It is always fun to see the fruit trees bloom in spring, knowing that the flowers will turn into something so good and healthy to eat. This year I was blessed with an abundance of apples on my tree. Here in Southern California the apple tree of choice (about the only one that does not need cold temperatures to produce) is the Anna Apple.
I’m longing for “soup weather” and falling leaves and apple pie. It’s just been too hot, humid, and rainy this summer, and now the bugs have taken over. Picking about a dozen tomatoes landed me 35 mosquito bites yesterday. You have to make a run for it! The lingering memory of the Tarte Tatin I ate in France a couple years ago has
Is it pizza… is it flatbread…does it matter? Lots of names abound for thin bread either baked on a stone or a grill. It all started when I ran across the name “torta salata” for a dish for my upcoming Italian cooking class. I guess I fell in love with the name. When I actually started investigating, it seemed like more of a quiche,
I’m back to the flat breads again. I’m actually making two today, starting with an Italian flatbread that needs to age a bit. It’s rising at room temperature right now, but will soon go into the refrigerator for a couple days, if not more, developing flavor with each passing hour. The Indian bread I just completed and hastily
It started with the carrots. Just finishing that little carrot book for Learn Great Foods and needed a preservation method. I love pickles, and recalled the Vietnamese Pickled Carrots on White on Rice Couple blog. Perfect! I made the carrots a couple weeks ago and have been throwing them in my salads, which is great…but really needed to try
Every other Friday I receive a gift. It’s almost like Christmas for me…but I actually paid for it…and I actually LOVE vegetables. It’s a CSA box. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s a wonderful thing that is “growing” around the nation. Community Supported Agriculture. In the spring you sign up for a subscription,
I meet such wonderful people in my cooking classes. Saturday night I had a family celebrating an upcoming wedding. Ingrid, the mom/grandma was from Austria. It was fun to hear them switch from German to English and back again, including the 30-something daughters and 7 year old
I’m in the midst of writing a little booklet about carrots for Learn Great Foods. I have planted some in a big barrel…they are still pretty tiny, but beginning to show their colors. Did you know the tops are edible too? Mildly like carrots, but greener…somehow. The perfect garnish for a carrot dish, or torn into a salad.
If I didn’t know better I would think I had a bowl of little green snakes. I HATE snakes. I know I shouldn’t, but…I blame it on my sister. She used to chase me with sticks when we were little and tell me they were snakes. It’s all HER fault! But no….these are wonderful green garlic scapes. They have only made the scene a few years ago.
The oil spill in the gulf of Mexico is devastating. With the news of the shrimp industry and other fishing endeavors affected, I was curious about crawfish. I had put crawfish étouffée on an upcoming menu. I have eaten it, but never cooked with it and realized I really don’t know much about crawfish. They are fresh water
What kid doesn’t like ravioli? It was my favorite food when I was about 7 or 8. I hate to admit it, but it came out of can. I would even eat it cold… right out of the can. Don’t think I could do that now…but making your own is a great project to do with the kids, and also create something sooo
As I was carrying up some trimmings of the bushes at the bottom of the yard, I happened to look up the hill and spotted something brown. What could it be? After depositing the brush I returned to investigate and…there it was…a perfect and very large morel! I had tried to buy some from a friend earlier this month. She had
