beef stroganoff, on a cloudy day

Mostly I cook from the hip. What does that mean? Well, I’m notoriously bad at following directions, and I’ve been known to veer off the beaten path. So, photos and a list of ingredients work as recipe “suggestions.”

mushroom and wild rice soup with kale

I’ve been waiting for “real” soup weather to arrive. You know the type: cold wind howling, trees rustling branches against the windows and inches of rain or snow. All of this iconic soup weather hadn’t happened yet, but that hasn’t stopped me from soup making.

so long vegetable garden

So long vegetable garden. You were new. You provided produce, but October has arrived with nippy temperatures. These were the coursing thoughts as I pulled cucumber and tomato vines, the last of the pepper plants and cut back the kale which had turned into small creatures. It’s always bittersweet, deciding to toss stuff into the compost bin.

tonight: beef stew with fresh herbs and gremolata

It’s in the air. I can feel it. And no, I’m not humming a Phil Collins song. Fall, in all of its glorious gold, brown and burnished colors and flavors is in the air. The maple tree out my window has a suggestion of red in some of the leaves. Heck, I turned the heat on for a few minutes this morning.

tonight: brisket stew with mushrooms and braising greens

I cooked a brisket. When you cook a brisket, you have meat and more meat, even when you send a large piece home with guests.

We ate meat, we ate sandwich-leftovers, and still there was a chunk in the refrigerator.

journal of the leftover lamb

Lamb was on the menu for our Christmas dinner, and as my life seems to go, plans changed. We ended up feasting on pork enchiladas with red chile.

Let me just say, it was mighty fine. However, I still had a four and a half pound boneless leg of lamb sitting in the refrigerator that I was antsy to fix and devour.

tonight: cod and fennel stew

 

cod and fennel stew – you can almost smell the lemon and tarragon that scent it

Some of my very best ideas spring from what’s left in the refrigerator at the end of the week; those blasted bits and pieces that aren’t enough for a meal, but I would feel guilty tossing.

a wee bit of irish inspired eats

shepherd’s pie, meat and vegetables topped with chunky smashed potatoes

Top o’ the morning, friends! I know a very cliché way to start out a St. Paddy’s Day food blog, but that’s what I have today. And truth be told, I do have some Irish blood flowing through my veins and, everyone else is Irish for at least one day a year, right?

and then … there was soup

it’s cold, and i need soup

Well friends, the last of the leftover Holiday food has been eaten or properly tucked into the freezer. On Monday, every scrap of Christmas was stashed into the red tubs that hang out in the garage and, hopefully, any remaining sprinkles from baking cookies with the littles have been mopped up. Those vagrants, along with the glitter, just seem to find crevices in which to hide.

food slacker here

Slacker!  Yes, I have been a food write-about-it slacker.  Oh, I’ve fixed and eaten plenty of good food.  The issue is nothing has made it to digital print for a few weeks.  Am I off to a good start for the New Year?  Oh, dear…

I had really good intentions to share a New Year’s pot of black-eyed peas with greens and ham-hock; standard fare for my grandparents.  Like many folks, it represented health and wealth for the coming year.  I don’t know about the wealth part, but the whole thing is crammed with a bunch of good-for-you stuff.  I serve the peas with cornmeal dumplings, a recipe that I picked up from Cooking Light a few years ago.

See I at least have a pic of the black-eyed peas; a pot of them, not yet made.