We are deep in indian summer here in Minnesota. A couple light frosts have hit the gardens, but produce still continues to ripen, unaware that it’s almost October. Peppers seem to be the last thing to arrive in the garden, and with 80 degree days, they just keep coming. To preserve the late bounty of my garden, I made Italian-style giardiniera. Read more ›
Summer holds such promise – big, bountiful gardens, lots of fruits and vegetables, excellent foraging and amazing farmer’s markets. In deep winter I plan all the amazing things I will do with summer produce, along with the great blog posts I will make to accompany them. Then summer hits me like a full bucket of water, and I am deluged with the harvest. Read more ›
We’ve had plentiful rain and moderate summer temps the last few weeks and the garden grows by the minute. Sweet snap peas are bountiful, greens overflow my crisper and the tomato plants are 3 feet tall. The winding row of mixed color beets are beginning to crowd one another as I never have the heart to thin them. Read more ›
I like to serve homemade preserved goods with a meal, but this late in winter, my pickle supply is running rather low. Last week we had a few friends over for a decidedly non-winter meal. Read more ›
I know, I know. It’s a little late to be making hot pepper jelly, right? It’s almost Thanksgiving. We got a little busy, what with a vacation to New Orleans, winterizing our gardens and chicken coop, and a way-to-early snow fall and hard freeze. Read more ›
I like radishes. In the spring there’s an explosion of little red globes, followed again three months later by the fall radish boom. But our Minnesota summers make radishes pithy, bitter and hot, so there’s a long pause in radish season, which I find wholly unacceptable. Then I met the daikon radish. Read more ›
What do you pickle in the middle of winter? As I stare at the snow drifts out the kitchen window, I find I am at a real loss for something seasonal to pickle. I have loads of pickled cucumbers and okra in the cupboard, but Read more ›
I have a vivid memory from when I was a little girl of hiding beneath a long row of plants in my Mother’s garden. It was a very hot day and these tall plants made a good shady place to sit. Plate-sized leaves floated above my head and huge yellow flowers dotted the foliage. I felt like Alice in Wonderland, except I was sitting in the okra patch. Read more ›
Kimchi is the smelly cheese of the pickle world. If you’re like me, once you’ve had it few times, the smell becomes appealing, the taste even more so. I learned to love the funky Korean pickle in college at University of California at Santa Cruz. My dorm-mate down the hall kept a batch in her mini fridge. Read more ›
I recently saw a tweet go by for “Sichuan Bacon.” Hold the phone. Click. It was from Hank Shaw author & blogger of Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, who’s site I just love to follow. What a fabulous idea. I had just purchased a few ounces of Sichuan peppercorns, so the tweet was clearly a sign of planetary alignment. Last year while participating in Charcutepalooza, I honed my curing skills, particularly on bacon and ham. Read more ›
Growing up, corned beef was a treat in my house. Simmered on the stovetop or braised in the oven with potatoes, carrots, and onions, I could not wait to eat that salty, preserved goodness. I was fortunate enough to grow up on a farm where we raised our own cattle. When we slaughtered a steer, my dad always ask our butcher to corn the briskets and a couple of chuck roasts. Read more ›