With garden tomatoes, peppers, and cilantro available in lots of our gardens or at the farmers markets or roadside stands, now is the time to rely on fresh salsa for some quick meals. We all know that salsas gain from being prepared ahead so the flavors have time to blend, but you can still enjoy…

One of the things I’ve been trying to learn for this blog has been the art of food photography. Since I only have my simple kitchen and a pretty basic camera, the results I’m sure have been mixed. The photo in this entry shows I still need to work at the process. I have had…

Sometimes a cool and cloudy fall day calls out for an old-fashioned dessert, and this bread pudding fills that role well. Served warm or cold, with or without a dollop of whipped cream or (while still very hot) even a scoop of vanilla ice cream, this will say comfort food anytime you serve it. Best…

I have been thinking lately of how some foods come back into fashion only when they have been given more “presentable” names. In earlier posts, I mentioned my mother’s simple “fried apples” were virtually identical to “Tarte Tatin.” I discovered some time ago that the onions, celery, and carrots that I have often browned lightly…

A friend who bakes prodigiously, and then shares all the tantalizing results on Facebook, recently shared her recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Bars. I guess I was speed reading when I saw her praises for the cookies, as I had thought they were chocolate chocolate chip bars, something I promised another friend I’d bring to…

We were blessed to have a little rain over the weekend after a prolonged dry spell. Nothing like so many parts of the country, of course, but we had been spoiled by plenty of moisture well into August, so having to water the garden (and the raspberries–always the raspberries!) was something we hadn’t had to…

A favorite first board game for my kids over the years has been Hi Ho the Cherry-O, wherein little cherries are painstakingly put into holes in the cardboard game board and then a spinner gives each player the opportunity to “pick” one, two, or three cherries and put them in his or her basket. The…

Here’s a dish that could work as a dip (similar to refried beans) with chips or as a vegetarian main dish (even vegan if you skip any dairy trims) with rice. Gluten free too–a dish for many different dietary needs/wants–and it tastes good too! While you could make this without zucchini, why not grate in…