fall - sweet potatoes, pumpkin, mushrooms, chives, and the last of the dill and thyme.

In a pot saute:

2 T. olive oil

2 T. unsalted butter

1 stalk celery, sliced

1 sugar pumpkin, peeled and sliced in chunks ( about 4 cups)

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 small to medium sweet potato - peeled and chopped

4 or 5 mushrooms

1 T. whole dried thyme

chicken stock

2 T. chives, fresh or frozen from the garden

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 T. fresh or frozen dill or parsley

( optional: medium salsa and roasted pumpkin seeds)

Saute the celery, sugar pumpkin chunks, onion, mushrooms, and sweet potato in the olive oil and butter until tender.

When tender, add the chicken stock just to cover, and the thyme, chives and/or dill. Cook for another ten minutes, then puree in a blender or by using a infusion blender stick. Taste and serve with a tablespoon of medium salsa and a few pumpkin seeds floating on the top of the soup.

luscious lemon bars with whipped cream

There's not much to do during cabin fever time in New Hampshire, except scowl at the five to seven foot drifts of ice and snow, and eat. Sometimes it's sweets, sometimes it's a nice spicy gumbo, or a beautiful roasted chicken. Today, it's sweets. These are very lemon-y, with a nice buttery crust, filled with tangy lemon filling, almost like a lemon curd. And , of course, it tastes even better with the puffs of lightly sweetened whipped cream.

You will need a large rectangular cake pan. Grease pan with Crisco, or butter.

To make:

Preheat oven to 350.

In mixing bowl, mix:

2/3 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups King Arthur flour

Mix above until it is crumbly. Press into pan and place in oven for 15 minutes, until slightly browned and toasty. ( It smells WONDERFUL)

While it's cooking, you can make the lemon filling.

In same mixer bowl, mix:

4 eggs

1/1/2 cups sugar

4 T. flour

zest of one lemon

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1/2 t. baking powder

Lower oven temperature to 325. Pour the egg mix into the par-baked shell, and place in oven. Bake at 325 for 25 minutes or so -if you have hot spots in your oven, you'll want to turn it around once while it's baking.

Remove to cooling rack . Let sit 10 minutes, then use a spatula or dough scraper to mark off squares and cut. Remove squares to cooling rack.

Whip up some cream, lightly sweetened with confectioner's sugar, and use either a spoon or a pastry tube to pipe cream onto squares. Add another square, and pipe more cream on top. Indulge and enjoy.

chunky herb & tomato soup

An awesome soup, tangy with tarragon and thyme, basil and oregano - with chunks of tomatoes and celery, and shreds of carrots and onions. My very favorite soup!

To make:

1 T. olive oil

1 T. unsalted butter

1 stalk of celery, sliced

1 large onion, roughly chopped

(or 1 cup chopped leek whites)

4 carrots, peeled and grated

1 28 oz. can plum tomatoes, whole

water or chicken stock if needed

1/2 t. basil

1/2 t. thyme

1/2 t. oregano

2 t. whole tarragon

salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Place olive oil and butter in a pot, on low heat. Add onions or leeks,

carrots, and celery, and braise, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the tomatoes, which have been

sliced into small chunks, the juice from the canned tomatoes, and chicken stock or water

if needed. Add the herbs and simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve with a hefty sprinkle of parmesan, or shaved parmesan curls.

tasty little doughnuts

You've probably had these in any number of places - at carnivals, as beignets in the South, and fried dough in the North, on chilly days with hot chocolate, and alongside a cherry Sno-cone at one of the summer fairs. I've even had them at a Feast of Saint Anthony street festival in New York City, presented to me hot and sugary, in a brown paper cone.

You will need:

2 cups King Arthur flour

2 T. sugar

1 packet dry yeast

3/4 c. warm water

zest from one lemon

2 T. unsalted butter, room temperature

pinch of salt

canola oil for frying

extra sugar for rolling finished doughnuts

In mixer bowl, place warm water and yeast and allow to soften for five minutes.

Add the flour and sugar, lemon zest, butter, and salt, and mix until it forms a ball.

Knead by hand until smooth, then place in an oiled bowl and put in a warm place until doubled.

Knead dough and roll out on counter. Using a small circle cutter ( I used a large pastry tip),

cut out small circles of dough and place on baking sheet. Place in barely warm oven for about a half an hour. ( make sure you've turned the heat off!)

Heat oil and drop several balls of dough into the oil, turning quickly with a slotted

spoon. When gently brown, remove and drain on paper towels. Roll doughnuts in sugar and serve at once.