A quick shout out for our farmer, Barbara Schaefer, (we’re members of her CSA – Community Supported Agriculture – program) whose Large Black pigs smiled up at us in our local paper this morning (as did Barbara). I’m just glad we got ours in the freezer before the rush starts. If you’ve never eaten pork […]
The sound the bathroom scale made as I stepped gingerly on to it the other morning could have been a groan or it could have been a low chuckle. It’s even possible it was a knowing sigh. The only thing that I know for certain was it didn’t sound surprised. And, as I stared down […]
It’s a shame to associate these fish cakes with leftovers. They’re too elegant and too good. It certainly is not a word we use around our house, where our kids won’t eat anything with the “leftover” stigma attached. I have to hide the mashed potatoes at the very back of the fridge (behind other untouchables […]
Dried chipotles – smoked jalapeno peppers – are the ugly ducklings of the pantry. Of all the other ingredients I have on hand, only sundried tomatoes come close to looking this inedible. But just open the jar and you know immediately that these are swans. Just the smell of this exotic, smoky, slightly fruity pepper […]
Every Christmas tradition we have was invented at some time or another. Even the holiday itself was created by the Church so the pagans wouldn’t have all the fun under the mistletoe at the winter celebration of Yuletide. Much of our “modern” Christmas is a 19th-Century creation and we still measure the holiday against the […]
If you’ve only had the supermarket variety, you could be forgiven for thinking that tourtière is the French word for torture. The Christmas Eve tradition of eating the previously frozen, dried-out discs of often-under-spiced and over-cooked ground pork is a chore many people with a French Canadian branch somewhere on their family tree have learned […]
Here’s the recipe I use for pie pastry. I roll it out until it’s very thin (I have a ball leftover after I roll out the top and bottom for a pie). L hates the idea that there is lard in this, but it is essential. (I have a friend who thinks lard just needs […]
It’s doubtful in this day and age that many children go to bed Christmas Eve with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads. These old fashioned sweets just haven’t adapted to the age of high-fructose corn syrup. These days, sugar plums are for adults. In fact, sugar plums are so old fashioned, they’re a […]
If you’re like me, you sometimes wonder how come getting ready for even a small dinner party can be an all-day affair that leaves the kitchen looking like the Third Panzer Division stopped by for a hasty meal and didn’t do the dishes. How is it that a TV chef can do it all – […]
Meats, Roots and Leaves 