• Tiny handheld bouquet of ranunculus and garden flowers
    Living

    Living Well in the New Year

    If you’ve taken one of my cooking classes, you know that I consider making beautiful food to be an essential part of loving ourselves and those around us. When I hear that one of my recipes has become part of your regular meal rotation, or a special indulgence, it fills me with joy to know that you have found a new way to enjoy time in the kitchen. Perhaps you find the time we spend together to be that moment of inspiration in the week that fuels your own creativity and helps you to approach meal making in a new way. Often I hear our time allows you to relax,…

  • Sunshine Becomes You by Vanessa Young
    Living

    Sunshine Becomes You

    Designed to make you smile, the heartfelt words and original images I’ll be sharing over the next few weeks are intended to deliver moments of lightness. They feature plants to which I’ve tended and messages we all need to hear along the journey. Visit the page every few days to enjoy the new artwork I’ve added – and share the gallery with others to amplify the joy.

  • Farro salad with heirloom tomatoes, plums, grilled corn, and herbs
    Food,  Living

    Tomato Season: Gardening Tips and Summer Farro Salad Recipe

    Lately the salad that keeps making its way to my table has a base of toasty farro topped with ripe heirloom tomatoes, juicy plums, and grilled corn plus handfuls of fresh herbs. The dish encapsulates everything I love about summer – sweetness, char, and that unmistakable flavor of the season’s tomatoes.   Of the vegetables I grow, tomatoes are the ones I cherish most and check on throughout the day. Whether you enjoy the ritual of growing and tending to tomatoes or love picking them from the market, this advice will help you make the most of tomato season in full swing.  The tips are designed for cooks and gardeners alike, intermingled in…

  • Fall dried flower arrangement
    Living

    Fall Table Decor with Dried Flowers

    As we head deeper into autumn, now is the perfect time to preserve the beauty of your garden through a dried flower arrangement.  While tending to the garden recently, I decided to snip some blooms to create a table centerpiece that would last through many dinners and remind me of the variety of flowers thriving outside. If you start now, in about two to three weeks, you will have preserved the most gorgeous flowers you have been growing (or ones picked from the market), and be able to turn them into a centerpiece for the dining room table, kitchen island, or any part of your home ready for a touch of…

  • Edible flower salad
    Food,  Living

    Cooking with Edible Flowers

    The nasturtiums I have been tending finally burst into mildly sweet and lightly peppery blooms.  For weeks I watched their leaves pop up like parasols in my edible flower patch, sometimes shading the yellow and deep orange buds about to emerge.  Throughout the spring they formed a showy display of green, the kind that makes you want to take them right into the kitchen, which now I have along with the cheerful flowers. Nasturtiums bloom profusely once they are on a roll, meaning that my salads, pasta, and plant-forward recipes will feature the gorgeous colors for weeks to come.  While edible flowers each have their own culinary charms, these lend…