Archive for December, 2011

By Charity Shumway |

A Hot Tip on Amaryllis

Let’s begin with the obvious. Amaryllises are the best Christmas flowers. Don’t even try to argue. Poinsettias? Sure, they’re nice and colorful, but I’ll shoot that one down by pointing out that they’re not even flowers. Those red and white “flowers” are actually bracts — modified leaves. So, bzzz, disqualified. Paperwhites? Obviously, I’m into them. [Read more]

By Nadia Arumugam |

Last Minute Cookbook Holiday Gifts for the Foodies in Your Life

No doubt it hasn’t escaped you that Christmas is less than 5 days away. It possibly also hasn’t escaped you that a sizable amount of your Christmas shopping remains….well, still in the stores. I ask you then, to consider the interests of the loved – or liked – ones in your life. Should the term [Read more]

By Charity Shumway |

Garden Reading: A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds

Most garden books are how-tos. You want tips on growing tomatoes or laying out a kitchen garden? There’s a book for that.  Others fall into the category of visual celebration. They’re full of lush pictures and dreamy landscapes and the point is not so much instruction but inspiration. I love both those types of garden [Read more]

By Nadia Arumugam |

Forget Fruit Cake, Make a Gift of Homemade Sourdough Bread

By now I imagine your sourdough starter is alive and thriving in the refrigerator, emitting bubbles of carbon dioxide and filling out its container as the yeast greedily consumes the weekly feedings of flour and water. It’s time to think about the next step, the next delicious step. I’ve already extolled the virtues of homemade [Read more]