A Peach Repertoire

I bought more than a half-dozen peaches at a farmers market last weekend, and I've been enjoying them ever since. I rarely buy peaches at the grocery store any more -- just too risky. I just noticed this web page at the N.Y. Times' food pages that lists a number of recipes featuring peaches.

The recipes range from fried peach pies with bourbon and cinnamon to peach puree vinaigrette. There's even a recipe for peach ice cream, which looks mighty good.

Perfecting Ketchup? Puh-lease

An article in Sunday's New York Times magazine offered two recipes -- one for "house-made" hamburger buns and the other for ketchup. When I saw these recipes, I immediately thought "what a waste."

How many people do you know who are looking for a "better ketchup"? Ketchup is ketchup. Anyone who has enough time on his or her hands to spend it making homemade ketchup clearly has a warped sense of priorities.

I'm sure the house-made buns would taste better than store-bought hamburger buns, but I find it hard to believe that they'd be worth all of the trouble presented by this recipe. I just don't get the point. What sane human being is going to spend more than 2 hours making homemade hamburger buns? If I had that much extra time on my hands, I'd spend it doing something else -- maybe preparing a homemade potato salad or making a rub for pork spare ribs.

Lettuce Reconsider

Salads made with iceberg lettuce are only an unpleasant memory for me. When I make a salad these days, it's made with an arugula mix of greens. But are there ways to enjoy the so-called "loser lettuces" that I'm missing out on? Maybe.

This N.Y. Times article offers five recipes using romaine or iceberg lettuce, including -- get this -- lettuce soup.

Cooking to Contain my Cabin Fever

My hometown, Washington, D.C., has been walloped by a snowstorm of 25 inches, and now we're expecting anywhere from 8 to 16 additional inches of snow by tomorrow.

When Washingtonians hear forecasts like that, they panic, rushing to the grocery store and leaving the shelves practically empty. Which is why I'm glad I did my shopping early. Cooking has helped me endure the cabin fever that occurs when one is essentially locked indoors for several consecutive days.

So far, here is what I've cooked:

• Sour cream and maple muffins


• Duck risotto with dates


• A pot of chicken noodle soup


• Apple-cherry pie


• A pot of beef barley soup

Given that we're facing a new snowstorm this evening (that will shut down the city), I guess I should check my recipe files to see what else looks interesting enough to cook. Hmmmm.

A Roast: The Perfect Winter Entree

The New York Times' Sam Sifton was right when he wrote:

... the best midwinter meal would be cooked in an enormous wood oven over the course of a weekend, the whole house fragrant with the scent of meat and vegetables caramelizing over hot coals.

What accompanies the article is this recipe for "Oven-Roasted Weekend Beef," using a sirloin tip roast. It sounds wonderful, as do the pan-roasted root vegetables.

For some basic tips for roasting beef, try O-Chef or Simply Recipes.

Giving Chicken Cutlets New Appeal

So you've opened your 'fridge or freezer, and you're wondering what to do with that package of chicken cutlets you see. Well, this N.Y. Times article offers a few suggestions for ingredients and cooking instructions that will take the "boring factor" out of eating chicken cutlets.

The article shares some approaches that borrow heavily from recipes derived from old French cookbooks.

Final Tips & Ideas for Thanksgiving

Take a deep breath and relax. Linda Larsen offers these tips on making a gravy for the Thanksgiving turkey.

Cranberry sauce shouldn't come out of a can. Especially when there's an easy recipe like this one. Stir in a little orange zest if you wish.

Mashed potatoes are a predictable side dish. Want to try something different? How about sweet potatoes? No, they don't have to be candied. Try this recipe, but substitute a can of mandarin oranges for the orange, and replace the corn syrup with 1/2 cup of molasses. You'll love it.

What about pies? Pumpkin pie is traditional, but Simply Recipes offers several other options on this web page.

Cranberry Cravings

“It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is inedible without it.” -- Allistair Cooke

I'm not sure I'd go so far as to say that turkey is "inedible" without it, but it sure tastes a lot better with it. Everyone I know seems to have a favorite version of cranberry sauce. For some, it's the no-nonsense gelatinized version that comes right out of a can. For others, it's more of a relish that may have orange or lemon zest in it.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, this article on MSN's "Delish" offers several different recipes for cranberry sauce. The version with apples and port looks most appealing to me. The Ginger-Orange version is also enticing.

Is It a Yam or a Sweet Potato?

Is there really a difference between a yam and a sweet potato? Not necessarily.

This helpful web page from the Library of Congress provides an answer to the question that once had me stumped.

If you're looking to do something unconventional with sweet potatoes, check out this web page -- lots of recipe options.