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Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Rose Hips

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on July 26, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Growing up in the desert in Arizona rose hips always sounded so exotic but now that I live in the Pacific Northwest I can find these vitamin C rich tasty fruits everywhere. While all bushes make hips, Rosa rugosa is the variety that has the biggest, sweetest fruits. They are ripe now and can be […]

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Oregon Grape Jam

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on July 24, 2014 | 2 Comments »

Walking to work last week I had jam on my mind and my eye open to see what fruits were ripening.  The Oregon Grape in the park near our house was a luscious deep purple blue color and the berries were just a bit soft to the touch. On the way home I picked some berries then made […]

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Garden Fresh Potato Salad

Posted in Cooking, tagged on July 16, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

A summer staple for my family is a hearty garden fresh potato salad.  We have this sustaining dish with almost every outdoor meal and prepare it for guests as well. Walking through the garden I found onions, nasturtium flowers, peas, purple potatoes and new eggs from the hens. Ready for 4th of July picnics it’s time […]

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Time for Raspberry Jam

Posted in canning, Cooking, tagged , on July 15, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Summer is finally here and the raspberries are ripe and ready!  Turning the berries into jam is an easy, almost magical process that brings back the flavors of summer deep into winter. Of all the jams I make raspberry is by far the one that people like the most. This is great as it’s also the […]

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Gardens in the West African Country of Mali

Posted in Cooking, Growing, tagged , , on July 10, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

The last couple of weeks I have been in the West African country of Mali doing work for my master’s degree.  My first day in country, on the way from my house to call a taxi at the paved road, a woman working in a small garden plot called out the morning greeting of “I […]

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Making Strawberry Jam

Posted in Cooking, tagged , on July 9, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

This year the strawberry crop is huge, sweet and delectable.  With all this bounty it’s time to make jam!  Here’s how to put summer in a jar using a low sugar Pomona Pectin recipe.                            

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Minty Drinks With Elaine

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , , on June 26, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

This post is back by popular demand! The mint is going wild so it’s time to revisit wise words from Elaine Corets and learn about all the ways she makes her famous minty drinks – from mojitos to sun tea. Here’s how she makes her wonderful mojitos: Go out into the garden and pick several […]

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Raspberry Shrub

Posted in Cooking, tagged , , on June 14, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Shrub is a drink that is sweet, tart, bubbly and cool; the perfect mixture for a hot summer day. The unusual name comes from sharab the Arabic word for syrup.  This colonial era beverage was much sought after as it both quenched the thirst and preserved the fleeting flavors of summer fruit.  It fell out […]

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Fennel

Posted in Cooking, Growing, tagged on June 12, 2014 | 1 Comment »

The herb fennel is so plentiful and grows so well in the Pacific Northwest that some people think of it as a weed and do their best to eradicate it. Horrors!  This plant is useful from its seeds to its roots and should be cherished! According to Wikipedia this herb was well known to the […]

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Edible Flowers

Posted in Cooking, Crafts, Growing, tagged on June 11, 2014 | Leave a Comment »

Many of the flowers that grace our yards are edible.  They can be used as accents in a salad or as garnish on a main dish. Here are a few of my favorites: I like to use chive flowers in salads to lend a slightly onion flavor.  Here’s a recipe for omelets with chive flowers. Lavender cookies are […]

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