Happy New Year! I‘ve been on a much-needed hiatus from writing, busy enjoying family, travel, upgrading tech components (with a few more things to come) on my blog, AND creating flour sack kitchen towels! Here’s a peek: Getting the towels onto the blog for sale is taking longer than expected, but stay tuned and I’ll…
Hard at Work
Sorry folks, no recipe or post this week. I’m hard at work doing a little refresh on my blog, even adding a few hand-crafted items to sell, so please stay tuned — I’m hoping MDB 2.0 will be ready very soon. And in case I haven’t mentioned it lately, thanks for tuning in each week –…
Cold Poached Salmon
If you cook, you probably collect recipes from magazines, blogs and friends. I have oodles of notes and clippings that I periodically go through to decide which I still like, and I recently came across a post from Daniel Gritzer at Serious Eats regarding cold-poaching, so today’s the day to try it! But a little backstory first….
Field Trip Friday – “One Seed” Program
(Field Trip Fridays capture interesting, fun, food-related and/or fishing adventures that I like to share with you!) 2015 was the first time I heard about Sarasota County’s selection of Orphan Train for its “One Book, One Community” effort, sponsored by the Library system and the Historical Resources department (you might have a similar program in…
Warm Vegetable Salad
“You don’t win friends with salad,” says Homer Simpson. I disagree! I adore salad and actually have lots of friends who love it, too. Heck, I’ve even started new friendships over salad! Fresh salad is awesome – tender greens, crisp veggies, something crunchy like toasted nuts or bacon, maybe grilled salmon or chicken or some…
The Poetry of Food
I love the inspiration for this blog post, which was originally published October, 2015. It’s a fitting time to re-circulate it, since southwest Florida is coming into its growing/harvesting season after a long, hot summer, and farmer’s markets are in full swing. So, I’m looking forward to seeing all the wonderful things growers are harvesting…
5 Uses for Fresh Lemongrass
Lemongrass is a lovely, citrus scented herb in the grass family – it has a very pleasing lemon scent, and cooking with it offers none of the bitterness of the actual lemon, so it’s versatile in sweet or savory dishes, spicy or mild. But do you find yourself with lots of lemongrass and don’t know…
Cheesy Polenta with Roasted Veggies
You might recall that I’ve been lacking in the cooking inspiration department lately. . . Thankfully, signs are pointing toward improvement! I know this because I’ve been paying attention to what other food writers are cooking, noticing what’s fresh/in season at the farmer’s market, what’s on special at the supermarket, and even thinking about Fall-type…
A Frittata to Save the Day
Things have been topsy turvy here in southwest Florida due to a long-running episode of red tide in the Gulf, along with algae wreaking havoc in our canals. I’m not gonna mince words. . .it has been horrible. I think it’s the worst bout of red tide I’ve seen in the 28 years I’ve lived here….
So Long, Irma!
September 10th marks the 1-year anniversary of Hurricane Irma, the storm that wreaked havoc on Florida in 2017. Today I realized that last year at this time I was glued to my TV and preparing our house for a big hit. But I also reflected on our blessings, challenges and opportunities, and I’m still amazed…
Buttery New England Baked Cod
I originally published this post on the blog in August, 2015. For my parents’ recent birthday dinner, I made this dish, since our whole family loves Cod, and I’m sharing it again, in hopes of inspiring YOU to make it! ________ Baked Cod topped with buttery Ritz crackers and fresh lemon juice is one of…
Plum Cakes
Julia Child’s birthday was this week – August 15, to be exact. For those of us who love to cook, she was an inspiration because we learned so much from her, and we saw the passion and joy she displayed in her kitchen, so we celebrate her special day! I was really young when…
