Who is Sixburnersue?

Well, that would be me, Susie Middleton. Cook, gardener, writer, editor. Sometime photographer, former small farmer. All around happy girl. Author of four cookbooks, writer of essays, developer of many, many, many vegetable recipes. Year-round Martha’s Vineyard resident since 2009. Celebrating 16 years of sobriety in 2022, to which nothing else can hold a candle.  

Once upon a time, I was chief editor of Fine Cooking magazine. Now I work for the wonderful Vineyard Gazette Media Group as special projects editor, doing all the fun things, including editing a very cool cooking website called cookthevineyard.com. (Subscribe to the free weekly newsletter here.) I also write about cooking, gardening, and life on Martha’s Vineyard for both our 175-year old newspaper, the Vineyard Gazette, and our award-winning Martha’s Vineyard magazine. Yay.

I am obsessed with vegetables. In love with flowers. I had a small farm and operated a daily farm stand here on the Island for nine years; now I’m all-in on home gardening.

These days I’m most interested in joy and serenity — the peace my busy mind gets from cooking and gardening, the pleasure I get from the colors and textures and flavors of vegetables and flowers. And everything in between the kitchen and the garden. I like to share that feeling, hoping it might help someone else find joy.

Just as an aside, I think you should buy one of my books so that I can write another –ha! Seriously, you won’t regret it. Fast, Fresh & Green (Chronicle Books, 2010) was an NPR Top Ten Summer pick in 2010, as was its successor, The Fresh and Green Table (Chronicle Books, 2012). And guess what, the next one, Fresh From the Farm: A Year of Recipes and Stories (Taunton Books 2014) was on that very cool NPR Concierge Top 100 Books of the Year in 2014! But Simple Green Suppers: A Fresh Strategy For One-Dish Vegetarian Meals (Roost Books, 2017) might even be my favorite.

Susie and sow, 2008. Fast, Fresh & Green recipe test leftovers.

5 thoughts on “Who is Sixburnersue?”

  1. Hi Susie,

    Jerri and I just received your new book from the Vero Beach Book Center, we love it! A wonderful job! Congratulations!

    Stay warm. Love, Jerri and Paul

  2. Hi Jerri and Paul,

    So glad you got the book and are enjoying it–yay!! Mom mentions to me often that you are still looking at the blog and am so glad. Hope you all are well and hope to see you in Lewes before too many moons! I’m not sure that you’ll get a notification on this comment reply so I’ll send one by email, too!

  3. I came here looking for a sauted cabbage recipe! And, I love the name of your site!!! I will definitely be checking out more of the recipes!

  4. Hi Susie…love FRESH FROM THE FARM and have already used so many of the recipes. I got the book from Mt.Lebanon library in PA. I used it for a couple of recipes and it got “smudged”….so I decided to buy them a new one and I would be happy to keep the one from the library. I’ve enjoyed it so much…I have tomatoes roasting as I write this. My book is now in 3 pieces…I guess I’ve used it too much!

    Just wanted to let you know how much I’ve used it in about 3 weeks time….it is great!!!

  5. Hi Judy,

    I am so glad to hear that you’re enjoying it! But also sorry to hear your book is coming apart–I had that problem with mine and talked to the publisher and they felt it was early copies right off the first printing, as they hadn’t heard of any others. I have sent mine back to them and am waiting to hear if they have heard from others! If you wanted a replacement, though, I would talk directly to customer service at the Taunton Press. In the meantime, I’m glad your copy is getting good use!! All best, Susie

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Vegetables, flowers, and serenity with Susie Middleton