My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
I admit that I’ve put off posting this fermentation recipe for quite some time. Not because it’s difficult or time-consuming because it’s neither, but because I’m absolutely terrible at photographing the process from beginning to end. (though I didn’t do too badly in showing you …
It was not a stellar year for my tomato plants this season. Though I harvested quite a few, it was certainly not a typical year. Cool nights, flooding rains and cooler-than-average daytime temps do not make for happy, bountiful tomato plants. The exception to all …
It’s that time of year again! (I mean canning time, of course) First on the canning schedule this year was corn salsa (or corn relish, if you prefer). Skelly’s Farm Market, a local farm stand, is selling the sweetest, juiciest sweet corn right now and …
When life gives you hot peppers…make hot sauce. I grew scotch bonnet peppers for the first time, this year. Last year it was bhut jalokia peppers, also known as ghost chilies, which certainly lived up to their hot, hot, hot reputation. On the Scoville scale, …
Chimichurri sauce is something I enjoy tremendously and is a great way to use some of your gorgeous summer herbs. I love it with grilled skirt or flank steak, which is how it’s traditionally served, but it’s also great with chicken and fish, Bonus? It …
Northern Illinois had its first frost advisory last night and, even though we’re on a hill and don’t usually get affected too badly the first frost or two, there was definitely a light sprinkle of frost on our lawn this morning. I cleaned out our …
This summer is like every summer; I’ve got my usual plethora of tomatoes and I love to make chunky canned salsa with some of them. We’ve been blessed with a continued spell of warm weather here in Northern Illinois, but this trend is bound to …