AWEsome Cookery

  It’s kind of a chutney, kind of a móle, kind of a ketchup…don’t let the label inhibit you.  It’s tasty and it goes well with warm things, that’s the most important thing to remember.   Anchos are dried Poblano peppers.  They generally have only the mildest of heat, but exhibit a rich depth that is almost sweet and even fruit-like.  Scott and I sometimes use them puréed in chocolate cakes as a secret ingredient to give a bit of warmth but without overpowering the experience.

    “A single, ordinary person still can make a difference – and single, ordinary people are doing precisely that every day.”                                                                                                                    — Chris

    Purple lisianthus from the Canoe Creek Produce at the Farmer’s Market.  I hear they’re difficult to grow because they are slow to germinate, but it is so worth the wait.  I’ve found myself sitting and just staring at them over the last week and a half that they’ve lived on the table.           In these August days we’re so free with how we use fresh produce here in the midwest, vegetables are mounded into salads because they

  Fresh herbs are amazing.  A-mazing.   I’ve been putting Thai Basil in my drinking water lately, just leaving it in the glass and refilling to let it mildly steep throughout the day.  It’s such a refreshing beverage that my curiosity was aroused of the medicinal properties of basil, so off to ask the Wizard of Google with this question I went .     Anti-inflammatory and anti-depressant—and these are just are just a few of its superpowers! I then looked up all

  Creamy, silky AND healthy, the Alligator pear, aquacate, manzana del invierno, palta, or avocado, is one of those incredible fruits we should be getting down on our knees and giving thanks for every day. A Superstar. A Helper.   Limes and avocados are two of the main reasons I simply cannot eat only locally here in the Upper Midwest of the United States.  They are two of my favorite entities on this planet and no one I know except my friend David Cavagnaro, a

  It’s amazing to eat produce when it is still warm from the sun.   These ingredients of summer that I’m finding in my garden or the Farmer’s Market—cucumbers, tomatoes, cilantro, onion—there is just nothing like fresh and connected to the vine or the soil sometime in the last 24 hours.   photo by David Cavagnaro   It’s been a busy summer of catering with back-to-back and mid-week events crammed into the first two months of summer, but this is the flip-side payback

  Colorful tasty vegetables or herbs ground into a paste…’pesto’ is a loosely used term.  The word pesto comes from the Italian word ‘pestare’ meaning to pound or crush.  Texture has such an impact on the way we perceive and taste a dish, and crushing or pureeing helps create a silky coating that adheres well to sauce-vehicles like pastas and vegetables.     This is a light and lovely spread that could be served over fish, noodles, vegetables, or chicken and has the extra bonus of being

  A ridiculously simple snack it is, yet it’s been a (sometimes daily) staple for us when we need a no-grain high-protein crunch.  If you’ve ever done a cleanse-diet or a few weeks of eliminating sugars and grains and reducing carbs, you know the near-desparation that can set in as you search for something you can eat.  This provides a satisfaction that is hard to describe if you’ve never experienced that frantic hunt for foods that are not sugars or grains—it’s fast to make, fulfilling with

  It’s late June so time for the willow weavers to converge on our town at the 2015 Willow Gathering: A North American Conference focused on the art of the Willow.  People traveled from all over the U.S. and Canada to learn weaving techniques and enjoy each other’s company.  And to eat good food.   This basket was a gift to me from one of the Danish instructors, Eva Seidenfaden, as a thank you for providing them with nourishment throughout the week.  Lucky

  How do you describe cardamom?  Such an curious flavor, ‘A hint of camphor, eucalyptus, and lemon’, it is one spice that does not hide—like dill, saffron and caraway you really must intend to add this flavor, it will not go quietly.  But that’s okay, because there’s no need to be quiet when you taste like cardamom.   Originating in southern India, it’s a key ingredient of garam masala and is used in many Indian dishes both sweet and savory, even in coffee.

  Spending time in Mexico led me to believe that all salsa verdes included tomatillos.  But no…if you follow the latin-based language back across the ocean salsa verde looks a tad different.  Still ground into a potent green sauce, Italian and Spanish salsa verde usually involves anchovies, parsley and capers.  Garlic and lemon are a friendly addition to this mix as well.     Capers are the pickled edible flower buds of the caper bush (or Flinder Rose), though there are other seeds that can be used.  What’s

  Once again I find myself wrapped tightly in the schedule of catering events and I’m not able to do justice in writing the experiences of the last ten days on our adventure into the south.  This sunset tells the story much better than I ever could, it was the gift given as our group gathered to celebrate our friend, teacher, family, mentor, writer and artist Mary Kay Parker Deen. .       . These angels are trees in Bay St. Louis, resurrected

    NOLA a.k.a. the Rebirth City. I’m traveling with friends this week to New Orleans and Bay St. Louis, visiting friends and eating delectable dinners everywhere we go.  Not much time for words so I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.         A sweet morning on the porch while we visited my friend Beatriz who owns the Fairchild House B&B on Prytania in the Lower Garden District.     It was recommended we take the ferry across to Algiers and

  It’s Spring and there is no getting away from recipes about spinach, kale, eggs, nettles, peas and asparagus…so just get used to it.  Embrace the green.  Green is good.  There’s a lot of green activity going on right now by that greenifying chlorophyll, absorbing the blue and red then reflecting the green to our eyes.  But its most amazing superpower—maybe the most amazing superpower ever—-it converts sunlight into food, trapping the solar energy which excites an electron in the chlorophyll that transforms carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen.

  Tis the month of spinach and greenery and our livers are thanking us for being drawn to these deep rich colors then serving them up for dinner.  Right now the local spinach is delicate and young, you barely need to add anything.   A side of black tea with a splash of milk looks on the menu as well.  We grew up drinking black tea with a bit of milk and sugar—our father bicycled across the British Isles in the 1940’s and brought back with

  When life gives you nettles, make nettle tea. I have this greenery growing in my front yard so have been experimenting with ways to eat it…and being careful of its little injection needles full of histamines that give it the ‘stinging’ name.  They say if you firmly grip the stems it will crush the needles and not allow them to penetrate the skin.  My friend told me that if I said to myself ‘you will not sting’ then they would not sting.

  More woodland flowers from a walk on the bluff top, a pair of Bloodroot blooms.  This North American native is a member of the Poppy family and the root was used as a dye for baskets and clothing.  Here are more tidbits about the medicinal uses of this beautiful Bloodroot, or Sang de Dragon.       I can’t stop eating these little buddies!  High protein and no grain—this has been a handy breakfast treat as I try to eat less carbs.  I made them without

      “These are the Best Days of our Lives”   This calligraphy is what I wake up to in the morning and see before going to sleep every night.  My friends Greg and Jenny brought it back from China and now it lives in a frame above the bed spanning the entire width.  We’re such a forgetful species, we need our regular reminders—-not just for the good days, but even (and most especially) when the times are turbulent or uncertain.      

  Coffee lover that I am, I have to secretly admit I’ve been enjoying this dark liquid lately.  That’s right, roasted chicory is carving a new spot in my heart.  It has similar components to a coffee description–acidity, body, aroma, bitterness, sweetness, aftertaste–and a deep rich satisfaction that is almost meaty.   I know there are at least a few individuals who don’t love coffee: my honey pie, his brother, my cousin Barb, and maybe three or four more people who don’t care

  Yay, another pea soup!  I knew that was what you were going to say.  We’ve had a week of spring-emerging: from chill to rain to sunny days which means the buds and grass are finally beginning to explode in greenery.  I even saw blooming wildflowers in the woods on my walk yesterday.  And spring means green soup, yes? Green it is.   The bones of this recipe were resurrected from a 1984 Café Beaujolais cookbook by Margaret Fox.  My friend Frances passed