What is your comfort food? That was the question posed for the September potluck. As I found out, most peoples’ comfort food included potatoes or cheese. To be sure these are at the top of my list. I appreciated that the collective group of people from all corners of the country came up with similar …
Boiled Peanuts
Slurp ‘em like oysters I say! Boiled Peanuts are something like a soft cooked bean (duh! It’s a legume!) in a firm, inedible, shell. They are also addicting. During my very first job at the produce stand I would snack on green beans and boiled peanuts. In the heat of the Florida summer, I sat …
Spud and Bud Sauted Salad
Such an over looked food source the daylily is! Easy to propagate and hard to control beds can give you plenty of food to play with. I served this yummy dish with pan seared salmon and a stuffed lily but this vegetable sauté stole the show. Collect green buds of the daylily. I would snip …
Kitchen Tip: Homegrown Sprouts
Grow Your Own Sprouts Sprouting is easy to do and produces tasty, nutritious, and cheap results using very little space. Most beans and seeds can be sprouted in a simple sprouting jar. Example: A large jar with a wide mouth covered with screen or fabric. The sprouting jar seems to be the easiest to …
In Season: Fresh Spring Rolls
Spring Rolls are in season! In my house they are always in season but tend to get spicier when the weather is cooler. Right now there are lovely baby sprouts of all sorts that go so well in spring rolls. This version makes a perfect lo-cal option and is a fun way to eat …
Easy Fresh and Foraged Violet Salad
This tasty salad is incredibly gourmet with the only real cost being a fresh avocado. Everything else is easily foraged from the pantry and outdoors. This salad is stunning with the impressive fiddleheads, the rich avocado and the delicate violets. I think it would be a great choice for Mother’s Day brunch paired with quiche. Here is an ingredient …
Pickled Fiddlehead Ferns
Fiddlehead season is short, try to make the most our of it. Now that you have collected all those fiddleheads you might want to find more ways to eat them. Sautéing in butter is great, but eating that day after day will give you a tummy ache. To preserve you fiddleheads for later use you …
Stuffed Grape Leaves, Dolmades!
Succulent little morsels of goodness! These stuffed grape leaves are popular all over the Mediterranean. There are different variations, most are stuffed with rice. I remember one batch fondly, we used ground lamb and went heavy on the mint. The recipe that is here is my go-to version. It yields party worthy results …
Irish potluck and Garden Cottage Pie
Irish potluck and a Cottage Garden Pie Once monthly I get the pleasure of going to a potluck with great friends. Many of the attendees, not unlike me, are into food. The rest are into eating food! So it’s a perfect match! Each month’s dinner has a theme. The theme is often chosen with the relevant …