Easy: Soak about two cups of dry beans overnight. Drain and rinse several times. Cover with water about 2” above beans. Add pinch of baking soda to help soften beans. Cook until tender. In a heavy pan, melt a knob of butter and 1/3 cup or more of olive oil. Add generous sprig of fresh…
Baked eggs in a hot pan. Hottie optional.
Baked eggs 🍳 in a hot pan. Directions: Heat oven to 475 degrees (convection is great but not necessary). Pour generous drizzle of high-heat oil in cast iron pan (I used grape seed oil). Heat until sizzling. Layer fresh garden veggies in base. I used yellow squash sliced in thirds and then sliced into 1/4”…
More than enough.
“And, while expressing gratitude seems innocent enough, it is a revolutionary idea. In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition. Recognizing abundance rather than scarcity undermines an economy that thrives by creating unmet desires. Gratitude cultivates an ethic of fullness, but the economy needs emptiness… Gratitude doesn’t send you shopping to find satisfaction; it comes as a…
This isn’t a snack. It’s a situation.
I was so hungry this past Wednesday. I’d been running around with the kids to swim team, errands, playdates, and back again. I hadn’t really eaten beyond a couple cups of coffee and some leftover apple crisp. I was that cliche of a weary summer soul trying to figure out how to get the laundry…
Apple-Plum Fruit Leather
Following up on yesterday’s fruit prep, we finished making our first batch of fruit leather today. As I mentioned before, you can use nearly any combination of fruit that you like, as long as it forms a puree that is thick enough to work with. You can also get twisted and add veggies to the…
Fruit festival.
Today I will post this photo of gorgeous apples and plums in a heavy cast iron pot. Tomorrow I will share delectable photos of fruit leather. That is the goal, anyway. If you’d like to follow along with me, and you have a food dehydrator or an oven with a low setting, simply pull fruit…
Letting the outside in. Or taking the inside out.
I caught this photo while sitting in the loft of Brian’s art studio. My daughter doesn’t like it because she feels like I look like a ghost. I suppose there is a spirit-y quality to it, maybe a bit haunting, but I like it because I’m a part of the apple orchard and the hillside…
Dehydrating plums.
And so it begins: Fruit harvest, starting with our giant bowl of Italian plums. I had helpers today in my sunny perch above the garden—plus a visit with a neighbor, Spanish guitar music soaking the kitchen in its light, happy melody, and the certain feeling that all is well in the world.
Cleaning house. {A tale told with many pauses and deep breaths.}
Telling this simple story of “cleaning house” really requires much more than just a few photos. And you’ll still never understand the depth of this effort. Really, you won’t. After 22 years together, Brian and I have lived in a lot of houses. So when I tell friends that I spent the majority of my…
Marinated Beet Salad
My mom made this salad for us when we were kids. I remember being amazed by the magic of slipping skins off of beets after they boiled. My sister and I gathered nearby to make beet blush and lipstick potions. By the end of the evening, our fingertips were red, our lips were red, and…
