Celebrate the Fourth with Corn

By Lori Powell

Too hot to cook…so don’t! Take it outside along with the rest of your Fourth of July BBQ dishes.

Now is the time to use the best produce the season has to offer and in this case, it’s corn, which is a bit early this year. It is the perfect pick of the crop right now.

Since my house is surrounded by fields of corn it only seems appropriate to celebrate the Fourth with some of the earth’s golden bounty.

Take the corn outside and give it a brief spin on the grill along with a poblano pepper and a good set of long tongs. This salad takes only minutes to prepare. My real goal is to give the corn a slight smoky flavor to complement its inherent sweetness and accent it with the slight heat of the poblano.

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Happy Father’s Day

By Lori Powell

To all the dads out there who love a barbecue...this one’s for you!

I grew up in a small cape house on Long Island with four brothers. Even the dog was a boy. So it’s funny that whenever grilling was involved, and especially protein, I was the go-to grill girl!

Even if I wasn’t technically manning the grill, one of my brothers would be yelling for me to come over and do the finger test to see if the meat was done. I had the magic touch to see if a steak or chop was cooked to perfection. In the case of steak, medium rare for most of the crowd and then…yikes, well done for my dad.

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Doing Breakfast Justice

By Lori Powell

We are in for a ton of rain this weekend…some folks would not be very happy with that forecast. Not me, as it gives me license to stay in the kitchen all day and cook up some delicious grub.

Also, the weekend is when I have the luxury of time to really do breakfast justice. No eating a hard-boiled egg on the run, my favorite go-to breakfast (especially when hand- picked from my own chicks).

Speaking of chicks, 10 more came in the mail this week to add to my diminishing brood from two years ago. So in honor of the new chicks, the rainy weekend and doing breakfast right, here’s my take on salsa and eggs, where the eggs are actually baked in salsa and served with corn tortillas, mashed avocado and with lots of chopped cilantro sprinkled on top for a fresh hit.

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A Feast for One

By Lori Powell

I have always enjoyed feasts big or small, no matter what the number in courses or number of guests. Tonight I’m celebrating a feast for one!

When I first lived in New York City, I shared a two-bedroom apartment, #13 (apparently this building had not gotten the notice that this was an unlucky number), in a fourth- floor walkup with a lovely person I knew from high school.

While she was out training for the next marathon, I was home making a three-course dinner for myself. Table set with candles burning.

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The Charms of Rhubarb!

By Lori Powell

Get it while you can…as rhubarb is only with us for about 1½ months and is a true signal of spring. The first harvest begins in late May or the beginning of June.

Rhubarb has grown in popularity over the years since it’s easy to grow (it is a perennial), is pretty to look at (jewel-like color when red) and is versatile, since can be used in sweet as well as savory recipes.

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable but is treated more like a fruit. The tart celery-like ribs contain a good dose of vitamin C, K, calcium, potassium and manganese. However the leaves are poisonous so if they are still attached when purchased, remove and discard them before using.

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