The Stone Soup Cook

Life is like the cherry blossoms: beautiful, short and meant to be enjoyed. These are words written by a lovely young woman I used to tutor in English. She had studied in Tokyo and regularly waxed poetic about the cherry blossoms in Japan. I had her write an essay about them and her essay ended with those words. I couldn’t agree more, but I would also apply them to the cherries themselves. A hundred years …

Hello and welcome back to The Stone Soup Cook! I’m so happy to be finished with the two fava bean weeks. I really, really tried to like them… This week, I’m relieved to be working with carrots! And it’s been a really fun week 🙂 Let’s consider the carrot for a moment: the bridesmaid of the produce department. Almost always in a supporting role, rarely the star. And yet, the carrot is perfectly comfortable to …

Welcome back! I hope you’re having a great week. It’s time to pick up where we left off talking about fava beans. Last week, I spent a good deal of time working with fresh fava beans. Here’s a quick recap: while I thought the fresh fava beans were delicious, it’s hard to make a case for them. Try as I might, I have not been able to come up with a way to eat the …

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 …