homemade |

On the tyranny of homemade

21 May 2014 by local kitchen

I ran out of peanut butter this morning. Alert the media! There was just enough for a thin schmear across my morning toast. Which, in the grand scheme of things, obviously ranks very, very low on the scale of Things That Are Wrong With The World: somewhere between breaking a nail and having to dig through your cluttered closet for 10 minutes to find your favorite green flip-flops. But it got me thinking. In my head, as I painstakingly harvested […]

Categories: random musings • Tags: DIY, food, homemade, random musings

Mustard in Jars

17 August 2011 by local kitchen

I’m honored to be a guest blogger on Food in Jars this week while Marisa enjoys a well-deserved vacation with her husband Scott. My post is up today on FiJ, and is a basic mustard tutorial, with recipes for Classic Dijon and Bourbon Brown Sugar mustards. If you haven’t yet taken the mustard plunge, this post has everything you need to get started – surf on over and check it out. If you are already rocking the homemade mustard, scope out this mustard […]

Categories: mustard • Tags: canning, food in jars, homemade, mustard, preserving

Avocado Beeswax Hand Salve

7 April 2011 by local kitchen

Back before Christmas, when I was making the hand cream and body scrub for gifts, I stumbled upon a recipe for a hand salve made with beeswax. Naturally, I was excited by this, because beeswax can be local: emulsifying wax? Not so much. So I made a tiny batch, using organic avocado oil, as a gift for my friend Nadine, who, like me, has a tendency towards “difficult” skin, especially on her hands. In the holiday craziness, I never had the chance to take […]

Categories: home goods, year round • Tags: avocado, beauty, beeswax, hand salve, homemade

Homemade Hand Cream

15 February 2011 by local kitchen

I am a crocodile. Well, not literally, obviously (opposable thumbs being a great boon to typing ability) but my skin is so dry, especially in winter, that it feels more true than not. Given that both of my grandmothers were Irish and one grandfather was Scottish, 75% of my DNA is used to a moist, mild climate. Not the description I would use for this buried-in-snow, always-below-freezing New York winter. Just before Christmas, I stumbled upon this recipe for homemade […]

Categories: home goods • Tags: body lotion, frugal, hand cream, homemade, quick & easy, recipes, thrifty

Dark Days: Local Corn Tortillas

16 January 2011 by local kitchen

I think next month’s Dark Days goal is going to be post two meals at least a week apart. Or maybe at least a post apart. Never let it be said that I cannot procrastinate with the best of ’em. Apparently, Arizona is still on my mind because I’ve been craving corn tortillas. I’ve wanted to try homemade corn tortillas for some time now, but there have always been a few problems with that plan: firstly, masa harina, the traditional corn […]

Categories: 100% local, breads, corn, techniques, year round • Tags: cooking, corn, food, homemade, how to, local, recipes, tortillas, vegetarian

Homemade Granola

7 April 2009 by local kitchen

Tai had this for breakfast this morning and hasn’t stopped talking about how wonderful it was. I don’t even like granola, and I never eat cereal, but on tasting this, I was tempted to have a bowl; it is that good. And really simple to make – I don’t know why I didn’t do this ages ago. I’m always trying to get Tai to cut down on the boxed cereal he loves, because it contains so much sugar (not to mention the […]

Categories: breakfast, cherries, cranberries, fruit, nuts, oats, raisins, vegetarian, year round • Tags: breakfast, cooking, food, granola, homemade, local, recipes, vegetarian