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One of the great benefits of my collaboration with Milk Street is sometimes getting a new cookbook before it publishes. One came last week, and I have been devouring the recipes and stories it contains. It is Milk Street Backroads Italy: Finding Italy’s Forgotten Recipes by Christopher Kimball and J.M. Hirsch. It was apparent that both spent a great amount of time in Italy.

I loved the backroads stories of the recipes and sources of the ingredients used in Italian home cooking and small trattoria restaurants, tiny mountain eateries in small towns and coastal recipes handed down through ...

For our Sunday chat pleasure today, I have several books to tell you about, along with a fabulous new recipe made from my Milk Street Vegetables cookbook. So shall we read first, then eat? I adore the Seasons series, and I finished the fourth one. I am trying to read them in the months that they are set. It was appropriate to take a shot of it next to the orchid, as I am still waiting on it to bloom. The amaryllis leaves are getting bigger, but I am still waiting on it as well.

Waiting Season by Melanie Lageschulte ...

Recently I’ve been looking for more recipes that would take vegetables to main dish status.  I had this idea after spending some time looking at cookbooks, searching for something that would use cauliflower.  While none of the recipes used corn, one had a sour cream base, but had a lot of peppers which I didn’t want.  I wondered what would happen if I eliminated the flour roux and used ricotta instead.  Oh, my!!  Instant winner!

For the two of us, a whole cauliflower is too much for one meal.  We can eat some of it, but it leaves ...

These are nutty times in the grocery store, and it is not unusual to see entire cases or shelves empty.  Our local stores have begun limiting purchases, not a bad idea to reduce hoarding.  Still, when you go to the meat counter and see not one package of chicken left, or the pork is down to some ribs and ground pork, it is time to think about having some all plant based meals.  We do this from time to time, but we are thinking of going to a more regular schedule.  We eat a fair amount of  seafood, but for ...

For many of us, Easter holiday usually means a ham dinner.  Even though we cannot be with family right now, maintaining tradition is important.  It helps us to feel like things are still somewhat normal.  After the ham has served for sandwiches and leftover meals for a few days, making a thick and hearty soup with the bone is a delicious way to make the most of what is left.

To begin, cover 2 pounds of Great Northern beans with hot tap water in a large bowl.

Cover and soak overnight.

The beans will double in size.

Add the ham ...