Get out the champagne! (Or perhaps more fittingly, just a glass of cold water ...) Slow down. Sit back. Savor. And do enjoy ... And please forgive my silliness. I was just so pleased to see the first home-grown, vine-ripened and just-picked tomatoes at the Wednesday market last night! This is the third year to celebrate perfect summer tomatoes -- yes I really do keep a special section for recipes that absolutely call for summer's best tomatoes! In the first year, I discovered My First Panzanella ("How did I get to be ?? years old without panzanella? All those wasted years!?") . In the second year, it was a recipe for gazpacho that sent me over the top ("all about the flavor of wonderful local tomatoes ...") . Now at the start of the third year, what shall it be ... ideas, anyone? PRINT JUST A RECIPE! (Though I promise, this doesn't qualify!) Now you can print a recipe without wasting ink and paper on the header and sidebar. Here's how .

By this time of the year, we've all had our fill of asparagus. Except me! As much as I appreciate the beautiful St. Louis-grown asparagus, I love that good asparagus can be found at the grocery store both "before" and "after" our own growing season. There are just so many great ways to cook asparagus . And when it comes to fat-fat spears of asparagus, oh they're so good roasted! This is another simple treatment, just anise seed and salt and pepper. The anise draws something unexpected out of the asparagus -- and no, it's not 'licorice' or even licorice flavor. It's a keeper. See the little white bowl? A year ago Christmas, a very generous Santa gave me a gift certificate to Cornucopia , the kitchen shop located in my little hometown downtown. A gift certificate turned out to be the perfect choice for a 'cook who has everything', or at least, everything she really wants. I've been surprised by the usefulness of the small mortar and

Summer nights create a thousand reasons to skip supper at home in the kitchen. This week's Kitchen Parade column features an antidote, a 'drive-by' quick supper salad that features one of the world's greatest conveniences, rotisserie chickens. Plus, if you've ever wondered how to make hummus , the column includes a simple recipe for homemade hummus with canned chickpeas. Perfect, yes, for a quick supper during summer! SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features ' fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences '. Where A Veggie Venture is 'pure food blog', full of experimentation and exploration, Kitchen Parade features recipes a modern cook can count on. All are thoroughly tested by a home cook in a home kitchen and many are f

A warm summer evening is good enough reason to share a glass of wine on the patio. And I like add a quick bite to eat, too, something from the frig that requires zero effort. Easy appetizers are the subject of a 2003 Kitchen Parade column, published online today for the first time. Red Pepper Crostini, Olivada and Parmesan Crisps -- yes, they're that easy to make and easy to keep on hand for impromptu gatherings. SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features ' fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences '. Where A Veggie Venture is 'pure food blog', full of experimentation and exploration, Kitchen Parade features recipes a modern cook can count on. All are thoroughly tested by a home cook in a home kitchen and many are family and reader favori

When my sister and I were girls, on hot June days, our Mom would send us with a bowl of sugar to the backstep where her rhubarb patch was within arms' reach. Ruby stalk by ruby stalk, we'd wipe off the most evident dirt with our fingers, then dip -- and dip and dip -- the rhubarb into the bowl to sweeten each tart biteful. When I was home last summer, I rescued the last bits of my Mom's Round-up ravaged rhubarb from the back step and planted it in my own garden. Some years must pass before my rhubarb plants will qualify as a patch but someday I'll sugar my very own rhubarb. Rhubarb? It's almost as good, straight from the farmers market and this time of year, even, carefully picked over, the supermarket. This week's Kitchen Parade column is a kitchen lesson in how to make rhubarb jelly and rhubarb jam . In an hour, you'll have six or seven pints of rhubarb confection. Where's that column? In Kitchen Parade, of course ! Botanically, rhubarb is a vegetable.

My great-grandfather kept a strawberry patch of local acclaim in a sunny corner spot. In my mind, he bends low behind a white picket fence, wearing dusky dungarees and a buttoned-up shirt. His hands are gnarled with arthritis but he tends the plants with deftness. Some perfect day in late spring, he brushes soil from the first berry of the season, lifting it to the sun for visual inspection, then pop! it stains his lips as he begins the ultimate flavor test. And so the three quick and easy strawberry desserts featured in this week's Kitchen Parade column are worthy of the very best strawberries, the ones plucked straight from the lovingly tended plants, the local berries found at the farmers market. Yes, three recipes, all simple. A gorgeous strawberry banana chocolate -- yes, all three! -- crumble that roasts into fruity chocolatey goodness, each flavor distinct, the blend something beyond measure. And my variation of the classic strawberry fool, just berries and cream spi

Welcome to the latest in an occasional series of St. Louis restaurant reviews and sound-offs from my friend, the Foodie Patootie. It's an A- recommendation for Liluma in the Central West End. Enjoy! After attending an evening lecture, my husband and I recently stopped in at Liluma in the CWE for a late night bite and were pleased to learn that they indeed offer light bites as well as entrees. Diners are welcome – and encouraged – to eat as they please and need not feel guilty when ordering a couple of appetizers to serve as the entire meal. My husband ordered the Liluma Soup: this night it was a delicately Smoked Tomato Bisque ($5) with a swirl of basil pesto and it was awesome. That was followed by a great-tasting Tagliatelle Ragu Bolognese ($7) consisting of pasta ribbons with a very thin, light, yet rich (if you can imagine this combination possible) sauce of tomatoes and ground beef. I enjoyed my Crispy Vegetable Spring Rolls ($5) which were hot and crispy on the outside

Mother's Day celebrations seem the easiest of all to plan. Just think fresh, simple, breezy. The food is hardly the point, it's the moment to mark the gifts of all those who mother. From the Kitchen Parade archives, check out all the recipe ideas for Mother's Day celebrations . Perhaps a sumptuous breakfast in bed. Pancakes ? Of course! Or perhaps a Dutch baby ! Or for ultimate breakfast decadence, how about strawberry shortcakes ? It's a celebration, after all! Or a family gathering, maybe small, maybe filled with aunts and cousins and new babies and old memories. Start with strawberry pepper salads . Then follow with a beautiful piece of salmon glazed with maple syrup and roasted zucchini and lemon on the side. And for dessert, oh my, the choices. The raspberry cake . If the rhubarb's ripe, a rhubarb sorbet . For those with early berries, oh yes, this fruit tart, plump with blueberries, raspberries and blackberries . Swoon. Or for something light and lovel

Kitchen Parade is famous for its Quick Suppers. They're quick (of course!) but more than that. A 'four-star' quick supper is easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher . And today's Kitchen Parade column features a four-star recipe, skillet-cooked chops with a sour cream and caper sauce and curried carrots on the side . Who needs carry-out? No pork chops or carrots on hand? Check out all the quick supper recipes in the Kitchen Parade Recipe Box . FREE COOKBOOKS! During April, win free cookbooks at A Veggie Venture! It's all to celebrate the Alphabet of Vegetables , the brand-new A - Z of Vegetables with easy links to great vegetable recipes! Need an example? Check all the spring asparagus recipes . SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features ' fr

This month, A Veggie Venture is inviting readers to win free cookbooks, all to celebrate the brand-new Alphabet of Veggies , the A-Z way to find great vegetable recipes. Here's how to win one of my favorite cookbooks about vegetables. And today, class, we start with the A of vegetables, the asparagus! (Yes, the Alphabet of Vegetables is big on asparagus .) After several days of hard freeze two weeks ago, I'm holding my breath that local St. Louis asparagus will be available at the Scharf booth at Soulard Market tomorrow. If they are, I'll turn to three favorite recipes for asparagus, all featured in Kitchen Parade columns. The first is a simple asparagus soup, lusty with asparagus flavor. I call it " Easy to Elegant Asparagus Soup " because it's easy, with a couple of changes, to move this from a weeknight supper soup to something smooth and elegant. Next up is a favorite quick supper, salmon paired with asparagus , both roasted in the same dish. I c

The St. Louis farmers markets are showing early signs of life, matching the slow start to our spring here in eastern Missouri. (Updated 4/4/08) Kirkwood Farmers Market - Located just east of the train station from Kirkwood Road. From I44, exit Lindbergh Blvd north. Easy parking. Open-air market but covered and thus protected from rain and sun. During the height of the season, the Kirkwood Farmers Market is open 7 days a week but the "best time to shop" is always Saturday morning when farmers and vendors set up shop. In 2007, the market sponsored "Tunes at Ten," adding to the festive feel. Dog friendly! 2008 Schedule : Opens Saturday, April 4th, 2008 with a handful of sellers, including Farrar Out Farm with fresh chicken, eggs and pork and later, with naturally raised lamb. Beginning April 12th, the market anchor Summit Farms opens. Favorites: CJ's PRODUCE: Eckerts peaches , Cascade tomatoes for slow-roasted tomatoes . Also other local produce, eggs and cur

Alright, veggie lovers, it's time to let the world know (okay, let me know) that you appreciate all the vegetable recipes on A Veggie Venture. You see, for the last few months, I've been re-building the Recipe Box to make it easier to find recipes quickly. And this week, I finished my favorite section, the Alphabet of Vegetables , the fabulous (if I may say so myself, but you're allowed to say so too!) way to find great vegetable recipes easily and quickly. Yes, it's the perfect A - Z of Vegetables , with recipes just a click away! And to make sure you know about it, to give you extra reason to poke around the alphabet a bit, from now til the end of April, I'm offering the chance to win free A - Z vegetable books of your choice. It's easy! And no purchase is required, no cooking is required!. Here's how it works. When you sign up for a new e-mail subscription (see Never Miss a Recipe to the right) between now and April 30th, you're automaticall

If you've got a soft spot for small towns, read this week's Kitchen Parade column where I reminisce about hometown soda fountains, one in particular where an albino deer (stuffed, of course) was kept behind the fountain. What brought all this on? Vanilla brownies, of course. And the connection? It's less obscure than you might think. Just read the column and get the recipe for Vanilla Brownies . SO WHAT IS KITCHEN PARADE, EXACTLY? Kitchen Parade is the food column that my Mom started writing for our family newspaper when I was a baby. Today it's published in my hometown newspapers in suburban St. Louis and features ' fresh seasonal recipes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences '. Where A Veggie Venture is 'pure food blog', full of experimentation and exploration, Kitchen Parade features recipes a modern cook can count on. All are thoroughly tested by a home cook in a home kitchen and many are family and reader favorites. All

Ever since Dorie Greenspan's Baking: From My Home to Yours arrived last month, I've been mesmerized, called to the kitchen to make first one thing and then another. But I got stuck: wanting to make so many things - muffins? cookies? cheesecake? the peace cookies so many have praised? - I just didn't know where to start. Then I read the intro to this recipe for pumpkin muffins, "The best pumpkin muffins in New York are made by Sarabeth Levine, the mistress of Sarabeth's jams ..." Suddenly I realized that, thanks to the benevolence of dinner guests last summer, my pantry was home to a jar of very same jam! And it just happens that those very same guests are today celebrating a special occasion. So Happy Day, Nupur and V , may there be many, many more of this occasion, wherever you call home. And the muffins? Good! 2010 Update, A Better Recipe for Pumpkin Muffins: Note how I said "good" but didn't rave? That means that the muffins were go

A week ago today, my friend Tricia lost her Mom. A week ago tomorrow would have been my Mom's 77th birthday. Even before hearing of Tricia's loss, I planned to pay tribute to Mom, as I do every year, by making bread on her birthday. But once hearing Tricia's news, I knew that after mixing and kneading and tending and shaping and baking and tapping and buttering, I would deliver warm bread to a family raw with loss, gathering with memories, communing with tears and laughter, to mourn the loss and celebrate the life of their own mother. For my Mom, making bread was a way to feed her family and heal her soul while recovering from a radical mastectomy at only age 35. And when, many years later, she was sick with lung cancer and my family was caring for her, I too made bread, what we came to call Best-Ever Oatmeal Bread , first published in Kitchen Parade in 2002 but online now for the first time. Many of us are thinking about cancer-fighting foods this month. Mele Cotte

So what does one do with blood oranges? The heart-startling color is spectacular but how do you take advantage of it? [Besides the ever-so-beautiful 'orange crush' martinis at Red Light in Chicago, thank you, 3-2-1 Launch! ] Just like yesterday's fennel and blood orange salad , this is a lovely little slaw -- but no credit to the blood orange. Feel free to use the juice of a regular orange! HOW TO REVIVE TIRED CABBAGE If your cabbage has been in the frig a bit and looks a tad limp, wash the outside parts, then cut into big wedges and let rehydrate in cold water for 5 - 10 minutes. Chop and then drain well (or run through a salad spinner) before tossing with the dressing. FROM THE ARCHIVES It's getting to be salad time, for sure and I do love the crunch of a good vegetable salad, check the vegetable salad recipes in the Recipe Box for proof! TWO YEARS AGO on all of Day Five ... Sauteed Broccoli with Toasted Garlic, Orange and Sesame Seed NEVER MISS A RECIPE! Just e

A mandoline would have made quick work of this. Somehow, slicing even one bulb of fresh fennel struck me as tedious. And color-wise, I thought the juicy sections of blood orange would show off more against the snowy-white fennel; taste-wise, I thought there'd be more sweet/sharp contract too. So once I invest in a mandoline, I'll make this again and use grapefruit, for an all white salad with some taste contrast! (Or maybe pink grapefruit!) It does have really good crunch and is perfect for this time of year when we seem to want to sweep heavy wintry foods from the table. FROM THE ARCHIVES In 2006, I collected fennel recipes from food bloggers, a great collection of fennel recipes , from appetizers to desserts. My own fennel recipes are in the Recipe Box . A YEAR AGO ... Napa Cabbage, Herb & Mango Salad with Asian Dressing "Even late on a chilly spring evening, this tasted so fresh and alive ..." TWO YEARS AGO ... Only Day Four, carrots tossed with honey and cil

... of Lemon Curd and Topped with Candied Raspberries and Toffee-Tossed Pecans and a Venetian Honey Hazelnut Butter Sauce! And Happy April Fools Day! And Happy Second Birthday, A Veggie Venture! On this oh-so-unlikely occasion, will you forgive a trip down memory lane? A Veggie Venture's very first post , on a whim, on April 1st so that "my blog about vegetables" could all be dropped as April 1 Tom Foolery The first comment, on Day Four . The second comment, on Day 89 . (Yes, new bloggers, it is possible to blog on, and on, completely without notice. And yes, dear readers, your messages and comments mean so much .) My first Paper Chef entry. (I miss Paper Chef!) Thinking about why food blogging is so special . Cooking fennel in February and broccoli rabe in March . And then finally, Day 365 at last, the end of cooking a vegetable in a new way every single day for an entire year. After a long and may-I-say well-deserved break, the beginning of Year Tw

Tis still another season of food traditions. On Good Friday, I'll bake hot cross buns , with any luck, my sister will too. (And you, you too?) But funny enough, Christmas dinner was so perfect, I may just repeat it for Easter dinner. A fresh Miller ham (for St. Louisans, from Ladue Market, absolutely gorgeous meat) which goes just perfectly with a creamy carrot puree and Nupur's vegetable biryani . And dessert, hmmm, something new, perhaps. No, I know, lemon pots de creme, what I call lemon pots . Or who knows, maybe I'll do an asparagus custard tart for brunch. With a winter fruit salad . And a sweet ending . Isn't it lovely that food fantasies have zero points? Looking for still more ideas for Easter morning, Easter brunch or Easter dinner? Check out all the special recipes for Easter from Kitchen Parade's archives. One Easter basket idea that's not to be missed, these glorious ruby-colored eggs , stained with beet juice. Aren't they ever so pre

I fell in love with broccoli rabe (aka broccoli raab and aka rapini) a year ago . So it's no surprise to A Veggie Venture readers -- though it will be to Kitchen Parade's print readers -- that this week's column features two recipes using the fresh, light green, a meatball soup on the table in 45 minutes and my new favorite sandwich, the rapini panini. (Get it?!) Where's that column? Here at Kitchen Parade ! And speaking of sandwiches stuffed with rapini, last week I shared a lovely late-night supper with the brand-new bloggers from Food Blogga , Susan and husband Jeff. Susan's picture is on Food Blogga's homepage and she writes the sweet stories about everyday life and people but Food Blogga is a team effort. Jeff handles many of the technical details and has good reason to make things work. Eyes big, he mentioned a recent post about broccoli rabe, "You know who got to EAT that sandwich after the photos were done, don't you? Talk about fringe benef