While I have always thought of collard greens as something eaten mainly by southerners, an article from the website “What’s Cooking America” notes that even the ancient Greeks and Romans enjoyed the leafy greens. For the U.S., the tradition of cooking collard greens with pork—often using a ham hock to simmer in the broth—came from …
Continue reading “Tasty collards will ‘leaf’ you wanting more”
With the weather finally warming up, it’s about the time of year when you begin meeting yourself coming and going, it seems. There are so many activities outdoors, and staying inside after the harsh winter on top of a pandemic makes me want to spend every moment I can out in the yard or taking …
At some point in my baking adventures, I plan on trying to make homemade caramels, but I haven’t been brave over the years when it comes to candy making. I think that’s mostly because I didn’t grow up making candies regularly and only very recently invested in my own candy thermometer. But I am incredibly …
Continue reading “Baking brownies can be a sticky situation”
I am and always have been a rule follower. I rarely if ever got in trouble in school, and I still read instructions before completing a form or assembling a piece of furniture. For years, I was that way with recipes, too. I followed the directions to the letter. But I have had the good …
Continue reading “You’re fine ‘pudding’ whatever you want in these cookies”
I’m sure no one actually notices, but I’m sometimes worried I have a weird reputation for wandering all over the aisles of my local grocery store. I always start with the good intentions of going aisle by aisle until I cover the whole store, my list complete and my cart full. But it rarely works …
Continue reading “‘Andouille’ yourself a favor and try this recipe”
When I was a kid, our Sunday morning breakfast tradition was having some sort of pastry before church. Most often, it was some mini donuts, but every so often, my parents would pick up a variety pack of jumbo muffins. I loved all the flavors, but I often opted for a big, cake-y blueberry muffin …
Continue reading “Fresh berry cookies are almost too good to be ‘blue’”
Quarantine has been a strange time for all of us. Despite many businesses and people moving to regular operations, especially as some people have been able to receive a vaccine, I still consider myself in quarantine. Joey and I have a very small group of people in our “COVID bubble,” and socializing has been relegated …
Whenever a friend or family member is under the weather or hurt or grieving, one of my first inclinations is to try to feed them. An article from 2016 by Adam McDaniel lays out the reasons human beings love to share food—part of it being sharing culture and part of being sociology. “Food has a …
Continue reading “A gift of casserole is not easy to ‘spaghett’”
I remember once reading the story of one fast food worker’s infuriating interaction with a customer. The customer ordered “a cheeseburger, but hold the cheese.” The worker paused and asked, “So, a hamburger?” Instead of sheepishly admitting her mistake, the customer was incredulous. “No. I said I want a cheeseburger with no cheese. If I …
Until the Chiefs became a part of the post-season, the best part of Super Bowl Sunday for me over the years has been the snack table. From the days when our church youth group would watch the games while playing a football-themed bingo game to ones with friends gathered in our living room, there has …
