Nov
04
I know a lot of folks who, like me, love the idea of making mozzarella from scratch. But I also know quite a few people, myself included, who have tried it and failed miserably. This weekend, I think I finally had my mozzarella breakthrough, so of course I had to share it here. First, the …
Oct
28
A friend on mine recently asked me for some advice on eating a low sodium diet because she was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure. I realized as I typed up all my tips that a heart-healthy diet looks a whole lot like an Earth-friendly one. Just another reason to think about the foods we …
Oct
05
Last week, LaLaGirl cracked me up with her story–including pictures–of a moldy carton of Swanson’s Chicken Broth, commenting that she really ought to make her own. I promised I would share my method, so here it is. I say method instead of recipe, because, like so many of the things I cook up, you can …
Sep
29
Autumn at our house almost always means harvest, and food preservation typically follows. Unfortunately, along with the boxes of tomatoes, buckets of garlic, and oodles of other fruits & veggies come the fruit flies. I can tolerate a couple of flies, but when they reach critical mass, I start exclaiming things like “Die, evil vermin” …
Sep
27
Pancakes were probably the first food I learned to make from scratch. In part because my sister has the best darned “Griddle Cake” recipe I’d ever tasted, and in part because I love cooked breakfast–especially when it can include peanut butter and chocolate chips– I became obsessed with pancakes. Now that I have children of …
Sep
24
If there’s one thing tomato-growers in colder climates fear, it’s early frost that strikes with lots of green fruit still on the vine. According to the Purdue Cooperative Extension, optimal ripening temperature is between 68-77, and it hasn’t been getting nearly that warm here this last week, and the nighttime temperatures just keep on dropping, …
Sep
13
When the garden’s bountiful tomato crop dove-tailed with one of our traditional Friday Afternoon Club gatherings, I decided to get creative in the kitchen. I skimmed through several recipes until I found one that met my requirements for a good bloody mary, including: Horseradish & hot sauce – if it ain’t spicy, I don’t want …
Jan
24
In mid-September, our family began what has turned out to be a fun and educational adventure in local eating. After months of canning, drying, and freezing every fruit and vegetable we could get our hands on, after many talks with other local folks committed to eating Colorado-grown food, after many, many trips to the Farmer’s …
Sep
21
Since our year of local began, I have been sweating it out as our bottle of Safeway Organic Buttermilk Ranch dressing got emptier and emptier. On Wednesday night, we finished it and I knew I had a dilemma on my hands: add Ranch to our list of exemptions or figure out a good recipe. It …
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