And Why a Little Time in the Kitchen Matters… Changing the way we eat doesn’t have to begin with a complete pantry overhaul. Sometimes it starts with one small habit. Make your own salad dressing instead of buying a bottle filled with thickeners, stabilizers, flavorings, and preservatives. Stir together a simple vinaigrette with olive oil,...Read More

An electuary is an old-fashioned preparation in which finely ground herbs or spices are blended with honey, creating a concentrated mixture that can be taken by the spoonful or stirred into a warm drink. This golden version combines honey with ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, black pepper, and clove for a fragrant, warming blend that is especially...Read More

Before the figs are ripe, the leaves may be hiding one of the most delicious flavors of the season. If you have a fig tree growing in your yard, chances are you spend most of the year waiting for the fruit. But perhaps we’ve been overlooking half the harvest. Those beautiful, deeply lobed fig leaves...Read More

Two local farmstead cheeses, exceptional olive oil, and a handful of herbs turn one of the simplest appetizers into something worth lingering over. There are recipes that ask us to transform an ingredient, and others that simply ask us to recognize how good the ingredient already is. Marinated feta belongs firmly in the second category....Read More

Sweet, chewy, and intensely pear-flavored, dried pears are one of the simplest ways to capture the season — and you don’t necessarily need a dehydrator to make them. When pears are plentiful at the farmers market, it can be tempting to bring home more than you can possibly eat before they ripen. Fortunately, pears are...Read More

There is very little wrong with a perfectly ripe melon served exactly as nature intended: chilled, sliced, and eaten with juice running down your wrist. But when melon season is at its peak—and the farmers market tables are piled with fragrant cantaloupes, honeydews, specialty melons, and watermelons—it is worth looking beyond the fruit bowl. Melons...Read More

From crisp green Autumn King to deeply colored Autumn Royal, late summer and early fall bring an especially good selection of California table grapes to the farmers market. September is a wonderful time to rediscover grapes. At the farmers market, grapes are not simply “red,” “green,” or “black.” Individual varieties differ in size, color, texture,...Read More

The best method depends on what you want to make. Sweet potatoes are beginning to arrive in earnest, just in time for fall cooking. Their naturally sweet, earthy flavor makes them a seasonal favorite, whether they are simply roasted with butter and salt, tucked alongside a main course, or turned into pies, breads, casseroles, and...Read More

There is something deeply satisfying about making fresh cheese at home, especially when the process is as simple as milk, lemon juice, and a little salt. With an immersion circulator, the milk heats gently in a precisely controlled water bath, making it easier to achieve the delicate curds that give homemade ricotta its soft, creamy...Read More

Before you toss those apple peels and cores into the compost bin, consider giving them one more job. Fall baking and preserving can generate an astonishing amount of fruit scraps. Apple pies, crisps, applesauce, pear desserts, preserves, and poached fruit all leave behind perfectly useful peels and cores — exactly what you need for a...Read More