Aunt Lola, my great-aunt, made wonderful, soft, chewy molasses cookies that I loved as a child – almost as much as the date pinwheel cookies, or her apple jelly. Somewhere along the way, well after she passed, I came across her date pinwheel recipe, and make those on occasion, but they are a ton of work. I never did find her molasses cookie recipe, though.
So, about 10 years ago, I conducted a 6 month long series of trials, attempting to re-create her recipe. My mentees and colleagues at Culver ate lots of bad cookies in the process! What I came up with is not the same as Aunt Lola’s. But they’re really darn good. Continue reading →
Who doesn’t love Indian food? And, among Indian food lovers, Chicken Tika Masala must be one of the absolute favorites.
I was sure it would work well in the crockpot, but it took me several tries to get a result that had the flavor I liked. In the end, I actually found the answer in a cookbook I already owned, Neela Paniz’ The New Indian Slow Cooker. Continue reading →
Asparagus. Harbinger of Spring. One of the first harvests from the garden. The flavor of green.
We grow a bit over an 1/8 of an acre of asparagus, which gives us 800-1000 pounds of harvest each year. Even though it comes in before the farmers’ market opens, we usually sell all that we produce. Because, Asparagus!
When dealing with such an iconic food, it’s usually best to prepare it simply. It’s a treat, so make it shine that way. This very simple soup brings out the best in asparagus. Continue reading →
Cornbread is a must with ham and beans, great for breakfast (with apple butter on top, of course!), and just one of those great dishes you need to have at the ready from time to time. I bake mine in a cast iron skillet, which gives it a much better crust, and works well in the wood burning stove oven.
