I stopped adding to this blog as other responsibilities piled during my mom's final illness and her death last June.
Now as I look out at the freakishly warm rain splattering down on the leeks and kale and chard that survived the last freeze, I'm eager to get back to it. And I have news. New Society Publishers on Gabriola Island in B.C. has agreed to publish a 20th anniversary edition of my Winter Harvest Cookbook this fall. This has sent me back to the kitchen for a frenzy of recipe trials. Last week included oyster parsnip stew (delicious!) and rutabaga/raisin salad (not so great). Yesterday it was a wonderfully versatile root vegetable cobbler and a revised version of an old favorite--a quick bread loaded with grated celeriac and minced leeks.
Some of the recipes from the first book have not stood the test of time and will be replaced by new favorites, but mom's divine mushroom soup is definitely going in. She was a wonderful cook, and an amazingly hearty eater for such a thin little person in her last years, and I wish we could try out the new recipes together.
