Having access to farm fresh apple cider is something I took for granted growing up around the corner from Weaver’s Orchard. As soon as the first cool snap of fall air would arrive, my mom would pick up some fresh…
Toward the end of 1911, a group of “public spirited women” were anticipating the “gloomy prospect of an expensive winter.” They were managing The Home for Widows and Single Women at the northwest corner of 16th and Haak Streets in…
At a cooking class in June 2014, I heard Phoebe Canakis of Phoebe’s Pure Food describe fillo shells as “a nice cheat.” This kind of shortcut is a sanity saver when it comes to entertaining. When you’re throwing a big…
British flapjacks are a gluten-free oat bar (much like a granola bar) traditionally made with just oats, fresh or dried fruit, butter, brown sugar and syrup (golden or maple). This recipe calls for oats, nuts, dried apples and cranberries, applesauce…
My husband often talks about one of my most spectacular kitchen failures. But he speaks of it fondly, and almost dreamily, because sometimes even the messiest kitchen mistakes are still quite edible. Here’s what happened. I was trying to make…
When most people think of picking fruit in September, apples are the fruit that comes to mind. And with good reason. At the time I’m writing this, there are five apples to pick at Weaver’s right now, with three more…
“There never was, and never will be, such a remedy for the tired, overworked human body as the pure, fresh air of the country,” wrote an author known as Mrs. A. Sherman Hitchcock in an article published in 1911. Picnics were nothing…
When peaches are in season, there’s few things I crave more than peaches and cream in various forms: peaches and plain yogurt with a dash of vanilla or a sprinkling of vanilla granola, peaches on cereal with milk, peaches and…
In the area of Reading, Pennsylvania that is now bordered by Oley, Douglass, Front and Weiser Streets, there used to be a magical place called “Paradise Peach Grove.” Today, this is very much an urban neighborhood with many homes, stores and…
During the recent heatwave, some friends were commenting on Facebook about how they notice they get headaches more frequently during the heat. I also experience this, so I was interested to see the remedies people suggested. One person mentioned that…