‘Tis the season! For cider, that is. If you like fizzy things and you’re lucky enough to find unpasteurized cider, you might be able to make applejack (a.k.a. hard cider). In order to have that happen, though, you’ll have to drink a mugful of cider from the jug and then be patient for several weeks [...]
Great culinary projects are ones that yield a deliciously unusual result AND are a snap to make. (Disclosure: I consider a year of something sitting in a dark corner unattended as a “snap.” Beer and wine — while tasty and worthwhile homemade culinary projects — don’t fall into the “snap” category since they can explode [...]
‘Tis the season to seek out lush summer melons and enjoy them any which way you can. Right now, cantaloupes, watermelons, honeydews, crenshaws — even lesser-known melons like piel de sapo, or “toad skin” — are crowding the produce bins. You can trim away the hard rinds, then chop the flesh and add it to [...]
I’d be willing to bet that most people would say that summer = watermelon and watermelon = summer. You can’t have one without the other. Just ask my watermelon-loving friend. Her superpower is eating an entire watermelon in one sitting … although then she groans about having “watermelon belly.” Good thing watermelons aren’t in season [...]
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What to do when a friend gives you the gift of perfectly sweet honeydew? It depends how quickly you want to enjoy it! I thought about blending it with coconut milk and honey to make ice cream, but then I decided that I didn’t want to wait for the ice cream maker to do its [...]
Okay, I’ll admit this right up front: this is probably going to be the Most Frivolous Post of 2011. Then again, it’s a darned clever way to pair a free, natural resource with a rather exotic condiment. Yep, ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about snow and pomegranate molasses. Considering that pomegranate molasses hails from the [...]
“Oh, the weather outside is frightful”…so let’s pretend we’re someplace a bit more tropical with a refreshing smoothie in our hand. After this much snow, I’m okay with the idea of being a bit unseasonal and including a summery banana with a wintery pear. Using coconut milk rather than dairy is another good way to [...]
Continue reading about Sipping Summer & Winter Out of a Single Glass
As my regular readers know, when I discover a new ingredient or a new way to use a tried-and-true ingredient, I go on a [fill in the blank] kick. This time, it’s macadamia nut butter. I started out dipping 90% dark chocolate squares into it (UNbelievable!), then made salad dressings out of it, and now [...]
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Now that herb gardens are in full swing and so is the hot weather, take advantage of both! Most leafy green herbs make a refreshing herbal “tea.” (I say “tea” because true teas by definition contain leaves from the tea plant, camellia sinensis. If it doesn’t have tea in it, it can’t really be tea…but [...]
One day, I hope to live in the Chocolate Belt: that narrow strip around the equator where cocoa trees grow. How great would it be to have your very own cocoa pods dangling outside your front door? The process of transforming the raw bean into a chocolate bar is a very long and complicated one, [...]
Continue reading about Making Modern Chocolate Beverages in an Ancient Way
