June '22 Newsletter
photos from this spring in my town (taken on film)
Hello and Happy June!
Summer has been slowly establishing itself here. Some days, like today, are impossibly sticky and hot, making everything move in slow motion, while others are (surprisingly) chilly enough to require a sweatshirt. I always marvel at the color of the leaves on the trees during this time of year: so fresh and new, and brilliant green. We’ve got some nice road trips planned for the next few months, one to the Berkshires and one to Maine, and I’m just generally so happy that my favorite season is here.
This month’s class is all about seasonal cooking in the spring. To embrace the season’s delicate produce, I make a Spring Grain Salad with Pea & Mint Pesto, as well as a Strawberry & Rhubarb Crisp. Both of those recipes can be adapted to any season. I also think that spring produce calls for a simple Aioli, which is another one of this month’s recipes.
Seasonal Pleasures and Other Stuff
⁕ Our online friend Pauline Chardin’s new cookbook ‘A Spoonful of Sun’ is one the most beautiful cookbooks I’ve ever seen. Pauline and her husband built an amazing, modern house in Provence, and the cookbook is all about cooking seasonally with all the dreamy produce of that region.
⁕ While we are on the topic of rhubarb and its electric pink beauty, here’s a nice way of using rhubarb in a savory application. You can find the full recipe here.
⁕ Our farmers market has been having the most extravagant, bushy topped beets, which means that we’ve been eating lots of beet tops. Beet tops, as well as radish tops and carrot tops, are edible and incredibly nutritious. I love to saute them in olive oil, with some garlic and chile flakes, and serve as a side to any meal.
Wishing you a great June :)
a recent farmers market haul: asparagus, beets (the tops are edible!), spring garlic, lettuce, chive blossoms, radishes (edible tops as well!), rhubarb
