I had a letter this morning from a reader of this blog, wondering if it had been discontinued. In fact, the exact opposite is true–I’ve given up blogging elsewhere (except for Writer Unboxed once a month) to bring my focus back here. My web mistress is busy behind the scenes doing a facelift and I’ve […]
food
Progress and a flat of basil
Have been scarce finishing the new book, attending to the wedding of my younger son, and generally running from one urgent thing to the next. But I thought you’d like to know that the garden beds are going in this week! So excited. A couple of photos. The winds finally took out the twenty-five year […]
Ramona’s Sunshine Fruit and Honey Bread
(A recipe from How to Bake a Perfect Life. ) These are actual texts from my sister a few days ago: Feb 5, 2011 7:13 pm Making sunshine fruit and honey bread 🙂 Feb 6, 2011 12:36 pm OMG OMG OMG. That bread is soooooo good I could prolly eat the whole thing!!! Feb. 7, 2011 […]
Feasting and friendship in New Mexico
It is a lusciously gloomy morning here in Colorado, and despite the long list of tasks that are calling me (the tamales, the wrapping of gifts, walking the dog), I find myself drawn here, to write. The subject almost doesn’t matter—the desire is simply to be here and put some words on the page, capture […]
Potato Leek Soup
It’s been awhile since we’ve had a recipe here. I made this over the weekend, in two steps. The first night, it was basic Potato Leek Soup, and frankly, a little bland. The next night, I tried to make it a little more interesting, and it was delicious. I’ll save you the boring […]
Fresh local food…from my backyard
Today, I harvested two handfuls of red potatoes from a black potato sack. I’ve never grown potatoes before, afraid of them for no reason I can really pinpoint, maybe just because they grow deep in the mysterious earth and you have to dig them up. How would I ever know when I should harvest them? […]
The Lost Art of Family Dinners
When I was a child, we ate dinner together nearly every night. I did not necessarily love the whole ritual, especially when my mother made hamburger pie, covered with mashed potatoes, or when I was in trouble for one thing or another (which was a lot), but I can see from this angle that it […]
Pancake kisses, bacon hugs
THE SECRET OF EVERYTHING is out today! To celebrate, a love song to breakfast. PANCAKE KISSES, BACON HUGS Why breakfast is the secret of everything I suppose I should confess upfront that I am a morning person. I wake up cheery, chatty and at the very first fingers of sunlight creeping over the horizon. I […]
1 day till THE SECRET OF EVERYTHING arrives in stores
Not long now! I get so excited when it gets so close. I’ve known Tessa and Sam (oh, you will love her father!) and Vince and Natalie (darling, troubled Natalie) for more than two years. Very happy for you to be able to finally meet them. Here’s my favorite review of the week, from the […]
Slow cooked, spicy, chunky apple butter
Technically, I suppose, apple butter is smooth. I originally made this recipe last winter and pureed it afterward. Since, however, my main use for this particular condiment is in my morning oatmeal, I have found I much prefer it to be left chunky. Recipe is adapted from one I found at The Art of Homemaking. […]