To those of our readers who are Americans, we wish you a Happy (and safe) Independence Day. (And to those of you outside the USA, thanks for reading–you’re welcome to try out our recipes as well, even if you’re not celebrating the Fourth.)
We thought we’d draw your attention to a few of our past posts, which might be helfpul for today’s celebration: Keep reading →
I posted at the beginning of the season that we had signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. From the beginning of May through the end of October, we will be getting weekly boxes (and biweekly boxes from November to January) full of fabulous, freshly-picked produce, straight from “our” farm, located in Viroqua, Wisconsin. We go to the home of one of the other CSA members nearby every Thursday afternoon, and pick up our box of goodies. I thought I’d share a couple of photos–these are the veggie haul from weeks 3 and 4, respectively–and then share what I did with all our vegetables. It has been a delightful challenge to my creativity to use all these veggies each week, and it has stretched our repertoire of what and how many veggies we eat. As regards the flavor of these just-picked-this-week veggies, I’ll just say, I’ve never experienced this kind of flavor and wholesome goodness in ANYTHING I’ve ever bought from the grocery store! Here are the veggies:
Clockwise from Left corner: purple scallions, baby white turnips, green garlic, baby broccoli, Hon Tsai Tai, asparagus, bok choy, bagged spinach, bagged arugula, parsnips, rhubarb. Keep reading →
This invention was a happy serendipity that resulted from a)too much ground turkey for the turkey burgers I made one night, and b)a need to use up some veggies, and c)a batch of sourdough bread I’d already started. The result was such a grand slam, even with the picky eaters, that I would willingly make this once a week all summer. And a big plus? It’s super easy!
You know how things sometimes just all come together in an improvisational sort of way, and it ends up being brilliant? This dish was like that for me tonight. I had a large salad and some Insalata Caprese lined up, and knew I wanted to do something with chicken breasts. So while the chicken was thawing in the microwave, I started pulling things out of the fridge (garlic, obviously…marsala, why not? and AHA! a jar of Trader Joes’ Morello cherries in syrup!), and before I knew it–voila!–I had a meal that was worthy of a Special Occasion. (In fact, it MADE our ordinary Thursday night dinner a special occasion.) Even our adventure-challenged eaters liked it! Keep reading →
This morning I got an email from my Auntie Joan–who has a keen eye for good recipes. She couldn’t wait to share this one with me. Because it looks delicious, I’m passing it on to you!
Edited to add: I made this stew tonight and it was AMAZING. The flavors were complex and delicious. I served it over rice that contained quinoa and lentils in it as well.
I’m bringing this post out of semi-retirement. The other day I fixed this fabulous dessert for my oldest son’s 21st birthday (instead of cake). He was delighted! I also added some photos. If you’re new to the Kitchen, this one is a family favorite that I’d love to share with YOUR kitchen.
One of my goals in signing up for a CSA vegetable share was to venture into uncharted territory and try new vegetables. Well, this first week has given us several new vegetables to try: burdock root, sorrel, ramps (wild leeks), black radishes, and sunchokes (also known as Jerusalem Artichokes.) I’ve never cooked with any of these vegetables before this week, and have enjoyed the challenge of figuring out what to make of them. Last night’s meal was unlike anything I’ve ever eaten before– Keep reading →
The other night, I was needing to use several things in my fridge, so I made large pot of soup with it all, and it turned out to be a very happy combination. If you don’t happen to have any burdock root laying around (and I only did because of the Veggie Share–I didn’t even know what burdock WAS until last week) you can either leave it out or substitute radishes. Using potatoes instead would also work, although that makes it less freeze-able. Keep reading →
Today, Sunday, is the last day to vote. If you haven’t already voted, please check out the recipe and instructions for sourdough and put your own vote in at Instructables.
Only two more days to vote for my Sourdough Instructable in the Earthjustice United States of Efficiency Contest on Instructables.com. Voting closes on the 17th of this month. Please go vote for me. Thanks to you wonderful readers, I’ve been in the top five entries. Please help me finish strong! Thanks so much!
If you’ll recall, a couple of weeks ago I encouraged all of you to visit Instructables.com and see my new Instructable on how to make sourdough bread.
Well, now I need you to go re-visit that Sourdough Bread Instructable and vote for me! You’ll need to sign in. If you haven’t already registered with Instructables, it’s free and doesn’t take much time at all to do. Once you’re registered, you have the privilege of voting. Poke around a bit on that site; there are some very fun, cool DIY things there.
The VOTE NOW button is at the top of the page, under the words, “Is this a winner?” I would appreciate it SOOOO much if you vote for me! We can only vote once on this.
Thanks ever so much,
Barb
