We love having simple berries and cream for dessert. This little recipe was inspired by Peter Rabbit and our visit to Hilltop Farm, the home of Beatrix Potter. "I am sorry to say that Peter was not very well during the evening. His mother put him to bed and made some chamomile tea; and she gave a dose of it to Peter! 'One teaspoonful to be taken at bedtime.' But--Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail had bread and milk and blackberries for supper." Remember that story? I'm sure you do; but being a self-respecting scholar, I need to cite my source. It's from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter. Peter Rabbit is one of my favourite literary ... Continue Reading
Fried Shrimp with Lemon Butter Sauce
Whenever we traveled down from Georgia through Florida, my family would visit a restaurant called Dixie Crossroads. I'm convinced that my love of fried shrimp was born there.I'm also convinced that that fried shrimp came with some sort of lemony buttery sauce that left cocktail and tartar sauce in the mud. But I've never had that sauce offered with any shrimp platter I've ordered at any other restaurant.A week or so ago I decided that I would mix those two flavours in my own kitchen, and test the theory that they made a perfect trio with fried shrimp. Well, consider it proven.This fried shrimp with lemon butter sauce is easy peasy ... Continue Reading
Green Onion Soup
This Green Onion Soup is a twist on classic French Onion Soup--but it's much quicker to make! Enjoy it for a light meal or a first course. It's especially delicious when you can use fresh green onions, in season in the spring and summer!Onions are a shadowy part of my past, and find little acceptance in my present. But strangely enough, these odd bulbs have managed to charm my taste buds in two notable forms. The first is French onion soup, which I selected off of a menu in France (the one governed by Epcot) when I was a child. I still marvel at that choice, but have a suspicion that I was heavily influenced by the melted cheese that came ... Continue Reading
Autumn Casserole
This autumn casserole is a hearty, warming, deep-dish meal from a local chef (otherwise known as my husband). It's brilliant for breakfast with fresh pressed coffee, or satisfying for supper with a loaf of crusty bread and a brimming mug of apple cider. Our apologies for the lack of photography--we keep eating our recipes before we have time to capture them on film.If you love fall flavors, check out my one-week seasonal fall meal plan HERE, and add this recipe to the menu!Autumn Spaghetti Squash Casserole This autumn casserole is a hearty and warming deep-dish meal that's perfect for fall! Enjoy it for breakfast, lunch, or ... Continue Reading
Foraging 101
Last week Eric and I went foraging for wild apples. I'd scoped out the tree previously, sampled its bounty, and couldn't wait to return. A friend and I were walking on a trail when we spotted the tree a few yards off in the underbrush. The apples were bumpy and lumpy and speckled with green and brown and many had tiny holes drilled in them by earlier (non-human) foragers. Unappealing peels. But a tentative bite proved that the inner flesh was firm and tart-sweet; the only thing I spit out was the core.As an added bonus, my friend and I had also found a crabapple tree that day, the fruit of which was gorgeous, but the taste rather strong. ... Continue Reading
Blueberry Breakfast Pie
End of September approaching. Food supplies running low. Overspending food budget imminent, or....not?I made a list of meals we could make with food we still had. A bit of a challenge, with no milk or butter left, minimal cheese and fresh produce, and not many eggs. But I came up with quite a few things that will be tasty as well as nourishing, like rice and beans, potato soup, pork curry, hamburgers (I'm trying out a new bun recipe!), cozy lentils, and oatmeal.Obviously, we have more food than I thought. I even made coconut pie the other day, subbing watered-down yogurt for the milk! As I considered these things, an interesting ... Continue Reading
Curried Salmon Pasta
Pink. The colour factor alone gives you strong reason to eat salmon.Plus, this fish seems to be swimming all over health media, with terms like "Omega 3," and "heart-healthy" in its wake, while people with a lot of initials in their wake try to fillet these terms so that we can understand them.But to cut the crabapples and get to the good stuff (i.e. the recipe in this post), I'm just going to do a very brief summary of why one should eat salmon. (For the primary reason, please refer to the first sentence.) According to an article on WHFoods, which has an extensive list of references and sources, there are several standout benefits of ... Continue Reading
Manifesto, or A Developing Approach to Healthy Eating
It takes time to develop your personal approach to real food! Here's my manifesto for healthy eating, plus how I'm progressing on my real food journey.When I was little I had a great appreciation for food, but never worried much about what I ate. Multiple reasons for this: Mom was a good cook and created colorful meals, "worrying" about food was for adults, and the doctor never, ever told me to lose weight (yes, the italics imply the opposite). But as I've increasingly selected and bought my own food, I realized there was more to consider about food than weight and diets, and that I could benefit from a little more research on how to ... Continue Reading
Vodka Pasta and Spinach with Goat Cheese
Here's an easy meal to use for a weeknight...but it tastes gourmet enough for a special dinner, too! Get recipes for Vodka Pasta and for Spinach with Goat Cheese.According to tradition, when a Marshall's birthday rolls around, that individual gets the pleasure of coming up with a birthday menu for the day (or at least one meal). I'm not exactly a Marshall any more, but thankfully this is a tradition that only expands with marriage (i.e. new husbands get the benefits too).I've had many years to dream up the most delectable and decadent menus, and sometimes even insisted on cooking all the meals myself. Bacon cream cheese chicken bake ... Continue Reading
Stuffed Yellow Squash
Is your garden overflowing with summer produce? This stuffed yellow squash makes a good summer side dish or frugal vegetarian meal! It's super easy to make.Recently, we were given a plethora of garden-fresh squash, and Eric came up with this delicious recipe to use some of them. This would be a great main for your next vegetarian meal. We had a cucumber-tomato-vinegar salad on the side. Even without having free produce to work with, this is a very frugal meal, and is quite filling.P.S. Get a printable summer produce guide here, to help you eat seasonally!Stuffed Yellow Squash This stuffed yellow squash makes a good summer ... Continue Reading
