Year: 2016

I usually try to stay out of pickles. But summer brings on an annual predicament of too many of this and too many of that. Cucumbers, peppers, onions and cabbage are ripe and ready to eat, but who can possibly consume a garden all at once? Not wanting food to go to waste, grandmas and…

My brother Nick is a real honey. He keeps bees. He has stacks and stacks of hives and wears a super cool Buzz Lightyear outfit. (Okay yes, I’m a little jealous.) Every year he pulls the hive trays, decants the drippings and bestows golden bottles of his hallowed Hilger Honey on us. Nick proudly proclaims that his bees…

You know how the French are, they’re so intriguing, and with that romantic accent, sigh … oh yes they draw you in. Admittedly there has been a long-standing love affair with the dashing string bean known as Harry Corvair (haricot verts)! Your grandma was in love, your mom, too. Generations of cooks have fallen, maybe even you. Sure it’s…

Some day, if I am lucky enough to get marooned on a deserted island, all I am going to wish for is a coconut tree. Gilligan didn’t actually have to be rescued. He had all he needed; the Skipper, a movie star, a professor, but most importantly, palm trees with coconuts! Actually the tree alone would do.…

Oh, yeah, she’s a looker. Those ruby red crimson stalks, sporting that deep green floppy hat, well you just have to do a double take. She’s like celery with lipstick or Swiss chard with better legs. Rhubarb is sweet as pie, but without enough sugar she can really make you pucker. Oh, Rhuby, you make…

I remember the first time I tasted prawns. I had just moved to the Northwest from Minnesota and the closest thing I had ever seen to these beady-eyed creepers were the toe pinching mudbugs at the bottom of our lakes. Our family’s first taste of spot prawns was piled high in the kitchen, and my…

Psst … hey, friend, I have an idea. I know what to give that wonderful woman you love for an early Valentine present. This gift is one that will show her that you truly have her heart in mind. Why not surprise her with something red on Go Red for Women Day in February? It’s National Heart Month and National…