making life delicious blog
Last year we started growing heirloom Ivory Egg tomatoes using plants we bought at Debaggio’s, our favorite herb farm and nursery. They always have a fantastic selection of healthy plants, and we ended up with 20 tomato plants, 4 tomatillo plants, 6 bell pepper plants, and 12 hot pepper plants. That may sound crazy, but [...]
We keep quite a few different kinds of hot sauce in our pantry, and one of my favorites is Cholula, that familiar bottle you see on the table in restaurants all over the country. We usually have a couple bottles on hand, my favorites being the Chipotle and the Chili Garlic, and we use them [...]
Every year we plant a few new (to us) tomato varieties to see how they grow in our garden, and one of our new favorites for this year is the Amish Paste, a meaty plum tomato that doesn’t have too much juice, so it’s perfect for sauces and salsas. Our plant has grown huge, over [...]
We’re on Day 3 of our entertaining theme for this week and the next party recipe comes from Great Party Fondues, a new cookbook from Peggy Fallon. This very adult dip is made with jalapeno jack cheese, beer, and tequila, and is a mouthful of flavor. Serve it in a fondue pot or a miniature [...]
And continuing the entertaining theme, we move on to dips, a key ingredient for any good party. I confess that I grew up on grocery store French onion dip, and boy did I eat my share of it. In fact a really good French onion dip such as this one and a few wavy potato [...]
Creamy with a kick is what comes to mind when I dip tortillas or lavash into this salsa. The September Daring Bakers challenge required the members to make both lavash and a dip or other condiment to serve with it, and considering our abundance of tomatillos and jalapeños coupled with my utter devotion to avocados, [...]
We didn’t expect our tomatillo plants to grow as large as they did, and Michael was downright skeptical when I brought them home. M: “What kind of tomato is this?” A: “It’s a tomatillo, not a tomato, and we’re going to try growing some this year.” M: “What do you use them for?” A: “Good [...]
I wish I could come home after picking up the kids from school and have time to cook a nice meal. I long for a calm, zen-like cooking experience each day, but instead I find myself chasing after my sons who prefer to run amok, trying to keep them from raiding the refrigerator and the [...]
We first tried this dip over the holidays and really liked the flavor, and I now keep a jar of roasted peppers on hand specifically to make this dip on short notice. It’s a good dip for parties, Bunco, or brunch and it pairs well with crackers or crudités. The base is sour cream, but [...]
I have a relatively small collection of fundraiser cookbooks. One is from my grandmother’s church, two are from hospital auxiliary groups, two are from elementary schools, two are from overseas women’s groups, and one is from a law firm that donated the proceeds to charity. I would really like to have more fundraiser cookbooks, because [...]
It's spring in the U.S. and the following foods may be in season in your area:
artichokes, fennel, fiddleheads, radishes, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, cresses, spinach, spring lettuces, chard, cabbages, chives, cilantro, collards, tatsoi, mustard greens, spring onions, asparagus, rosemary, wild garlic, ramps, strawberries, blueberries, cherries
Eat fresh seasonal produce to stay healthy and help your food budget.Learn more about seasonal and sustainable cooking at Sustainable Table - In the Kitchen.
