Rosemary French Prune Jam

french prune sq

  A couple of weeks ago I came across Holistic Squid’s Rosemary Fig Jam. Now, maybe it was her beautiful pictures, the contrast of the luscious, dark purple figs with the fresh greenness of the rosemary… maybe it was her description of figs as erotic… Maybe it was just, as … Continue reading

Easy-Peasy Yogurt

Easy-Peasy Yogurt

  My family goes through a lot of yogurt…we eat it for snacks, pack it in lunches, and serve it for breakfast and dinner. We use it for smoothies, dips, and salad dressing. We use it to soak grains. But yogurt made from high-quality, organic, whole milk is insanely expensive. … Continue reading

Honey-Peach Jam

Honey Peach Jam with Pomona's Pectin // Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

A couple of interesting things have happened since last jam-making season… One, my husband gave up white sugar (go him!) and dragged my unrepentant sweet tooth along with him (jerk! … I mean, thank you, honey, I really needed that loving boot to the fanny). So, early this summer, just as … Continue reading

Finding and Avoiding GMOs

GMO

  If you read “What is a GMO? (And why do so many people want them banned?),” you may be wondering… Am I eating GMOs? Yeah, you probably are. Despite all the effort I put into avoiding them, I know I am. I know my kids are. That is because … Continue reading

Spring Soup with Fall Vegetables

There are a lot of things to love about April. The weather is getting warmer, the days longer, and we stay on the playground after school for ages. Little blue flowers carpet the lawns in my neighborhood, and daffodils’ yellow cheeriness is everywhere. On the other hand, finding tasty and … Continue reading

Brussels Sprout Stew (or How to Tackle March like an Irishwoman)

Brussels Sprout Stew sq

A friend of mine always said that you should tackle March like an Irishwoman—and by that she meant, sitting in front of the fire with a pot of tea (and maybe some scones), a couple of balls of yarn, and a crochet hook, with an Irish stew bubbling away on the stove. I … Continue reading

Decadent Hot Chocolate with Red Wine

Update: I don’t wish to deny that this recipe is… decadent. However it is not very “real food” … for a better–and dare I say it? tastier–version of this recipe, try my Divine Hot Chocolate. Leftover wine is not a concept with which I am all that familiar… but earlier this week, … Continue reading

Fruit Cups and Curling Ribbon

I kind of have this thing for curling ribbon. I have quite a stash of it—nine different colors—and I use it for dressing up packages wrapped in repurposed brown paper grocery bags and for making impressive-looking bake sale items. A little bit of curling ribbon can make a baggie with … Continue reading

Wine, Warm and Spicy

          I am not one to pass up the opportunity to drink wine. And, though this recipe is for a spiced wine meant to be drunk at Imbolc, which is the holiday when Witches celebrate the first whispers of spring, I was certainly not going to … Continue reading