Scratch-Made Sloppy Joes

If you’re a parent of certain aged kids, you know the drill: From school to swim practice for one kid, a swing by the ballet studio for another and a stop at the track to fetch a third. All this in the crucial 5 to 6 o’clock hour when it would be helpful to actuallyContinue reading “Scratch-Made Sloppy Joes”

Slow Cooker Shredded Pork With Cilantro-Ginger Sauce

Most years, we buy a local half hog in the spring and another in the fall. We place the butchered, vacuum-packed cuts — thick, uncured bacon, flavorful sausage, tender pork chops — in our deep freeze and we plan our meals around this meat until it runs out. Which means we sometimes have to getContinue reading “Slow Cooker Shredded Pork With Cilantro-Ginger Sauce”

Warm You Up Chili

I once won a neighborhood Chili Cook-Off with my vegetarian chili recipe, which mixes bulgar wheat with the typical kidney beans and tomatoes to give a chewy, filling feel. These days I’m cooking with meat and chili is a great one-pot meal that can feed a crowd, but I’ve struggled to find a recipe I was happy with. SoContinue reading “Warm You Up Chili”

Bacon Gruyere Quiche

I have made my peace with quiche as a family dinner. Me? I love spinach quiche, or maybe a simple cheddar pie topped with tomatoes, gosh, I’d even choose mushrooms, onions, peppers and zucchini to stir in with my cream and cheese and crust. But nooooo. When I make such delicacies I get major pushbackContinue reading “Bacon Gruyere Quiche”

Chicken Pot Pie

  Here’s how it goes at my house: I bring up a whole, frozen local chicken from my freezer, thaw it in the fridge for a few days, roast and carve it for dinner one night, then gather all the extras onto my cutting board and shred or dice them for a second meal. DependingContinue reading “Chicken Pot Pie”

Beef Stroganoff

  This classic is a family favorite — hearty, warming, delicious. It’s a perfect sub for soups in winter and a nice dinner during those cold snaps of spring. Serve it with a salad picked from the garden (ours is sporting sprouts, lettuce, chives and asparagus at the moment). For this recipe, I began with JoyContinue reading “Beef Stroganoff”

Good for the Soul Chicken Noodle Soup

I make my own chicken broth and grow my own vegetables. When I cook chicken for dinner, I begin by roasting a local, whole chicken, so there’s always dark meat and less desirable bits leftover. And yet, for years I did not make my own chicken soup! This winter I’ve remedied that and I’m passing along aContinue reading “Good for the Soul Chicken Noodle Soup”

Okra Gumbo

On a cold winter day, nothing warms quite like gumbo. And in the heat of summer, gumbo is a great way to stir together so many flavors at their peak of ripeness — tomatoes, peppers, and of course, okra. We had such a bumper crop of okra last summer that I blanched and froze some forContinue reading “Okra Gumbo”