I'm finding that celebrating The Wheel of The Year isn't about making each and every festival or feast as extraordinary as the christian counterparts have become in the watchful eye of capitalism. It's more about focus, thought, honor, and slowing down to notice what lays before us and say goodbye to what lies behind us.
Aunt Amy’s Eggplant Bacon & Surviving Gaslighting
In searching for ways to feed myself (and him) in that period of my life, I did get to connect with my Aunt Amy more than usual. She is also vegan and discussing cooking with her during that relationship was a light in the darkness. I've kept a good handful of recipes from that time and plan to share them here and there. One of my favorites is Aunt Amy's Eggplant Bacon.
Coffee Pecan Fancies & Man’s Best Friend
Finding time to just 'Bake For the Fun of It' is a laughable possibility in this house. But, on the rare occasion or holiday, when I have the time to make something, cookies are my go-to.
Step-Parenting & Corn Chowder
The path to young foodie-dom was not smooth. There were tears. There were disgusted faces and total upset. But I remained cool and collected and knew, I just knew, I'd figure the kid out.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup & Cheers
There's this episode of Cheers where Woody is trying to win a bartender's contest by creating a new drink. Sam says something like, "you can't make a new drink - every combination has already been thought of." And he said this as I was prepping to make this Roasted Red Pepper Soup.
Carolyn’s Chicken Curry Casserole with a Side of Loss & Hope
Through all of this, I cling to little bits of hope like a shadowboxer. Maybe things will change. Maybe they will change. Maybe they'll revert to who they were before I knew more about them. Maybe they'll understand.
Grandma Radcliff’s Cake & Finding Your Roots
I don't know where Grandma Radcliff got this recipe. But I love it. And I attribute it to her. It's a great summer cake. Which is funny to post in the dead of winter. But, when you think about all the people it took to create you and how long that took? Summer doesn't seem too far away.
Johnnie M. Casserole & Nebraska Nice
And this all came up because I made Johnnie M. Casserole. (Aka Goulash.) Papa loved Johnnie M. In fact, I fondly remember one day when I was at his lake house in Okoboji and I had plans to make Johnnie M. for him that evening. I had spent the entire day power-washing the three wooden decks/landings on the house. I came in, covered in dirt and wood bits and water and he, sitting at the dining room table working on a puzzle, gruffed, "Are we having Johnnie M. or what?"
Baked Chicken Over Rice & Why I’m Mad At Campbell’s Soup
This Baked Chicken Recipe is the first one I noticed the change on. This is why I've used this particular blog post to make my strong feelings known. There's nothing to be done. Except maybe cook this dish perfectly and laugh into the sky because I figured you out, Campbell's! You thought you could destroy it, but you've only made it stronger.
Sweet Potato Soufflé Topped with Fresh Anxiety
"Okay if I need two cups of potatoes and the average potato is .47 pounds, if I factor in the notion that the people shopping the store for me seem obsessed with finding the actual largest versions of all vegetables no matter my courteous and overwrought "notes" on each item in my cart and each cup of solid is approximately, uh, that means I probably need to wait, what were we talking about?"
Seat At The Table 