Maria's Farm Country Kitchen

September 04, 2009 • in Food & Recipes

Manicotti from Heaven

OK, the tomato sauce is made—now what to do with it? On one of the first trips to my in-laws, before Lou and I were married, my mother-in-law-to-be Rita Cinquino served manicotti. I had never, ever tasted anything so good …

Women’s Rights: All We Take for Granted

I know it’s more than a week ago—old news—that Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn (authors of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, to be released next week by Knopf) wrote an epic cover story in …

What We Can Learn about Working with People from Working with Horses

I’m one of those women who would have been horse-crazy as a girl if my parents had allowed it. So I tentatively began learning about horses after I grew up. One of the places I started at was called Last …

Getting Saucy at Tomato Time!

Despite the blight and the wet, cold weather, my tomatoes are finally ripening. Actually, my biggest threat to the harvest this year has been that all my Guinea hens have been eating them. It’s quite annoying. I got a great …

Food Inc: Worth Seeing, Even More Worth Believing

I finally got to see the film Food Inc., which took a few months to reach a multiplex near me in Pennsylvania. So, on a hot Saturday night I took my 12-year-old daughter Eve to see the 8:10 show. Unfortunately, …

Ponyo: Finally, a Great Family Movie

If you haven’t seen it in the theatres yet, Ponyo, a new Japanese animated film by Hayao Miyasaki, is one of the rare gems of a movie that the whole family will enjoy, and that is worth seeing on the …

Top 5 Greatest Mysteries of Housework, Plus Top 5 Records to Clean By

You may disapprove, but I take a big deep breath of relief the minute my husband gets in the car with the kids to go to church on Sundays. Finally, I can assess the week’s damage, and gather my forces …