Uncle Mel's Cookin'

08/19/2026

Super excited about this year's Scotch Bonnet crop! This is the first harvesting from my four Chef Jeff's Garden plants in our Pollinator Garden, and it's only about 20% of the total number of ripening peppers and blossoms!
It's gonna be a great year for hot sauce, jelly and ground dried peppers! 😉

08/19/2026

This really takes me back... 🌞🍑☺️
Dad had a peach tree, a nectarine tree, berry varieties, and a huge, diverse vegetable garden. In his youth, he'd worked at a Fairport, NY nursery, now long gone, and had probably forgotten more about horticulture than I'll ever know. When the fruit was ready, we'd dice it up, put it on vanilla ice cream, and hit it with a few dashes of cinnamon. The only difference, is that I shook my Harvest Spice blend on instead. These wonderful peaches are from our Sunscape Farms CSA ½ Share 😉

08/18/2026

😍

Did you know Julia and her cookbook collaborators ran a cooking school in Paris called L’Ecole des Trois Gourmandes? They charged $5 per lesson! Years later Julia would continue to wear her “Trois Gourmandes” pin while hosting The French Chef on TV. Here’s Julia with her coauthors Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle in Paris, circa 1960. (Photo: , used with permission) To learn more about Julia’s life, visit the Foundation web site via the link in the comments.

08/18/2026

Grilled these wings in the rain Sunday ☔ It was worth it! Tossed in Merle Maple Hot Sauce with homemade blue cheese and tots 😉 🍁🌶️

08/16/2026

Delicious, perfectly smooth Garlic and Hot Red Pepper Hummus, courtesy of my Vitamix blender from Cooks' World
It's so powerful, that the sesame seeds go right in, instead of having to use tahini; along with a whole, peeled lemon and the c-peas!
BONUS: If you or someone you know ar pre- or menopausal, Hummus can ease hot flashes and associated cramping due to the phytoestrogens in the c-peas and sesame. Hummus is also rich in calcium, and is a source of fiber, protein and healthy fats! 😉

08/14/2026

My Culinary Heroine! 🤩 Get Cookin'!! 😉

08/14/2026

These chaps know how to pronounce it! Take notes and pass them around. By the way, where was this wisdom when I was in college, hmmmm?! 😉

Lea and Perrins

08/14/2026

I'm not a fan of beets, but The Mrs. sure is! She roasted these golden beets from our Sunscape Farms CSA ½ share dusting them with my MAPLE CHIPOTLE Blend after brushing on some olive oil. When they came out of the oven, she sprinkled on some coarse salt 😉

08/13/2026

Quick and super easy Eggplant Lasagna, with 🍆 from our Sunscape Farms CSA ½ share, garlic from the Sunscape Farms stand, crushed tomatoes, ricotta, parmesan, my MEDITERRANEAN HERB Blend and LOTS of mozzarella! 😉

Sunscape Farms

08/10/2026

Salad stuff with cyclosporiasis, and now salmonella veggies! 🤢 NO THANKS!
Not only has this "produce" travelled in two hemispheres, with all the resources that entails, it could all be solved by only buying local and in-season! 📍
Join a CSA!

Taylor Farms is pulling prepared food items containing jalapeños because of concerns of Salmonella, a bacteria that can cause painful food poisoning.