This is the time of year that I always make a big batch of ratatouille to freeze for the winter. Grab some Roma or other paste tomatoes for this. You want a meaty tomato, not the delicate (and expensive) heirlooms as a base. I had green Italian peppers from the garden, but of course you […]
Mexican Salsa Verde
This recipe can be made raw, roasted, or boiled. I prefer boiled to cut the harshness of the onion, so that’s the recipe I’ve given you below. Mexican cuisine dry-roasts aromatics and vegetables and the oil is added later, in this recipe once the ingredients are cooked and put through a blender. I quadrupled the […]
Kendra’s Cucumber Salad
Kendra and Eduardo are visiting for a few days before they head back to grad school and Kendra made us a cucumber salad for our lunch. I ate it with a smile, despite my disdain of raw onions soaked in vinegar. Kendra loves sour things and worked in a Korean restaurant when she and her […]
Spring Into Summer Stew
The garden’s abundance finally rewards us for all of our hard work since March. A long time coming, but all is forgotten as we enjoy the bounty of the harvest. Here’s an easy way to eat your vegetables. I don’t use stock or broth, preferring the easy way of always making sure I’ve got some […]
Sour Cherry Clafoutis
You need powdered sugar to make this a bit more presentable. It was 98 degrees in the kitchen and the clafoutis was cold, so I had to keep mounding on the sugar to get the top photo. Pudding or cake. I guess if we have to choose it’s more towards pudding – and the absence […]
Spring Vegetable Salad with Dijon-Honey-Paprika Dressing and Coconut Bacon
Sonia and I are on a journey to find a suitable replacement for bacon in our baconless life. The desire becomes heightened as warm weather settles in for the summer, because the heirloom tomatoes in the garden, with barely a bloom to be had yet, beckon for BLT’s when nothing else will do. Found a […]
Tree Peonies
Guess what I splurged on (ssshhhh, don’t tell Lewis)? I’ve wanted a tree peony for ages. Here she is. -Sheila
Rhubarb
Spring rhubarb, the first “fruit” of the year from the garden. They might seem on the fibrous side when you’re cutting the stalks, but when rhubarb is cooked it melts into a soft custard that fully expresses itself when paired with sugar. Synonymous with strawberries, but don’t forget the other berries, especially raspberries. Ginger (fresh, […]
Hellebore – Lenten Rose
There’s not much out in the garden yet to pair with these delightful hellebore flowers. They are much too sophisticated to hang out with daffodils. Their exquisite beauty works singularly, en masse, luckily. This frilly double white below is graceful with just a few blooms. After this photo, I snipped them to about 7-inches long […]
Sweeteners
Top, left to right: Confectioners Sugar, Palm Sugar, Jaggery, Piloncilla, Panela, Buckwheat Honey, Wildflower Honey Center, left to right: Superfine/Caster Sugar, Raw/Demerra Sugar, Barley Malt Syrup Bottom, left to right: White Granulated Sugar, Coconut Sugar, Dark Brown Sugar, Light brown sugar, Molasses, Brown Rice Syrup, Coconut Nectar White Sugars White Granulated Sugar – highly refined, […]