I cook because I love to eat. I garden because I love to cook.
When our contractor was rebuilding our porch one spring after the old rotting one almost ripped away from our house in an ice storm the previous winter, I had just added a 4 x 4 foot raised bed of strawberries to the garden. The porch …
I can only imagine what it would have been like for my ancestors – both the caveman types thousands of years ago, wherever they were, and those just over a century or so before, in little villages somewhere in what is now Ukraine. After a …
The meatloaf sandwiches that my brothers and I were compelled to take for school lunch – lest we starve – were lacking in several components that make sandwiches such fine fare for a midday meal. In fact, they were so bad that they have become …
Some foods are a blank slate; they are a vehicle for other flavors. Take escargot, for example. They’re probably not too exciting on their own, but as a way to get your fix of garlic butter, they can’t be beat. Boneless, skinless chicken breast and …
We all make mistakes in the kitchen. Sometimes they are rookie moves, like the first time I roasted a turkey leaving the neck and bag of giblets inside. These novice errors can usually be chalked up to ignorance. How was I supposed to know they …
My friends Kathleen and Matt love to eat. Call them foodies or gourmands, they know how to enjoy a good meal and are partial to a nice bottle of wine. And they always want to share the food they eat and create with others. Hence …
I have to admit, I’ve never had birria, neither on a taco nor in a bowl. But the other day I saw a picture of a braised beef taco, and it looked tempting and delicious. I didn’t even know it was birria, but immediately I …
Think about winter food; root vegetables, hearty soups and stews, braised meats. All delicious, they warm the body as we face the chill of the season. They are heavy and satisfying, getting us through the darkest, coldest months of the year. But sometimes …
While the height of gardening season is late spring through the end of summer, gardening is really a 12-month-a-year sport. Yes, summer tomatoes may be the star of the show for many gardeners, but there is bounty to be harvested virtually all year long if …
From a very young age, my siblings and I – three boys, about two years apart – were forced to do dishes. Our parents, in their great wisdom, told us the sprayer on the kitchen sink hose was broken. Perhaps they feared a flood or …
