I drove back up the mountains the other night, returning from Charlotte, the airport and another trip. The sky was clear, the light just fading and lightening flashed in the distance. I smelt the clean air and watched the temperature drop and I was happy to be home. Home means my town, my house, my cat, my friends, and my garden. And this year that garden is not going to get away from me! Weeds are not going to take over. Tomatoes will not spread recklessly everywhere, and zucchini will fight back against mold and bugs. In return the garden is gifting me with quantities of produce ...
Baking
ALASKA: MOUNTAINS, SEA, ICE AND PASTRY???
I went to Alaska on a culinary tour with Access Culinary knowing I was going to see some beautiful scenery, eat some great food, meet some great chefs and learn some new things but I was not prepared for Laura Cole and her pastry. Laura is the owner and chef of 229 Parks Restaurant and Tavern, just inside Denali National Park in Alaska. It is considered to be the finest restaurant in the state. You may know her better from Season 15 of Bravo’s series, Top Chef . It was day one of our tour and we left Fairbanks early for the two hour drive to Denali and our cooking class ...
HUMMINGBIRD CAKE
We’re planning a wedding at my house and our conversations are full of flowers and ceremonies, dresses and food. Which lead my thoughts to making a Hummingbird Cake. Hummingbird Cake is a Southern tradition. Filled with ripe bananas, sweet pineapple, vanilla, pecans and cream cheese, its sweetness and light texture goes well with the hearts and flowers of a wedding. I started with the original 1978 recipe from Southern Living (contributed to the magazine by Mrs. L.H. Wiggins of Greensboro, North Carolina). This cake calls for ripe bananas and canned pineapple. Being the ...
RETURNING THE FAVOR: LEMON-LIME BARS
Dear Friend, I saw my cookbook in your car and the recipes you had marked. So, when you sent me this amazing bouquet of flowers, I knew what I needed to do, get baking! It was a dreary, rainy Friday—the start of another long weekend of rain. But I turned on all the lights, put on some music and fired up the oven. I lined my pan with foil so I could lift out the finished bars and cut clean edges (and maybe eat some of the bits I cut off). Butter, sugar and flour go into the food processor. Give it a whir until it looks like sand, pour it in the pan and pat it flat. Put ...
CHICKEN POTPIE WITH FRESH PEAS AND TARRAGON
So many things are going on in my life right now. My garden is starting to produce vegetables and fruits and the herbs are green and lush. I have been working with pastry almost on a weekly basis. And I have been meeting potters all over Asheville, talking about their products and how they can be used in baking. It all comes together in a dish that is not something I usually go for, but it just spoke to me: Chicken Potpie with Fresh Peas and Tarragon. Let’s start with the peas and tarragon. My mother used to put fresh mint in with the peas when she made them which is ...
JUMBLEBERRY PIE
It was a jumbleberry weekend at our house. We were getting together to throw a bridal shower for Abby, my youngest, and all of my daughters were coming home, including my lovely granddaughter. My brothers and sisters would be there as well as Abby’s future in-laws, and that meant it was time for pie! Jumbleberry Pie, a delicious concoction of blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries (or as Abby would say, “All the berries!!). Pie is deeply ingrained in my memory: My mother made pies for every occasion and many happy hours were spent in the kitchen helping her peel fruit ...
LEMON RASPBERRY QUICK BREAD, INSPIRED!
Even though lemons are primarily a winter fruit, we seem to pair them a lot with the dishes of Spring. I think it may be because their sunny color and fresh, clean, tang reminds us of the return of sun, the growing season and a new start. But too often I find that the promised flavor is missing in the finished dish, especially in quick breads (aka Tea Bread) and muffins. Then I found this. And I made a Lemon Raspberry Quick Bread that tastes of raspberries AND lemon! Some people window shop clothing stores, I browse supermarkets. I love checking out new products and trends. There is ...
SAVORY SCONES PROVENCAL STYLE
In which scones are given a make-over with roasted sweet peppers, sundried tomatoes, Parmesan cheese and thyme: flavors reminiscent of Southern France. In fact, this recipe is more of an American biscuit recipe than a traditional British Scone recipe (pronounced sc-on, to rhyme with gone). If you want to find out why, here is a good article from Food 52 . Scone or biscuit, this is delicious and a great substitute for cornbread, rolls or bread in any meal. One of the great things about cooking is that techniques overlap. You learn something in order to make one dish and use the same ...
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE DISCOVERY
My sister is five years older than I am. I have been eating pie with her my whole life. So it absolutely floored me when she told me that Strawberry Rhubarb was her favorite type of pie. My mother never made a strawberry rhubarb pie. I don’t think we ever had rhubarb in any form in my childhood. It wasn’t until I was married and in my late 20’s that I even tasted rhubarb, occasioned by early food memories of my then-husband and the loving desire to make him a dish he liked. So, I never saw my sister eat a strawberry rhubarb pie. I never heard her mention it was one of her ...
LET’S GET ROUGH! (ROUGH PUFF PASTRY)
If there is a theme to my blog, or a driving force behind my cooking, it is this: Does it taste better if you make it from scratch and, if so, is the time invested in making it worth the difference? For example: butter can be made at home but it’s not going to be appreciably different from a good quality store-bought butter. Homemade bread, on the other hand, gives a pleasure measurably greater than that derived from commercial bread. However, if you live near a good bakery, where they bake the bread onsite, the pleasure gained from one of their loaves may be as great or better than the ...
