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Panna Cotta for ALL SUMMER LONG!

Tue, 26 May 2026 14:39:21 GMT

When my family travels to the Midwest a couple of times each year, every meal ends in at least one dessert.

There are cookies, pies, coffee cake, cobblers, crisps, bars, homemade ice creams, but w hen I'm making food at home in New York, I find there to be an incredibly sad lack of dessert on most evenings. I try to put veg forward food on the plates and my kiddos sweet tooth still runs more into the nibble of candy rather than the hunk of chocolate cake category, so I haven't been as consistent as I would like in supplying a good sweet finish to the final meal of the day. I'm looking to rectify this. I think I can do it in 3 ways:

Quick to prepare desserts, made in less than 30 active minutes, that I can make in a smaller scale, (because we aren't feeding an army and I want variety here).
Desserts which may freeze or store well, so we can have it now and later in the season.
Desserts that pack and transport well, so that we can share with friends.

I'm starting off with Panna Cotta, which may sound fancy, but with only 5 ingredients and taking less than 20 minutes of active time, absolutely fills the need for Quick Dessert.

Panna Cotta - makes 8 small servings

1 Packet (2 1/2 tsp) Unflavored Gelatin

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Cup Half-and-Half

1/3 Cup (67 g) Granulated Sugar

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Sprinkle gelatin over 2 T cold water in a very small saucepan (or metal measuring cup). Allow to stand for 1 minute to soften, then heat the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is dissolved. Remove from the heat.
Combine the heavy cream, half-and-half and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat while stirring. Remove pan from the heat.
Stir in the gelatin mixture and the vanilla extract.
Divide the cream mixture into eight 1/2 Cup ramekins and cool to room temperature.
Cover the ramekins and move to a refrigerator and chill at least 4 hours.
These panna cotta can be unmolded after dipping in hot water for a few seconds each, or eaten straight from the ramekins :0). Serve alone, with fresh berries and whipped cream, or fruit compote.

Week 2

Tue, 12 May 2026 13:48:04 GMT

May is a busy time - Here's what's on the slate as I'm testing for meal prep kits...

This week I'm testing recipes for meal prep kits.

Here are the ideas:

Kale Salad with Miso Carrot Dressing. This is one of my favorite salads with a punchy dressing, crunchy seeds, and silky avocado. It was my beautiful bring-to-work salad when I was commuting, but now I know it as my waiting-freshly-in-the-fridge friend for when need a quick lunch. For dinner, it's good to build a menu around.
Sweet Potato Croquettes. A new recipe with smooth sweet potato and a crunchy exterior. We'll see how she cooks up.
Swiss Chard Tart - a particular favorite of my 5-year-old DS.
Carrot Tarte Tatin- from Smitten Kitchen Keepers . I'll try making it with a homemade rough puff pastry dough instead of a full puff pastry and see how it comes out.
Homemade Hummus. I went to The Big Cheese in Rosendale to get some of the tahini they process on site to see if I can improve this house staple.
Homemade crackers. I have several recipes. We'll need something to dip into my hummus other than veggies.
Saturday is our Spring Swap at DS's school. I'll be bringing Rhubarb Tarts with Hazelnut Frangipane!

A tasty way to start the day - Maple Olive Oil Granola

Tue, 05 May 2026 14:20:43 GMT

When you don't know where to start, start at the beginning (breakfast).

The recipe that I am sharing below is based on one from Molly Wizenberg on her blog Orangette back in 2014. It's her Granola No. 5 as she had posted 4 pervious granola recipes and swore this would be the last. It's the one that has stuck for me as well. Previously, I had made peanut butter granola, and stove top granola... Granola with dried fruits mixed in for holiday gifts. But I this simple formula is the one that I make every couple of weeks and store on my countertop in two big mason jars. I love it with some yogurt and whatever fruit I have on hand- fresh, frozen or dried. With a cup of tea or coffee, it's a quick satisfying breakfast that starts me up in the mornings.

** I'll get more into this later, but before I begin giving this recipe--a quick note on measurements. I largely deserted my measuring cups for an electronic scale several years ago. Measurements in grams below are what I use, the cup measurements are approximate, but this is granola and a couple extra flakes of coconut will not crash the recipe.

Maple Olive Oil Granola - adapted from Orangette by Molly Wizenberg

350° Fahrenheit

35-40 minutes

Makes approximately 8-10 servings.

Ingredients:

450 grams rolled oats - 4-1/2 Cups

100 grams unsweetened coconut - 1 Cup

300 grams combination nuts and seeds* - 2-3/4 Cups

250 grams maple syrup - 3/4 Cup

110 grams olive oil - 1/2 Cup

1-1/2 tsp kosher salt**

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350° Fahrenheit. and cover two sheet pans with baking parchment.

Combine oats, coconut, nuts, and seeds in a large bowl. Add and stir in the maple syrup and olive oil.

Divide the granola evenly between the two prepared pans, and sprinkle over the salt.

Pace in the preheated oven.

Bake for 20 minutes then rotate the trays for even baking. Leave in for an additional 10-15 minutes until the kitchen smells nice and toasty and the granola is golden.

Remove the trays to cooling racks and allow to cool completely before packing into jars.

Recipe Notes:

* Combination of nuts and seeds. I typically use 1/2 pecans (whole or chopped) and 1/2 pumpkin seeds. Also great are sunflower seeds, walnuts, hazelnuts - you can use this as an opportunity to clear out a bit of your panty with what's on hand.

** If you don't have kosher salt on hand, use 1/2 the measurement of table salt (3/4 tsp. in this instance)

Up First! Coming Soon!!

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 07:02:17 GMT

Home Delivery of Meal Prep Kits!!! (for families within a 20 minute drive of New Paltz)

Life gets busy, and figuring out dinner every night can feel like too much.

Inspired Community Collective Meal Prep Delivery Kits are coming soon to make it simpler, without taking away the joyful parts - discovering new ingredients, introducing more variety of dishes and that feeling of accomplishment when your whole family sits down together to a meal. One weekly delivery of all ingredients (fresh! local! organic!) and instructions needed to make 2 family meals, on a sliding scale.

How It Will Work:

There will be a link with a form below detailing the week you would like to start receiving delivery.
Then you will receive pre-portioned ingredients and step-by-step instructions.
Cook when it works for you: Same day or later in the week.

A Few Things to Know:

Pricing is sliding scale. The lowest price listed reflects the cost of ingredients and some basic operational costs. Higher pricing helps to subsidize the business making it sure we can continue to operate and grow.
These recipes are designed for real life: flexible, approachable, and family-friendly.
The recipes are great for weeknights, make-ahead meals, or sharing with someone else.
Allergy and preference notes can be added when you sign up.

(Note: Full details and weekly menus coming soon.)

Where This Business is Going

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 20:47:51 GMT

October 29th, 2025, a cool and drizzly day, I met with a business lawyer in Kingston to file paperwork for my brand new LLC...

And nearly 7 months later I am sitting here typing to you to introduce Inspired Community Collective and all that I hope it will be. The form of the business changed quite a bit in these past six months and I’m ready for it to keep evolving as things work, don’t work, grow and change.

I feel the biggest enemy of community is scarcity of time. So many people feel they must be self-sufficient, juggling all things all the time and hesitant to ask for help - we lack the space for connection. If Inspired Community Collective can ease some stress by sharing a couple of recipes for the week or by shopping for and putting together some ready to make meal kits — that’s awesome. If you’d let me suggest that you and a friend prepare your meal kits together, maybe while your kids are hanging out playing quietly (haha) in the next room, that’s even better. And it could be the start of stronger community.

If you have been hesitating on expanding your repertoire in the kitchen because you need more confidence on the basics, let’s work on that. If you need to add to your skills in order to tackle more complicated dishes, we can work on that also.

Community activities are also high on my wish list. Perhaps to start - a monthly community meal. At first I was thinking to cater the whole shebang myself, and while I’d still find that fun... I’m think it's a better idea to alleviate a bit of my own load and just organize the thing - place, time, theme, who’s bringing what, maybe add some entertainment and then whoever is interested, can come and bring a dish, or some music or… we’ll figure it out.

Stick with me.

Welcome!

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 21:15:50 GMT

I made my first cookbook purchase sometime in high school at an ornate bookstore in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

The bookstore was posh, decorated with a huge rainbow and a yellow brick road, and located right beside a real coffee shop, which was so fancy for my newly-independent teenaged self. The cookbook was Vineyard Seasons by Susan Branch. It taught me to make the most intensely chocolatey cake I’d ever tasted. It taught me to roast garlic to be spread on little olive-oil toasts for “Girl Talk” Hors D’Oeuvre, it showed me that cooking could be sophisticated, and seasonal, and simple. Before Susan Branch there had been 4-H cookbooks, recipes clipped from magazines - Better Homes and Garden, Family Circle and Harper’s Bazaar - the red plaid Betty Crocker, church cookbooks, my grandmother’s binder of clippings and typed recipes, my mom’s recipe box.

I’ve somewhere around 70 cookbooks in my collection now. I’ve been reading food blogs and subscribing to Epicurious, America’s Test Kitchen, and NYTimes Cooking since they started popping up over 25 years ago. I still always don’t know what to make for dinner.

Until now.

In this weekly Substack Publication - Dinner Simplified - I’ll be posting 3 weeknight dinner recipes that you can make this week. Not complicated recipes, not recipes with ingredients that need to be ordered from far-flung internet lands. Tasty recipes that will be new to you, but familiar enough to satisfy those whom you share meals with. I’ll also be posting a weekend challenge recipe that will take some more time, but the results will be worth it.

In the coming weeks we’ll be adding some exciting new elements to our business for those who are local and want to join in. Plans are in the works. Things are happening. Let’s Go!