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a word about my recipes

I remember when I first started posting my recipes a beer buddy of mine tried making my Corn Chowder recipe & the first thing she said when she saw me next was, "Your recipes are so big! I have way too much soup!" I laughed & told her to have her boyfriend come over & help her out with the leftovers. At the time I had to make a ton just to have leftovers (enough for two anyway) because my one-time sweetie could eat.

I remember when my mom used to spend every Sunday making a big ol' soup to last all week (I am so not proud to say that I cured her of this habit by complaining about eating soup all the time). Now that I'm a little more mature, ahem, I love having soup to eat all week -- & now I can even put some in the freezer if there's enough (as that hottie the Naked Chef says, "Freezing doesn't do the soup any favors but it will still be tastier than anything you buy in a shop." & it sure is nice to have some handy when you don't feel like cooking). I like to make Avgolemono when it's not part of the dinner plan, just so I can eat it during the days (I wouldn't freeze that one but that recipe isn't such a huge batch).

So, be warned, most of my recipes are pretty big. I have tried to include serving information with each recipe to give you a better idea -- but y'know, my two people may be bigger & hungrier than yours.

it's all about the ingredients

Let me just say that again: it's all about the ingredients. Market fresh is best. Organic is great. Cooking seasonally, with locally grown food is fantastic (& an endlessly entertaining challenge). To compromise on the quality of the ingredients you use is to compromise on the quality of your food. Good ingredients make a good cook (that & plenty of butter).

With that said, I must make a confession: I am aiming always closer toward a seasonally cooked, locally grown, (uncertified) organic diet but I can't say I'll ever get there. I was first formally introduced to the talk I'm working on walking (moderation in everything, okay?) when I worked at a coffee roastery in Oly & I began to ask & answer questions about sustainability. Now I've gone off about coffee before & I'm trying to keep this brief, so I'll just say this: there are no easy answers.

After that I worked with Chelsea Green, which was a marvelously positive-thinking publishing company devoted to a mission of spreading the ideas of sustainability in all its different forms. Well, not the doom & gloom form. Assuming that everybody already knows the sky is falling, the books were full of personal stories of large struggles & small triumphs.

One of those books is This Organic Life by Joan Dye Gussow. Wow... I picked up that book to look for an excerpt to put on the site & the next thing I knew, I'd read the whole thing. Talk about inspiring. What's funny is that she spends so much time on the ideas of eating locally, & hence seasonally. She all but says that it's more important than eating organic food. I must admit that I hadn't really thought much about that (while it's confession time I should admit that it still sometimes comes down to price for me -- I'm just not going to spend 5 bucks on a pepper... that's not sustainable!).

Now I'm working with Jessica Prentice, who writes Stirring the Cauldron, a newsletter that comes out with each new moon. When I first met her we talked on & on about the dilemmas & joys of making the switch to seasonal cooking. I'd say she's there, but she also lives in the Bay Area so she's privileged with a great market & plenty of great produce all year long. Not that I'm making excuses, here... I'm trying to inspire! Just read her new moon newsletters.

These kinds of choices are all individual & I do believe in moderation in all things. Mostly I don't want to have to be beating myself up all the time. I mean, if it's too hard then it's not sustainable, right? I'll get there.

The main point is that it's a proven fact that it's all about the ingredients when it comes to cooking, so choose wisely (& spend the extra where you can).

Recipe Box: by seasons

Anytime Recipes

Pecan Pie

Single Pie Crust

Buttermilk Corn Bread

Oven-Fried Chicken

Cream of Mushroom Soup

Avgolemono: Greek egg-lemon soup

Spring & Summer Recipes

Broccoli and Garlic Bread Soup

Summer & Fall Recipes

Jen's Roasted Pepper Soup

Spanish Style Gazpacho

Fall & Winter Recipes

Sarah's Creamy Carrot Soup

Carrot Cake

Corn (or Clam) Chowder