The Perfect Pantry®

Honey (Recipe: mango lassi)

First published in February 2008, this updated pantry ingredient post features new photos and links. Often served for dessert, lassi, an Indian smoothie, makes a perfect breakfast or lunch, and best of all, you can use frozen fruit from the grocery store at any time of year.

Oooooooooooooooh!
Sugar pie, honey bunch
You know that I love you
I can't help myself
I love you and nobody else

When I saw this squirt jar of Canadian honey in our village grocery store, I knew I had to write a little valentine to my resident Canadian honey bunch.

Then I started to wonder, "Are there really honey bees in Canada? Isn't it too cold?"

Ha! Not only are there bees, but, according to the Canadian Honey Council, the government actually has invested in the long-term sustainability of the honey bee population. Which, of course, makes me wonder why the US government is investing in war, while Canada is investing in bees.

War and bees...

(I know. I can hear the groans.)

Lemon caper deviled eggs recipe

Sometimes we overlook the obvious, the recipes that seem so simple, too simple, and we forget that those simple recipes often are really, really good. So there we were, my husband Ted and I, stuck in the house with a storm on the way. I'd planned to cook a few recipes to share with you, and I opened the refrigerator to start pulling out ingredients. That's when I saw the eggs, already hard-boiled. How could I resist deviled eggs? I always have lemons and capers in the pantry, and some fresh parsley (or dill) was a perfect addition. These deviled eggs came together in minutes, and, as it turned out, resistance was futile. Before we knew it, Ted and I had devoured the entire batch. Lemon caper deviled eggs will be a sure hit on your holiday menu.

Broccoli, mushroom, egg and cheese breakfast casserole recipe

On any given Sunday morning, you can find me standing at the butcher block counter in my kitchen, all-important first cup of coffee within easy reach, eggs and shredded cheese and odds and ends of vegetables arrayed before me. Even without coffee -- even in my sleep -- I can preheat the oven and whip up a breakfast casserole in less than ten minutes. And half an hour later, when my household wakes up, something like this broccoli, mushroom, egg and cheese casserole will be there to greet them. I'm a huge fan of protein-centered breakfasts, and I also love egg and cheese casseroles for lunch or worknight dinners. Unlike souffles, egg casseroles aren't fussy, which is good to know if you're planning to cook while not quite fully awake.

Recipe for Brussels and broccoli with maple mustard vinaigrette

Travel the roads of northwest Rhode Island at this time of year, and you'll spot white plastic buckets, often in twos, dangling from the sugar maples. If the days are warm and the nights cold, small steel funnels tapped into the tree trunks will direct a steady drip of sap into the buckets. That sap, boiled down over many hours, becomes the maple syrup we pour over pancakes and johnnycakes. (It takes 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.) Real maple syrup also makes a fine base for a savory vinaigrette, adding just a little sweetness, like honey or agave nectar, to balance the acidity of the vinegar. I'm not a huge fan of Brussels sprouts, as you know, but when a bag of shaved sprouts fell into my shopping cart at Trader Joe's a few days ago, I roasted them along with thinly sliced broccoli florets, and tossed everything with a bit of this irresistible maple mustard vinaigrette, with maple syrup from a farm here in town. I kind of, sort of, loved it.