On this day ten years ago, I packed dry beans, thawed frozen tomato sauce, chopped onion, beef, barley and cubed roots into a crock pot, so that in the morning, local food would already be there. As luck would have it, my thrift store crock pot scorched everything into a malodorous mass. I woke up,Continue reading “Here we go again”
Category Archives: Cooking
Making Pickles
It’s the dark of 5am and there’s a reaching streak of condensation at the bottom of each window. One partner is sleeping, the other is moving drying corn around on the rack erected above the four poster guest bed checking for mold, and stirring drying salt in flat pans in the dehydrator, and simmering molassesContinue reading “Making Pickles”
How to make pesto out of anything
When you’re eating with the seasons, spring and early summer are FULL of greens. Like, too many greens. In the garden, at the farm stand, in the CSA box, and growing wild everywhere. Pesto is a great way to process large amounts of greens and have a great spread at the ready, or frozen forContinue reading “How to make pesto out of anything”
The Solace of Food: 3 lessons from my year as a locavore
At the culmination of the year of eating local, I was invited to write a retrospective piece for a local magazine. Due to publishing delays, they invited me to share the article with you here. This article was written in January 2014. If you had asked me a year ago what I expected things toContinue reading “The Solace of Food: 3 lessons from my year as a locavore”
Baking pumpkin bread from scratch with mom’s recipe
Everyone wanted to know what we would eat when the year was over. We didn’t really know how to answer that question, or what to expect. The only way you can do something like what we’ve done is to give up on the alternative and stay singularly focused on the day and the meal directlyContinue reading “Baking pumpkin bread from scratch with mom’s recipe”
Cup of tea.
I woke up with a sore throat in Sarah’s house this morning. She’s driving in from Ukiah today, so I was solo in her kitchen and opened her cabinets to find something to make tea. I was overwhelmed by affection, pride, and connection. I made a very strong throat coating tea with dried elderberry thatContinue reading “Cup of tea.”
Honey-poached quince & apple pie
It seems like Christmas is a time to wear ugly sweaters, celebrate the white elephant, and cook things you’ve never attempted before. I have done all of the above in the last week. In this episode of, “It might be totally gross,” I decided to bake a pie, against my better judgment. I am notContinue reading “Honey-poached quince & apple pie”
Gnocchi and friends
My dear friend Stephanie has been letting me crash at her place every so often- I gave up my rental house a month ago to save money… I have a big huge project in the works I need my pennies for! I’ve been staying at a beautiful friend’s farm, where another friend is helping meContinue reading “Gnocchi and friends”
Getting it done: world’s easiest tomato sauce
Originally posted on My Ukiah:
When I research recipes for preserving food, I find so many refined options. And by refined, I mean complicated. They call for a long list of ingredients and a zillion steps. While I appreciate that these exist, and that people exist who like to make them (people that I wish…
Preserving Food, Part II: How to can everything
The second installment by sisterwife Elizabeth, pictured here with me at the Mendocino County Fair this weekend. Because sometimes we are not in the kitchen and also, you are never too old to get your face/body painted. Preserving Food, Part II: Can It! Canning is not as hard as people think it is. ItContinue reading “Preserving Food, Part II: How to can everything”
Eat Mendocino 