NEW BEGINNING

This is the first time I am writing from my new location in Spencertown, NY where I moved to from Piermont, NY this month, July 2013.

The moving has kept me busy, first with packing and now with unpacking and arranging. I'm still waiting for some bookcases so I can take the cookbooks out of the boxes. I hope that will happen soon. Maybe even today.

I'm gearing up to be able to teach cooking classes in my kitchen. Photos of the kitchen will follow.

There are a multitude of farms here and it is most glorious. When you say you want to eat locally you have to have farms and people who make products. I logged on to localharvest.org and found over 132 places within a 25 mile radius.

The local peaches are here. My first interest is in preparing foods to store over the winter. I like to freeze things over the other choice of canning. A vacuum sealer is very helpful for freezing.

I will be making some Brandied Peaches this week and will post the process and recipe. Simply cutting up, or leaving whole, you can freeze fruits and then package them. Usually we are told they are good up to 3 months but they do last longer.

Next will be an Eggplant Caponata.