Ginger makes one of my favorite candies. Spicy, chewy and amazing in desserts, I serve candied ginger as an after-dinner treat. Slices of candied ginger are also delicious at the bottom of your cup of tea or hot chocolate. Read more ›
Our summer rains have made my rhubarb patch something out of Jurassic Park. The stalks are big and heavy things, mostly dripping with rain or dew. While I am a huge rhubarb pie fan, my daughter is rather luke warm on the whole “pie plant” idea. It’s not that I’m trying to get my kid to eat her vegetables – she’s is a fantastic eater. I just don’t want this great seasonal veggie to go to waste. Enter, fruit leather. Read more ›
It’s almost the winter solstice and my fridge is still hiding a few gems from my summer garden. The produce bin sports a couple dozen carrots, three purple cabbages and a big bag of beets. I love beets, but my family are not fans. So I concocted a dehydrated candied beet that is sweet, chewy and salty, making the earthiness of the beet a little more accessible. Read more ›
Along with a bumper crop of tomatoes this year, we grew lots and lots of peppers. This month I’ll be running down a number of ways to preserve your pepper harvest, from roasting and drying to fermenting hot sauce and crafting sriacha. Read more ›
The tomatoes just keep coming. Minnesota is having a very delayed summer with the heat moving well into September, so my garden is still going strong. At the moment, I have put up about 36 quarts of tomatoes, 16 pints of salsa, two gallons of dried tomatoes, and more tomatoes are on the way. I think we’re set for the winter, don’t you?
My dehydrator has been working overtime this summer preserving all sorts of fruits and vegetables. Colorado Peaches just showed up in my local market and I grabbed a bunch. But fresh peaches don’t last long. My daughter likes packing them in her lunch, but they bruise easily. I’ve been meaning to try making fruit leather and these peaches looked like the perfect opportunity. Read more ›
Strawberry season is in full swing! Well, not in Minnesota. My strawberry plants are still sleeping under six inches of snow. But strawberries are plentiful in Florida, Louisiana and California right now. And while we do have to truck them into the state, the season makes them fresh and affordable. Read more ›
I am constantly creating new healthy items that are easy to pop into lunches or have for snacks. Since it’s the middle of winter, my local apple orchard isn’t exactly open. But my coop had several bags of “seconds” organic apples for only 99¢ a pound. Time to fire up the dehydrator. Read more ›
Grass-fed beef is perfect for jerky. Naturally lean, the rich mineral flavor of the beef shines through. Luck for me Santa left a fab new dehydrator under the Christmas tree. I fondly remember the venison jerky my Dad used to make. He would marinate the jerky in teriyaki sauce or red wine, then dry smoke-dry it over a low fire on the BBQ. Rich, tangy and chewy, the whole family loved it. It didn’t last long in my house. Read more ›
My big summer vacation this year was a camping trip to Whitewater State Park in Southeast Minnesota. My partner and I planned to go hiking, fishing and generally lounge around the campfire. Our first day we set off for a hike with walking sticks and my new National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms, just in case. Read more ›
In preparation for Halloween, my daughter and I carved two of our big garden pumpkins into fearsome Jack-o-Lanterns. We saved the pumpkin seeds to dry roast into tasty treats. Usually I just salt them, but after cooking a spicy curry on Friday night with a friend, I thought that a Thai version might be an interesting twist. We made Mussaman curry, which is a very hot, yellow-style curry that blends traditional Indian spices, coconut milk and hot red chilies. Read more ›