Spiced Persimmon Cake with Dates and Lemon Glaze
on Nov 4, 2009 in Dessert Featured Grow Your Own cakes fruit vegetarian We discovered the persimmon tree in September when we noticed the golden orbs hanging from the branches. We hadn’t paid attention to the tree before because it was in a relatively inaccessible area behind our house and we had no idea what it was or...

Grow Your Own #37 Round-up
on Nov 2, 2009 in Grow Your Own GYO round-up Based on the emails I’ve received lately, my announcement of the Grow Your Own winter hiatus seems to have sparked concern, and I want to thank everyone for thinking of us. We are all well, no health problems, home life is just a little overwhelmin...

Papas Criollas (Tiny Yellow Potatoes)
on Oct 26, 2009 in Appetizers Featured Vegetables Colombian gluten-free potatoes vegan One of my fondest food memories is of the tiny round potatoes known as papas criollas from Colombia. The Colombian papas criollas grow wild in the Andes highlands and have a thin, tender skin and a buttery yellow interior that yields an amazing flavo...

BBA Challenge: Cornbread with Bacon
on Oct 19, 2009 in Breads Featured BBA Challenge I realized as I started this challenge that I had forgotten to mention the cinnamon and sticky buns, which I actually made for the first time two years ago with The Daring Bakers. Since I had made them for a previous challenge I decided I did not nee...

Oven-Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
on Oct 16, 2009 in Featured Grow Your Own Mexican Tex Mex Vegetables gluten-free low-fat vegan Have I ever mentioned that purple is my favorite color? I find the color exhilarating and like plants that bear purple fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos. Our tomatillo plants were slow this year along with everything else in the garden. The...

The Daring Cooks Make Steamy Kitchen’s Pho Ga
on Oct 14, 2009 in Asian Featured Poultry Soups & Stews chicken Daring Challenges gluten-free The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook. I was excited to see that Jaden would be our host for the October Daring Cooks chall...

Percy Train Birthday Cake
on Oct 10, 2009 in Dessert Featured birthday cakes cakes My husband Michael, the engineer (aerospace, not trains), is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three time...

Springpad, A New Way to Track Your Favorite Recipes
on Oct 5, 2009 in Announcements Featured This has been in the works for a long time, and I’m delighted to announce that my readers now have a new way to organize your favorite recipes from this site and many others. Today is the official launch of springpad, a free service that helps you...

Ginger Plum Jam
on Oct 3, 2009 in Condiments Featured canning fruit gluten-free low-fat vegan In autumn I find myself drawn to the displays of fresh seasonal plums, adoring their shape and colors. Strawberries are my spring darlings, blueberries are our summer sweet, and plums are my fall favorite, a delight that my boys enjoy as much as I do...

Memories of BlogHer Food 2009
on Sep 29, 2009 in Announcements Featured BlogHer Before I go any further, I need to confess something. I was really bad last weekend. I schlepped my camera all the way across the continent to the BlogHer Food Conference. Then I didn’t take a single picture. Nada. There’s just something about ac...