Lingering horseradish
The aroma of horseradish loves to linger, and it’s impossible to disregard its presence when in close range of the fields of this lovely root plant. It’s almost festival time, and the good people in the business of horseradish are planning to bring on the spice again. I’m especially curious to see what hot dishes surface in the 2010 horseradish cookbook. […]
Something sweet . . . and good to eat
Not in peak season but available almost everywhere, sweet potatoes are still shaking up taste buds around The Cookery this spring. I’ve had a run-in with sweet potatoes in recent weeks, starting with a superb soup at an Austin restaurant. Then a neighbor shared a load of unwanted sweet potatoes. These were beautiful and I couldn’t think of turning […]
Baker in disguise
I’ve seen a few good men turn out perfect peach cobbler at the campsite, but that’s no wonder. They’ve been preparing the dutch oven dessert for years. What really marked surprise was discovering that our neighbor is a baker in disguise. He keeps busy working with the law, staying active with his family, and training to look like a […]
Gramma’s Recipes
My mother-in-law has never been fond of cooking. Nobody starved as she raised four healthy sons, and one of her resources remains the frozen food aisle along with that old stand-by, deli sandwiches. She hails from a multi-generational line of semi-cooks. Her mother, still the life of the party at 95, can entertain like few […]
What you see . . .
is what you get. Can you see a few meals into the future? If not, then what you see . . . nothing . . . may be exactly what you get. You may end up settling for the first thing that presents itself as edible, a less than nutritious substitute for healthy food. With hearts taking […]
Modify menu repertoire with SuperCook search engine
Stocking the freezer with the latest variety of processed dinners doesn’t measure up to the idea of expanding the menu repertoire. Still, I like to introduce variations on our rotation of go-to ingredients. Yesterday, chicken thighs and fresh mushrooms headlined the dinner plan for our family. Looking for a solution to this menu mystery, I turned to SuperCook, the recipe search engine […]
Holly Jolly Dirt Cake
Holly Jolly Dirt Cake Here’s another no-bake adventure for kids who enjoy cooking. Little kids, if making this for an adult, like to pretend the cake really is dirt! I’ve modified it as the quantity of sugar would have the ‘cooks’ standing on the table throwing the mix at each other and the amount of […]
Nursing home dinner bell rings with sounds of patience
Family mealtimes can be a trial, even at home when you have everyone’s likes and dislikes and allergies firmly in place. Imagine the complexity of preparing and serving institutional meals! We tend to criticize without appreciating the effort they involve. This week I visited a friend who is in a nursing home, taking a break […]
Kitchen kit – Jane’s top six kitchen essentials
If you were cast on a desert island, what six pieces of music would you choose, and which book, beside the Bible and Shakespeare? This question has been posed weekly on a BBC radio program since 1942. Well-known personalities come up with assorted answers like Beethoven and the Beatles, George Strait and Georges Bizet, Louis […]
No rhubarb leaves for the pup
My kibble eater is curious and we’re trying to eliminate garden plants that may be toxic to pets. Rhubarb leaves are a concern, so we won’t be tending those around The Cookery. The closest I’ve been to raising rhubarb was when I was asked to garden-sit for a neighbor. Her giant rhubarb needed a little soil […]