Crusty bread with homemade goat cheese and apricot rosemary preserves.
I have so many memories of hot jam. Somehow eating steaming spoonfuls of the skimmed off jam foam on slices of homemade bread connected with some synapse in my brain that says, “you are home.” Sticky and sweet: strawberry, peach and raspberry were the flavors my mother made most. I loved them all on spread with into a sandwich with cream cheese on days I tired of peanut butter. I rarely tired of her jam. Homemade jar was a constant of my childhood. At the end of it, when my mom dropped me off at college, she first took me to the grocery store. She bought some strawberries, pectin and a few containers, since I owned nothing. Back at my new apartment, she made me one final batch. I happily ate that strawberry jam for months while I was at school, and felt settled and content whenever I pulled a precious container from the fridge. Continue Reading →
Summer is upon us down south. It is lime for squash and green beans, and lots of them. This dish made me fall for green beans all over again. The combination of black mustard seeds with toasty coconut and sesame seeds with bright, still crisp green beans had me. It was so addictive that I made it for dinner one night this week, scavenged the fridge for the leftovers later in the evening. And then still was unsatisfied when I wanted it again at lunch and there was no more. So, I made it again. Less than 24 hours later. I know. I don’t do that. I rarely repeat recipes every two months. Really. And yet I made this again the next day for lunch because I was craving the peppery pop of the mustard seeds again the sweet toasted chew of the coconut and the vibrant beans. And then I ate every last bean, mustard seed, sesame seed, and coconut shard on the plate. Except for the ones my daughter stole from my plate, because she liked it too. Continue Reading →
what my pantry looks like, or shall we say "where are the chips?"
So my husband and I go back an forth all the time on whether or not we have any “snacks” in the house.
For me snacks mean just about anything that sounds good and most of the time is good for me. That could mean a dish of yogurt, some granola, an apple, leftovers from the fridge, a chunk of cheese, or a couple spoonfuls of peanut butter. When he says “snacks” I think he means more of the packaged variety. Which I don’t have much of. There might be some crackers, but really the options are slim. And often the things I choose may have some assembly involved. I pull out the popcorn popper to pop popcorn for the kids, I made toasted nori crips, I cut up fruit, I stir jam or honey into plain yogurt instead of buying individual pre-sweetened cups. He is right when he tells me that I do everything the hard way. That might be true; the bread isn’t even pre-sliced around here.
I don’t maintain the pantry full of “snack” treats he grew up with: chips, cookies, cold cereal, bottled drinks, etc. Mind you he is a very good sport, so, so much of the time. He tries anything I experiment with or create for dinner. But sometimes he misses the pantry and options he grew up.
At our housee are snackers, and he is often stuck with my choices unless he takes himself shopping, which doesn’t happen often. But I promised him I would take a poll, to see what everyone is like or really to ascertain if I am crazy about my snack choices, or to know what some of you are snacking on, if you do.
Do you snack? What is a typical snack for you?
I believe that good things are always there, you just have to be willing to find them. They await the lucky and those who know how to look for them. In life and in foraged food. So, you don’t even need to ask if I am foraging here in Texas. If you know me by now you already know the answer to that one. I love few things as much as I love foraged fruit. In fact the image header for this blog is of the cherry trees I would pick from by my apartment in San Francisco. You could say I’m a fan. So when my husband informed me that he had found a mulberry tree at the park across the street and would like to pick some, I heartily agreed. We’ve had a good time with the mulberries. I just made some jam and sauce, my favorite baked oatmeal and a cobbler.
Then this happened this morning. And it was my favorite mulberry thing so far. Continue Reading →
