(Reader alert: This is a blog entry with lots of memories before getting to the recipe. If you are just looking for how to make cherry jam, scroll to the bottom of the post.) I grew up in the upper Midwest where the climate was too cold for sweet cherries but where “pie cherries”–a kinder…
Author: hl
Green Chile Pork Enchiladas…and Pulled Pork Sandwiches Too?
I first learned to prepare pork with green chiles back in Arizona, and I still associate this combination with warm summer days. Back then, I would cook the meat to the falling apart stage and then use it as a kind of pulled pork filling for good hard rolls. While that still is an option,…
Fourth of July “Cheesecake”
Looking for a dessert for this holiday weekend, I wanted something light, relatively quick, with little oven time, and using some of the many fresh fruits on special this week. A recipe I’ve made for years fit all these requirements (although I did pre-bake the Cheerios crust to be sure it held together a little…
Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffeecake
Raspberry season is almost here! We are having a wonderful growing season here in the upper Midwest, with plentiful rains and just right temperatures, so my backyard berry patch is beginning to get my hopes up for another bountiful season. Every day, the little green nubbins seem to get fatter and fatter; if they continue…
Radishes, Radishes, Radishes
Fair warning: This is a post that will be most appreciated by gardeners or by those with ready access to really fresh farmers’ market produce. When I started planting my garden this year, I wanted to use up some old seeds. Knowing that germination rates go down as seeds age, I just planted my radishes…
Chunky Applesauce Muffins
We all have heard that “fresh is best,” to avoid anything with more than five ingredients listed long or with ingredients we can’t pronounce. These are definitely good guidelines, but they are often difficult with our limited budgets and times to follow consistently. Now, some studies have identified a clearer classification of the “processed” foods…
Lentil Cookies
Always economical and nutritious, lentils are also surprisingly versatile. When I recently was able to get some of the basic brown lentils for 59 cents a pound at Costco (in a Costco-size 10 pound bag!), I knew that this was the time to really test their versatility. I will be posting several recipes in the…
Quick Cocoa Frosting
When my mother wanted to make chocolate frosting, she usually started out with boiling water and cocoa. It was fast and the use of the boiling water eliminated what she called a “raw taste” that just adding cocoa to a basic powdered sugar frosting. When making chocolate apple cupcakes recently, I wanted to frost them…
Cranberry Bars
Soon enough my freezer will need to have room for this year’s garden produce. As I explored the things still taking up space, I realized that I had several packages of frozen cranberries still lurking on the back shelves so I have been making a few “out of season” recipes to use them up. I…
Barley with Vegetables–A Basic Method
If barley isn’t one of the foods you are familiar with, now is a great time to begin using it in your menus. Pearl barley is the kind most available, and I have used it in many dishes where I want to either extend the amount of ground meat or just eliminate the meat altogether….