For the first time in my life I’m a bit off put about the color of mango and saffron. However, for the sake of a tasty snow cone, I remind myself that I am confident of my snow’s origin. Good thing it rewards me for such meditations. Alcoholic snow cones? You bet. Can’t let kids [...]
Five years ago I never would have expected to find myself in this place, craving cauliflower season. This is the benefit that eating seasonally gives you: vegetables become special again. In my household, cauliflower is eaten fresh, and always in season (until I grasp the joys of picked cauliflower that is) and usually always roasted. [...]
“Oh, I didn’t know you could buy these!” exclaimed our grocery store bagger as she stuffed the last of our haul away. Ah, caught in the act of walking the semi-homemade line. “I figure I can always make them myself next time,” I offered apologetically. “It’s cool, cause then you know what’s in them..” she [...]
I lightened up the rules of culinary rigidity today and went a bit crazy making pizza dough. The sort of pizza dough that would make an Italian look at me in despair. This current batch has a hefty scoop of garlic powder and of onion powder added to it. I figured I may as well [...]
This formerly tomato-hating jam eater is finding herself in an odd situation. I’m finding myself on the obsessive end of a relationship with my tomato jam. I blame it on a number of things, but mostly I have several culinary moons converging: After having been out of town for several weekends in a row, I [...]
Sometimes salads just compose themselves. No need to struggle over what flavors go together or which textures accentuate your lettuces the best- seasonality often takes care of those questions for you. Paying attention to the selections of your farmer’s markets will usually reveal flavor pairings right alongside each other. Learning to recognize these opportunities takes [...]
I now realize how delinquent I’ve been regarding introductions. What I should have said months ago: “Alton Brown’s ribs, meet my smoker”. Alton Brown’s Baby Back Ribs recipe has been rocking my world lately and ushered our household into a meat phase. These baby back ribs come out meltingly tender, with a touch of sweet [...]
I’ve hit on a formula for making my favorite potluck dishes. It’s based on the classic gratin preparation- though is shockingly at times devoid of cheese, as seen in this current example. Layers of vegetables often dressed and then baked together can add up to great large dishes suitable for large gatherings of hungry friends. [...]
Oregon’s weather taunts us with quick bursts of hot steamy weather, which lasts all of about two days before returning to the normal conditions of gray and drizzly. I try to make the most of these sunny bursts by declaring popsicles for dinner. A proper popsicle menu consists of an appetizer, main, and dessert course- [...]
I made myself a treat last week after my visit to the PSU farmers’ market: homemade butter layered with thin slices of truffles. I topped the truffle butter with a piece of wax paper and stuck this in the freezer. To use, take a warm spoon and shave off curls of the fragrant butter. And [...]
