Category Archives: Recipes

In my corner of the globe, early April is the transition from winter to spring. While on a walk one short week ago I saw what must have been the first grass mowing of the season in my Tiny Town. I was eager to catch the summer’s-coming scent of freshly cut grass streaming from this […]

Follow

I am sick. Oh, don’t worry – it isn’t anything earth-shattering. It’s just an extra-persistent strain of the flu, a little thing we are calling The Plague around here. I’m not the sickest I have ever been; instead, it is a wearing out kind of illness – I’m getting worn out while my body tries […]

Follow

Do you like tarragon? Do you know what it tastes like? I mean fresh tarragon, not old dry dust from a jar. Tarragon tastes a little like licorice, but I don’t like licorice and I love tarragon. It tastes a little sharp. It tastes green. If you want to jazz up your cooking in the […]

Follow

In my evolution as a cook, a significant step was when I learned to look past individual recipes and began to concentrate more on ingredients. In the past, if I wanted to make potato soup, I found a recipe, gathered the ingredients, and began with step one – peeling, dicing, and cooking the potatoes. I […]

Follow

My friend, a young man who is learning to cook, came over to make dinner with me today. When I asked him what he wanted to make, he said, “Something hearty.” I planned an almost-all-in-the-oven meal with a basic, homey, HEARTY meatloaf as the star. Go-withs are roasted potatoes, balsamic-glazed carrots, steamed peas (the out-of-the-oven […]

Follow

Weeks ago, our college girl was talking to me on the phone. We chatted about the upcoming holidays. “Hey, Mom, can I have a slumber party for all the girls from our congregation while I’m home?” “Uh, what age range?” “I was thinking six years old to college age.” “Sure, that’s fine.” So it was […]

Follow

I have a mental list of culinary skills I want my children to possess before they go out into the wide world. I tell them they don’t have to become chefs or even love to cook, but they need to be able to competently feed themselves and their loved ones with at least a basic […]

Follow