I’ve been passionate about growing things and exploring flavors for as long as I can remember. I had the good fortune to be raised in the countryside by a mother who was a talented gardener and cook; she shared with me not only her name (she was also Diana) but her love for spending time outdoors, in the kitchen, and around the table with friends and family. There’s a clear through line from my earliest childhood experiences to my later work as a naturalist and commercial beekeeper, my thirty-five years as an avid organic gardener and home cook, and for the last decade, my role as co-founder and co-owner, along with my husband, Peter, of Philo Ridge Farm, a regenerative agriculture farm in Vermont’s beautiful Champlain Valley.

As my mother understood, turning things that are part of our daily routine into a pleasure is a way to care for ourselves and one another. I have a wonderful recent memory of staying at the home of a dear family friend when her three daughters were high school age. Over breakfast one morning, the girls got excited planning our dinner for that evening. They created a menu and assigned roles—each was in charge of making sure they procured the ingredients needed for their portion of the meal as they went about their day. When we came home that night, which was just an ordinary weeknight, the girls had prepared the most beautiful dinner of homemade ravioli. It wasn't elaborate, but it was delicious and special. For me, that meal has always served as a reminder of how easily we can bring joy into our daily lives through cooking and sharing food. We have to eat every day, so learning to enjoy cooking, making it artful and fun, can transform a potentially tiresome task into a daily opportunity to decompress and be creative.

After so many years in the garden and kitchen, I cook mostly by intuition now. I rarely measure ingredients and often adapt recipes to whatever’s available from the garden or in my pantry. Don’t be afraid to do the same. As I’ve learned in my own garden and at the farm, nature isn’t precise, so we cooks can be loose as well. A big onion usually works just as well as a smaller one, and substituting the fresh soft herb a recipe calls for with the one you have more of on hand can turn a familiar dish into something wonderfully new.

Of course, all cooks are welcome here. If you’re more comfortable staying faithful to an ingredient list, you’ll have no trouble using these recipes. They’re written to be simple to make and enjoy, no matter your cooking personality. I encourage improvisation and letting things turn out differently from time to time. I insist that you taste, taste, taste! Pay attention to how flavors interact, adjust seasonings to create balance, and above all, trust your palate.