Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
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As regular readers of my column might recall, I often use my time in the kitchen to satisfy my periodic bouts of wanderlust. Recreating discoveries made during past travels, or dreaming of future trips, cooking and eating have become an extension to my passport. Music, like great food, can have the effect of transporting me to faraway places, with my kitchen playlist often influenced by what is on the stove. There are passionate Mexican corridos on my stereo when stirring a pot of mole, while...
Sometimes, while researching recipes, I am overcome by unexpected cravings. This week, I was reminded of the flavorful and messy childhood lunchroom classic, the sloppy joe sandwich. Always up for a challenge, I set out looking for an alternative to the overly sweet version that comes out of a can. Here, ground beef is simmered in a tangy homemade sauce that comes to life with a zesty combination of spices. Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 pound ground beef (80/20) ½ yellow onion,...
Of all the holiday parties, one of my favorites to host has always been New Year's Eve. Combining the effervescent excitement of counting down to midnight with my love for fancy finger foods and sparkling wine makes for memorable entertaining. To counter those extra pours of tiny bubbles, it is important to offer your guests a varied selection of satisfying nibbles that are easy to eat with one hand while mingling. Cured meats, cheese boards, olives, shrimp cocktail, oysters, and gougères,...
While I love sharing treats from my kitchen throughout the year, there is something extra satisfying about gifting edible delights during the winter holiday season. Baking batches of assorted cookies while humming Christmas carols to myself (and sipping boozy eggnog) in the kitchen is a guilty pleasure. From ginger-spiced cookies and chocolate crinkles to colorful iced sugar cookies, I have collected several recipes over the years that always make beloved gifts. These tender cookies, which have...
In a season of sparkling extravagance, I have always felt that it is often the simplest gifts that can have the sweetest impact. A box of homemade cookies or candy from a neighbor or friend is always among my favorite parts of this time of year. It is always a delight when I am surprised by a new flavor, or a twist on a classic, in an assortment of holiday treats. These playful cookies have the chewy texture of the best fudgy brownie with a perfectly balanced zip of peppermint. The crushed...
In a flash, another holiday season has arrived and it's the time of year where gatherings are centered around warm kitchens. To prepare, I've gathered recipes throughout the year to add to my seasonal entertaining repertoire. Some of my favorites are crowd-pleasing and unique appetizers. These English style sausage rolls, with plenty of savory herbal flavor, are perfect for dipping in a sweet and tart cranberry relish. Ingredients: For the relish: ½ can cranberry sauce, whole berry...
Autumn is my favorite time of year for celebrations centered around food. High on the list is the colorful and distinctly Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos. In our house, the mantle is turned into an ofrenda with photos of departed family members, marigolds, and candles. On the night of November 1st, I prepare a feast to be enjoyed by the living and shared with the spirits of the dead. These spiced beef enchiladas embrace the season with roasted pumpkin and a rich, deeply flavored...
Sometimes, when researching for this column, I like to search through my vintage cookbook collection for inspiration. It can be amusing, and sometimes a little frightening, to imagine what home cooks were putting on the table 60 or 70 years ago. So much JELLO. However, there are some homey favorites that deserve a fresh look, like this recipe for tender Salisbury Steak, smothered in a rich mushroom gravy. While some may only imagine the compartments of TV dinner trays, this updated version...
As we moved into our house, we learned from the previous owners that there had once been a large in-ground pool in the backyard, which apparently had been a popular hangout for local housewives in the sixties and seventies. Unfortunately, when the maintenance costs got to be too much, the decision was made to fill and cover it. At about this time every summer I start dreaming about that pool. Visions of taking a refreshing dip to cool down while hosting tiki-themed cocktail parties swirl around...
While searching for dessert recipes it is easy to get lost in the seemingly endless options of new and trendy flavor combinations. Exotic ingredients and complicated techniques can be fun when you have the time, or the budget, to bake for a special occasion. However, sometimes it is worth revisiting the humble classics. Lemon bars are in this category of easy to make homey favorites that are always a crowd pleaser. With a delicate butter shortbread base topped with a sweet and lively lemon...
In preparation for Valentine's Day, my mind naturally turns to food. The kitchen has always been an extension of my heart, cooking an act of love. While flowers and little trinkets are lovely, in my mind it is homemade edible gifts that have the most meaning. Among the list of romantic bites, sweet treats, and supposed aphrodisiacs, the ingredient most associated with this annual celebration of romance is chocolate. Foiled boxes of dark chocolate truffles, rich chocolate tortes and towering...
For me, cooking has always been about more than just sustenance alone. The foods we eat tell a story, and I am always listening. Every ingredient and technique used in modern kitchens are a daily retelling of the movement of cultures across time. Individual family histories come to life with the recipes that have been passed down from one generation to the next. Perhaps, this could be another way of interpreting the old saying, "you are what you eat." I can still remember the first time I had...
Since moving to Waitsburg, we have been slowly remodeling our older home one room at a time. Finally, the end is in sight with the biggest project, a planned complete overhaul of our kitchen, scheduled for later this year. In anticipation of this, we have getting by with the aging components of our current kitchen, making piecemeal repairs to buy us time until we eventually replace everything. Lately, it seems that as soon as we fix one problem the next one pops up. First, it was the dishwasher...
Everyone has their own unique way of expressing matters of the heart. For me, my love language has always been centered around the kitchen. Sharing recipes, cooking together, and serving special meals, are some of the ways that I communicate my feelings to loved ones. With that, there are certain homey recipes that are so comforting they feel like a hug. This dish of tender braised beef, spiced with a generous amount of sweet paprika, and served over small tender dumplings, is like a love...
My mother's family has roots in Texas, which often influences our holiday gatherings. In Texas, as with much of the South, eating black-eyed peas on New Year's Day is thought to bring good luck and fortune in the coming year. We often serve them simmered with bacon, along with a big hunk of my aunt's famous corn bread. This year, I wanted to try a twist on this family tradition, one that included a nod to my Latino heritage. The result was flavorful spiced black-eyed peas stuffed into flakey...
Among the things I love about living in Waitsburg are the packages of homemade Christmas cookies that we receive from several of our neighbors this time of year. Brightly frosted sugar cookies, chocolate crinkles, and spiced oatmeal raisin are just a few of the sweet delights already lovingly gifted to us this holiday season. A simple but thoughtful gesture, the sharing of treats from home kitchens is the kind of thing that gives small towns such big hearts. With platters of assorted baked...
Cranberries on holiday tables don't have to be in the form of canned jellied sauce. They can be a tasty year-round ingredient. The bright red fruit, with its distinctive tart flavor, can add the perfect sparkle to both sweet and savory dishes. The American cranberry, Vaccinium macrocarpon, delicious as fresh plump berries or sweet dried fruit is native to North America. After Wisconsin and Massachusetts, Washington State is one of largest American producers of cranberries, much of it grown up...
Recipes for holiday side dishes can vary greatly across the country, and opinions on proper preparations can be a source of debate, even within families. My Aunt Gail learned this the hard way while helping prepare a feast at a family reunion. She hoped to impress her Texas relatives with an alternative to classic sweet potato casserole, the kind made extra sweet with the addition of a molten marshmallow topping. She lovingly prepared sweet potatoes roasted with apples, spiced with cinnamon,...
It is ironic that I would start and finish my time writing this column with recipes for desserts, being that I do not have the biggest sweet tooth. In fact, my gastronomic cravings tend to be more for the savory or spicy side of things. However, after sharing an array of recipes, from appetizers, soups and salads to stews and meaty entrees, it made sense to end on a sweet bite. This week, to celebrate a family birthday I turned to a recipe that John developed during the early days of the coffee...
The last sweet weeks of summer are always my favorite time of the season. The days are still long, yet thankfully, the scorching triple-digit temperatures are mostly behind us. It is also when our homegrown tomatoes are ripe and bursting with sun-kissed flavor. When tomatoes are as good as they are right now, I mostly enjoy eating them as unadulterated as possible – just a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of flakey sea salt is all that is needed. As a result, I am always in search of recipes f...
As summer begins to wind down, our edible garden is often at its peak. With an abundance of vibrant basil, and my favorite nightshades, like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant ready to harvest, my attention often turns towards Mediterranean recipes. Here, lovely eggplant and earthy mushrooms provide marvelous flavor and texture to this vegetarian version of a hearty Bolognese sauce. Satisfying without being too heavy, this comforting dish beautifully captures the delicious and sunny joys of late...
For the last three and half years, I have had the immense pleasure of writing this weekly recipe column in 'The Times." Since my first published recipe for Tarte Tatin in January 2021, I have tested and shared nearly two hundred recipes from my kitchen to yours. Inspired by my gastronomic heroes like Julia Child, Alice Waters, and Diana Kennedy, each column has felt like an opportunity to share my deep love of cooking with my readers. I hoped to inspire readers to try new dishes from around the...
The timing of the harvests in our backyard garden tend to vary greatly from year to year. It is always an adventure to see what is ripe and ready to pick each morning. With this, we try to stay creative and flexible in planning our summer meals. While our red tomatoes are still a few weeks aways from being ripe, this week our tomatillo plants were bursting with bright green fruit peeking out of their husks. This got me searching the many different styles of Mexican salsas verdes, which led me...
