Now that the holidays are over, you may be sick of fruit cake. But I want to tell you about a very special fruit cake. I didn’t realize this until now, but the making of this cake started in the fall of 2012. Remember when I found those very interesting pears growing wild by a …
hen of the woods
This year has been great for wild mushrooms. In the past two weeks I have foraged around 5 pounds of grifola frondosa, "hen of the woods."
sour cherries, childhood memories
When I was fourteen, my brother and I made ourselves sick from eating my abuela's homemade cherries in liquor.
cider trees
As the weather gets warmer, my thoughts turn to refreshing hard cider and all the traditions surrounding it where I come from. If you haven't tried cider yet, I highly recommend it. I'm going to try my hand at growing cider apples and see what happens.
pork rinds
When I’m making a ham based soup or stock, one of my favorite ingredients are a few good smoked ham hocks. They add all the flavor and depth I look for, and I love to eat the small bits of ham off the bone when I’m done with them--some do make it in the soup. …
Duck!
Eating duck is becoming more popular even though many are intimidated by cooking this less common poultry. Jump on the bandwagon and try my simple approach to duck confit!
the whole deer
Did you ever cook an entire deer at once? I've cooked entire goats in the past, but have wanted to try this with a deer ever since I moved to western Pennsylvania. Marinated and cooked in seasoned wine, it turned out pretty well.
going commando ("recipe free") in the kitchen
Cooking a creamy cold-weather soup from a leafy green base is a good time to "go commando" in the kitchen. (Cook without a recipe, I mean. What did you think I meant?!)
going commando (“recipe free”) in the kitchen
Cooking a creamy cold-weather soup from a leafy green base is a good time to "go commando" in the kitchen. (Cook without a recipe, I mean. What did you think I meant?!)
foraging in the city: wild pears!
Every fall I manage to find something to harvest from the urban environment: chestnuts? Quince fruit? Figs? This year I found some wild pears, and Tom from Wild Purveyors helped me try to identify them (and eat them up, of course!).
Dinner with Daniel 