Growing herbs: The Best Idea I’ve Had This Spring
It began with a little basil. Last spring, I planted some in a window box on the side of our house. The side that apparently got more bugs than sun. It had a good run, providing me plenty to sprinkle into my scrambled eggs, but not quite enough for the giant batch of pesto I … Read more
An Ode to the Start of Farmers Market-ing
FARMERS MARKET SEASON HAS BEGUN! At least my Mount Vernon market opened today, on the oh-so-happy first day of May. It’s been a long winter folks, and I was so happy to see those familiar farmer faces today. Especially Jesús Ochoa, who I wrote about last year. I planned my meals for the week with a big question … Read more
“The person who’s cooking should not have to do the dishes.”
During a recent interview with the Village Green Network, Joel Salatin called it “one of the keys to slow food.” And, no, he wasn’t talking about grazing animals on pasture. He was talking about housework, specifically about spreading it around — almost like manure on a field (metaphor mine, not his) — among the members of a household. … Read more
See Fish, Eat Fish: A Trip to Bonita Cozumel
Our weeklong trip to Cozumel really was a mixture of seeing fish, eating fish (and ice cream and churros and mojitos) and repeating. A wonderful recipe for a vacation, I must say. After three blissful half-days with the vivacious Alfonso (our Zumba-loving, camo-wetsuit-clad scuba instructor), my husband and I became PADI certified scuba divers! My … Read more
Pre-vacation tips for cleaning out the fridge & Ground Beef & Veggie Hash Recipe
After completing what felt like 100 but was probably only 12 hours of scuba training (online), doing my best to eat everything in the kitchen and doing even better at procrastinating on packing, the time is almost here. Tomorrow we leave for a little vacay to Cozumel, which we have deemed our spring-break-for-grown-ups (since we … Read more
Glorious lamb and a story along those lines
“It’s 9 a.m. on a Sunday, and my bathrobe and hair already reek of garam masala — burnt garam masala, to be exact. Who’d have known that the key to this Indian-Pakistani recipe for lamb biryani would be the French cooking mantra of mise-en-place? Or that the minute it takes for the pile of spices to get … Read more
High Heels Baby Shower & Best Sugar Cookies Recipe
My friend Lauren is having a baby in about a month. And she still wears heels just about every day. She wore them to the shower. She wears them to work and church. She has dozens of them. So when we set out to plan a baby shower to welcome her little girl and to … Read more
Spaghetti Squash Pasta & Eggplant Rolls: subbing veggies for simple carbs
We first discovered the gloriousness that is spaghetti squash in a CSA farm box a few years back. I cut it in half (which is no small feat), scooped out the seeds and roasted the halves face down with olive oil until they were soft (what I’d been instructed to do with any mysterious squash). … Read more
Going online to buy local produce? Exploring Relay Foods
When I first met with Caesar Layton for a story about Relay Foods, a Charlottesville-based online grocery store and farmers market that recently expanded into DC and Baltimore, I didn’t quite get the convenience factor. I mean, I am one of those people who drives to three or four different stores and markets each week. I … Read more
Coconut Porridge Recipe & The Great Grains Debate
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about grains lately. We all know that, if you’re going to have them, whole grains are better than their overly processed relatives. And, for some reason, the weirder and more obscure the grain, the better I feel about eating it (hence the kamut, farro, barley, wheat berry (above) … Read more
