Weekly Menus

About this time of the year, velvety, rolling hills of invitingly verdant fava beans drape over tables at the Farmer’s Market. They look so good, I REALLY have to hold myself back from grabbing bucketloads of them to take home and cook up. I really like beans and they’re so good for you–full of great protein and all that good fiber. However… Fava beans are no ordinary bean. They are a pain in the butt …

I’m reading the book “Eat, Pray, Love” by Elizabeth Gilbert right now. I know, I know, I’m late to the party. I haven’t even seen the movie yet, so…more to look forward to! I just finished Liz Gilbert’s journey through Italy where she happily gained more than 20 pounds by eating a lot of pasta. Pasta has probably been around since about 1700 BC in China. There are early records of pasta-like products in Italy …

Hi, and thank you for tuning in to read part two of the Abundant Refrigerator! I’m happy to report that Mr. Stone Soup Cook and I both tested Covid-negative a few days ago and other than still being tired, we are more or less recovered. I’m also happy to say that my abundant refrigerator stepped up and provided us with tasty and more or less healthy meals until we ultimately tested negative and I was …

**Mr. Stone Soup and I came down with Covid last week, so this will be a little different post and it will be in two parts because I frankly was not feeling well enough to work on it every day.** But first, let’s start with a little story: Years ago, Mr. Stone Soup Cook and I vacationed in the Provence region of France. We made a visit to Avignon, a charming little city situated on …

Dorothy Parker once famously said that an eternity could be defined as two people and a ham. Next week starts with Easter–a day when lots of folks sit down to a dinner starring a big ham. I went to the grocery store and found this ham–it was a very good deal: But what do you do with all those leftovers?! Challenge accepted! Let me stipulate that because Mr. Stone Soup Cook and I are only …

So I just returned from a whirlwind trip to a city not exactly known for its haute cuisine. I will let the city itself remain anonymous, but tell you that my unofficial motto for this city is: “If we can catch it, we’ll fry it and slap it between two pieces of bread.” I swear this is true: not one green vegetable was offered, or indeed, in sight, on the trip. The best meal I …

With rain and wind again today, and more on the horizon, this week it just seems right to feature some good, old-fashioned comfort food–like the food my mom used to make for us when I was a kid. In the winter, mom makes lots of soups, stews, roasts and beans. On Sundays, mom would put a roast into the oven before we’d go to church. It would be ready when we got home–the smell of …

Today, I will start my weekly post with the story of a sad day. The featured picture is what’s left of my beloved plum tree. On Tuesday, we experienced a severe storm, with rain and wind gusts of almost 100 mph. At the height of the ferocious storm, I heard a deep “thud” and learned that our 75-foot-tall elm tree had fallen on the house. The 70-year-old tree was lush and green and the picture …

Here in Northern California, we’ve been experiencing cold, rainy weather–something that we haven’t had in several long years of drought and heat. In the Valley, we have had more than 17 inches of rain for the season so far, more is predicted next week. For us, it’s been cold–in the 30’s at night and in the 50’s during the day. I see a lot of you rolling your eyes, but seriously–it’s what keeps folks like …

Cascatelli pasta, or “waterfall” pasta came out probably a couple of years ago and almost immediately turned into “unobtainium”–you couldn’t get it anywhere–backordered until who knows when. The good news is that it’s readily available now and I have gotten several boxes of it from Amazon, although I still don’t see it in stores. The idea behind this new shape is that the curves, curls and valleys of the pasta are supposed to hang onto …