Seven Vaults

The seven underground vaults at Jasper Hill Cellars house Vermont's finest aged cheese. Thanks to a weekend I spent at Shelburne Farms called "Pasture To Palate", I and a few others were lead on a private tour of this remarkable (not open to the public) facility in Greensboro, VT.  It's

Cheese Starts With Grass

What does grass have to do with cheddar cheese? The quality cheddar produced at Shelburne Farms starts with pasture or pasture salad as they call it, a mix of different greens that the cows choose to graze on. The farm's philosophy behind making memorable cheese begins outside the cheese room in the lush green pastures. The process of making the farms traditional farmstead cheddar is carefully

Lambtastic!

Roasting a whole lamb for Greek Easter is not only delicious, it's cause for celebration, and that's what we did. Celebrate!

Greek Easter traditions are kept alive by Prince Charming and I every year at our home in Vermont. The cooking starts a week before the party and gets more intense as the days approach. Each year I

Cool Weather Salad

On a recent cool morning, woodsmoke was in the air as I walked out to the garden to harvest rhubarb and our first salad. Prince Charming and I figured out, with the help of cold frames, we eat salads out of our garden all but four months of the year. Our last salad is around the end of November and our first is

Top 10 Kitchen Tools (video)

Just back from the International Housewares Show in Chicago, where I explored hundreds and hundreds of kitchen tools, surprisingly my favorites list was not swayed by new gadgets. The criteria to make this list of tools was based on being user friendly, easy to clean, and most used. Watch video below.

Top 10 Kitchen Tools: 

 Kuhn Rikon Pepper Ratchet Grinder (easy to refill and use)

Breakfast or Contraband?

Scrabbled duck eggs, Vermont Smoke & Cure bacon, Sweet Clover Market maple breakfast sausage, all piled between an apple cider doughnut (toasted in bacon fat of course). Speechless? So was

Attention Cheese Enthusiasts'

Like cheese? Here are two Vermont cheese events not to be missed! 

Click here to learn more about Of Cows, Caves, and Cheese in May at Shelburne Farms.

Sweet Home Chicago

Recently Prince Charming and I enjoyed a quick trip back to my home town, Chicago. The Drake is where I rest my head at night if I am not staying with family. I adore the old world charm and elegance. The Drake and I go way back as my mother used to work at the American Airlines ticket office, that

First Harvest and Upcoming Garden Class

As a new garden season approaches, I am geared up and have already made my first harvest. Next "Grow More Food At Home" Chef Contos garden event is at the Bristol Library on March 20th 6:30. 

Cupcakes vs Cake

Yes, I broke down and fell into the cupcake trap, realizing that sometimes cupcakes are better than cake. For a recent cocktail and hors d'oeuvres party of about twenty guests, cupcakes and cookies were my