Southern Tomato Pie My husband and I lived in the South when we were first married, young, dumb, broke, and in love. I'll never forget the first time I went to the local grocery store, Winn Dixie, and Jim Bob was paged over the intercom. The accent was so thick I could hardly understand the words. I stood there in the middle of the produce section, trying to decide if I should laugh or cry. I came home and told my husband, "I think we moved to a different country." And we had. And we loved (almost) every minute of it. We ate hush puppies and apple dumplings, okra, sorghum, buttermilk biscuits. We plucked a friend's chicken and sat around the Keep Reading
Greek Cherry Tomato Salad
Greek Cherry Tomato Salad Before we know it, watermelons will be swapped out for pumpkins and school supplies will be replaced by Halloween costumes. Yep, you heard it here first: summer is almost over. In many ways, it feels like summer arrived just a few short weeks ago. It seems far too soon to be saying good-bye for another season. Until then, let's soak up the last summertime has to offer, starting with a beautiful long weekend. Looking for something to take to a potluck or serve for a backyard barbeque? Try this delicious summer salad. This recipe caught my eye because it calls for things that are actually growing in my garden right now -- Keep Reading
Loaded baked potato salad with bacon (recipe + the best way to cook potatoes)
Loaded Potato Salad with Bacon Last month we went on a camping trip with friends which is pretty much the best idea ever. You split meal making and fire starting and kid wrangling. Someone remembers all the things you forgot. Someone else is ready with a pot of coffee when you haven't slept. Kids keep each other busy, and adults keep each other laughing. Conclusion: camping solo is for the birds. We ate meals in a wandering sort of way. Breakfast at one site, dinner at another. Snacks tossed out whenever kids were hungry (which is always). One of my favorite little memories of the trip is sitting around eating this potato salad with the adults Keep Reading
Caprese Skillet Eggs (one-pan, gluten-free recipe)
Caprese Skillet Eggs (gluten-free recipe) Most of my summer afternoons are spent around our half-deflated kiddie pool. Four little bodies splash and shriek, while I watch behind my sunglasses and hold a magazine (I never actually read it, I just look at the same sentence over and over). Their life is pretty much the kid version of an all-inclusive resort. I am the nurse-lifeguard-chef-concierge. I'm not sure why 5 o'clock surprises me every single day, but it does. We're out by the pool, doing our thing, and suddenly all these little people think they are starving. I am out of snacks. It's time for dinner. Fast. This dish is one of those summer Keep Reading
Basic Fruit Muffins with Streusel (great way to use fresh berries)
Strawberry Muffins with Streusel Topping I talked about how we can be frugal shoppers and a conscientous consumers all rolled into one. You may lean more to one end of the spectrum or the other, but there is definitely room in the zoo for a happy combination of both. In that post, I made the observation that, "Buying bum produce, no matter how cheap, is a waste of money." Michael Pollan calls it "voting with your fork." In other words, we send a message every time we buy food. Like most of you, I strive to buy quality produce in season. Generally this isn't a problem. No problem, that is, until those cartons of ridiculously red strawberries Keep Reading
Simple Kale Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette
Simple Kale Salad with Lemon-Garlic Vinaigrette Back in January, I read that kale was so last year. Apparently this will be cauliflower's turn in the spotlight. Seriously, who decides this stuff? Is there some powerful vegetable lobby group in Washington? An Anna Wintour of the produce world? Some marketing experts doing vegetable focus groups? These are the questions that keep me up at night. So I set out to do some serious research Google it. It's true: cauliflower is the new kale. Just ask your friendly global culinary trendologist. I love a humble head of cauliflower as much as the next person, but I'm not ready to kick kale to the curb Keep Reading
Rhubarb almond cake recipe
Rhubarb Almond Cake My rhubarb will soon pop up from its winter hibernation. I love the bright splash of color it adds to the garden this time of year. Growing rhubarb is not a difficult task so it's great for beginning gardeners. It's one of those low maintenance, high yield plants that makes you look like you know what you're doing. Last year it was more like an ornamental shrub in our raised beds, though. I didn't use it in one single, solitary recipe for some reason! I'm determined to change that this year. And this recipe is a great place to start (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie is a good place to go next). It caught my eye as I was flipping Keep Reading