Quick, Northern Hemisphere folks! You’ve only got a month of mussel eating to go before the season ends in May. Although the mussels available in my local Southern California stores are less than inspiring, taking a firm back seat to the large, orangey-pink beauties available from September to April in most fish mongers in England, … Continue reading »
This year I plan to grow my garden in three phases: early spring, hot weather, early-late fall. Last week my very handy partner and I tilled the garden plot and planted rows of red potatoes, peas, green beans, lima beans, spinach, garlic, leeks, romaine lettuce, blue-green broccoli, carrots, beets and radishes. Last year I built … Continue reading »
Spring has arrived here in Southern California. The air is fragrant with blossoms and everywhere there’s a constant low hum from the buzzing honey bees hard at work. Mavis, one of my hens, has gone broody, and I expect a few more will puff up and start making the constant low clucking sounds that signal … Continue reading »
Happy Easter everybody. I love holidays for many reasons, but I especially love holidays that come with the expectation of a delicious roast dinner. This year I decided to try out a ribeye roast. Ribeye steak is one of my favorites, second only to T-bone. The succulent fat keeps the meat moist during cooking, and … Continue reading »
I found this little gem the other afternoon after going through a long-forgotten recipe box. This was my first ever “recipe,” written when I was about 12 after discovering, to my horror, we’d run out of Prego for my beloved spaghetti. So, I rolled up my sleeves and delved into the depths of our cupboard. After … Continue reading »
Many apologies for my blogging absence. A couple other writing projects have suddenly filled my time and I’ve been forced to neglect my little blog and my favorite bloggers. Thanks to Aussie Adventurer, Baz at The Landy for making sure I was alive and kicking! Now that it’s March there’s been a steady hint of spring … Continue reading »
Truly, truly I say unto you… go forth and cure yourself some bacon right now. This instant. Print this recipe and go. It’s that delicious. I have been wanting to try my hand at curing bacon for quite some time. I had a vague idea that it would need to hang in a cheese cloth … Continue reading »
I love the way Italian cuisine pairs beans with meats or bitter greens. I’ve drawn upon that tradition for this hearty, warming soup just in time for flu season. I tend to avoid chicken breast meat like plague. Dry, tasteless and unappealing, chicken breasts are held in high regard by the low-fat prophets (profits?) for … Continue reading »
A truly delicious way to use your homemade herby goat cheese is to smear it on top of grilled lamb chops while they cook, toasting the cheese in the last 5 minutes of cooking. Pictured here are spring lamb chops from Australia, where all lamb and mutton is pastured. We like that. New Zealand too … Continue reading »
Making your own goat cheese might sound complicated and time consuming but I was happy to find it’s easy-peasy. No toodle to the health food store for cheese-making rennet required (unless that health food store sells raw goat milk like mine). It only requires whole goat milk, lemon juice, a food thermometer and a little … Continue reading »
Here’s a delicious dish to make with your Homemade Roasted Red Bell Peppers, and you’re in luck because it’s another recipe I’ve sneakily stolen from my Neapolitan Culinary Whiz, Tina. Also take note: the Italian flag colors are proudly on display in this salad, in case you doubted its authenticity. Tina serves this dish with a … Continue reading »
One of the benefits of having an Italian for a partner is knowing his Mamma. Michael’s mother, Tina, was born and bred in Naples, and as every Neapolitan knows, you haven’t been to Italy if you haven’t been to Naples. Or is it that Naples is its own little world, apart from Italy? I’ve learned … Continue reading »
This is one of my favorite go-to side dishes. Not only is it delicious, balancing tart tang with natural sweetness, it’s really quite good for you. Aside from the multitude of antioxidants present in red cabbage (the brighter the color, the more antioxidants), this recipe calls for unfiltered apple cider vinegar, which helps to support … Continue reading »
Joshua Trees are a type of yucca plant native to the Southwestern US, but found mainly in my native Mojave Desert. I think they’re one the most dramatic parts of our landscape. Here is a particularly beautiful tree with some ancient barbed wire from long-ago ranching days, and my partner, Michael.
I was lucky to live in England during an exciting culinary time which saw the renaissance of traditionally cheap cuts of meat. Lamb necks and breasts, shin of beef, offal, pork and lamb shoulders and pork belly were en vogue, and pretty easy to come by at most butcher shops. On recent visits, I’ve noticed … Continue reading »
… Or as we say in Southern California, “What is that white stuff falling from the sky?!” We had a bit of Christmas snow this year. A bit as in 10 minutes of pretty large flakes. It was a Christmas miracle! This very well could be our only brush with snow this winter, so I … Continue reading »
One of the things I have found the hardest to give up in my shunning of unnaturally extracted vegetable oils high in polyunsaturated omega 6 fats is Best Foods brand mayonnaise (also known as Hellmann’s), which is mainly soybean oil. I eventually got over the rich, salty sweetness it added to my summer tomato sandwiches, … Continue reading »
I hope everyone’s New Year was as restful and relaxing as Bindi’s New Year. Granted, she doesn’t have many things to worry over, except the occasional rain and snowfall, and any outside temperature below 70F (21C). But when any of those weather-related catastrophes happen to her, she can usually worm her way into the cozy … Continue reading »
Happy New Year to everyone from PRF! My brother caught Lois closely inspecting my Dad’s work yesterday. She gave a thorough investigation from below, then flew up to the work bench to inspect from above. He felt the pressure, but eventually she gave her approval and hopped down to dig for worms.
This morning was warm, calm and sunny — a perfect California winter day. Then whispy wind clouds appeared overhead…. … And suddenly we were in the midst of a mighty wind blowing a storm in from the Pacific. So I toodled back into the house, wrapped up warm and started thumbing through my favorite cookbooks. … Continue reading »
