Category Archives: year round

Peanutty Popcorn Bars

16 May 2016 by local kitchen

If you haven’t been following along on Instagram (and if you’re not, don’t start now, as the recent lack-of-chronology algorithm will surely make you rant & rave bitterly about the vagaries of social media platform designers… oh, wait. That’s just me.) you may not realize just how obsessed I’ve been lately with cereal bars. Specifically, these no-bake peanut butter & cacao nib cereal bars from Dolly & Oatmeal. But of course, now that I’ve made approximately 687 batches of these […]

Categories: chocolate, grains & legumes, nuts, snack, year round • Tags: no bake, popcorn, snacks, whole grain

Tailgate Mac & Cheese

12 July 2015 by local kitchen

Although the excitement of the Women’s World Cup reached a fever pitch with the US win, I’ve kept the soccer travels to a minimum this summer. After spending a good chunk of last summer in Brazil, I’m happy to watch more of my soccer on TV this year and focus my energies on other things: friends, family, cleaning the dad-blasted garage. But when the Gold Cup schedule came out and I saw that the US men’s team were scheduled to play […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, kale & leafy greens, main course, oregano, pasta, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pasta, recipes, soccer, tailgating, vegetarian

How to Build a Basic Frittata

23 April 2015 by local kitchen

A good friend of mine had her second child back in March, a 9 lb 6 oz, 23-inch bundle of joy named Jordan. Since her first child is a daughter at the fun-but-exhausting age of 4 years old, I had promised ages ago that I would come down to her digs in Maryland and help her when the new baby was born. I was down in the DC area for three weeks, and while I managed to take in a […]

Categories: 100% local, cheese, eggs, herbs, year round • Tags: cooking, eggs, food, local, recipes

Kami’s Cake 2015: Jimmie Cake!

10 April 2015 by local kitchen

Jimmies, people. Not sprinkles, not shots: jimmies. Said in your best South Park Timmy voice: jim-MAH. I went simple with the Kami Birthday Cake this year: 2 layers, basic cream cheese frosting, and lots and lots of jimmies. I opted for a quick-baking, no muss, no fuss chocolate layer cake from Molly at my name is yeh, though I swapped out hazelnuts for pecans because I’m ornery. And I was out of hazelnuts. [Though I will make that chocolate hazelnut […]

Categories: baking, cake, chocolate, citrus, year round • Tags: baking, cake, cooking, food, local, recipes

Oatmeal Cookies with Molasses & Bacon Fat

8 March 2015 by local kitchen

Bacon fat. In cookies. Why I have never done this before? It seems so obvious, especially with a cast of characters that is comfortable with the savory side of life: eggs, butter, flour, oats. I’m surely not the first person to think of this, as a quick Google will show you, but it seems it took the never-ending winter of 2015 to push me into Bacon Fat Cookieland. For that, my friends, we must offer up thanks. Thanks for the […]

Categories: baking, chocolate, dessert, nuts, snack, whole wheat flour, winter, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes

Homemade Curry Powder

25 February 2015 by local kitchen

It’s a well known fact that the hardest part of making curry powder at home is digging the various whole spices out of whatever wacky spice storage solution you’ve got working. Especially when said spice storage solution involves a shoulder-deep cabinet with only one shelf, a door that will stay open only if propped on a wooden spoon, and is packed to the gills with pantry staples. But, once you bite the bullet and drag the Maldon salt, matcha, peppermint […]

Categories: condiments, quick & easy, year round • Tags: cooking, food, Indian, local, quick & easy, recipes

Quinoa & Red Cabbage Salad

12 November 2014 by local kitchen

True confessions: I am on a mission to lose weight. It’s an odd goal for me, to tell the truth: I have often trained to get fit in order to improve my performance in some sport or another – soccer, kayaking, rock climbing, hiking – but rarely do I simply want to change the number on the scale. In fact, I haven’t even owned a scale for at least a decade. I had to buy one recently in order to […]

Categories: cabbage, quinoa, salad, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, recipes, salad, vegetarian

Preserved Lemon Hummus

23 October 2014 by local kitchen

Strange but true: I ate some of the best hummus in Brazil. Smack-dab in the middle of the Amazon jungle, to be exact, about 1000 miles from nowhere, otherwise known as Manaus. While I and my intrepid band of World Cup travelers endured a purgatorial stay at the Hotel Brasil (an establishment that made you wonder what heinous crime you committed in a previous life to get yourself stuck there) in advance of the second US match, we spent a […]

Categories: appetizer, chickpeas, grains & legumes, mint, quick & easy, snack, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Figgy Granola Bars

8 October 2014 by local kitchen

Gettin’ figgy wit it. I know. That was bad. I apologize. Ahem. Let’s move on, shall we? A simple little granola bar with a base of dried figs, oats, and almonds. Inspired by the 5 ingredient granola bars at Minimalist Baker, but of course, I tossed that 5 ingredient thing right out the window, adding coffee (because: morning), pepitas (because: Fall!) and flax seeds (because: health!), not to mention salt (because: who makes granola bars without salt??). The real beauty […]

Categories: breakfast, grains & legumes, nuts, oats, quick & easy, snack, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes

Bacon Cheddar Biscuits

23 September 2014 by local kitchen

A certain wonderful husband is celebrating a birthday today. Since there is only one morning person in this house, last night I made him a batch of bacon cheddar biscuits so he would have something delicious and celebratory for breakfast. Once I tasted one, I knew I had to share the recipe here: delicious and celebratory they are. Also smoky, salty, rich, flaky: fabulous. Happiest of birthdays to my sweet love. And happiest of biscuits to yours! Adapted from $72 […]

Categories: 100% local, baking, breads, breakfast, cheese, pork, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, quick & easy, whole grain breads

Whole Wheat Lavash

13 August 2014 by local kitchen

Well: it’s been a sad, sad week in the world so far. First, yet another unarmed young black man, Michael Brown, is shot to death by police: anger, frustration and protests erupt in Ferguson, Missouri. Then, Robin Williams, who brought joy to so many, lost the ultimate battle against his demons. Tributes and stories, hundreds of fabulous stories, poured in from every corner of the internet. Then Lauren Bacall died. And there’s the unrelentingly rainy weather. And Israel-Palestine. And the […]

Categories: baking, breads, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: baking, cooking, food, local, recipes, whole grain breads

Traveler’s Vegetable Curry

9 July 2014 by local kitchen

I’m baaaaack! Did you miss me? I spent three & a half weeks in Brazil, but it seems like months: everything is so green and lush at home, strawberries have come and gone (and maybe cherries too?), when I left school was still in session, but now it’s after the 4th of July and summer is in full swing. First things first: did you see the game yesterday?? My, oh my, oh my. Poor Brazil. I feel somewhat guilty (like […]

Categories: cilantro, main course, quick & easy, vegetarian, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes, vegetarian

Rhubarb Char Siu

22 April 2014 by local kitchen

I picked up another pig CSA from Millstone Farm a couple of weeks ago, and with it came a teeny-tiny pork butt roast – less than 2 pounds! Typically when you get a pork shoulder from one of these heritage breed pigs, they are massive: 5 – 8 lbs, bone-in and with a layer of fat that could choke, well, a pig. I’m often too lazy to break these suckers down (or to wait the couple of days it takes […]

Categories: 100% local, grill, main course, pork, rhubarb, roasting, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, pork, recipes

Citrus Saltines

18 April 2014 by local kitchen

I get a lot of questions from people asking how I use my citrus salt. I’ve got to admit, they sort of baffle me because, well, how do you use regular salt? That’s how you can use citrus salt. Use it in soups or stews, season meat, add it to bread, muffins or scones, garnish a salad or a baked potato or chocolate chip cookies. The uses for citrus salt are nearly as endless as for salt itself. There are […]

Categories: baking, snack, whole wheat flour, year round • Tags: cooking, food, local, quick & easy, recipes