April 2025 – Spring: Flowers, Holidays & Food
Above: my Happy Valley, California yard is the perfect climate for lilacs, getting cold enough to set good blooms. My wall of five bushes has now been joined by two other lilacs and I won’t say that I won’t plant more. Flower gardening the long game, above, my circle flower bed with peaches and […]
April 2025 Blog – – Glory in the Garden
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March 2025 – Citrus in Season
Fortunate are we in the United States who get decent oranges, lemons, and limes all year round, in every grocery store. We can be forgiven for not remembering there are actually seasons for the various citrus fruits. There are two great reasons for noticing the usually December through March, citrus season. Reason one: the freshest […]
February 2025 – In Celebration of Valentine’s Day
Heart-Shaped Cakes & Fireside Tea Pictorial & More Soup Ah, the sweetness…and then some more soup. Gourmet Magazine’s Minestrone Soup with Suggested Fixes by Lizette The result is so savory that there’s no need for broth, water, canned tomatoes, and a parmesan rind work beautifully. And because this soup must cook slowly, don’t worry about […]
January 2025 – SOUP: Let’s Gather Our Favorite Recipes
Team Sweet (Suzi and I) madly bake our way through the December holiday season each year, but there is still dinner to be made and baby, it’s cold outside. Suzi asked me and Team Savory (Kristin and Peg) for some soup guidance, though she makes her mother’s chicken noodle soup, which is exactly what […]
December 2024 – Old and New: California at Christmas Time
It is finally December! We winter folk are now able to wear our hats and sweaters, scarves and gloves and breathe the cold air, sharp and exhilarating. The night starts in the afternoon, leaving us with great excuses to build a fire, cozy up with a cat on the couch or get in the kitchen […]
November 2024 – More Cake in November, Please
Historically, November has been a pie month, for which we are VERY grateful. It’s just that our friend, cake, unless it is a pumpkin cheesecake or fruitcake, rarely gets a spot on the Thanksgiving dessert table. Pies of pumpkin, apple, sweet potato, pecan, and mincemeat feature heavily in American feasting in autumn. I am simply […]
October 2024 – The Sharing Tea Boutique
The Sharing Tea Boutique Rose and Webmaster Wayne have had a wonderful idea, and I am fully onboard. We are happy to announce a fun and useful addition to The Tea Book on our website: Sharing Tea: The Road Back to Civilization. We are thrilled to initiate the Sharing Tea Boutique, an opportunity for our readers to order Afternoon Tea, […]
September 2024 – A is for Apple
Apples hold a place deep in my heart. Autumn in Apple City (Watsonville‘s nickname from the early part of the late 1800s to the 1970s) isn’t the riot of flame-toned umbers and scarlets of the archetypal autumn of New England. We knew autumn had arrived when we saw the farmworkers in the apple orchards, picking. […]
August 2024 – Cheesecake
Above: lemon cheesecake, garnished with lemon slices, blossoms, and leaves, with edible nigella flowers Two of my oldest friends, separately, in the last month, asked me if I baked cheesecake. This stung me to the very heart as I consider myself to be an excellent cheesecake baker, from way, way back. As a kid, I […]
