Photo: Sam Howzit/Flickr

I can relate a lot to the opening lines of Erin Cooks‘ most recent post. Like her, farro has been “haunting” my kitchen, too, and I haven’t spent the time lately trying to find the right recipe with which to make it.

I also have two young kids to pack lunches for each day. Monotony is a problem, especially at this point in the school year, with camp (more packed lunches) around the corner. Eep!

For Erin, the Cranberry Farro Quick Bread she crafted is a kind of two-fer. She’s honest about her doubts in using the grain, but delightfully surprised by the end results. “The loaf rose, it sliced beautifully, and smelled lovely,” she writes. Check and check: 1) whole grains used up, and 2) nutritious new breakfast food created.

For me, Erin’s farro quick bread is also a two-fer. Over the past year, I’ve taken to baking breads for my kids (banana, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.) as a nutritious replacement for the crackers they like to take for lunch. Cranberries are as constant in our house as milk. Now I can check two things off my list, too: 1) whole grains used up, and 2) nutritious new lunch food created.

Can you?

Photo: clevercupcakes/Flickr

In honor of Mother’s Day, our neighbors at Here & Now asked listeners to share recipes that have been handed down over the generations. The response was overwhelming.

Here’s to our moms, the world over. Happy Mother’s Day!

Photo: GlennFleishman/Flickr

Today’s food therapy takes us further afield than the Boston region. Much further, actually, to Chicago. But a virtual journey there will be well rewarded with a bit of nostalgia and forward-thinking in honor of Mother’s Day, plus the recipe for a sumptuous-looking pound cake.

I hear you. Pound cake is perhaps the most ‘vanilla’ of desserts out there. But this version from Some Kitchen Stories nears exquisite. It’s got a surprising twist: rosemary, with fresh lemon. It’s also calls for a whole lot of eggs, and buttermilk and sugar, which makes for the “sumptuous” profile of this oh-so-not-vanilla Rosemary Buttermilk Pound Cake.

Judi, the ‘words’ person in this two-person blog, writes a beautiful intro to the recipe that has everything to do with her mom, and not at all with the cake. We’re left to ponder the impact our own moms have had on our lives, and asked to share.

The choice of a pound cake to accompany Judi’s thought piece about a mom’s love is up to each of us to decipher. But my own guess is that simple elegance, warmth and sweetness have a lot to do with tying the two together.

Cardamom pods for Chai (photo: Steven Jackson Photography/Flickr)

Ready to ring yourself out yet? Feel like you’re growing moss?

Let’s face it: it’s been a damp, dark week. And we have one more day to get through til we see that gorgeous orb, the sun. Somerville-based Cooking The Seasons has posted what may be the best form of food therapy — and heat — you could hope for while we wait out the wet stuff: tea.

Here’s a recipe for homemade Chai, “one of those things that smells amazing and tastes even better than it smells.” The line-up of spices is tantalizing, and the method of cooking so, so easy.

Thanks, Cooking The Seasons, and hold tight, everyone. Before you know it, the sun’ll be back.

Photo: Horia Varlan/Flickr

These are insanely gorgeous days. I’ve been spending long hours planting vegetables and pulling weeds, getting my back ready for the summer garden season. When I come in at night, my bones ache with the sweet pain of spring.

But the rewards have already begun. There’s parsley and chives that wintered over in the garden, parsnips from a friend’s farm that sweetened up under the frozen soil all winter, and soft shell crabs from the sea. Warm days, blue skies and cold nights. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Sautéed Soft Shell Crabs with Chives, Parsley and Brown Lemon Butter

Ingredients
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper
4 soft shell crabs, have the fish store clean them for you
1 tablespoon butter
1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1 lemon or Meyer lemon, washed, dried and cut into paper thin slices More…

Chef Jason Bond of Bondir, Cambridge (Photo: Susanna Bolle)

Though the leaves on the trees and the pollenated air tells us in no uncertain terms that spring is here, it’s still too early for much in the way of spring produce here in New England. What we do have in abundance is hearty root vegetables. This recipe for Celery and Celeriac Soup from Chef Jason Bond of Bondir in Cambridge makes good use of them.

Bond knows his roots. He grew up on a farm out west (we’re talking Wyoming, not the Berkshires) where his family kept a well-stocked root cellar. His recipe shines a spotlight on celery, a vegetable that Bond says doesn’t get nearly enough respect.

While the soup is hearty, the flavors are subtle and sophisticated. Add some cream if you want to make it a little richer and more decadent. Add fresh herbs, if you like. It’s versatile recipe with room for lots of improvisation.

Here’s the basic plan. More…

Photo: Muffet/Flickr

Here’s a chance to pull out your recipe box and have some fun.

Our neighbors over at Here & Now are doing a special program for Mother’s Day (May 13 this year) that’s based on the recipes your mom or grandmom has passed down to you.

What’s your favorite? What’s the family tradition behind this recipe? How did your mom (or grandmom) make it special?

Here & Now wants to know. And they’d love your photos, too, especially if you’ve got a hand-written recipe card or a dog-eared cookbook with personal annotations made right there in the margins. Click here to read the details about their upcoming Mother’s Day show and how you can play a part.

What’s my favorite recipe from my own mom? There are literally too many recipes to count — Baked Maccaroni, American Chopped Suey, Eggplant Parmigian, Risotto Milanese, Plum Cake and Blueberry Pie quickly come to mind. But I have to say I treasure our family’s strufoli recipe most. Lose this, and I lose a piece of my identity. Know what I mean?

Photo: qwrrty/Flickr

Spring creeps up on you. In New England, it’s not unusual to have a raw, cloudy 39-degree day followed by one with pure sun, blue skies and temperatures that soars to 86 degrees. It flip flops this way throughout the season—teasing you with glimpses of good times to come.

As soon as the sun gets serious so does my will to be outdoors more, get the garden planted and start eating more vegetables. Spring demands that I raise my healthy food consciousness. And after a winter of soups and stews and too much meat, I am more than happy to succumb.

I was rummaging around the kitchen yesterday and found some farro—a nutty whole grain that is simple to cook — and root vegetables from the last winter farmers market. I also grabbed a few asparagus and chives and leeks (that miraculously wintered over) from the garden. Look left.

I call this my “Ode to the End of Winter Salad.”

You can use virtually any vegetable you have on hand in this salad, as farro is very adaptable. You can also add cubed feta cheese. (Recipe after the jump.) More…

Photo: SingChan/flickr

It’s a three-day weekend for many Bostonians, and so far I’ve spent my extra day doing something I never have time to on a Monday: baking.

Does that sound unappealing with today’s muggy weather? Perhaps — but these banana coconut muffins, from Cookie and Kate, were worth heating up the apartment. They’re not too sweet, but they are intensely coconut-y, rich with the fruit’s flakes and oil. They’re a tropical, summery snack. I suggest taking them down to the nearest spot you can watch the marathon for an al fresco breakfast amid today’s excitement.

Tortillas. Photo: Little Blue Hen/Flickr

You think you’re an adventurous eater, but have you tried sweetbread – in other words, cow glands?

Sounds gross, but prepared the right way, they’re chewy and meaty and delicious (and this is coming from a person who is occasionally grossed out by the modern chef’s apparently boundless enthusiasm for random acts of butchery. For instance: I would not recommend head cheese).

These mollejas tacos from Homesick Texan look like a good introduction to sweetbreads, for the skeptic. Consider that the first time my boyfriend tried snails, they were also in a taco. A tortilla and some pico de gallo can make pretty much any sundry food look appetizing.