Contrary to popular belief, corned beef and cabbage is not the national dish of Ireland. There will be corned beef and cabbage served in Ireland this week - but only to American tourists.

I’ve been so preoccupied with digging out from under all this snow that I just realized that our daylight hours are getting noticeably longer. The increase in daylight hours will soon trigger chickens to start ramping up egg production, so it won’t be long now until we start to seeing more farm-fresh eggs at the winter farmers market in Plymouth (plymouthfarmersmarket.org) and around town.

Over the last several months, there’s been a buzz about the idea of “Meatless Mondays,” a movement publicized by The Monday Campaigns and the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. The idea is simple: cut out meat one day a week, and make yourself and our planet healthier. Major media outlets like the Food Network and The Wall Street Journal are championing the concept, and even Oprah Winfrey, ever the diet-trend-arbiter, is on board; she challenged her audience to take part, and she has even made Mondays meatless at her own Harpo Studios.

I was really excited to feature a nice spring recipe, but then I looked outside.   I guess we will have to wait to break out the grill.

I don’t particularly enjoy cooking.  The irony of me, the non-cook, writing a cooking column is not lost on me (or my family). However, I L-O-V-E, love eating.  My strong connection with food started as a child and I have fond memories of helping my mom in the kitchen.  To this day, there a handful of dishes I can make, from scratch, without consulting a recipe. But the time has arrived; I need to expand my repertoire!

The argument to eat more vegetables is hard to ignore. Buzz words like “eat your colors,” “power foods”and“antioxidants” are all associated with the idea that humans should ingest more phytochemicals (the chemicals that keep plants healthy) to boost our immune systems.

January is a time for fresh starts, and here’s a recipe to help keep your promises.

Happy New Year, I wish you a happy and healthy 2011!

What are your plans for the new year?

Some holiday traditions are cherished rituals deliberately repeated to invoke childhood memories, and others are made out of necessity or develop over time.

As a young child, our gifts were opened on Christmas morning and there was always an orange in each stocking. As we got older, our family Christmas celebrations changed to accommodate teen sleeping schedules, so we opened gifts on Christmas Eve and slept in Christmas day. Later, our house became a gathering place for friends home from college, and my mother started a tradition of late night homemade Chinese food (she’d taken a class and discovered nearby ethnic markets.)

My husband recently travelled to Berlin Germany and had a private medieval dinner at Zitadelle  Castle.  What follows is an e-mail he sent to me about this unique dining experience.   Enjoy!