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Fresh pineapple: inexpensive and in season

As Fortune family legend goes, when my mother was pregnant with me, she craved pineapple like mad. Personally, knowing my mother’s penchant for pineapple in general, I have my suspicions that this was less a craving than a very convenient and plausible excuse for eating one of her favorite foods in abundance — but either way, I can’t blame […]

Maple cheesecake with maple-glazed pecans

Not that “normal” is a term that tends to apply to my life, or me, or Ian for that matter, but things are starting to get back to normal-for-us around here; I will be starting work soon, and am almost completely recovered from my illness, and Ian has contracted the awful chest cold going around, but […]

For breakfast and birthdays, let them eat cake

As Gilda Radner used to say (in the guise of early SNL character Roseanne Rosannadanna,) “It’s always something. If it’s not one thing, it’s another.” I find that to be true in most areas of life, but specifically in my kitchen these days. I have spent the better part of the last week laid up […]

Meals from an overwhelmed kitchen

As I may have mentioned, we recently moved to Portland from Bangor. It’s been a period of extreme adjustment for us, in no small part because my new kitchen is about a third of the size of my old one, and I’ve been breaking my brain trying to get all the tools and appliances I use most frequently to […]

Maine-made maple products

Since tomorrow is Maine Maple Sunday, and I’m too excited to think about anything else (but my new kitchen is still in too much of a state of disarray to actually make anything this evening) here are a list of some of my absolute favorite Maine maple products. Some of them are very local, meaning that […]

Tender triple-maple barbecue ribs — in the oven!

This week, we packed up our kitchen and moved it from Bangor to Portland. We’re still digging ourselves out from under the boxes (and trying to figure out how to fit all my frequently-used kitchen items into my tiny new kitchen) but while I was in the midst of tying up loose ends and packing everything up […]

St. Patrick’s Day boiled dinner, reimagined

I’ve seen a lot of food personalities’ re-imaginings of the classic corned beef boiled dinner in recent years, from Rachael Ray’s “Irish nachos” to Guy Fieri’s “St. Patrick’s Linguine,” and everything in between. It’s very hard for me to accept these recipes, even though I’m sure they’re quite tasty, because the traditional dish was so […]

A Maine maple twist on two takeout favorites

Life is pretty hectic outside of my kitchen this week; as a result, these dishes, which were meant for last week’s piece, didn’t get made in time for last week’s update; and, since I haven’t had much time in the kitchen since, they have to stand alone. Fortunately, they do so well, I think. Two […]

Maple for dinner, and breakfast on the go

I had never had chicken and waffles before. I know they’re a thing — a big thing — in some parts of the country, and it’s obvious why: people love the combination of salty and sweet. Hot, slightly greasy fried chicken on top of light, fluffy waffles, drizzled with some maple syrup; why wouldn’t it be delicious, […]

Maple recipes to welcome spring with

You may have noticed I’ve been including maple recipes lately; that’s no coincidence. Maine Maple Sunday is just around the corner (okay, it’s five weeks away) and I love everything maple, from the little leaf-shaped hard candies and sugar pressed into the shapes of lobsters and moose, to the rich amber liquid we pour on […]