CulinaryWoman

Red Beans and Advice is a weekly feature for paid subscribers to CulinaryWoman. Upgrade to support the newsletter and receive it each week. For some people, fall means college football, autumn leaves and pumpkin spice lattes. For us, it also means that the baking shows are back. And with them, my weekly reviews. The big kahuna is the Great British Bake Off. But as readers know, I am an even bigger fan of The Great Canadian Baking Show.

The middle of September marks a lot of transitions. There are only two full weeks left in the Major League Baseball season. College and professional football are underway. Children are back in school as are most college students. Menus are shifting from summer to fall. The 25th anniversary of 9/11 on Friday made a lot of us stop and think about people we had lost. Here in Ann Arbor, the culinary community was pondering the death of Tommy York.

Last weekend, I was scrolling through Instagram when I saw a post from York, a cafe/wine shop in my neighborhood that is a favorite community gathering place. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, Tommy York had died. He was only 60. Everybody knew Tommy, and Tommy helped everyone he deemed promising. Just off the top of my head, I can count at least a d…

Last year, I was in the market for a skort. For those of you who aren’t familiar, it’s a pair of shorts that looks like a skirt. A skort gives a little more coverage when ladies are playing tennis, or golf, or paddleball. Numerous people told me to shop at Baleaf, and soon enough, I found what I was looking for. So, I was delighted this weekend when Baleaf sent me a series of discount codes to share with you.

Happy Labor Day Weekend! It isn’t quite the marker between summer and fall that it once was. Kids everywhere go back to school in August, including students at the University of Michigan who have flooded back to town. Even though we have two weeks left in summer, brands like Starbucks and Dunkin, as well as indie coffee shops, have brought back fall flavors, like the Pumpkin Spice Latte (not a fan) and maple products (a fan).

I always laugh when I see the Labor Day photos of local residents gathered on a Cape Cod highway overpass to wave farewell to tourists. It definitely feels like this summer sped by, although it was hot and mostly dry and I won’t miss it. This Sunday, I have a collection of stories for a Labor Day picnic. An Italian pastry has become the object of influe…

CulinaryWoman earns a commission from each item you buy. It supports the newsletter, which does not accept ads or sponsors. There’s never any obligation, just enjoy browsing through these offers. Unique Vintage is having a site wide sale to mark Labor Day weekend. They have tripled the discount they are offering to CW readers. Use the code LABOR30 and you will receive 30% off. Please use this link. I’ll be posting more discount codes, so keep checking back for fresh SHOPPING posts.

One of my proudest accomplishments was growing a bay leaf plant in my garden. I thought it was kind of silly to spend $5 on a little jar of bay leaves, and when I spotted the plant for sale, I thought, “Why not?” It must have loved where it was located, because it gave me an abundance of bay leaves. I picked and dried them at the end of the summer, and brought the plant inside for the next year. Then I realized: what am I going to do with all these bay leaves?

I was out in my garden this weekend and something plopped onto my shoulder. It was a maple leaf that dropped from on high. Although we’ve had some rain lately, it was a hot and dry summer, and leaves are starting to fall without changing color. That could change if showers start up, but with Labor Day approaching, I wouldn’t be surprised if we have a less than spectacular Michigan late summer and early fall. It is, however, a wonderful time to visit farmers markets.

Regular CulinaryWoman readers know how much enjoy visiting farmers markets, and that I like to concoct all kinds of dishes from the fruits and vegetables I find there. But a comprehensive new study shows that few Americans are getting their recommended daily intake for produce. And, despite an obsession with dieting, they don’t like to be told what to ea…