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At the Alemany Farmer's Market this past weekend, I saw a lot of Filipino vegetables, stone fruits, beans, squash, and cherries. Tomatoes haven't hit their peak yet - there were a few, but they were too orange and need another week to ripen. See what else was in season at the market ...

Tomorrow we're leaving to go to Switzerland for a conference, and it's going to be a long trip from San Francisco to Geneva - 14 hours! Airplane food is not known for being particularly tasty, and we'd like to pack our own meal. But with security regulations, we wondered: what can we carry on the plane?

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between all the soft spreads? Are jelly and jam the same thing? What's a gelée? In this post, we'll explain the differences.

Sometimes when I am traveling, I find a local market or farm stand. I like to seek out regional delicacies that I can take home. Sometimes I come across a jar of something really interesting, but it's so unusual and unique that I don't know what to do with it when I get home.

Take for example, in the photo above: clockwise from top right, a jar of maple jelly that I found at Atwater Market in Montréal, and jars of lavender & rose petal confit that I found at a small roadside stand in Languedoc, France. What do you do with these?

Here's a really fun and easy DIY project to do with kids this summer - hand-rolled vegetable maki sushi rolls! The ingredients you'll need are cheap and easy to find. Making your own maki sushi rolls is a very simple skill that kids can pick up quickly, and since it's all done with the hands, kids can actually "play" with their food for a change! Plus, it's an easy way to introduce sushi to kids; picky eaters are often more willing to try something new if they've participated in its preparation from start to finish.

It's already the middle of June, and for those of you who started your vegetable gardens earlier this year, have you been harvesting anything yet? I am at my mother's house in the North Georgia Mountains, where we're picking the first radishes and cherry tomatoes. Look at these beauties!

One thing I love about Le Creuset, apart from the good craftsmanship, beautiful colors, and durability of their products is their lifetime guarantee. I've never had to put that to the test until recently, when I clumsily dropped my beloved 3 1/2 quart round French oven with metal knob onto a concrete floor and one of the handles snapped off, taking a chunk of pot wall with it. Oh no!

Strawberries have been in the San Francisco farmer's markets for a month now, and I have been busy buying them up and making jams! I bought enough strawberries for three batches of jam, so after making one batch of plain strawberry jam, I decided I wanted to try a different variation of strawberry jam. I thought that the delicate, fruity herb tarragon would go nicely with strawberries, and turned out really yummy.

Who doesn't hate walking in their kitchen and seeing a long trail of ants coming down the wall and amassing in a large group on the trash can? These persistent little critters can be difficult to deal with, but the situation is not hopeless. You can get them out of your kitchen without using toxic chemicals!

I really love this time of the year when after a cold, quiet winter, the farmer's markets come alive with the freshest fruits and vegetables that Spring has to offer. The arrival of warm weather and colorful produce signals the beginning of a surge of activity for me; from now until the first cold nip of Fall, I keep myself busy canning and pickling all these wonderful offerings so that we can enjoy them all winter. The above photograph shows the beginning of my efforts - assorted pickled vegetables, vodka infusions, and strawberry tarragon jam. It gives me great satisfaction and pleasure to fill up my larder. What's a larder, you may ask?

Fava beans are in season right now, and with the weather getting warmer, it's a good time to fire up the grill. I pulled mine out last week, and after acquiring a big bag of fresh fava beans at the farmer's market, I decided to throw some on the grill. Result: easy and delicious!

Clockwise from top left: grilled artichoke, french fried artichokes, artichoke burrito, and artichoke pasta.

Over the weekend I attended the Artichoke Festival in Castroville, CA, the artichoke capital of the world. The festival celebrates both the bounty and deliciousness of artichokes. Who knew you could do so many things with them? Attending the festival was a great way to find some cooking inspiration, in addition to eating them!

Go ahead and make your jokes about fava beans and a nice Chianti. There's no denying that these fresh, meaty beans are delicious, and they are in season right now, so grab them up!

Most Americans aren't familiar with fava beans, so we hope this post will make them seem less mysterious and cause more people to give them a try.

Neighborhood Fruit is a Google map mashup that shows citizens of San Francisco, Seattle, and Los Angeles (as well as a growing list of other cities) where to find fruit growing on public land. In other words, fruit you can forage for yourself at no cost!