I’m not a coupon blogger.  I’m not even a regular coupon user.  I don’t subscribe to the newspaper and buy so few name brand products that searching and clipping is a waste of time to me. However, this week I was sitting around my parent’s house on Sunday (6-27) and paged through the coupon inserts. In the Redplum insert, there is a coupon for $3 off 2 cases of Ball or Kerr Jars, any size.  [...]

I could call this recipe the ‘convert kale salad’ for all the people who hate kale but love this dish.  It could be named ‘Basi Italia Rip-Off’ because I first tasted the salad at the elegant Basi Italia restaurant in Columbus and have been recreating it in my kitchen ever since.  Another good title would be ‘best salad ever’ as someone always declares as much when I serve it.  It is refreshing in summer and [...]

We leave for our Canadian back country vacation in less than two weeks!! This week’s quick meals clear out the pantry and allow time for packing and planning plus lots of socializing. Monday – Dinner with Alex’s parents, bringing marinated kale salad (recipe coming soon) Tuesday – Black bean burritos with homegrown lettuce, fruit Wednesday – Baked macaroni and cheese, green salad Thursday – Dinner with friends Friday – Costco shopping trip to buy Canada [...]

I have intentionally planted sunflowers twice. Both times, they were eaten by squirrels. Those that are volunteers from birdseed droppings, however, thrive in my garden. This year, they started as broad two leaved seedlings under the bird feeders. As we removed the deck and situated new beds, I moved some seedlings to more appropriate places. I tucked them between beds along the fence line and bordering the air conditioner. Months later they finally bloomed this [...]

We’re harvesting beans, baskets of beautiful yellow and purple striped beans. These heirloom dragon tongue beans are a bush bean, meaning they do not need to be trellised.  They grow down towards the soil hiding under wide umbrella leaves. The beans can be cooked fresh.  Sadly they lose their beautiful coloration, cooking to a light yellow color.  They have a buttery taste with a crisp texture, making them delicious steamed or added to stir fries. [...]

Most annual vegetables send out flowers.  It’s their way of ensuring their own reproduction. The home gardener must manage flowers, tending the ones that will develop into fruits we want and removing those that distract the plant from its functions. Leave the flowers on these plants, as they develop into vegetables: tomato cucumber pepper eggplant peas beans squash, including zucchini, acorn, and pumpkin (a special case, as the blossoms are edible but if you eat [...]

When one prepares an ingredient from raw to plate, one learns all the secrets: where succulent flesh gives way to stone, the bitterest part of the leaf, how light shines through fat. It’s a gift, to know a thing through and through.