Cooking
Stovetop Smoking
I’m not much for kitchen gadgets. We don’t have a ton of storage in our old Cloverdale-Idlewild home, so there’s not a lot of places to put things. And although I love to cook, I find that most gadgets just end up getting in the way and taking up space. But I recently got something […]
Mushroom Barley Soup
A bunch of schools in the northern part of the state had closed early, and we were hearing apocalyptic rumors of fist-sized hail and a coming cold snap. So, we did what any sensible person would do. We walked the dog early, and we made soup. Soon it’ll be too hot for soup, and the […]
Fight Club for Foodies
The first rule of Culinary Fight Club is … have fun! Last night four area chefs faced off in a competition to see who could improvise under pressure and win over a panel of judges and a hungry crowd at Alabama’s first Culinary Fight Club event. Held at 129 Coosa, the first time event drew […]
Spring Garlic
Every spring, I look forward to seeing the pink & purple garlic heaped in the baskets at the local grocery stores. There’s something extra good about these cloves, with their firm texture and fresh smell. Sometimes you can find the super young garlic at farmers’ markets with the greens still attached – these are fetish […]
Oil and Vinegar: Home Cook’s Essentials
On my journey to a healthier me, I have recently started an elimination diet where I am cutting out known inflammatory foods such as dairy, meat, sugar, grains (rice, wheat, etc), starchy vegetables (beans and potatoes) and alcohol. It has been a challenging and eye-opening experience to keep my meals both satisfying and tasty. As […]
Ringing in the New Year with Home Cooked Indian Food
As we step into 2014, many of us have pledged (as we do every year) to focus on improving our health. Generally, we resolve to change our diet and exercise habits. While I certainly don’t begrudge anyone setting a goal and working towards it, my sense is that longer lasting changes tend to be ones […]
The Last Sweet Bits of Summer
Fall is really here! Unfortunately I have been on self imposed indoor restriction, working on resurfacing, patching and painting walls in the dining room. The dining room that I mentioned in last month’s blog post is finally, as of yesterday, ready to paint (I actually cheated and painted a bit to test the color, even […]
Red Root Herb and Vegetable Farm CSA
If you’re like the average person, you may have heard about the virtues of “eating local.” You may be willing to pay a few extra cents to know that the food you’re eating (and the soil it came from) didn’t get doused in toxic pesticides. And you may simply believe (correctly) that locally-sourced food simply […]
Surprising Fare
Dinner at my house is much more likely to consist of tom kha or vegetarian tamales or even paneer tikka masala than fried chicken or barbecue. Finding ingredients for ethnic cuisine here in Montgomery can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. Every couple of months we make a pilgrimage to Dekalb Farmer’s Market and […]
Canning is Awesome. That’s All There Is To It.
Last summer, I tried my hand at canning for the first time and I was really quite pleased with the results. I had 6 jars of homemade watermelon rind pickle, which I gave to my dad for Father’s Day. So with a successful canning attempt under my belt, I thought I would expand my repertoire […]
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