I don’t remember where I first heard the idea of pickling asparagus, but as soon as I did I had to try it for myself.  I love almost anything pickled and I love asparagus, so it just seemed right.  This is a sweet spicy pickle with red pepper flakes, whole garlic and whole mustard seed.  A perfect crunchy summer picnic treat! Read more

Every home cook needs a secret weapon in her freezer.  No I don’t mean an ice dagger (although I do happen to have one hanging off the ceiling of my standing freezer).  I’m talking about a special recipe that can fill a variety of needs.  Whether you need a snack for hungry kids, a dinner party appetizer, or a fast and simple main dish, to have one prepped ingredient that can meet those needs will save you time and energy.  My friends, this cheese spread is my secret weapon. Read more

We lost our kitty on Monday.  One day I’ll be able to write a great post about it, but for now the wound is too fresh.  I will post a breakfast recipe in his honor though.  Every morning the first thing I’d do was say hi to Cappucino, then he would curl up in my lap while I had my breakfast.  In cold weather I usually have something hot for breakfast, toast with peanut butter, or oatmeal.  Now that it’s warming up I’ve been craving yogurt, and this rhubarb compote is the perfect pairing. Read more

Our CSA starts this Thursday, and I anticipate it being the high point of my week.  To give you an idea of what my last week has been like; my pastor from Hawaii passed away, my grandmother had to be rushed to the ER twice, my grandparents need to be forced into assisted living, we had to confront one of our students living with us and give him an ultimatum, and we found out our cat Cappucino has pancreatitis and FIP and will need to be put down today or tomorrow.  This is all in the midst of working and teaching cooking classes.  So picking up our CSA box and getting to see our dear friends who own the family farm will be a huge blessing of something positive in the midst of a difficult time. Read more

We eat a lot of sandwiches at our house.  Pretty much every lunch during the week is sandwiches, and sometimes we have them for dinner as well!  One of my favorite dinner sandwiches is a Greek Pita Pocket, so I was very excited to see it in my friend Susan Russo’s new book, The Encyclopedia of Sandwiches.  Read more