Under the Table 
The Hot and the Cold Of It
There’s a drink in our household that’s an almost daily ritual, a fruit smoothie with coffee and toast in the morning. At the other end of the day, and a little less often, maybe, is the hot chocolate version of the smoothie. Both feed the soul in a yin and yang sort of [...]
What’s really going on in the backyard . . .
Slugs are up to some serious hanky-pank. Sublime slime. They inhabit our gardens and savor our edible plants, we, therefore, pay attention to them. The mating habits of leopard slugs, indigenous to the west coast, are worthy of attention. Turns out they’re not so sluggish after all.
We’re firm in our belief that slugs are nasty [...]
Kale Catches Cold but Survives (& Obama notes Michael Pollan’s food wisdom)
Small miracles to be grateful for. Kale survival and Michael Pollan might seem slightly incongruous – maybe they are, but I think there’s a connection. Anticipating last week’s cold snap, we covered some of our lettuce with wool blankets and harvested the rest, then left the brassicas, broccoli and kale, to the cold which, it [...]
From the Garden, Chips & Dip
Just when you think you know your chips – the potato, taro, tortilla, corn, Doritos – along comes a cockeyed story from a cousin about making chips from kale.
Skeptical from the start, I made some and they’re a melt in your mouth green sensation. Light crispy morsels of kale, definitely kale. It’s a [...]
Food for Thought: An Edible Garden
Many of us are growing food in the backyard, sometimes a few heads of lettuce and kale for winter, sometimes a serious year-round vegetable garden.
You’ll find this video interesting and important to know about if you’ve ever fantasized about your own vegetable garden, even on a small scale. A twenty-first century version of the [...]
Compassionate Bees Emulate Nation’s Angst
Queen Cells in the Hives, Oh No. This recent blog posting at Sunset’s one-block diet site is about bees, but on national Election Day I’m reading between the lines. Check it out. Dontcha think this dissatisfied hive of bees sounds familiar? Anyway, I find the Sunset posting apropos. It reminds me that [...]
Rutabaga Groove
You gotta love a food that sounds like a dance, a raunchy one at that. Actually, rutabagas are pretty tame, like a potato, and they have a culinary vocabulary in common: gratins, purees and soup.
Rutabagas are in season, a reason to celebrate for those who eagerly await their return each fall. [...]
Full of Beans, Fresh & Seasonal Shelling Beans
Shelling beans are available right now at farmers markets. You may have noticed them, beautifully mottled and colorful with long leathery pods. Last year I bought fresh beans already shelled. This year I bought three pounds of Stregonta, with a few other varieties mixed in, from Shelley at Whistling Train Farm and removed the [...]
Will a Farmer in Chief Plant Veggies in the Rose Garden?
I wish. While apples are baking in the oven read Michael Pollan’s article from Sunday’s New York Times. I’ll say right up front that it’s long, nine pages, but it’s a doozy, an open letter to the next president, the next Farmer in Chief. Maybe you’ll just read part of it, or skim quickly [...]
On the Local Table: A Not-So-Wild Shroom, Portobellos
Button mushrooms grow up to become baby bellas, (Criminis), and finally Portobellos.
Recently we camped and hiked in the Lake O’Hara region of the Canadian Rockies where we wanted to concoct appealing but practical meals at the end of a day’s hiking. The most memorable of those meals involved Portobellos, garlic, grated cheese, and dried pasta [...]
