Paying Attention to the Bees

Last night I had the great good fortune to attend an amazing event at the John Jay Homestead. It was a screening of a film: What are the Bees Telling Us?, a panel discussion and then a wine, cheese and honey tasting.

The honeys were simply divine. Marina Marchese a recent "Snail of Approval" honoree spoke and we sampled her honey. I was quite taken by the Blueberry Blossom personally. D.J. Haverkamp of Bedford Bee was also on hand talking about "colony collapse disorder" and a sampling of the mellowest taste of a honey comb. The flavor was nothing short of perfection. Fresh, sweet and so lovely ... eyes closed with a sigh.

Perfect compliments to the honey tasting were a selection of cheeses from Plum Plums Cheese, wine from Whitecliff Vineyards, and delicious breads from one of my favorite farmers market bakeries Wave Hill Breads.

The event was held in partnership with Slow Food Metro North and the John Jay Homestead. If you've never been to the Homestead, located at 400 Jay Street in Katonah, you simply must get up there. The property is beautiful and serene and every Saturday through October it hosts a lively Farm Market, with  fantastic vendors and music. It's one of my favorite locations to demo.

Speaking of which, I will be back at there on August 10 collaborating with Gaia's Breath Farm. Cooking up their delicious frying peppers.

In the meantime, do yourself a favor and read up about our bee crisis. It's something every human on this planet should be tuned in to. 

Farmers Market Season Begins!

I am beyond excited these days. Finally the weather is cooperating in the Northeast and the warm sun has pushed the coldness away. I planted a couple of things on the patio this week and made my second summer demo appearance. (Chappaqua was a few weeks ago!) Life is good!

Yesterday was the opening of the Hastings Farmers Market. It was steamy and hot, but a lot of fun. Larry joined me for the morning - which is always a plus in my book. He likes to sit under my demo tent and chat with the market-goers passing by, encouraging to have a taste of what I am cooking. (It's very cute!) He also likes to interject bits of information while I'm talking up my dish, like: "tell them how you came up with the idea, it's so interesting."

This past week on my Seasonal Chef blog I wrote about Morels Mushrooms. Since they can be difficult to find I thought I would re-work my original recipe slightly for the demo. What I ended up with was something really delicious that the market-goers enjoyed.

I stopped by the Madura Farm table and picked up some spinach and assorted mushrooms. You can find Madura at many of the Westchester markets. They have lot's of veggies, but their claim to fame are mushrooms ... lots of them, and in all shapes and sizes. For the demo I used Maitake, Shiitake, White Button and Baby Bellas.

The recipe is pretty simple: I sautéed 2 cloves of garlic and one medium shallot. In a little olive oil, with salt and pepper. I then added 2 cups of assorted chopped mushrooms and 4 loose cups of chopped spinach.

Once they veggies were cooked down and a little golden I added in 3 cups of cooked quinoa. Seasoned with a little more oil, salt, pepper and half a lemon squeezed and zested. I love adding lemon to the end of my dishes. It always adds a little brightness and zip.

Cute satisfied taster! 

Next weekend I will be heading off to Gossett's Farmers Market next weekend. If you are near the South Salem area plan on stopping by for a taste! 

Buon Appetito! 

Posting on Small Bites These Days!

I've been spending most of my days writing up my blog posts for Seasonal Chef on Small Bites. This week I created a couple of ramp-a-licious dishes you simply must try out.

Travel over to Small Bites to read my latest story about Ramps being the Harbinger of Spring.


Using ramps I created two dishes:

Pickled Ramps with Vegetables

and Ramp Pesto Pasta with Charred Tomatoes.

For the Month of May you can find me demoing at the Chappaqua Farmers Market on May 4th and at the Bronxville Farmers Market on May 11th.

Buon Appetito!

A new post awaits on Small Bites!

Dear fellow foodies,
As  continue to work on my new and improved blog I would like to share my latest post from Small Bites. Take a look at my new creation using Halibut!

Buon Appetito!

Updating my blog!

It's been some time since I posted a new entry on my blog. I've been spending time updating it and moving it to a new platform. It's just about done, but in the meantime I would like to share a few links from my latest Small Bites posts to wet your appetite!! 

Take a look at these  .... 

Salmon is a very versatile and easy ingredient to cook ...

Beating the winter blues with a Pear Soup. 

Cooking with the tiny powerhouse of Lentils.