. 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

  This recipe was given to me by my friend Deanna who passed it along from her doctor who I think got it from writer Susan Weed.  Deanna scribbled it on a cracker box and I’m finally getting around to making it. It’s a great savory no-grain no-sweetener base recipe that is surprisingly light and fluffy.  I eventually added cinnamon but you could incorporate countless other amendments or sweeteners.  The first time I made it with golden flax flour (those

  Spice mixtures, they are limitless! Chinese 5 Spice, Za’atar, Harissa, Shichimi, Jerk, Chermoula…like musical notes creating an infinite number of songs, the combinations and variations of spices are equally endless.   Baharat is the Arabic word for ‘spices’, and spices they are.  Generally the mix includes black peppercorns, paprika, cumin, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and cinnamon.  Turkish Baharat usually contains mint, in Tunisia rose petals are added, and other areas might mix in ginger, allspice, sumac or saffron.  I’m

  I came across my post from 2014 that sounded perfect for the simpler meals of post-holiday excess so we’ll give it another go around.  This little recipe was initially from Food Renegade that I made with a few adaptations.  I used canned coconut milk but if you have access to fresh I’m sure it would be divine. I see this mostly as a savory dish but a person could also make this into a sweet lime rice by adding

  I recently came across a recipe for Vegan Nacho Cheese at Brita Britnell’s food blog: Life, One Meal at a Time.  Always looking for special-diet options for catering I gave this a try.  Yum!  I did make a few modifications to increase the creamy factor but it was really quite tasty all on its own without any meddling on my part. This is great as a chip dip if you’re wondering what to make for a New Years Eve

  Another Christmas favorite for (and from) all the Scandihoovians around me.  I just finished catering a December wedding with a very Norwegian flair and Meatballs were the main attraction.  Actually I think the gravy was the main attraction…but isn’t it always?  It’s all about the gravy.  I didn’t measure anything when making the gravy for the wedding so below only the ingredients for it are listed, maybe later I’ll try to recreate that scrumptious magic.   Swedish meatballs (Köttbullar)

. Beginning in Sälen and ending in Mora, Sweden, the 90 kilometer Swedish Vasaloppet is one of the largest ski races in the world.  Tens of thousands of skiers pilgrimage to Sälen in mid-March to ski, enjoy the spectacle, and some to winter camp along the race course in a good spot to cheer on the racers.  During the week prior to the Vasaloppet between 50,000 and 80,000 people ski the course as a fun family event leading up to

  Pickled cauliflower would be great in the summer heat but I’ve been enjoying the brightness of this veggie alongside my denser fall foods like squash, stews, and slow cooked meats.  There are countless versions of marinated brassicas, though many of us don’t have access to a wide variety of southeast Asian spices so this adaptation is relatively simple.     Here is a little video with two ways to cut cauliflower into florets.  We’ve also been frying and roasting

  Are you in need of some simple meals during this season of heavy holiday feasting?  Rice and steamed vegetables with this sauce could be your dinner tonight.  Maybe add a little tofu or chicken for protein.  Then drink some tea, take a walk, breath good air.  Sleep well.  Get ready.     What a surprise to find local ginger at a Midwestern farmers market in November!  This is good news for locavores.  This bulb is fresh and uncured with beautifully thin skin, I

  Chermoula is one of my favorite flavor bombs of all times. To quote a comment from my friend Heather on my Chermoula post of years ago: “One word…MAGIC. This little gem creates magical alchemy with anything it touches. And I have been introducing it to everything I eat. It is indescribable on veggie tacos. As I was conjuring it, I thought ‘Oh, this doesn’t make very much.’ A mother of five, quantity is always lurking in my consciousness. Chermoula