You will love the flavor in this Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette! As I've mentioned in a few recent posts, we've not had the best gardening summer. Regardless, we have plenty of veggies making their way into the house still. It makes for busy days, getting everything preserved for the winter, so that nothing goes to waste. This Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette is the result of a few extra tomatoes lying on the kitchen counter at dinner time. It just makes sense - a vinaigrette is mainly an ... Read More about Fresh Tomato Vinaigrette
The Basics
Homemade Greek Yogurt
I love yogurt, especially Greek yogurt. Thick, creamy, rich - yum. And, it's really good for your tummy. This is particularly true if you make your own yogurt - just start with the most natural kind you can find to get your yogurt making started. Once you have a good batch done, you have all the starter you need for future batches, because you use some from the previous batch to get the next one going*. I started my current batch with yogurt I bought from the Farmer's Market, from a small, local ... Read More about Homemade Greek Yogurt
The Best Turkey Gravy
A nice dark roux is the secret! As I've mentioned in a few other posts recently, we've updated some of our Thanksgiving recipes in the last few years. We have all become better cooks over the years, plus our tastes have changed somewhat and of course there is always that food blogger gene that can never let well enough alone. There's always a better recipe around the corner, right? In the case of this turkey gravy that was 100% true. For years, I used a slurry to thicken any gravy I was making. ... Read More about The Best Turkey Gravy
How to Cook a Fresh Pumpkin
Cook a fresh pumpkin for pies, muffins and cakes - it's easy! October is always SO busy for us. We become slaves to the garden and the freezer and canner - have to get all that fresh produce taken care of, before it goes bad! It makes for a lot of very tasty eating over the winter months, but there are days when I ask myself just who had the bright idea of planting an extra half dozen tomato plants in the spring, anyway? On the other hand, it is awfully nice to look around on a January morning, ... Read More about How to Cook a Fresh Pumpkin
Homemade Corn Tortillas
You might wonder why I would be posting a recipe for Homemade Corn Tortillas in the first place. There is nothing new about this recipe - it's the same recipe that many people have enjoyed, probably for centuries. It's a method of long standing because it works so well. And being decidedly gringo, from Upstate NY, it's not like I have a long family tradition behind me. We didn't sit around the dinner table, sopping up bowls of spicy pinto beans with soft tender homemade corn tortillas. Nope. ... Read More about Homemade Corn Tortillas
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
I like to keep things pretty realistic here on the blog. Over the years my blogs have morphed from being stream of conscious postings, to stream of conscious plus a lot about food and photography to what you are reading now - a food and garden blog. It's a food and garden blog that is being written by a real person though, and sometimes among the cookies and flowers, real life wiggles it's way in. That is where I am this week. My Dad is having some very distressing health struggles right now, at ... Read More about Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
Homemade Applesauce
The Basics Series - Homemade Applesauce Applesauce is one of the first things I remember helping with when I was a kid. Both my Mom and and grandmother made it, sometimes together, and it was often the kids' job to squish the apples through the old fashioned chinois/food press with the wooden pestle. I don't know what has become of the chinois, but I still have Grandma's pestle - handy for all sorts of percussive tasks in the kitchen, though because of that, I admit it is a bit the worse for ... Read More about Homemade Applesauce
Creme Fraiche, made at home
So rich. So tangy. So intense. And so unbelievably freakin' expensive if you buy it in the store. If you can even find it in a store here in the states, that is. Creme fraiche is sour cream's snootier French cousin - a little more delicate, but at the same time, tangier and more deeply flavored. They aren't interchangeable necessarily, but both are great to have on hand. I would prefer sour cream on a taco, but you can't beat creme fraiche with delicate fruit, or topping a soup where sour cream ... Read More about Creme Fraiche, made at home