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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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...
Read more →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.
Read more →Rising temperatures find home cooks looking for low-heat meal options. Gazpacho is a refreshing choice that requires only the use of your blender. This version was made with what I had on hand during late spring: last year’s home canned home grown tomatoes, garlic scapes, fresh cilantro, and store bought jalapeno. Later in the...
Read more →Weather has not been nice for vegetable growers this year. First, the temperatures rose so quickly in early spring that many greens bolted and bittered far before their time. Now tens of inches of rain are flooding fields. The lack of sunlight leaves fruits unripened and rotting. Those of us who don’t use pesticides...
Read more →Every night after cooking, gardening, parenting and teaching, I settle in to bed to read. Columbus is the home of the number one library in the nation by many measures; most of the books on my nightstand come from their nonfiction section. Below are my thoughts on three recent reads: Matthew Amster-Burton’s Hungry Monkey:...
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