I leaned against my coworker’s door frame and posed this question:  “Cherry-rhubarb or strawberry-balsamic?“  My co-worker, Wally the Bunny (her chosen nom de plume) picked cherry rhubarb, knowing I was talking about jam.  After experimenting with pastas, pizzas, cheeses, and all manner of other nonsense, I may have landed on my true passion, which is… Continue reading A Day In The Life: Suicide is Seedless

Where ya been, Dishes? (Excuses, work, life, more excuses, one or two valid reasons, blah blah.) The point is, I’m back!  With serious work deadlines behind me I hope to update more frequently than just quarterly.  (Sad face.)  But as I’m out of the habit now, this post might be a little topsy-turvy, and not… Continue reading Back In The Kitchen – Canning Salsa

Drama! Through a complicated holiday bonus system at work, I ended up with an Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooking System, which has been on my radar for years.  I also purchased a 12-quart water bath with a custom-made lid. And instead of working my way up, I decided to throw the most expensive cut of… Continue reading Sold on Sous Vide? Beef Tenderloin:

Happy New Year! (Or is it New Years?  New Year’s?  Not 100% sure on that one.) Busy holiday times means lots of cooking, but sadly few new projects, or anything interesting to discuss.  But I wanted to get one more little post in for the year, so I’ll share these Egg Nog Jell-O Shots from… Continue reading Egg Nog Jell-O Shots (a.k.a. don’t eat yellow snow)

Remember when to lose weight you had to eat less and exercise more?  Ha ha.  No, that’s crazy talk.  But remember when you counted calories?  And then fat grams?  And remember when everybody became lactose intolerant for awhile?  Because dairy was bad?  And eggs were bad and then fat became good, margarine was better than… Continue reading Ciao Time #14 – Low Carb Pizza (What?)

Serious Eats did an article about Shooter Sandwiches, in which they used the best ingredients, the best prep to make the most of the ingredients, and lovingly created a gorgeous sandwich, which they determined was not worth the effort.  Basically they believe the secret to a great sandwich is that it becomes greater than the… Continue reading Just Shoot Me – Shooter Sandwiches

Where ya been Dishes?  Woo boy.  Where haven’t I been? There’s been a lot going on this summer.  Some highlights:  four weddings in five weeks, a small fire that required weeks of clean-up, making upwards of ninety jars of jam, general laziness (of course), and a family visit/road trip.  Hopefully life will calm down a… Continue reading Purple Carrots Look Like Bacon:  Ham & Vegetable Ribbon Quiche

“I need you to eat a small pickle in the interest of science.” This is the kind of crazy shit your pickle-hating husband has to deal with when you spend your time the way I do.  I mean – there are certainly worse things in a marriage than coerced pickle-eating.  Secret credit cards, adultery, workaholism,… Continue reading I’m on to you, Mrs. Wages – Kosher Dill Pickles

Okay guys – this is challenging.  This is not a difficult dish, recipe, prep, or anything of the sort.  The challenging part will be to find something interesting to say about cucumbers. Developing this recipe was kind of interesting, I guess, but ridiculously easy.  A lady at work brought me into the kitchen to taste… Continue reading Cool as a Cucumber – Chilled Cucumber Buttermilk Soup

Madam Hooch:  Plum Brandy Sorry (again and again) for the long absence.  I took a much-needed vacation, and have spent every spare free second making jam – squirreling away those little jars like I’m Ma-Freaking-Ingalls.  Since my preserved meat experiment didn’t exactly work out, my value post-apocalypse has suddenly dropped.  I figure everyone will still… Continue reading Madam Hooch – Plum Brandy