The Cellar and the Pantry Blog

There are some fruits, herbs, and vegetables that never made the trip from the traditional garden to the modern supermarket, because of changing tastes or because they're perishable rather than "shelf-stable." They are the Unmarketables, and if you want to eat them you'll have to grow them yourself.

I'm breaking in on my World Cup hiatus because one of the most delicious foods you can't get in the store is now in season.  Or, from another point of view, one of the most widespread invasive weeds in North America is getting ready to spread to your garden.  It all depends on how you feel about the wineberry.

The wineberry, sometimes called the Japanese wineberry (Rubus phoenicolasius), is a bramble in the same family as the blackberry and raspberry. It is easly recognizable by its stems, covered with fine red thorns that can look almost like fur. Native to Korea, China, and Japan, wineberries now thrive on roadsides, abandoned fields and forest borders throughout the central United States, especially east of the Mississippi.  The leaves have bright green tops with faint red veins, and white undersides.

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Last week I posted about lettuce soup, my favorite way to preserve lettuce that would otherwise bolt in the garden.  But if a heat wave hits your beds and you don't have the time or inclination to make and freeze a big batch of soup, there is another way.  Yes, lettuce can be frozen.

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Backyard henhouses are popping up all over, and people are rediscovering the great taste of really fresh eggs.  Using your own eggs in omelets and scrambles is simple, but as bakers quickly learn, some recipes can be fussier, especially if, like most backyard birds, yours are a mix of breeds laying a mix of large and small eggs.  Here are the facts on home and commercial egg sizes you need to keep your batter at just the right consistency.

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