My grandmother used to live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was and is not uncommon to see chiles hanging out to dry in the sun as you drive down the road. That is my first memory of dried chiles. However, it took me years and years to rediscover them. For our first Valentine’s Day as […]
4th of July Menu (Summer Menu #10)
Happy 4th of July to all my fellow Americans! We will be attending a BBQ today, so I thought we’d celebrate the 4th of July a day early on our own, too. I wanted to do something special for my little family because I’ve been a little preoccupied with other things (like a new baby […]
Red, White, and Blue Trifle
We have been calling this “Loyalist Trifle” since trifle is really an English dessert. But what better way to say “Happy 4th of July!” for us Anglophiles than to make trifle—however nontraditional my recipe may be. Note: I don’t own a traditional trifle dish, so I used a straight-sided glass bowl that is about the […]
Pan-Fried Potato Slices
Pan Fried Potato Slices original recipe Ingredients: 4-6 whole potatoes, unpeeled (we always use Yukon Golds) 1/4 cup canola oil (or if you are naughty….bacon fat) salt and pepper, to taste Instructions: Boil the whole potatoes until easily pierced with the tip of a knife. Drain. Slice the potatoes into 1/4″ slices. Heat the oil […]
Mixed Greens Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
Mixed Greens Salad with Poppyseed Dressing Serves 4 Ingredients: For salad: 1 bag mesclun greens (can use spinach instead) 1-2 tart apples, thinly sliced 1/2 cup (or a little more) dried cherries 1/2 cup chopped candied pecans 1/2 cup crumbled Gorgonzola 1/4 lb. cooked bacon, crumbled For Poppyseed Dressing: 4 Tbsp. sour cream 4 Tbsp. […]
Summer Menu #9: Pasta and Salad
I’ve gotten a bit lazy over the last few weeks. I’m trying to clean out my fridge, freezer and cupboard so our meals have been less than stunning…and a little strange. Lucky for me, it’s just about time to start harvesting the goods from my porch garden. Today we started with the basil. This is […]
Basil Pesto
I harvested my basil today. Nothing tastes as good as something fresh from the garden–especially fresh basil. Basil Pesto Ingredients: 2-3 cups loosely packed basil leaves 1-2 garlic cloves (it gets stronger as it sits….) 1/4-1/2 cup pine nuts (I’ve used walnuts and almonds before, too.) 1/2 cup good-quality Parmesan cheese, grated good-quality olive oil […]
White Bean, Roasted Red Pepper and Proscuitto Salad
Make this salad to your own tastes–as little or as much of each component as you like. I think you will like it as much as we did. White Bean, Roasted Red Pepper, and Prosciutto Saladoriginal recipe Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 bag mesclun mix, washed and dried 1 cup cannellini (white kidney) beans 1 roasted […]
What’s Eating My Parsley?
Today I went out to water all my plants and was startled to see that ALL of the parsley was gone. Not dead–completely missing. The other day I saw some small (maybe 1 cm long) caterpillars basking in the sun on some of the parsley leaves. I didn’t particularly care to kill them, it’s nature […]
How-To: Making Chiffon Cake
Have you ever tried Chiffon cake? It’s a very light, airy foam cake akin to Angel Food Cake that is made with flour, sugar, vegetable oil, and eggs. (Angel Food Cake is made without oil or egg yolks.) Chiffon cake is very versatile–you can fill it, frost it, freeze it, forget about it for a […]
