Every cook has their culinary bucket list.  Things they want to attempt making, but are hard projects even for the expert.  For me, one of the items on the top of my list was canning.  As a big believer in eating seasonally, I’ve yearned for the know-how that would allow me to preserve the flavors of the season for later in year.

Apparently Atlanta is not a big canning town.  Either everyone’s big-haired grandmother (bless their hearts) passed down these essential skills, or no one has an interest because no matter how hard I Googled, I could not find any local classes on the subject.  Well, OK, there was one in August, but that meant I would have to wait and miss strawberry season- gasp!  The fact was, I was going to have to go at this alone…

I took it upon myself to order some books, read all that I could online, and watch YouTube videos on the subject until my eyes were sore.  Read More

With all the focus that we put on what goes into our bodies, sometimes it’s easy to forget about the things that go on our bodies.  Our skin works as a protective barrier, designed to keep out potentially harmful bacteria and even radiation; yet, it’s a porous surface and some chemicals can penetrate it, getting inside and potentially wreaking havoc.

There has been a movement towards natural cosmetics and beauty products over the past several years as people have begun to discover ingredients in conventional formulas they found questionable.  It’s cheaper and better for the bottom line to put low cost fillers in cosmetics, the same way the food industry does with processed ingredients.  I, along with many others, have done my best to clean out my bathroom cabinets; eliminating products that could be harmful over the long run, and in turn replacing them with natural products, some even homemade! Read More

Before we hop into today’s post, I just wanted to let everyone know I’m working on our monthly E-Newsletter, An Extra Helping, which will be going out later this week for the month of May!  It’s going to be totally awesome with content you won’t find on the blog, so be sure to sign up!  You can do so by submitting your email in the field down on the right.  And of course, I’d NEVER share your information with anyone!

There is a little block, set back in the northwest side of downtown Amsterdam, that I love.  It has my favorite coffee shop in the city, the best cheese store that always has free samples out, and the most amazing chocolatier that ever existed, Puccini Bomboni.  The store has a whole chocolate bar with at least 40 different types of bites size chocolates overflowing from their platters.  Read More

Before we hop into today’s post, I just wanted to let everyone know I’m working on our monthly E-Newsletter, An Extra Helping, which will be going out next week for the month of May!  It’s going to be totally awesome with content you won’t find on the blog, so be sure to sign up!  You can do so by submitting your email in the field to the right.  And of course, I’d NEVER share your information with anyone!

These past two weeks I had the pleasure of spending time with my family in Montana.  The trip itself was instigated by the birth of my niece, Marlee, back in January; and while it was good for my soul to see everyone in my little family, she was most definitely the star of the trip.  Read More

My vegetarianism was always a conundrum for the most of my meat eating family, but not my Nana.  I watched her from the bar stool; my elbows propped up on the counter as she fished out soy burgers from her freezer and showed me all the salad fixings she had washed and cut up for me in the fridge.  Even though I was just a punky teenager, I was incredibly moved by her thoughtfulness.

“What type of salad dressing do you like?” she asked, motioning to the large collection contained in one of the door shelves in the opened fridge.

“Balsamic Vinaigrette,” I answered.

“Oh, well in that case, I will make some fresh for you!” she replied while reaching for a jar near the stove.

I watched in awe while she mixed up salad dressing for me, pouring beautifully colored liquids into the glass bottle and shaking it.  Read More

Reading my Twitter feed, I thought it was some practical joke.  Maybe by explosion they just meant the massive amounts of energy and excitement that happens when marathon runners cross the finish line.  Scrolling some more, BBC’s feed confirmed it to me, and my mind went through the shock and anger it’s getting so use to feeling very often as the violent events around us become more common place.

I had this recipe post planned for a while, my favorite after-run shake.  The perfect way to refuel using plant based proteins; it can even be made raw with the use of water instead of milk.  I thought it would be a perfect fit as everyone is exercising to shape up for summer right now.

Posting it now, I feel the mixed emotions of one that wants to celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of every runner that crossed the finish line, and one that feels the sorrow for what was lost to a family, to a nation.  Read More

As I sit here writing this post, pink petals slowly drift off the cherry blossom tree outside.  Looking out my window, it almost looks like snow.  I’m not fooled though, since everything is tinted with a yellow haze and the weather app on my phone alerted me to a pollen count of over 8,000 today.

There’s no doubt about it- spring has sprung.  The world around me is slowing coming back to life, and for once I have the time to enjoying the brilliant changes.  Finally, a moment to stop and smell the roses, literally.  Not to get all metaphysical on you, but it’s quite ironic that the season known for rebirth has lined up perfectly with a big and exciting change in my life, something I look forward to sharing with you all in the coming months. Read More

This past Christmas, Roark and I planned on staying home and cooking a big dinner together.  I decided that I wanted the meal to be all Italian, since it’s my favorite type of food to cook and eat.  The centerpiece was this rich baked macaroni dish, since I knew Roark couldn’t live without his cheese fix.  And to balance the meal out, I scoured my recipe books finding three new winter vegetable side dishes to try.  It was the perfect Christmas dinner, simple and easy in the kitchen, relaxing and joyful at the table.

One of those side dishes was so impressive that it quickly became a staple in my kitchen all year long- Two Vinegar Carrots.  Full on flavor, it shook up my winter vegetable routine serving as a great complement to most anything I made. Read More

Michael Moss, author of “Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us,” recently said in an article to the New York Times that “as a culture, we have lost the will but also the knowledge to make” many easy foods from scratch, specifically citing oatmeal and pasta sauce.  Basically, processed food has become so pervasive in our lives that we have literally forgotten as a culture how to cook basic things that were once second nature to us.  The troubling fact about this is that the food industry not only has us hooked with their addictive combinations of salt, sugar, and fat, but even if one wanted to stop eating processed foods, the idea of cooking from scratch presents a major knowledge barrier.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you likely know that most of my food knowledge is self-taught.  Read More

Risotto must be Italian for ‘love,’ because a good Risotto craves the tenderness and care given to a newborn baby.  Risotto is not like a soup where you can just throw everything in one big pot, walk away, and come back later to great flavor.  Risotto requires the constant attention of a gentile hand; it’s really a food you have to pour your heart into.

And as a reward for all your devotion, Risotto gives back.  What you put in is what you get, and attentiveness means a warm, rich, and creamy rice confection in a pot.  Don’t get me wrong, Risotto is not a hard food to make by any means, but know for the best outcome, you won’t once step away from the stove.  And why would you want to… That constant, rhythmic turning is meditative after a long day.  Read More