• Words

    Excerpt

    Down near the bottom of the crossed-out list of things you have to do today, between “green thread” and “broccoli” you find that you have penciled “sunlight.” Resting on the page, the…

  • Preserves

    The Fruit Report

    In 2011, I had a goal that I never said out loud. I wanted to return to the reason I first started preserving, which was to make good use of the fruit…

  • Preserves

    Pickled Fuyu Persimmons

    As many of you know, I’m doing some work for a new nonprofit business called Community Action Marin FoodWorks — CAM FoodWorks, for short. It’s a venture based on the principles of…

  • Words

    Happy New Year

    With wishes for joy, prosperity, and an abundance of love and friendship in 2012.

  • Birds, Holiday

    December Birds

    For many years when I lived alone, I didn’t have a Christmas tree. I would get some boughs and hang some bells, but saw no reason to untangle the lights and grapple…

  • Preserves

    Homemade Vanilla Extract: Day 70

    It’s time for a progress report on the homemade vanilla extract. On October 8, I poured myself two big jars of booze, stuffed each one with 32 vanilla beans, and promised to…

  • Preserves

    About a Fig

    I’ve spent the past few weeks staring at a fig. It’s just a fig. But it had something to say to me — and so did the stately tree that it came…

  • Preserves

    Lowbush Cranberry Marmalade Relish

    What’s in your pantry, people? Do you still have marmalade that you made last winter? I do. Around here, the marmalade eating can’t possibly keep up with the marmalade making, so I…

  • Garden

    November in the Garden

    To those who have not yet learned the secret of true happiness, begin now to study the little things in your own door yard. ~ George Washington Carver Door-yard contentment is something…

  • Preserves

    Jasmine Pearl Passion Fruit Jelly

    A few weeks ago, I was fussing on Facebook about how I had picked up some contract legal work and wasn’t enjoying it very much. (If you have ever been stuck for…

  • Preserves

    Caramel Apple Jam

    Are you busy? These days, I am far busier than I would like to be, which is one reason I like this photo of caramel apple jam holding down my datebook. (I…

  • Food

    Curried Zucchini Apple Soup

    Last week, we spent a night at the rustic West Point Inn on Mount Tamalpais. I am shaking my head that it was a first-time visit for me, considering that I grew…