Looking Back

I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. My time in the Berkshires is coming to a close and I don't know if I will be doing any more posts. Looking over this silly little blog--originally meant as an experiment--there are many posts and recipes I'm surprisingly proud of. (One or two that make me cringe, but I won't get into that!) I decided to re-cap 10 of my most meaningful posts, significant for a variety or reasons...

10. My favorite photo (and a damned good recipe too!)

(I also like the photo at the end of THIS post a lot.)

9. Brussels Sprout Salad. This goes under the heading of "recipes I still make practically every month, if not every week." Though recipes abound for roasted and braised Brussels, I think I prefer mine raw (or at least blanched). 

8. Retro kitchen. My tiny Berkshires kitchen, whose retro charm has grown on me over the years, I will miss you!

7. Picnic table love. When I first moved here my landlord kept saying she was going to have someone re-paint it. I'm so glad she never did. I adore the rustic red paint, as well as drips from various other paint jobs. It has also been wonderful to eat outside in the summer months. 

6. The humble wooden spoon. Because I am a dork.

5. Mashed Potatoes w/Browned Onions. I think of all my* recipes, this one has most consistently gotten rave reviews from other people. (Secret: caramelized onions are a good addition, but the real genius here is the vinegar.) 

*Of course, most of these recipes are not truly "mine." I always try to make a note of the original source I have adapted.

4. Breakfast Sausage. Another one for "recipes I still make practically every month, if not every week." I like to have some protein for breakfast, so I really do eat these almost every day. 

3. Mom's dishes. I recently had to throw away a casserole of hers (actually pictured in this post, not the one about her dishes). It had broken in half over a year ago, but I had resisted throwing out the still-beautiful pieces. It literally pained me to see these shards in the trash! 

2. Sally's cookies. She turns 89 this month so it's time to cook up another batch! Sally and my other 80+ year old friend, Angela, have been real gems over the past couple years.

1. Garlic Pasta. The all-time favorite, in rotation for over a dozen years now. I just had this last night and I'm convinced that the garlicky lemon broth left over at the end is the cure for whatever ails ya!