I’ve made the clemencello, preserved lemons and biscotti over the last few years (all to rave reviews -- thanks Carrie!). I have vanilla extract percolating in my garage at the moment. Do you have any tips on a good source for bottles in the Portland area? Yours in the photo are lovely.

You mentioned growing things which you also have in your pantry -- my husband sowed some of the farro from our pantry and now has lovely chest tall plants with gorgeous seed heads on top. It’ll be interesting to see how much we get from his 10x10 plot and it’ll be fun to have our own grain in the pantry instead of have to hunt it down at specialty stores.

Funny, my sister and I were just talking about this last night. Though I have not held a paycheck-earning job for the last 20 years, I love my job as farmer, cook, cleaner, financial analyst, go-fer. I love sitting down to a healthy home-cooked meal at the table with candles and music every night, and sending my hsband off to work with a good lunch in his lunch box. I love the rows of jam, applesauce, fruit and vegetables and in my pantry and the containers of tomato sauce, pesto, raosted tomatoes, and stock in the freezer. The only time it gives me pause is when I meet someone new and they ask me what I do. My sister suggest I tell them “I make things.”

Had to let you know, Deborah, that I’ve just ordered seeds from Seed Savers for Sibleys in addition to my usual Musquee de Provence. Can’t wait to see how they work out for me (I’m praying for a warm summer!). I have a Musquee on my kitchen counter right now. I’m going to cut it up and make all sorts of yummy wintery dishes since we’re expecting a bout of unusually cold weather here in Portland.

I cut open my first Musquee de Provence, which I grew in my garden last summer. It was the smallest of the 3 (we had a crummy summer, weather-wise) yet yielded 14 lbs of pumpkin cubes! I roasted 2 lbs to top a lovely risotto and then used another 2 lbs in a soup with ceci (purchased from Jim Dixon who commented above)and cavolo nero (which I’m still cutting from my garden). I gave 2 lbs to my sister and the rest went into the freezer in zip top bags. And I still have 2 more, larger, Musquees in the garage! Interestingly, when I hit our farmer’s market on Sunday, there was a vendor with Musquee and Sibley’s he was selling by the piece.

I keep a soup bag in the freezer and add vegetable trimmings (carrot, celery and onion trimmings and ends, chicken necks, mushrooms that dried out because I kept them too long). When I roast a chicken for dinner (which is often, in the winter)the chicken carcass and pan drippings go in the bag, too. Then when I have time and want to heat up the kitchen, I make a pot of stock. It’s always a little different but always yummy.

Thanks for the tip, Deborah! I see Seed Savers Exchange has seeds for Marina di Chioggia (and probably many of the other lovely heirloom varieties). I see an ever-expanding garden in my future . . . .

I’m just back from a two week trip to italy. My hostess’s only request was canned pumpkin -- she has no car and lives too far from market to lug home a pumpkin. I took the requested cans but also brought seeds to grow her own Musquee de Provence (sshh! don’t tell) and the GORGEOUS book “The Compleat Squash.” Fortunately I also bought a copy or myself. They were a big hit so thanks for the heads up on the book. I grew my own Musquee de Provence this summer, despite a wretched growing season here in Portland, and look forward to even better sucess with better weather next year. I really love the book and will have fun in the winter months exploring various squash types and planning my garden. Thanks for sharing your squash love and great recipes!

Imagine my surprise seeing this recipe. I’ve known Alice Tucker since I was in 7th grade, as her younger son is a very good friend of mine. I usually make a teriyaki sauce from the 1983 Honolulu Junior League cookbook but now I’ll have to try this one!

Great article! I grew up in Hawaii and short grain white rice was (and still is) a staple in my diet. We used a rice cooker when I was a kid 40 years ago, though I cooked rice on the stove after graduating from college. I insisted it was fine until my brother gave me a rice cooker one Christmas. What a gift. I hate extraneous kitchen appliances but it really is the best way to make rice. BTW, I sent both my boys off to college with their own rice cookers . . .

i made this for dinner a couple of nights ago, using some of my pesto stash (frozen) from last summer. Oh me oh my. It was YUMMY! The soup itself doesn’t seem very interesting but when you add the bread and pesto. Wow! One question: where is the 4T of olive oil supposed to go? The recipe doesn’t say. Drizzled over the soup? On the bread before toasting? Hmmmmm

I agree with the previous comment -- I think there must be an error in the amount of flour listed. I used a total of one cup. I let the ricotta drain in a sieve for 4 hrs and very little liquid came out. The gnocchi was delicious! I froze half, as it made enough for four people.

I spent several hours last week picking blackberries in our local park (above the dog pee line!) and other parts of my nieghborhood. Got them washed, mashed, measured and in a pot to make jam only to find the entire pot swimming with some kind of larvae! I ended up tossing the whole batch in the compost bin and bought berries at a stand today. I didn’t pick any berries up off the ground and, fortunately, only ate two! Yuck! A friend suggested I just consider it extra protein.

Red pepper flakes are small pieces of dried red chili peppers. If you can find dried red chili peppers, you can chop them into small pieces and substitute. I like to use scissors and cut them inside a small bag to contain the flying pieces of chili and seeds. If you can’t get chili peppers, try cayenne or something else to give the chutney a little “kick”. Good luck!