Lou & Lucy's Leftovers

One of my favorite things to do when my wife and I go to Florida in the spring is buying my daily, ready-made Cuban sandwich from the Publix Super Market up the street.

A Cuban sandwich is usually made with sliced roasted pork, sliced ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, sometimes salami on a crusty bread - and then it's pressed.

Meatball variations will make you the MVP at any Super Bowl party

Sometimes there's a disconnect between the proclamations of food gurus and what regular folks eat.

Not so in the case of meatballs.

Once labeled "dish of the year" by Bon Appetit magazine, meatballs are welcome everywhere.

Stromboli - part pizza, part calzone, all party

A stromboli is kind of a cross between a grinder and a calzone.

Bread dough is rolled out, filled with sliced meats, cheeses and vegetables, then rolled up into a tube and baked.

Chef's Best: A taste for tapas

By Nina M. Scott

Tapas, those delicious little snacks common throughout Spain, have become increasingly popular in the United States. But even though I have served tapas for years, I was unprepared when three seniors at Amherst College, where I teach, asked me to create a course about them.

The future of Pioneer Valley farmland is in our hands

If you're a Pioneer Valley native, you may not realize what a unique region surrounds you. As a recent transplant from upstate New York, I have observed how nature, culture, education and agriculture come together here in a rich, productive tapestry that few other areas in the northeast can claim. Because of this tapestry, locally grown foods are plentiful and accessible today. But what will happen in the future?

Birds make early return to region

The Audubon Society has reported a variety of recent bird sightings in western Massachusetts.

Heading Outdoors

Predator Ecology - Wildlife tracking program today, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Easthampton. Preregistration is required. Fee: $15. Call 584-3009 or send an email to arcadia@massaudubon.org.