For the past year, we have been dining with friends every Friday night. Alternating hosting with being guests, we compete not with each other but for the great dining experiences enjoyed together. Highlights have included a low country crawfish boil, the $5 Julia Child dinner, 18-hour braised pork, and the kid favorite, chicken and...
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Remember last week when I picked strawberries and toured Bird’s Farm? The bok choy and tatsoi in the high tunnel were too beautiful for me to resist. Rich in Vitamin A and C, these greens are tasty ways to supplement your diet. They are mild in flavor, sweeter than kale or mustard greens, and...
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I’m not sure I ever watched the Kentucky Derby as a child. I certainly have no memories of it. The horse race came into my life through Alex’s grandmother. She wasn’t a huge racing fan but she always watched the Derby. Towards the end of her life, when she was living in Columbus near...
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Nothing says spring like firing up the grill, eating local asparagus, enjoying herbs from the garden, and reveling in the wonder of the egg. Combine them all in this grilled asparagus chimichurri recipe and the season bursts forth from your fork. Chimichurri is an Argentinian herb sauce typically made with chopped fresh parsley, oregano,...
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One of the little games I play in the kitchen is to challenge myself to minimize the number of dishes I use. I also like to prepare recipes in the fewest steps possible. Last week, I reworked my regular cornbread routine to lose one dish, one step, and several minutes of cooking time. I...
Read more →Do you ever prepare a tired ingredient in a new way? The other day we cooked Ohio bison burgers and wanted a ‘fry’ without potatoes. Riffing off the roasted root vegetables on Lil’s plate at Senate, Alex cut up some parsnips into very thin wedges. He arranged them in a single layer on a...
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It’s President’s Day on Monday and you know what that means, right? Hoecakes! No? According to the Mount Vernon website, hoecakes were George Washington’s standard breakfast. I figured this meant I should experiment with hoecakes for President’s Day. The site also shares a recipe. Unfortunately it is sized for a huge crowd and sounds...
Read more →Chocolate is a classic Valentine’s gift. It’s a special decadent treat that nearly everyone loves. But there are problems with modern chocolate manufacturing: it often exploits the land and native peoples. Also, many big name companies use artifical flavorings and additives. Treat your love like a king or queen and seek out fair trade,...
Read more →The urge to make scones hit me in early January. I wanted a perfect-for-me scone: not greasy, not overly sweet, full of whole ingredients, and easy to pull together in the morning before breakfast. I made many batches of scones and finally came up with this recipe. Alas, Alex doesn’t think they are scones....
Read more →When I finished making candied Meyer lemons, I couldn’t toss the remaining syrup. Lightly lemon flavored, I tried stirring it into a cocktail but it was too thick. Jam-like already, all signs pointed to marmalade. I chopped ten Meyer lemons from my surprise windfall from Green B.E.A.N. into tiny bits, carefully removing the central...
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