Home Cooking, Gardening, Preserving and DIY
This time of year the hum of the dehydrator is an almost constant in our house. The soothing white noise gives me a feeling of contentment, knowing that my garden goodies are being preserved (it seriously makes me sad to waste any of my hard-earned fruits and vegetables!) At the moment, my dehydrating project is…
I’ve never been much of a slow cooker kinda gal, always preferring instead to use my cast iron Dutch ovens to do my slow cooking (there’s nothing like the slow heat of a heavy, enameled Dutch oven to concentrate flavors and make everything in it meltingly tender.) Of late, however, I’ve found myself occasionally drawn…
I confess I love potatoes. Boiled, mashed, baked, stuffed, stewed, or fried – I could eat ‘em any night of the week. And I love their versatility, too. Even though they are a frugal ingredient, and are perfect for a humble supper of potato soup and a loaf of bread, they can be elevated into…
It’s hotter than blue blazes, as folks around here often say this time of year. I’m talking clothes-sticking, hair-drooping, crank-up-the-air-conditioning kind of heat. And when the worst of the sweltering summer heat comes along right about mid-July, just about the last thing I’m interested in doing is a lot of cooking. I mean, I really…
Growing herbs is something that I’ve been doing for many years, since way before I began to grow an actual food garden. Whether living on a rural property with acreage, or in an apartment, I’ve always found a way – a few pots on a sunny windowsill, a bucket on my back porch, or planters…
I don’t think there is any meal that says summer quite like BBQ does. I mean, sure, you can eat BBQ any time of the year, but it just feels so right in the summer. Served alongside fresh-picked corn on the cob, and followed by a plate of juicy watermelon – for me, that’s what…
Have you ever had dinner all planned out, and just as you begin to cook, you realize that you forgot something? Something really important like a crucial ingredient? Yeah, me too. This happened to me recently when I realized that I had no buns or rolls for pulled the BBQ chicken sandwiches that I was…
Back in my ancestral home of PA (pronounced P-A, better know to non-natives as Pennsylvania), this is a favorite coleslaw recipe. Instead of a mayo-based dressing, it has a deliciously refreshing sweet and sour vinegar dressing and lots of bell pepper flavor. I do love a good creamy coleslaw, but this slaw is just right…
