AWEsome Cookery

      It’s that time of year and the Willow Weavers of the annual Willow Gathering were again in town for a week and I was able to witness their beautiful creations-in-progress while feeding them throughout the classes. I am always amazed at the sculptures that can be constructed using leaves and sticks—a skill that these artists are helping to pass along as well as evolve.     These adorable beaver awls were carved and made by the teacher

  I wrote about this a number of years ago and it seemed time to bring it ’round again. It’s a good exercise to review and revamp past writings, like a second chance at getting it right. This topic is way more enormous than can fit into a little post but it’s an introduction and gives some food for thought.   My little mantra when I cook and in recipes is “Taste and Adjust”.  People often ask me “But how do you know

  I’ve been perusing recipes lately, books on the shelf and the random pieces of paper with notes scribbled on them that are stuffed in the books or in my folders labeled “Recipes”. I’ve had this piece of paper for a while, I have no idea who gave it to me or where it’s from but it looked intriguing. Nearly everything with chocolate could be called intriguing, yes? I searched online to find a source for this delectability—it’s very possibly from

  What would we do without Deborah Madison? I don’t actually have that many cookbooks…well okay it’s a couple of shelves, but considering I’m in the food business I don’t have that many. But I do have Deborah’s cookbooks, and I do use them.   In My Kitchen is her latest with new and old recipes and giving more narrative about how her recipes have changed over the years.  Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone sits firmly in the Top Two List of

  While wandering around Port Townsend we stumbled upon this 1917 ship which happened to be docked for one day only and full of a crew ready to give tours. They were from the Sound Experience, an organization working with youth interested in environmental sustainability and maritime careers. They sail to different locations in Puget Sound on the Adventuress using the ‘ship as a teacher’ in a hands-on setting and offer a number of programs including Teen Summer Programs and Apprenticeships. Check out

  My Darling Lemon Thyme by Emma Galloway of New Zealand is one of my favorite food blogs. Emma worked as a pastry chef for a while and it really shows in her amazing creativity with gluten free desserts. This cake is based on one of her recipes she created for Taste Magazine in New Zealand and it sounded like a perfectly seasonal tea-time treat. Check out more rhubarb recipes from Taste Magazine’s Food to Love.     It’s been

  Yesterday a friend said to me, “It seems okay that spring is a crazy busy time, there is so much beauty and life coming up all around that it makes it bearable”.  I would have to agree. Bustling is the word that comes to mind, all the project planning during winter is ramping up into the physical manifestations of those preparations and you just have to ride the wave and try not to fall off.   That’s when pink blossoms,

  Cute and colorful crepes to use as wraps or tacos, these hold together well and give great flavor to a wrap. As the heat of summer approaches these are something to keep in mind for light dinners, like tacos filled with fresh bounty from the garden or farmers market. Bánh Xèo is the name for the real deal Vietnamese Pancake, these are an altered version that are more crepe-like but still a handy little treat. They are best eaten

  I had been to the Pacific Northwest before but had no memory of these spectacular mountains that surrounded us—the Cascades and the Olympics—not to mention the utterly jaw-dropping awe-striking monoliths of the gigantic volcanoes (Rainier, Baker, Adams, St. Helens, Hood). All week we had miraculously sunny weather so the views and hikes were spectacular. It must have been mighty misty, grey, and cloudy on my last visit many years ago, because I would have remembered these splendors of the

  Looking out my window at the mid-April snow drifts it seems hard to believe that within a few weeks we might be seeing local radishes here in the upper midwest. Thank goodness for hoop houses and determined farmers! We seem to be in a perpetual time loop stuck in late February, but for me without the fun parts of being in a location with ski trails.   Radishes and vinegar together—this is not for the faint of heart! Actually I

  Tapioca ranks right up there in the Cute and Curious Food category. People may have vague memories (good or bad) of tapioca pudding, but if you’re in the Special Diet camp you probably are quite familiar with tapioca being in the ingredient list of gluten free products.   Tapioca pearls are made from the cassava root, a tropical plant native to Brazil but is widely used throughout the world. Its sticky quality works well for thickening sauces and is a common ingredient in

  How many times have we eaten from street food carts or food trucks, utterly wowed, then spent numerous attempts to re-enact the scrumptious experience? Usually it involves frying and serving with a greasy dip, and is never quite the same as the edible encounters on the boulevard. At a business anniversary party in Minneapolis a few years ago we munched fried cauliflower with a curry dip from a food truck they had hired for the event. We couldn’t stop talking about it and

  Making hominy gets to the core of slow food cooking.  It’s a process that takes forethought and time, and though the concept is understandable the Complexities of Simplicity emerge.  Simple is not necessarily simple.   Pre-Columbian cultures began the practice of ‘nixtamalization’ in Mesoamerica.  It involes soaking the kernels of maize in alkaline wood ash to release protein, calcium, niacin and other micro-nutients, and removes fungal-mycotoxins from stored corn.  They then rinsed and slow-cooked the soaked corn in clay pots and

    The final leg of our North Woods journey was unexpected but really fun.  We headed deep into Yooper and Husky Territory of Michigan Tech University to ski the final marathon of the season: The Great Bear Chase.  We drove for hours into the Upper Peninsula with only woods and rivers for company, then finally entered the canal valley and home to the thriving communities of Houghton and Hancock, the copper country of the Keweenah Peninsula of Lake Superior.  Native Americans had mined copper in that

  Do you need more ways to use your big batch of kimchi?  A surprisingly savory and cute appetizer?  A snack for your next road trip?  Here is an easy savory treat that makes me happy. Kimchi is the traditional Korean side dish of fermented vegetables—many veggies can be used but often napa cabbage, green onions, radishes, ginger, chiles and garlic are the stars.  The fermentation means it’s loaded with healthy bacteria (lactobacilli) to keep you healthy, aid digestion, and make your

  It was a stunningly beautiful day on Saturday, the hoar frost lining every branch and twig and the sun shining brightly as thousands of people skied from Cable to Hayward, Wisconsin during the 44th American Birkebeiner Ski Marathon.  For me it was a good excuse to hang out in the woods (and be grateful I wasn’t racing).         Volunteers! Over two thousand people volunteer during the 3 days of Birkie events in Hayward.  Nothing could happen

    Skis without skiers and skis with skiers at the North End Classic. It’s a small but sweet classic-only race organized by the North End Ski club, complete with the Cookie Classic for shorter people.   And while we’re on the subject of ski racing… I’m sure you already know, but this week Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Jesse Diggins (Stillwater, Minnesota) won the first-ever Olympic medal for the U.S. women, and not just a medal but a GOLD medal, in

  Yes, they really are this color. At least before cooking, but it’s amazing to work with a food that is such a stunning hue!  It made me happy.  This was going to be a post just in time for Valentine’s Day, but the internet access was far away from the coziness of the cabin so we’re going with Valentine’s Week.  Any day can be a good day to make a fun meal for loved ones. There are a few recipes out there for

  The Upper Peninsula sunsets have been spectacular here in the sub-zero air.  This is the view from just outside our cabin, right next to the outhouse that I did not include in the photo—you’ve already seen numerous scenic outhouse photos over the years.  These views, along with the blindingly bright Super Moon or glittering falling snow, make the outhouse treks fairly memorable.  Sub-zero air can be pretty memorable too…     A Skiers Little Helper at the end of

. Something old, something new, something gifted and something almost-but-not-quite-blue. There’s been a lot of great reading here in the North Woods.  Life is good.      Soups! It’s the time of year when a Simmering Pot can be one of your best friends—providing warmth and good smells while slowly transforming ingredients into tasty sustenance, they are our kitchen’s ‘external stomach’ partially digesting our food so we spend less calories on digesting and more calories on having bigger brains.  Healthy as raw