making life delicious blog
The week before I went to the International Food Blogger Conference (IFBC) in New Orleans, I had some serious cravings for Cajun and Creole food. I had gumbo, jambalaya, and pralines on the brain and needed to take care of that situation. Since the kitchen counters were overrun with ripe tomatoes and more were hanging [...]
Ranchera. Say it. Try flipping the “r”. I still have trouble making that sound, even after living in a Spanish-speaking country for two years and developing an accent that could almost pass for a native. The Rs always gave me away. When I first moved to Colombia I couldn’t speak any Spanish except for the [...]
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 [...]
Years ago while living in Colombia, I became enamored with Andres Carne de Res, then a rustic grill in the village of Chia, north of Bogota. I didn’t own a car, so the only way to get there was by taxi or bus, but making the trek was so worth it. The place served the [...]
There’s something about striped tomatoes and the gorgeous splash of color they add to a garden. Michael’s favorite which we have always planted is the heirloom Mr. Stripey, and this year we added varieties of zebra tomatoes. In the basket are red zebra (the orange tomatoes with red stripes), black zebra (the darkish tomatoes with [...]
Update August 15, 2011: Thanks to Dash Recipes for featuring this recipe! Update September 12, 2011: Thanks to The New York Times for featuring this recipe! It’s summertime and our garden is bursting with tomatoes, peppers, and basil, so we decided to sauté our homegrown vegetables with some yellow zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and garlic as [...]
The tomato harvest has begun. In the last week we’ve harvested about 30 pounds of tomatoes, and there’s more every day. We have 18 tomato plants and 16 varieties, including beefsteak, plum, cherry, zebras, yellow, and an evergreen. For the first few weeks of tomato harvest we just enjoy them fresh, so for dinner today [...]
One of my favorite childhood lunch memories was sitting down to a bowl of hot tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. It was simple, not fussy; canned soup and plain white sandwich bread with American cheese, but I grew up with the notion that this was the perfect lunch on a cold day.
We are always a little sad to take down the tomato and pepper plants each autumn.
I'm thrilled to be nominated for the Circle of Moms Top 25 Foodie Moms! Click the button if you'd like to give me a vote (which I really appreciate).
