As many of you likely know, I had to cut my cookbook tour short due to a knee injury. It was really disappointing, I had a few other really exciting things planned as well, but c’est la vie.

Anyway, I’ve had two rounds of x-rays, seen an orthopedic specialist, and had an MRI last Sunday. And finally, I have a diagnosis.

I have a “degenerative tear of the medial meniscus, including the central root, and some subluxation of the meniscus”. So I’m looking at least a few more weeks of the brace, icing, and elevating. But thankfully no surgery - and possibly not even any PT. It was recommended that I get one of those recumbent under-the-desk pedal things, so I bought this one and have been using it for 15 or 20 minutes each day to keep my muscles lubricated and the blood circulating. It’s nice and quiet and smooth. So far so good.

More summer tips for helping your chickens deal with the summer heat are in order. You can find all my best tips here. And for the TL;DR crowd, here are 5 simple tips in a condensed version and the 5 best summer treats are here.

I had heard a few positive reviews for this book and it looked like a fun read. Perfect for summer. Laying in the hammock, sipping iced tea or a frozen lemonade….I’m about 3/4 of the way in and it is fun. And I have a feeling it’s about to get messy - in a fun way.

Can’t decide between a salad or pizza for dinner? Well, you don’t have to if you make my BLT Ranch Pizza. It’s super easy and so great in the summer.

I start with a store bought pizza dough and stretch it out onto a lightly oiled pizza pan, skillet, or baking sheet. Cook a few slices of bacon until crispy, then drain on a paper towel. Brush the pizza dough with some of the bacon grease.
Then add a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes and thinly sliced fresh mozzarella. Sprinkle the edges of the crust with sesame seeds.

Bake for about 10 minutes at 450 degrees in the bottom third of the oven until the crust is golden and the cheese bubbly. While the pizza is cooking, shred some iceberg lettuce and crumble the bacon. Whisk some water into a small bowl of ranch dressing to use for drizzling.

When the pizza is done, cut into slices, then top with the lettuce and bacon. Serve with the thinned ranch on the side.

Three of my summer recipes were featured in the latest issue of My Maine magazine and on their website! My Three-Cheese Tomato Tarts, Chilled Watermelon Soup with Feta and Mint and Open-Faced Scandinavian Sandwiches make good use of all the summer produce (and eggs!) available right now.

We picked our first blueberries this week! We have 5 or 6 high bushes plus a small patch of wild Maine blueberries that grow wild. I have so many great blueberry recipes I wait all year to make, and with all this news about cyclospora, growing our own just makes me feel so much better!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer so far. You just can’t beat summer in Maine. I eat way more lobster than I should! (Fun fact: Hannaford sells a pretty decent lobster roll for $9.99, which I consider a bargain!)

Speaking of eating, we switched to Kalmbach Feeds well over a year ago, and my chickens and ducks love it! They think Love Bug layer feed is actually a treat! (sssh, don’t tell them!) And who wouldn’t? It is packed with dried grubs, sunflower seeds, and all the things they love. They definitely give it five stars! Check it out at your local feed store or online.

And this summer Kalmbach has released a limited edition Red, White & Blueberry Block with a portion of proceeds going towards supporting the Farmer Veteran Coalition. As a Navy wife, I’m proud to work with a company that supports veterans.

In case you didn’t notice, I’ve changed the heading of this section to “Reading/Watching”. I feel like so many books are now being adapted for the movies or streaming platforms, that the line is becoming blurred! I usually love watching something after I’ve read it and The 5-Star Weekend is no exception. I was SO excited for this series to air!

I’ve read nearly all of Elin Hilderbrand’s novels (if you’re not familiar with her, she writes romcoms with a twist like a murder or affair or something, mostly set on Nantucket) and I loved The Perfect Couple book/adaptation. So of course I immediately put The 5-Star Weekend on my watch list! It’s airing on Peacock now, and if you haven’t read the book, I highly recommend that too.

Eating ice cream, of course! Specifically no-churn ice cream. It really is as good as “traditional” ice cream, and it’s so much easier to make. I shared my recipe for No-Churn Caramel Walnut White Chocolate Ice Cream on the blog recently. You’ll definitely want to try it. I give it five stars. Here’s the full recipe with a printable recipe card, if you’re interested.

I also made some hummus, which is such a great light summer dinner with some warm pita and maybe some chopped meat and onions on the side. Here’s my recipe for the hummus.

Speaking of Elin Hilderbrand, I met her a few years ago at BookExpo in NYC. I was there signing one of my books, and of course abandoned my post to stand in line to meet her. She was very cool, which made me happy because I do love her books and while they say to never meet your heroes…in this case, all was good! If you haven’t read her books, I suggest you give them a try, there’s no particular order, although some characters are recurring since many of the books take place on Nantucket. So go all the way back to the beginning and start with The Beach Club.

No notes. There’s not much you could do to improve upon summer in Maine. Five stars!

Available anywhere you buy your books … Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Bookshop.org or your local library or bookstore.

As many of you likely know, I had to cut my cookbook tour short due to a knee injury. It was really disappointing, and I still am not sure what’s wrong. I’ve had x-rays, seen an orthopedic specialist, and am scheduled for an MRI on Sunday. So fingers crossed, they’ll figure out what’s going on.

In the meantime, I’m icing it, have a brace to wear, and am hobbling around on crutches. Not ideal. Also, very boring. I’m not used to sitting around!! But it’s been so hot (in the 90s with heat indices over 100), I would likely not be doing much anyway.

Chickens have a very hard time cooling down, so making sure they have cool water, shade, and some healthy treats when it’s hot out is really important. Watermelon is a favorite, as are leafy greens, blueberries and celery.

Thank goodness for Kindles! I love to read, so I’m finding solace in books while I recuperate. I am about halfway done with Yesteryear, which is arguably THE book of the summer. I’m finding it kind of slow-moving, so I’ve picked it up and put it down a few times already.

Because it’s a slower read, during one break I whipped through The Divorce by Freida McFadden (who also wrote The Housemaid which was recently adapted for the screen). Her books are always a fun, quick read.

And next up in my TBR pile is Choke Point by Brad Thor. My husband and I both enjoy his books. I’m sure this one will be no different.

Unfortunately, if we don’t want to starve, I still have to cook, but between the heat and my knee, I was sort of phoning it in this week. However, that doesn’t mean we didn’t still eat good! This maple harissa salmon over ginger lime rice with avocado, red onion, sesame seeds, and chives is as easy as it gets.

There’s really no recipe, but here goes:

Cook your rice with grated ginger, lime zest and juice.

Drizzle or brush the salmon with maple syrup and coat with harissa. Cook the salmon while the rice is cooking (remove the skin if desired - both our corgis and the chickens LOVE crispy salmon skin!).

Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the salmon, sliced avocado, chopped red onion, sesame seeds, and chives. Serve with soy sauce and Sriracha mayo on the side.

Here’s the full recipe with a printable recipe card, if you’re interested.

In case you were wondering, yup, it was a planned conspiracy. According to this NY Times article, “A group of major egg producers accused of price fixing for nearly three years will pay $3.3 million as part of a proposed settlement of an antitrust lawsuit brought against them by the federal government and 17 states, according to court documents.”

(And no, you probably won’t get a refund on all those $6 eggs you bought.)

Also spotted, my blueberry pie recipe in the current issue of the CherryBombe magazine! I love print magazines, so this was really exciting!

This is my least favorite time of year. We moved to Maine to escape the heat and humidity in Virginia and there’s always a week when we feel like we’re right back in the south! I can do without temperatures in the 90s. Especially since we no longer have central air like we did at our old house. We’re old-school now with fans, a porch, and windows that we can open and close. LOL! But not complaining (well, actually I am…), we still are so grateful to live here.

Unfortunately I landed in the emergency room this morning with a serious knee injury. I left with crutches and a referral to an orthopedic specialist, so it’s no joke.

So I won't be traveling this weekend to Chicago - or anywhere for that matter. Basically just going from the couch to bed and back.

I am so sorry for anyone who was looking forward to one of my appearances. I will try to reschedule the trip at a later date once I'm healed, but I'm told my knee could take 6-10 weeks to be back 100%. And no, I don't know how I injured it. It wasn't a fall or anything, I have a feeling I twisted or sprained it stacking wood a week or so ago.

I’m really disappointed that I won’t be in Chicago this weekend. The one silver lining is that I can cross “riding in a wheelchair” off my bucket list.

You can still purchase a copy of my new cookbook In Season here!

My first cookbook The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook is also available from your favorite bookstore or library. Signed copies are available here.

Happy Thursday! As you read this, I getting ready to head to Chicago for the final leg of my cookbook tour. Phew, right? I feel like I’ve been living out of a suitcase for weeks (which I have). It’s been a lot of fun, but I have to admit that I’m pretty exhausted! Anyway, I’m writing this on Thursday afternoon before I leave for my trip. I wanted to get it sent out early in case anyone were planning on coming to one of my book signings this weekend.

I just got back from southern Maine. It’s always nice to come home. I find it so relaxing and rejuvenating to sit outside with a cold drink and watch our flock enjoying the nice summer weather. The geese and ducks, especially, are a constant source of amusement. They are a great palate cleanser from the noise of social media.

This weekend I’m attending the American Library Association Conference in Chicago. I’ll be speaking on a panel and also signing books at the HarperCollins booth and I can’t wait! Libraries are not only voracious buyers of all kinds of books, including cookbooks, they are such a valuable free resource for communities. Reading is such a great way to spend free time and it’s super important for kids (and adults) to put down the screens and read more. So support your local library!

I’ll also be signing books both Saturday and Sunday at Barbara’s Bookstore. Event details are here. Figures I missed one of my favorite authors, Brad Thor. He was at Barbara’s last weekend. But I’m hoping to be able to pick up a signed copy of his newest novel Choke Point while I’m there for my husband’s birthday gift.

I had the most delicious salad last week at the Porter Kitchen + Bar at the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport. The Baby Iceberg Wedge was described as:

North country bacon, cherry tomato, gorgonzola cheese, pickled onion, peppercorn ranch.

And it was absolutely delicious, not to mention beautiful. I need to recreate this salad at home this summer.

Spotted last week in York at the Stonewall Kitchen Company store! I did a fun event there, and if you are ever in Maine, you have to stop by. It’s a great spot for browsing all the great Stonewall Kitchen products and picking up a few souvenirs. I hope to go back later this year to do some cooking demonstrations, so stay tuned for that.

I only had two days home this week, but what a glorious two days it was! The weather could not have been more beautiful. Next week I’m sure I’ll have some fun photos from my weekend in Chicago. Oh, and if you live in the Chicago area, not only do I hope to see you at one of my book signings, but be sure to watch WGN Lunch Break on Monday at 12:30pm. I’ll be demo-ing one of the recipes from my new cookbook!

Meanwhile, you can find my first two cookbooks wherever you buy your books. In Season: 125+ Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating Simple, Fresh Ingredients (Harper Celebrate, 2026) and The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook (Harper Celebrate, 2022).

There’s a local myth that it rains every weekend during the summer in Maine. Some think it’s to keep tourists away, others think it’s just bad luck. I don’t specifically track the weather, but I do kind of feel like we have more rainy weekends than not. Maybe that will work in my favor this weekend as I head out to three more stops on my book tour - I mean what better way to spend a rainy afternoon than browsing a local bookstore or shop?

This weekend/week, I’ll be at Water Street Books in Exeter, New Hampshire, the Stonewall Kitchen in York, Maine, and Longfellow Books in Portland, Maine. I’ll be signing my cookbook and handing out a free recipe card and cute sticker to anyone who attends. I have on good authority that there might be some yummy snacks also….but that’s unconfirmed at the moment! Either way, all three events should be a lot of fun, so if you’re in the neighborhood, stop in and say hi! Dates/locations/times are all here.

It was nice to be home to catch up with the girls. Mean Kate is still sitting on a nest full of bedding and feathers that will never hatch, and our Cayuga duck Kiwi is sitting on a nest of eggs but won’t let me close enough to see exactly how many she’s sitting on. So will babies be in our future later this month? Who knows?

If you haven’t already bought my two cookbooks, this coming week will be a great time to do so. It’s Amazon Prime Days and both cookbooks will be on sale! The Fresh Eggs Daily Cookbook is packed with more than 100 of my favorite egg recipes, and In Season celebrates fresh eggs and produce in more than 125 recipes to enjoy all year long!

No one likes to cook when it’s hot, and I’m no exception, so we do a lot of burritos and wraps in the summer. This shrimp and corn wrap in a flour tortilla with cheese, shredded lettuce, and a lime guac crema was a winner that I’ll be making again. it was so easy, and really, really good. No real recipe, just cook the shrimp, char the corn, heat the tortillas to melt the cheese a bit, then pile with lettuce and a dollop of the guacamole/sour cream.

We have trail cams all over our property so we can see what’s lurking in the woods. It’s fun to check the cameras, especially when they capture a mother deer and her fawn right on the driveway early one evening.

It was a beautiful week in Maine. Sunny, light breeze, temperatures in the 70s. It’s been a great season for peonies, and I have been cutting them and putting them in vases all over the house!

In corgi news, Cooper and Ingrid are getting hard to tell apart as Ingrid gets bigger! She’ll be one in August and Cooper will be two in July. We’ve learned that besides having to buy two of everything, having two corgis isn’t much different than having one!

And lastly, I know today is Saturday, and I’m sending this a day early, but in case anyone hadn’t heard about my book signing in New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon, I wanted to get this out prior to that.

I’m back from Connecticut! We were shooting the first round of recipes for my next cookbook at my photographer’s studio in Old Saybrook and it was a blast.

No chickens this week, but there were two cute studio cats, Alvin and Ava, who like to lurk and beg for treats.

I did actually start a new book this week. After a full day of shooting - and signing cookbooks in my downtime - it was so nice to crawl into bed at the inn and curl up with a good book. All the Other Mothers Hate Me is keeping me turning the pages.

The eating is always good on a cookbook shoot! I can’t share too much yet, but let me just say, no one went hungry.

One evening there was a wedding going on right outside my room, so I sat on the balcony and enjoying watching the nuptials. There really couldn’t be a more beautiful backdrop for a wedding party.

As always, it was good to be home, but as always, I really enjoyed the photo shoot portion of cookbook creation. I’ll be back in Connecticut in September, and by the end of that week, these boards will be completely filled with photos. More details to come soon..

Happy Sunday! And happy June!

Since I’ll only be home for 10 days this entire month, I definitely took advantage of (and appreciated) a quiet week at home this past week. While I absolutely love to travel, as an introverted extrovert it takes a toll on me and I need time to reset and recharge. And no better place to do that than at home!

I don’t often get excited about new chicken keeping products. It’s not my first rodeo and I’ve found that many products either solve a problem that didn’t need to be solved - or create a new problem!

But this metal feeder is awesome! It hangs (there’s also a style that has feet so you can set it on the ground) and then at night when you lock up the chickens, you just unhook it and set it one the ground and it collapses to keep any remaining feed safe from rodents and insects. Brilliant!

You can watch my girls’ first encounter with it here. I scattered some feed on the ground to get them used to where their feed is now - I think they’ll adapt quite well. Highly recommend checking this feeder out.

Full confession, I haven’t been reading anything this week because the second season of The Four Seasons dropped on Netflix last Thursday. I loved the first season. So far, I’m two episodes in, and season two is …. okay. There’s no denying the comedic genius of Tina Fey, however, so I have high hopes for the remaining 6 episodes.

While everyone else waits anxiously for their tomatoes to ripen so they can enjoy tomato caprese salads with fresh mozzarella, basil and a balsamic drizzle, give me a Peach Caprese Grilled Sandwich with Basil and Fresh Mozzarella instead any day.

Subbing fresh, juicy peaches for the tomatoes in a classic caprese sandwich really delivers all the summer vibes. The key is using peaches that are very ripe, so the sweet juices mingle with the melty cheese in every bite. A dash of salt on the peaches helps to bring out their sweetness even more. I could happily eat this sandwich every day all summer long.

Makes 2 sandwiches.

4 slices sourdough or Italian bread

2 tablespoons salted butter

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into 8 slices

4 peach slices

6 basil leaves

Honey, for drizzling

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Butter one side of each of the slices of bread. Heat a skillet over medium-low heat, then put two of the slices of bread, butter side down, into the skillet. Top with half the mozzarella and the peaches then season with salt and pepper, top with the basil, and drizzle with the honey. Top each sandwich with the remaining mozzarella and the remaining two slices of bread, buttered side facing up.

Press down lightly on each sandwich with a spatula, then cover and toast until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Then carefully flip the sandwiches and toast on the other side until crisp and golden and the cheese is melty. Cut the sandwiches in half and serve.

Fresh Tip: Grilled the peach slices before assembling your sandwiches for even more flavor!

Recipe adapted from In Season: 125+ Sweet and Savory Recipes Celebrating Simple, Fresh Ingredients (Harper celebrate, 2026) available where you buy your books.

Cooper was introduced to our flock at the ripe old age of 8 weeks old and learned early on to keep a respectful distance. When we adopted Ingrid at 3 months old, we had our doubts as to how she would react to the chickens, ducks, and geese. Not only because of her age, but because she’s a crazy girl!

But to our surprise, without any training, she has learned a quiet respect for the flock. She is curious, sure, and loves to watch them, but has never chased or tried to catch any of them. She loves a good wild turkey chase, but she instinctively knows the flock is off limits. Good girl, Ingrid!

It really was the perfect week to be at home. The lilacs are so beautiful and their scent fills the air when the day starts to warm up. The peace and quiet was nice while it lasted, but as you read this, I’m already in Connecticut for the recipe photo shoot for my next cookbook. More on that later…

Meanwhile, you can find my first two cookbooks wherever you buy your books.

Happy Sunday! Well that’s it for May. I can’t believe it’s June tomorrow. We have a fire going in the wood stove as I sit reading this. But I’m not complaining. I’ll take a bit of a chill in the air over heat and humidity any day. So let’s shake it off and get into what’s been going on around here.

Josephine took advantage of a nice sunny day to take a dust bath. I dump dirt and ashes from our wood stove into the girls’ dust bath area which is under the covered part of their run. Dust baths are so important to help the chickens stay clean and parasite-free. They’re also a social activity for the chickens. They seem to like to take baths together!

Okay, I haven’t started this book yet, but it’s gotten rave reviews. I am really excited to dive in. I just finished Yesteryear, which also got rave reviews and I found it to be very, very draggy in the middle, tough to wade through in spots. I’m not sure if I liked it or not. You can be the judge, but it is very much an in-the-moment commentary on the influencer culture. Specifically the homesteading niche. Kill for Me, Kill for You was another book recommended on a podcast I listen to. The plot seems like a twist on the Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, so that’s intriguing.

This week I shared one of my favorite salads from In Season on my blog. Go check out my Avocado, Goat Cheese, and Pecan Arugula Salad with Cherry Dressing. It will convert even salad haters! It’s such a good salad!

I also shared a delicious recipe for “shake and bake” English Roasted Potatoes. Easily the most delicious potato recipe I’ve made in a very long time that will be going into our dinner rotation.

This past weekend I did two cookbook signings. One at the Books-a-Million in Bangor and the second at the Barnes & Noble in Augusta. It was a cold, wet Memorial Day weekend, so the perfect opportunity to browse bookstores! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to say hello - and if anyone is interested in a signed copy, I left some at each store. Coming in June, I have more signings scheduled in Rhode Island, New Hampshire, southern Maine, and Chicago. Full tour schedule HERE.

I was home all week after a few busy weeks of travel. The timing was perfect because our lilacs started blooming and it’s my favorite part of spring! We have a few different shades and they’re all so pretty and smell amazing! Some we inherited when we bought our house, some are shoots I dug up from my mom’s bushes, and a few I bought when we moved in.

It was really nice to relax at home this week, but I have more adventures planned this year…. so stay tuned!

Happy Sunday! I hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend. We’ll be feasting on hot dogs, corn on the cob, pasta salad, watermelon, and lemon ginger bars tomorrow, so I’m excited to kick of summer here in Maine. But first I wanted to share some of the photos from last weekend’s cookbook launch party hosted by Ginger & Baker in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Ginger Graham, who owns Ginger & Baker with her husband, was gracious enough to also host a farm tour the following morning . She raises chickens and also has horses and gorgeous herb and vegetable gardens.

But first, she hosted an intimate gathering during which she and I had a lively conversation with attendees as they nibbled on samples of recipes from my cookbook, and had the opportunity to purchase a signed book. It was so humbling to watch as everyone flipped through the book, commenting on which recipe they wanted to try first!

(If you are unable to attend any of my book tour events, you can purchase a signed copy of In Season here.)

To celebrate the cookbook launch, everyone who came to the events got to sample a few recipes from my book including Caesar Deviled Eggs, Green Goddess Deviled Eggs, Tomato Tarts, Cherry and Avocado Salad, Pistachio Pudding, and Blackberry Shrubs.

There were so many great candid moments throughout the evening as everyone relaxed and enjoyed the food and cocktails and we chatted about favorite foods, cooking and baking at altitude (fortunately something I don’t need to worry about here in Maine!), the perils of social media, and of course… chickens.

I had such a wonderful time in Colorado. I really miss all the IRL events I used to do pre-Covid, and this was a good reminder that much as I do love being home, I also really enjoy the face to face meetings.

Photography by: John Robson

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! Here’s what’s been going on around here.

I had a fun chat with Jacques from the Beet about Gardening with Chickens! You won’t want to miss this episode! You can watch here.

I just started this novel a few nights ago, but so far it’s keeping me turning the pags. It’s a GMA Book Club Pick and NYT Best Books of the Year (so far), so I have high hopes for it. The general premise is that a “tradewife” influencer goes back in time to the 1850’s and actually has to live the life she portrays on social media. I’ll admit I’m intrigued. You can read more about it here.

Jenna from the Cookbookery Collective shared my Caesar Deviled Egg recipe on her Substack this past week! It’s one of my hands-down favorite deviled egg recipes, and you can get it here.

I had a fun chat with and about getting started raising chickens and we talked about some of the recipes from my new cookbook.

What do you think, did I convince his husband that they need chickens?

And speaking of chickens, I also chatted with Jessie Sheehan, the host of the She's my Cherry Pie Podcast. We covered a few topics including chickens, gardening, and my signature Finnish Pannukakku which also appears in In Season.

Two peas in a pod. Cooper (almost two) and Ingrid (9 months) have bonded and are virtually inseparable. Sure, they squabble like any siblings (in the corgi world, we call it frapping), but they have so much fun playing together and ganging up against us!

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! Here’s what’s been going on around here.

The chickens are in full swing with their egg production, and we’re starting to drown in eggs, as happens each spring. I’m putting eggs into - and onto - almost everything! A two-egg cheese quesadilla for breakfast, egg salad for lunch, and then two soft-boiled eggs on a salmon ramen bowl for dinner. But I love eggs, so I’m definitely not complaining!

Hopefully you’re reading through your copy of my new cookbook In Season which came out on Tuesday and is on sale right now on Amazon. My Mom said she’s already made the cover asparagus frittata recipe and has tabbed a few more recipes that she’s excited to try! It’s not an egg cookbook, but there is a whole chapter of egg recipes, so if you are looking for more ways to use up your eggs, I’ve got you covered.

I’ll admit one of the reasons I love visiting NYC is the food. We don’t have much fine dining here in rural Maine, so it’s always a treat to eat out when I travel. This trip, I decided to treat myself to lunch at Maison Paserelle which is Gregory Gourdet’s restaurant. (You might remember 3-time James Beard Award-winning chef Gregory from Top Chef a few seasons ago.) I enjoyed a Papaya Coconut Shrimp Salad, Duck Confit Curry, and a glass of sparkling rose, with a pumpkin/coconut concoction for dessert - and I actually was able to chat briefly with the chef himself as he oversaw the photography of some new menu items. He was super nice, and I’ll definitely go back.

Then, I enjoyed dinner at Skewr which is on the ground floor of the Park South hotel and features Mediterranean dishes. I loved the broiled hot honey feta with fire-grilled pita, seared scallops, and pistachio semifredo for dessert.

The reason I was in New York this past week was to sign my new cookbook at the Paramus Barnes & Noble. And what a great way to kick off my book tour! I was hoping to take that poster board home with me, but the store had me sign it for their “author wall”. (I have lots more events planned, so be sure to check out my tour dates to see if I’ll be in your neighborhood.)

Spring burst into Maine with a vengeance this past week and we have hyacinth, tulips, daffodils, azalea, and forsythia blooming, with the lilacs close on their heels. It’s good to be home….at least for awhile. I’m off to Colorado next weekend for two events in Fort Collins. Details to attend are HERE and HERE.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I were not to share this photo of Macy’s. They always have the best window displays. I always loved walking down 34th Street when I worked in Manhattan to see the decorated storefront.

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! Here’s what’s been going on around here.

It’s starting to get warm in many parts of the country, and you likely know that chickens have a hard time in the heat. Of course there are a few simple things you can do to help them stay cool, but I also keep electrolytes on hand all summer - just in case. My new Hydration+ is designed to alleviate effects of heat stress and maintain hydration and mineral balance. It’s so easy to just add to their water during times of extreme heat.

Eggspert advice: I recently chatted with Simply Recipes about when to salt scrambled eggs. Here’s what I told them. I also shared my secret for a fluffy restaurant-quality omelet here.

It’s hard to compete with food prepared by Manhattan chefs, so this week I didn’t even try. Instead, I just kind of slummed and one night for dinner I made the salmon cakes from my new cookbook In Season (they’re really good BTW), with a simple green salad, and new Kraft Restaurant Edition Cacio e Pepe. I have to admit the pasta wasn’t half bad. It certainly wasn’t as good as the Cacio e Pepe I had last week at Serafina, but for a box, it wasn’t bad.

I was a guest on Maine Calling on Maine Public Radio this past week talking about raising chickens. I had a fun conversation with host Cindy Han and took live calls from listeners. You can listen online if you missed the show.

It snowed for a bit last week, but the daffodils persevered and are popping up all over the yard. Each fall I try and buy a few more varieties, because they really make it feel like spring. Things are really starting to green up here - finally…. so I’m kind of sad to be heading out again.

Tomorrow I’m off to New Jersey to sign my new cookbook at the Paramus Barnes & Noble. If you’re in the area, please stop by at 6:30pm, I would love to meet you in person and sign a book for you!

I’m very excited for the release of my second cookbook, In Season. I’ll be signing books in New England, New Jersey, and Chicago for the first part of my tour, and will hopefully be adding more dates later in the summer.

I’ll also be hosting an event in Fort Collins, Colorado which will feature a Q&A and a sampling of recipes from my cookbook, as well as a farm tour the following morning.

Some of the events are ticketed, so be sure to read all the details in the link below. Ticketed events include a copy of the cookbook and ensure that there are enough books for everyone who attends,

Spring 2026 Book Tour

If you have any questions about an event, please feel free to email me or contact the venue directly.

In Season is coming out on May 5th and is available for pre-order now. It’s available at the following retailers or you can pre-order from your local bookstore.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Bookshop.org | Target | Sherman's Maine Coast Bookshops | Book Hampton | Direct from the Publisher

But I do hope that I’ll see you at one of my events!

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! Here’s what’s been going on around here.

This month has been exciting! We had our quail eggs hatch and the quailettes couldn’t be cuter! (Full disclosure, baby quail are actually called “chicks”, but quailettes is so much cuter.) I swear by the Brinsea Mini Advance incubator, I’ve had such great hatch results over the years using it. And it even has a quail egg insert! Once the quailettes fluffed up, they went into their tote, complete with a Clubhouse, until they are big enough to go outside.

I recently chatted with Eating Well about my tricks for frying the perfect egg. Butter, oil, or something else? Read here to find out my choice.

I’ve been in NYC this past weekend and the food is always great. The thing I miss the most about not living here anymore is the restaurants. We don’t have quite the selection here in rural Maine. The day I arrived, I had dinner at Rocco DiSpirito's new restaurant Bar Rocco with Tara Teaspoon. Everything was excellent. And it was so nice to catch up with fellow cookbook author and friend

Newsflash!!! I’m in People magazine this week! It was soooo exciting to see the issue on the newsstands all over New York City. Yeah, just kidding. Apparently newsstands no longer exist! But fortunately Barnes & Noble has a huge selection of magazines. Be sure to grab a copy and check out one of my favorite recipes from In Season.

I love our home. I really do love being at home. But I also enjoy traveling, so I’m looking forward to going on tour for my new cookbook starting next week. You can find more details here. I would love to meet you in person this spring!

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! We’ve been getting lots of rain (possibly snow tonight!) and the grass is really starting to green up. We’ll have daffodils blooming in a day or so, and lilacs soon after that. Hummingbirds have been spotted in southern Maine, so they should be here soon as well. So yay!

Despite hating the mud and ticks and allergies that come along with this time of year, I do love the flowers and birds.

With spring comes mating season, and male ducks (drakes) can be pretty hard on the females, so I usually end up separating the boys at some point. Bad Boy and his son, Bad Boy 2.0, were being awful, so now there’s fencing separating them from the girls. They settle down as they get older though, thank goodness!

I attended a Bangor professional women’s group meeting with a friend a week or so ago, and met author Suzanne Carver. She was super nice and when I got home, I ordered her book Flight Path. Probably not a great idea to read a book about a plan crash right before I have a bunch of travel planned for my book tour, but the plot line sounded intriguing. I’m about 1/3 of the way through and am enjoying it. It’s very well-written, and I am not quite sure where it’s going…. yet. So it’s keeping me turning pages, for sure.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, I feel like eating salads again. The other night I made a variation of one of the salads from my new cookbook, In Season. Arugula, red onion, blackberries, blueberries, feta cheese… and walnuts to sprinkle on top. (I went a bit overboard with the blackberry vinegar dressing!) And I made an orzo variation of my Lemon Pepper Butter Rice Pilaf on the side with a nice piece of Harissa Honey Seared Salmon. So good.

I stopped into our local Tractor Supply store earlier today and was so excited to spot this display right near the bins of baby chicks! Be sure to grab some of my natural poultry feed supplements when you buy your chicks! Probiotics, kelp, flax, garlic, and brewers yeast are all so nutritious and beneficial for your new babies right from day one.

Cooper found a GIANT turtle on our morning walk the other day! He was appropriately cautious and made sure to stay away from the snapping end! The turtle looked like its been around the block a few times! I am so curious about how old it could be.

And lastly, be sure to check when the hummingbirds are due to arrive in your area. Get those feeders up, and filled with homemade nectar. No food coloring, no need to buy it. Just boil 4 parts water with 1 part plain white granulated sugar. Nothing else. You technically don’t need to bring the water to a boil, but boiling will make it last longer without molding. (I make a batch and keep the remainder in the fridge to refill the feeders from.)

Happy Sunday! I hope you all had an excellent week! Here’s what’s been going on around here.

Despite a bit of snow this past week, it’s finally spring! Our egg factory is open and the geese have even started laying eggs again.

It’s egg season, think deviled eggs, egg salad, etc. so I chatted with the editors over at Martha.com about how long to cook eggs for the perfect hard boil, or soft-boiled, if that’s more your jam.

It’s also almost ice cream season, and I love nothing better on ice cream than a great salted caramel sauce. Coop’s is a winner for me on several fronts. First, the name. Coops is our corgi Cooper’s nickname (well, one of many!). Then we need to talk about the packaging. I love the drips down the side of the jar. And lastly, it’s really, really, good salted caramel. With just 6 non-GMO ingredients, you can feel good drizzling it over your homemade vanilla bean ice cream.

I am always amazed at the resilience of bulbs and other perennials here in Maine. They persevere through the cold and snow, and as soon as the soil warms up just a bit, they poke their heads out to bloom through another season. In no time we’ll have tulips, daffodils ….and garlic. (As long as the chickens don’t dig them up, that is!)

We’re still settling into life with Ingrid, which is chaotic, noisy, and loving - all at the same time. She’s a bossy snugglebug. And we couldn’t be happier.

Happy Sunday!

I hope everyone had a nice Easter/Passover weekend if you celebrate. We woke up to snow on Friday morning, so it doesn’t seem much like spring. Yet.

We’re on day 9 of our quail hatching adventure! Since quail eggs hatch in about 18 days, we are now officially halfway through the incubation period.

I candled the eggs on day 6, and am definitely seeing development in almost all of them. So that’s exciting! The tiny, speckled eggs are a LOT harder to candle than chicken or duck eggs, but signs of growth were pretty clear.

It’s been 4 years since my first cookbook came out, so I’m sure you’re tired of cooking the recipes from it! I know I am! That’s why I’m so excited about the release of my second cookbook In Season, coming out May 5th. It’s not all egg recipes, although there is a chapter featuring eggs, and is much broader in scope. I shared 125 of my best go-to seasonal recipes celebrating fresh produce. It’s not a vegetarian cookbook, but it does focus on fruits, veggies, and eggs. I shot this quick video to give you a sneak peek inside!

I hope you’ll consider pre-ordering a copy. Pre-orders are so important to publishers, authors, and retailers. They signal potential interest in a book, so bookstores and libraries know how many copies to order. They also help a book in rankings on Amazon and Barnes & Noble so more potential buyers see it.
If you enjoyed my first cookbook, you will LOVE In Season!

Pre-order your copy!

I had so much creating and testing the recipes for In Season. I’m usually not a big fan of salads and vegetables, truth be told, but when I started developing salad recipes with ingredients that I do love like fresh berries, creamy cheese, and crunchy nuts, I realized that I am actually a salad girl deep down!

We’ve been eating so many recipes from my new cookbook on repeat, and I really can’t wait for you to get your copy!

Pre-order your Copy!

It’s always fun to see my books out in the wild, and I love when you all send me photos. This is my friend, Yvette, who spotted a copy of my first cookbook at a little local store in Washington!

Tuesday is my birthday and also my 25th wedding anniversary (yup, we got married on my birthday!), so hopefully my husband has something fun planned for us. I’ll report back next Sunday!

Happy Sunday!

There’s a lot of melting going on, but we still have a fair amount of snow left. And it’s almost April!

All of our chickens are at least 5(?) years old…I think. And some we even brought with us from Virginia almost 11 years ago! So I was shocked to start finding eggs in the nest this past week. So far only two of our 8 girls are laying, but I’ll take it! One Ameraucana egg and one Marans egg.

Now that I’ve turned in all the recipes for my next cookbook (yay!), I have a little free time again. So, I am catching up on some pleasure reading. I’m about 1/3 of the way through We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda and I’m really enjoying it so far. I like light thrillers, suburban noir, that kind of thing and this fits the bill.

We’re eating quail eggs these days! I was gifted a few dozen recently, and am really enjoying them scrambled and fried. Next I want to hard-boil some and see how they peel. And some exciting news! We are going try our hand at raising them. We were gifted a mating pair and hatching eggs from Sadie-Girl Farm! Stay tuned for more updates about our quail journey this spring.

Links to my no-mess feed bowl and Brinsea Mini Advance incubator. I highly recommend both for chicks, ducklings, or quail!

NBC out of Boston ran this story about a missing little boy who was finally found in a neighbor’s backyard watching the neighbor’s chickens. Sweet.

There might still be some snow on the ground, and the temperatures might still be getting down into the teens at night, but spring is on the way. I heard the first robin of the season this weekend, and also our woodcock is back. We’ve only seen him in person once in the last 10 years, but we hear him calling for a mate each spring down by the brook. Also called Timberdoodles, they are fascinating little birds. And they do a funny little dance.