Until my adulthood, I always just thought of rum as something fictional pirates sang about in cartoons. Looking into it now, I know how nuanced the flavor profiles can be for the spirit, which is distilled from sugar cane syrup or juice or from molasses, which is what is leftover when you process sugar cane. …
Continue reading “Prepare for a fine ‘rum’ance with this banana cake”
Since 2022, there has been a regular threat of a sriracha shortage by the main producer of the red chili sauce, Huy Fong Foods. One was thanks to a Mexican drought. Another was because of supplier issues. And yet another was blamed on the peppers being “too green,” CBS News reported. I have to admit …
Continue reading “You’ll be so glad I ‘gochu’ to try a new ingredient this week”
Every time I feel like I may have tried pretty much everything in the grocery store, I run across another ingredient I can’t believe I’ve never tasted. For this week’s recipe, that magical ingredient was lemon curd. I knew lemon curd existed, but I can’t remember ever buying or trying it before. If you’re like …
Continue reading “It never ‘a curd’ to me that this lemon dessert was worth a try”
One of the best parts of post-Thanksgiving leftovers (in my humble opinion) is going to the fridge and grabbing a piece of pie to just eat with your hands over the sink. It’s not the most elegant move, but it’s definitely one of my favorite things. I was thinking about that experience of getting to …
In one of our first shopping trips together over 20 years ago, I remember Joey grabbing a bottle of ketchup off the end cap at the grocery store. “Whoa,” I said. “Why are you buying the expensive ketchup?” He looked perplexed. And that was the day I probably made my then-boyfriend reconsider his relationship choices …
Continue reading “Don’t have the right fruit? Your ingredients may ‘berry’”
There’s a phrase we often hear when we travel north: Minnesota Nice. It refers to how friendly the folks in Minnesota are, and that’s especially true when you visit in the summer months. After being snowed in and freezing in sub-zero temperatures all winter, they are ready to go out and about and are happy …
Continue reading “‘Chew’se a chocolate-free bar cookie for your summer treat”
Until I really started exploring some Asian recipes during the pandemic, the ginger in my spice cabinet was pretty much only for baking sweets. If you would have asked me, I would have said it was there merely for projects like pumpkin bread and ginger snaps. Boy, was I missing out on an entire, delicious …
Continue reading “‘Rice’ to the occasion with tasty caramelized pork”
If you didn’t know, we recently celebrated the first-ever “Local News Day” on April 9. The effort to observe local journalists around the country came from a push in Montana. In Newton, we had a small, but mighty, group of community members who stood outside our office with signs, touting the importance of having a …
Continue reading “There’s no doubt you should cobble together dessert this week”
When I look at my bookshelf of cookbooks, I often think of a lady I never got the opportunity to meet in person but whom I feel connected to through a very sweet gift: Merna Snay. Merna, a former resident of the Mount Hope and Haven area, was a prolific cook—and by all reports, a …
Continue reading “Vintage crunch recipe gets two ‘plums’ up”
I generally make the exact same New Year’s resolution each year. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure my resolution messes up some of your resolutions, so I’ll apologize in advance for the calorie-laden recipes that will continue to grace my column in the coming months. It’s necessary, though, in order for me to meet my ultimate goal: …
Continue reading “Try as you ‘maple,’ you can’t avoid these delicious bars forever”
