Cooking from scratch: healthier, cheaper, and a great creative outlet
Making mayonnaise may seem daunting, but it's really easy! With a food processor (or a blender) you can whip up thick creamy fresh mayo that tastes better than any store bought jar. Once I made it in my own kitchen I stopped buying it at the store. Mayo is simple ingredients, things you probably already … Continue reading Easy Homemade Mayonnaise
Sometimes I bake just to use up ingredients i have on hand. Yesterday I found 3 pints of buttermilk in the fridge, and need to use up some of it. What to make...other than Moroccan Chicken , or other chicken soaked in buttermilk. And I wanted something carb to eat....so ... scones! Good for breakfast … Continue reading Baking Whole Grain Almond Raisin Scones
I recently read an article in a magazine about Moroccan Spice Mix, or Ras el Hanout. It's not an individual new spice you've never heard of - it's a mix of common spices, just like 5 spice powder would be in Chinese cuisine. I didn't want to buy any, so I did what we all … Continue reading What is Ras el Hanout?? And what did it do to chicken?
Split pea and ham soup is in regular rotation at our homestead during the colder months. My husband will regularly ask for it. I usually have ham bones in the freezer, saved from the holidays, or bits of ham I need to use up. This soup is filling, delicious even when it sits in the … Continue reading How to Make Split Pea & Ham Soup
Need a quick dinner, and you have a bag or two of ravioli in the freezer? Make a casserole! Just cook the ravioli according to the directions, and drain well. Pour into a large cast iron skillet ot casserole dish. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with as much or as little pasta sauce … Continue reading Making a Quick Ravioli Casserole
I have never made orange marmalade - cherry, elderberry and strawberry jam, sure. Crab apple jelly since I was young and we had an old fashioned crab apple tree in the front year. But never a marmalade. I am encouraged to try this because I watched an Ina Garten episode on Food Channel recently where … Continue reading Trying my Hand at Orange Marmalade
Summer brings lots of salads - more potato salad, macaroni salad, waldorf salad, and the like. They all have mayonnaise in common, and I have adapted a recipe from The Joy of Cooking that (so far) works every time, to make food processor mayonnaise. Commonly called Blender Mayonnaise, I find it much easier and fool-proof … Continue reading How to Make Homemade Mayonnaise & Potato Salad
Along with the Incredibly Quick Chicken a few night ago, I also cooked up some crunchy -soft potatoes in another cast iron pan at the same time. My cast iron pans live on top of the stove, and they are what I use most often. For these potatoes, as well as the chicken, cast iron … Continue reading Crunchy Rosemary Potatoes in Cast Iron
I needed a really quick dinner, and in the fridge I had some boneless chicken thighs and breast meat, thawed and ready to go. So I grabbed my house seasoned salt mix and a bit of flour, dredged the chicken, and dropped into my cast iron pan. A mix of olive oil and butter (and … Continue reading Incredibly Quick Chicken Dinner
I can't say we ate any crab cakes on the farm. Back then, grocery stores were a bit limited in the seafood department and even frozen seafood was pretty much limited to fish sticks (we did eat those). I don't remember ever having crab cakes or clam strips and certainly never lobster. Deep fried clam … Continue reading How to make Crab Cakes