Curried Broccoli Salad (from Soul Cookbook)

Curried Broccoli Salad (from Soul Cookbook)

  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 

Black Garlic

Black Garlic

  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 

Walnut Herb Pesto

Walnut Herb Pesto

  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 

Spring Feasts

Spring Feasts

    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 

Asparagus with Curried Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Asparagus with Curried Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

  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, 

Chocolate Ricotta Mousse

Chocolate Ricotta Mousse

  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. 

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

  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.        

Bereuk, Scattergood style

Bereuk, Scattergood style

  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 

Onion Pie again

Onion Pie again

  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 

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Hungarian Mushroom Soup

  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 

Wilted Red Cabbage with Feta

Wilted Red Cabbage with Feta

  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 

Potato Masa Torpedos/Molotes

Potato Masa Torpedos/Molotes

  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 

African Peanut Soup

African Peanut Soup

  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 

Chile Glazed Yams and Rick Bayless

Chile Glazed Yams and Rick Bayless

  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 

Miso Garlic Mushrooms

Miso Garlic Mushrooms

  My sister sent this link to me and it sounded delicious so I gave it a try at Thanksgiving. And whaddayaknow…it WAS DELICIOUS! These are great as a side dish, or skewered with adorable bamboo skewers on a holiday hors d’ oeuvres table. I 

Winter Arugula Salad

Winter Arugula Salad

    Lately the visits to my father often include some kind of looking-through-things session, a show-and-tell of his life and history that he seems to enjoy sharing. Not long ago he dug out his carving tools and pocket knives, many of which he had 

Skordalia

Skordalia

  This sounded so Scandinavian to me, but that’s because I live in a Norski kind of town. Skordalia is a Greek garlic-potato-nut mash that is so tasty and easy I have no idea why it isn’t made everywhere. It would be a great little 

Green Tea Crème Brûlée

Green Tea Crème Brûlée

  Last spring I came across the recipe of a peach-leaf infused Crème Brûlée featured at Chez Panisse and I thought it sounded divine and vowed to try it sometime in the summer. In our region of the Upper Midwest few peach trees can survive but 

Butternut Squash Fritters

Butternut Squash Fritters

  So many veggies to fritter, so little time. Shred them up, add eggs, seasonings, and something floury, then fry or fry-and-bake. It’s a great way to eat veggies when you’re craving something decadent. The photo is from a breakfast at the Dug Road Inn 

Roasted Pears with Chile Turmeric Oil

Roasted Pears with Chile Turmeric Oil

  While perusing the NOPI cook book I noticed Burrata with Blood Oranges and Lavender Oil looked divine. I suppose that sparked the motivation to make this savory oil drizzled on a fruit—-sometimes we have to take inspiration wherever we can and utilize that which