“The gift of the sugar maple trees is from a benevolent Providence.” — Benjamin Rush, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson. What’s the sweetest part of an Adirondack spring? Maple syrup! It’s mud season. Frosty nights and sunny, warm days cause the sap to flow. It’s time ...

Before Sir Walter Raleigh brought potatoes to his Irish estate near Cork in 1589, the Irish ate oats, barley and millet. They raised sheep, pigs, cows and chickens. In the 5th century, when Patrick was a teenage boy of 16, he was captured from his home in Britain and brought to Ireland as a ...

It is one week until St. Patty’s Day. Friends are already telling me how much they’re looking forward to the annual fare of corned beef and cabbage. But in Ireland, the traditional dish is bacon and cabbage — made with back bacon, which is much less fatty than American bacon. Corned ...

The ground is still covered in a white blanket. We have snow in the forecast. But days are lengthening, snow will melt and flowers will blossom. Spring is on its way. Shrove Tuesday — also known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras — is March 4, followed by Ash Wednesday on March 5. The ...

This has been the snowiest and chilliest winter in many years. Winter is cold and flu season. When you’re tired, sick and grumpy, coughing, sneezing, with a stuffy head and scratchy throat, there’s nothing more comforting than a hot, steaming bowl of homemade chicken soup. Our ...

Winter is soup weather — and what a winter this has been! And oh, there is such a variety of soups! What’s your favorite? Split Pea and Ham. Lentil. Chicken noodle. Turkey and rice. Barley. Minestrone. Potato. Bean. Italian Wedding. Clam chowder. One of the oldest culinary inventions ...