Friends!   It’s August and many people in our neck of the woods are on their vacation trips before school begins.  Instead of recipes this week I say we take this time to enjoy some pictures and a poem recently shared with me by a friend.   Have fresh sweet corn and sliced tomatoes for supper, and take it easy.       These are photos of wood-fired pottery made by my cousin-by-marriage Jordan Taylor and taken when we visited family in northeastern Pennsylvania

  Another salad from Pascale Beale who I had the pleasure of meeting and experiencing her cooking class last fall.  This seemed like a good salad for the season as plums are beginning to roll in and at least some greens are holding their own.  Plums are one of my favorite fruits—their balance of toothsome tartness make them perfect for both sweet and savory moments.     From her beautiful book…   I used organic black plums in this version

  All rice is not equal.   I have had creamy rice before, but this was another branch in the tree of amazing grains. People from Anson Mills in South Carolina were at the Seed Savers Exchange Annual Conference last weekend, and beforehand they offered to mail me their Carolina Gold Rice Grits if I would use it in the conference’s Saturday evening meal.  They sent ‘middlins’, or rice grits, which cook up in a similar manner to a creamy arborio rice.

  Last weekend we ventured up to the old haunts of Minneapolis to help my dear friend Julie JAO with an evening of speed painting performance in her studio.  Some of you may have seen her speed painting the signature stick figures but now she’s moved onto Celtic creatures….not exactly a simple choice for painting with abandon. These are a few from the evening, soon I can give you links to the live videos so you can watch them being born

  In the Upper Midwest of this hemisphere we’ve had a lovely reprieve with mild temperatures this week, but the mercury will be rising soon and we know many of you south of us are scorching.  Time for a little refreshing break.  This is an easy lemonade utilizing the best part of the lemon—the oils in the peel.  Make a simple syrup and voilá, you have a concentrate for quick beverage assembly.     Adding Szechuan pepper to a drink….when

  Ah, late June—the season of the Willow Weavers! This year’s Willow Gathering focused on traditional basket work and hosted instructors Joe Hogan from Ireland, Katherine Lewis from Washington, Karen Tembreull from Michigan and Joanna Schanz from Iowa.  They led their participants through in-depth projects that left them famished for their lunches.  It’s amazing how much energy is required for this kind of concentration.      Joe brought them though the process of building a traditional lobster basket trap; they go

  Sankt Hans Aften St. John’s Eve, Midsummer, Summer Solstice (“sun stands still”)….whatever the name, it’s a good celebration: good food, friends, and a bonfire on a short summer’s night.   My friend Dennis Larson is an avid celebrator of this Danish version of a midsummer festival.  He invites the world to his yard to feast, fest and enjoy one another’s company as we’re visited by the slimmest night of the year and the hope is that all revelers will

    Avocados are nearly a perfect food.  They’re creamy, tasty, filled with nutrients and healthy fats, rich in omega-3’s, and they go with so many different kinds of dishes both sweet and savory.  Lately we’ve been eating them with a spoon out of the shell-like skin with no seasonings, or maybe a little lime and salt, and enjoying how filling and satisfying they are by themselves.   You can add avocados to almost any smoothie, the green fruit makes

    It’s true, there was a similar post last year about lemongrass pork patties, but when something tastes this good it’s okay to do variations on a theme. I made these buddies small for a tapas-style potluck, but you could make them larger for full servings or into little balls served on skewers.  The small ones were handy for post-meal snacking, tasty even when they were cold.   Outdoor dinners, they might be the best part about summer.  Serve

  Nothing like trying out new recipes on a few hundred people…   There was a request for plantains at a large graduation party a couple of weeks ago.  I’ve made simple chips before by slicing the starchy fruit and either frying or baking the cute seasoned circles as a side dish.  A friend recommended I try these which were a whole new territory and more like a cracker.  The recipe she sent to me is from the blog Paleo Mom,