salads

Wayne had a meeting near St. Helena a while back. It's about 2 hours north of San Francisco, and as he was walking out the door I decided I'd hop in the car too. The drive is nice.  

Here's a tip I learned from my mother-in-law z"l. Before beginning the seder, prepare a salad-size plate for each participant. To make it pretty, begin with a leaf of lettuce.  

For about nine months now, patients at Hunterdon Medical Center have been given that choice and more as part of a successfully implemented room service initiative. Patients can pick up a phone from their hospital room, select items from a menu appropriately titled "Ala Carte from the Heart" and decide when they want their food delivered. It's quick and convenient.  

A salad made from salvageable items in the fridge and tossed in a home-brewed dressing. Summery, fruity, citrusy and light. If you don't have quail eggs, you may substitute hard boiled chicken eggs, sliced or cut into wedges.  

Ranging in flavor from mild to bitter and in texture from crisp to buttery, the greens you select have a big impact on your final salad. To prepare greens: trim stem ends and discard any exterior leaves showing signs of wear and tear. Separate and plunge leaves into a large bowl of water.  

If you're coming from Boston via Route 138, the Pour Judgement Bar and Grill is located in a strip of businesses on Broadway that is just before the better-known (and more touristy) part of Newport down by the water. This section of the city is a bit rough around the edges in spots with some rather sketchy-looking bars, and it is indeed easy to lump this place in with them, as the exterior doesn't exactly have the visitor-friendly look of, say, some of the ever-popular Thames Street watering holes closer t  

The basil in the pesto with orecchiette and Manila clams and the arugula in the salad with Parmigiano-Reggiano and pine nuts at chef Mirko Paderno's Italian spot come from the rooftop garden. All peppers are not created equal. Just ask Top Chef contestant Hector Santiago, who hails from Puerto Rico. From the " aji macho " in the tilapia ceviche to the aji amarillo in the "melted" white asparagus, he raises dozens of varieties on the roof of his Latin-inspired small-plates restaurant.  

I confess. I subscribe to only two magazines, both directly related to farming. I spend most of my time outside on the farm, with the tractor, the hoe, the seeds, the weeds, the harvest, the chickens, and the soil.  

Seguin police are raising money to help out one of their own. "We want to help out Officer Billy Perkins, an officer here who had a heart attack and five bypass surgeries," said Seguin Police Cpl. John Cready. Though Perkins had health insurance, Cready said, he still faces plenty of bills that were not covered.