It’s been so hot here, and so dry, the kind of weather we usually don’t see until August. Unbroken 90F or better for more than a week now, and no rain at all. It’s hard on the gardens, and on the gardeners. I water every day, carrying buckets of water from the rain barrels to [...]
Also tagged Garden, green beansWhooboy, it’s been a time around here, chickens. I’m deep, deep in the crunch, though not yet in the weeds thank God, with a book deadline July 15. So if postings get a little catch-as-catch can, fear not, it’s just that the book has eaten my head, my hands, and probably my cooking time, as [...]
Also tagged chard, Mexican, monday's supper, pickles, porkOh, I took photos. But would they really express the satisfaction, a long day of writing behind me, an evening’s worth still to go, of spending a half an hour in the kitchen with the cool crispness of bok choy and cucumbers and scallions? Would they convey the sizzle of the tofu hitting the hot [...]
Also tagged black beans, bok choy, cucumber, garlic, home cooking, soup, stir-fry, tofu, wednesday's supperSome of this weekend’s greens haul, a nice smallish head of napa cabbage, was cut into ribbons, sauteed with onions and garlic, and used as a base for a fava bean and ham hock broth. Some of the scraps of ham perch on top, for extra juju. Especially with a starchy broth like a [...]
Also tagged beans, cabbage, home cooking, monday's supper, porkI feel very fortunate today, for I have had the great good luck to become friends with the kind of people who will greet me with the phrase “I’ve got way too much produce on my hands, I need to get it out of here, take as much as you want.” And who will then [...]
Also tagged greens, home cookingPazi dolmasi is Turkish stuffed chard. Normally you’d make it with very large chard leaves, and stuff them with a meat or rice filling much as you would if you were making stuffed grape leaves. Then they’d be baked, probably with a bit of tomatoey or lemony sauce to keep things moist. The chard leaves [...]
Also tagged bison, chard, Garden, home cooking, monday's supperFor those of you who are still unconvinced that delicious, home-cooked dinners with local ingredients are out of your reach due to time constraints, let me just tell you that our dinner tonight took me a grand total of 15 minutes start to finish to prepare. And that includes the time it took to go [...]
Also tagged bison, chard, Eggs, monday's supper, salads, sausageGearing up for Sunday’s strawberry brunch, so dinner tonight was a bit of an afterthought. Still, even an afterthought can be well-thought. Soy tempeh, cubed, fried, seasoned with Chinese black beans and chile paste and a little soy sauce, over a bowl of fresh spinach. It was fab. Right now I’m waiting for my batch [...]
Also tagged chiles, Friday's supper, salads, stir-fry, tempehI do love me some green beans. I love them so much I eat them out of season, which I don’t do with most high-summer vegetables for the simple reason that I know full well they just won’t ever be as good as the ones you get when it’s high summer and the vines are [...]
Also tagged cabbage, green beans, stir-fry, tofu, wednesday's supperToday was hard. Our seventeen-year-old cat, Mrs. Calabash, was diagnosed with a sizeable abdominal tumor. Because she’s seventeen, and diabetic, and there’s not a whole lot to be done for her except keep her happy for as long as possible, that’s exactly what we’re doing. Fortunately she doesn’t seem to know or care that she [...]
Also tagged arugula, citrus, fish, fruit, pickles, salads, wednesday's supper