In addition to getting me hooked on running and introducing me to Ethiopian food, Mike also gets credit for my love of tofu. Back when we were in college, I would go to his house after class and he...
I am not a huge cake fan. In fact, I usually skip the cake entirely and proceed directly to the ice cream, preferably from Sebastian Joe’s. However, Valentine’s Day in Minnesota is usually not very...
The German minor I earned in college doesn't get utilized much in my daily existence. Yes, some of my knowledge about German history does come in handy for Jeopardy questions and I can pronounce German last names (of which there are a multitude in Minnesota). But the most profound impact my studies imparted upon me is my love of spätzle, developed after a "conversation night" at a German restaurant.
“What’s your favorite kind of bread to bake?” It’s the default question that people ask whenever they find out about my bread obsession. It’s also impossible to answer. There’s a buttermilk white...
Looking back, I think that my interest in cooking started with a year-long subscription to Real Simple magazine. After pursuing the articles about face cream and how to color-code your closet, I would...
Sometimes Mike has his misgivings about the semi-vegetarian lifestyle that we've stumbled into. Last week we had this conversation: Mike: Remember how happy we used to be? Me: (somewhat concerned that...
I spend part of my lunch break every day on the NPR website, and one of my favorite sections is the Kitchen Window feature. Every week I pore over the recipes, say to myself, "That looks really good...
I start every weekday morning the same way: with a bowl of granola. Because I am a cheapskate who loathes raisins, my favorites are Sunbelt Bakery Banana Nut and Trader Joe's Just the Clusters Maple...
A few months ago, I discovered The Splendid Table on NPR. It's now one of my favorite parts of the weekend. If I can't catch it at 2:00 on Saturday, I listen to the podcast while I cook dinner on Sunday night. Lynne Rossetto Kasper has a captivating, eloquent way of talking about food, so that it's possible to visualize a perfectly cooked pasta dish while driving to Target or cleaning the bathroom
My third reason for never becoming a complete vegetarian is more about texture than flavor--pork isn't one of those ingredients that I wake up craving in the middle of the night. However, the texture of food is a very big deal for me. I think that's why I can eat limitless quantities of Malt-o-Meal hot cereal, which may be one of the blandest foods on the planet, but have to gag my way through Jello fruit salad.
For me, Christmas is all about this: Yes, it's a plate of very tasty looking Christmas cookies. But the meaning of Christmas is in the story behind the cookies. I have three close friends that I went...
Today was a damp and depressing December day. Since we don't have any snow yet, I gazed out at the dead grass and pondered why, exactly, I live in Minnesota after all. It was the sort of Saturday when...
Whenever I tell acquaintances that I'm a vegetarian (it's easier to just say that than to get into the whole "I don't eat meat because I don't agree with factory farming and I didn't like meat all...
My second reason as to why I will never become a complete vegetarian (you can read about Reason #1 here) is actually a food item rather than a specific recipe: salmon. I love it baked with butter and...
I have blogged before about my vegetarian leanings. However, there are five reasons that I will never become a true vegetarian that take the form of favorite recipes. Some carnivorous people can't...
Late August in Minnesota can mean only one thing: the Minnesota State Fair. I've been going to the Fair since I was a kid, when my main goal was to accumulate as many free trinkets as possible from...
I've blogged previously about how subscribing to a CSA has helped me discover new foods, like garlic scapes and kale. Last week, a spaghetti squash showed up in our CSA box. Although I had never...
Last week, we got three poblano peppers in our CSA share. I had never come across a poblano pepper before, but I knew from my experience with their cousins (bell and jalapeno peppers) that the best thing to do with a pepper is stuff it.
I love making homemade bread. In fact, I spent a year baking all 104 recipes from James Beard’s classic Beard on Bread. I also love Ireland, which is where Mike and I went on our honeymoon. So when the opportunity to combine the two arose in the form of St. Paul’s Irish Fair Soda Bread Baking Contest, I had to through my hat in the ring.
I would describe myself as a semi-vegetarian. Since leaving home, I’ve drifted away from eating meat. Part of the reason is personal taste (I never liked steak, bacon, sausage, hamburger, or pork much...
