“I made your recipe, but I changed it and now it’s better,” said a customer. How so? “Well, I didn’t read the recipe, but just put all of the ingredients together in a pot and cooked it. So I didn’t realize until later that I was supposed to roll the nuts in sugar.” Ah, the challenge […]

Are you a planner or are you a last-minute cook? Planners like slow-cookers because they know at breakfast what they are going to eat for tonight’s dinner. They probably also know what they are going to eat a week from tonight. I am not a planner. At 6 pm, I still don’t know what I […]

The end of summer usually means the end of fresh garlic, but we do have a few heads left from our bumper crop. We will sell it until it’s all gone — probably for another two weeks. Please drop by and pick up some garlic before the harvest is all gone. (Next year’s garlic crop arrives on July 1.) Our locally-grown garlic is hard-neck red […]

A perfectly fried food features a crispy, crunchy, yet delicately light coating. It is never soggy. It is never heavy. It is even good when it is a cold leftover. It begs you to eat more. It is possible? Yes. Battering up foods for the deep-fryer usually follow certain pattern. A wet batter of flour, […]

Parties are just more fun when they have a theme. I love duck, so why not an all-duck dinner? Great, except no one wants duck liver ice cream, so I served a mousse (not a goose or a moose) for dessert. I bought seven ducks, saved the livers, cut out the leg quarters for duck […]

Our bees are angry and frustrated. The spring has been cool and wet, which has kept the bees inside their hives. What do you do when you are cooped up? Have sex. Yes, bees do do it. The bees have rapidly multiplied, which is good — except the crowd of bees produced multiple queens. The […]

What I learned from attending the Slow Food Trivia Night this weekend: Pop culture sells better than slow culture. The event may raise money for “slow” foods, but the questions reflected fast foods. Topics included corporate jingles, corporate logos, and corporate cereals. Kraft and McDonald’s and Betty Crocker and KFC were well-represented. Success at a trivia night depends […]

Need a new recipe for the party on Sunday? Be sure to add plenty of chipotle peppers so that the wings are hot! Chipotle-Garlic Chicken Wings 2-3 pounds chicken wings, cut at the joints and wingtips discarded 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup tomato puree 6 cloves garlic, minced 2-4 chopped chipotle peppers (to taste) […]

Slice a baguette into 1/4-inch slices and toast on both sides.  Rub the hot bread with a peeled clove of garlic. Top with one of the following toppings. For the tomato topping, peel, seed and chop a fresh tomato.  Season well with salt, pepper, chopped oregano and mint, and moisten with a little olive oil. […]

Beef Carpaccio 5 ounces beef tenderloin 1/2 ounces parmesan cheese 2 ounces mustard horseradish sour cream salt and black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup diced red onions Pound the beef tenderloin to paper thin. Brush the plate with olive oil and put the beef on top of the plate. Brush with oil again. […]