AWEsome Cookery

  One never has to feel alone at the house of my friends in Chicago. Living on the shelves and nooks of their kitchen are these characters brought to life by the hands of Erick Howenstine as his relaxing past-time in the studio. Each day you could choose your cup to match your mood, or you could have conversation if you needed an ear. Most of them have ears. And eyebrows. Some have teeth. Or perhaps Erick’s relaxing past-time is

  Soul by Todd Richards was a winter acquisition from Redbery bookstore in Cable, WI—one of those awesome small independent bookstores that we need to keep alive. It was hard to resist the warming menus and ingredient lists when it was 20 below outside. Tangent story–my friend went on a for-hire fishing boat in Florida to escape the winter and commented to the captain that the temperature in their northern home was 15 below. The captain said, “Below what?”  

  During a catering week last summer I was driving through my neighborhood and saw a Yard Sale sign in a yard I’ve always noticed and thought looked interesting, with curious fencing and attentive gardening. So though I was mid-errand I stopped in and had the pleasure of great conversation with my new friend Bill about wool, yarn, Navajo jewelry, and more. The visiting then made its way around to food (doesn’t it always?) and names, he then exclaimed that

  What to do with old food magazines? For years they sat on the shelf and I would occasionally peruse them to search for a new concept or favorite old recipe, but mostly they just sat there taking up space. Last winter I declared them the low-hanging fruit of Clearing and Cleaning, so for a series of mornings I sat down with my coffee, a fun-looking notebook, and the piles of magazines and proceeded to flip through them and scribble

    “I tend to just follow suggestions from my subconscious… For me the process of trial and error is like swallowing mental sand from oysters in the hopes my subconscious will give me pearls.”  . Kenny Shopsin     My cousin gave me this book a few years ago, and after some highly amused reading it then sat on the shelf for a while, nearly forgotten. Lately I’ve been going through the Stuff That Has Accumulated and rediscovered Kenny

    Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”  . ~Hans Christian Andersen     First, a few delectable moments of spring from last weekend. While we sisters visited inside our little rented getaway house, outside these beauties in the front yard opened up during the night. What a gift! I love how they arrive while everything else is still gray and brown around them, an appreciated contrast. Contrast is an interesting thing,

  A Springtime Soirée. My friend Patsy and I have a little tradition of setting a date then seeing what we have in our fridge, freezer, or pantries to create an evening of delicious Small Bites. It might be a cup of pintos, salmon, broccoli, olives, soup, cheese…even when it feels like I have nothing special to bring somehow between us the combination of treats works perfectly together. It’s amazing what abundance can happen when sharing. Without fail they have

  “The Human Foot is a Masterpiece of Engineering and a Work of Art” . Leonardo da Vinci     It’s been a long journey. My sisters and I grew up running around the farm barefoot and we prided ourselves in being tough enough to run on gravel by the end of the summer. But when school began, on went the shoes…at least until we arrived back home and the shoes were off as soon as we were in the

  This is a super-duper easy way to enjoy the creamy pudding sensation with a bonus of a protein boost and without worrying about ‘breaking’ the custard. We were enjoying this and musing that everything can benefit from adding chocolate, que no? Well, maybe not grapefruit. Or rhubarb. But pretty much everything else. Ricotta cheese can be found in stores, or try making your own, it’s easier than it looks.   Re-entry after our simpler and nearly internet-free life in the

  Cheery and light, this is a great soup for any season.     But first, a few more pictures of SNOW. Keweenaw Peninsuala style, that is, as in 274 inches this year (yep, that’s right…nearly 23 FEET of snow!). So far.        These are not drifts from the wind or snowplows…it’s just snow. Somewhere back there through the tunnel is a door to the house. Needless to say the Great Bear Chase ski marathon was not cancelled due

  Most of my high school years were spent at a small Quaker boarding school (Scattergood Friends School) where the students participated in the chores of living in a community—in particular the cooking and cleaning tasks of daily life. Students made the bread and granola and helped prep all three meals for the entire school, it is where I was first exposed to a commercial kitchen and where I fell in love with both stainless steel and feeding others. It

  Another year, another 13,000 skiers trekking along a trail in the woods for the many races of Birkie week.   This year the organizers of the American Birkebeiner XC Ski Marathon did not lose sleep worrying about canceling the race due to lack of snow. I’m certain they lost sleep worrying about other details, but definitely not lack of snow. Many of you in the upper Midwest have been cursing the skies for the pummeling you’ve received this prolific

  Let’s face it, I’m kind of lazy.   I love skiing in the woods and being surrounded by snow-laden trees, appreciating the incredibleness of our world, and once I get moving I love the action. But honestly, what I also love is the wearied-muscle-relief of coming in from a ski in the woods. That bliss-loaded exhaustion after outdoor fun exertion (very different from stress-loaded exhaustion) is part of the reason I go out at all. I do love my endorphins. Someone

  The warm weather of the weekend brought everyone out of the woodwork. Some items don’t fit in our little freezer-cooler so they live in the snow, apparently it piqued the interest of a small neighbor in the hood who took advantage of the higher temperatures and ventured out from their subnivian homes to find some snacks. There’s an amazing world of activity under the snow, insulated from the cold and hidden from many predators.     Kids in bright

  The weather is wintery and the snow is deep so it’s time again for a glimpse at life in the our cozy ski-in rustic cabin at ABR in Ironwood, Michigan. While everyone else has been suffering through the trials and tribulations of the polar vortex in the U.S., we’ve been hunkered down in the coziest spot possible with no need to drive and no need for electricity in these arctic conditions. Throw in a sauna every night (complete with

  Oh Deborah, we love you. As I mentioned earlier, I’m in a phase of sorting through the cookbooks—culling then re-exploring the ones that are staying. Different foods catch our eye at different times, so it’s a great experiment to pull out the books and give them another round of attention. Deborah Madison is always a favorite, and as we are now in the winter wonderland I wanted to bring ideas for hearty vegetable dishes that were easy and could

  Rick Bayless again comes to the rescue providing interesting foods. He does pretty dang well at trying to give the real story of these foods, and the love of Mexico comes through in his writings. This provides good reading and happy thoughts on these chilly evenings.   Masa Harina and Fresh Masa Fresh masa is mashed or ground hominy—corn that has been soaked in lye (sodium hydroxide) or lime (calcium hydroxide) which dissolves the hull and releases calcium and niacin

  We made a version of this soup in the Deli but I seem to have misplaced the recipe so I’ve been trying to recreate it lately. I started with the basic ingredients of a classic peanut soup—peanut butter or ground nuts with sweet potato and tomato—then went from there. The recipe is based on soups common in western Africa, but interestingly those three ingredients originated in the Americas.   Peanuts probably originated in Brazil or Peru where there are

  Hopefully you are able to have a relaxing day, this very first one of 2019, to enjoy time with friends/family or maybe just relish a free afternoon. Here it’s chilly and frosted with white (finally), but I’m enjoying it from inside with a sniffly nose and a hot cuppa. A slow beginning that makes me deeply appreciate how great it is to wake up and feel healthy the rest of the time!   I’m not much of a vodka

  It’s easy to spend hours reading books by Rick Bayless. Restauranteur author, educator, and host of PBS’s Mexico: One Plate at a Time….needless to say he’s a busy guy. Rick has lived and still spends time in Mexico, and does a respectful job at bringing traditional Mexican fare to the spotlight with a modern interpretation, not to mention the recipes with side notes are both incredible and accessible. His restaurants include the extensive Frontera family of sites, Topolobampo, Red O,