Lo and behold I discovered a bag of carrots from my mom’s garden at the bottom of my crisper drawer. They were still covered in dirt and extra crunchy. After scrubbing them clean, along with a few potatoes I chopped everything up and threw it into a 9” x 13” pan, poured generous amounts of lemon juice, olive oil, chicken stock, garlic, oregano and salt on top and baked everything at 400F for over an hour. 

Lucky for me, before hitting the road I picked one final harvest from my mom’s garden. She and the kids helped me packed a bag full of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, and corn. Then, I turned some of that into succotash, a no-cook dish that uses fresh, raw corn removed from the cob

I bought mint last week, but lost track of it and what it was I had planned to use it for. With the abundance of garden cucumbers, I settled on a cucumber mint gazpacho, based on this recipe with many liberties taken (my adapted recipe is below). 

My version of Wild Blackberry Crisp is inspired by this recipe, with my adaptation below. The cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger are perfect nods at the coming Fall just as we are rounding the corner towards the end of summer here.
I served this crisp warm, with a scoop of Black Raspberry Ice Cream from Stewart’s. If you’re not familiar with Stewart’s, it’s a chain of gas stations in Northern New York that’s known for its top notch, and wide variety of ice cream flavors. My favorite has always been their Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, but when I stopped to fill my tank this week, I was reminded of other detectable options, like Adirondack Bear Paw. 

This sauce is extremely flexible. You can substitute any of the vegetables for what you like, or what you have on hand. The spices don’t all have to be there, if you only have oregano, or you only have basil, that will be enough. Don’t worry too much about the measurements, just feel and taste for what’s right. I’ve had success adding ground turkey and ground beef to this recipe as well.

This recipe for creamy, lemony, herby marinated chicken is delicious. If you don’t have access to a grill, I used to make this chicken often for clients when I was personal chef-ing by cooking them in a pan sans skewers.

​These are a no bake sweet treat that come together quickly. The panko breadcrumbs give them a little crunch and the flakey sea salt a nice satisfying sweet and salty combo. This is a flexible and forgiving recipe. I eyeballed the ingredients and the measurements are an approximation.

These little fritters are inspired by my days working in a Greek restaurant. They're similar to falafel, but have more citrus, less spice and are pan-fried. The come together really quickly, and are an easy weeknight dinner.