Live, Love & Sustain

What’s The Word, Curd?

I want to tell you today about something new to me that I’ve fallen in love with–blueberry curd. Even more than that, I want to tell you about Kate. She inspires me. At the risk of sharing too much about her, I’ll try to be brief.

Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers

We’re growing lots of peppers in our raised wall containers so I put several of them to good use at this week’s Home Ec. Home Ec is an event started in Toronto by Joel & Dana at Well Preserved (definitely check ’em out!) that’s spread to Columbus. Basically, people of all culinary skill levels who may/may…

Peach-Pecan-Pistachio Pull-Apart Bread with Elderflower Glaze

I had to schedule an 8am meeting with coworkers last week. I felt so bad about it that I told them I’d make something for breakfast. I was thinking something like scones or a huge fruit salad, then it dawned on me that I could make pull-apart bread. I wanted something fresh and spring-like, which…

Violet Syrup

There’s not much better than the gift of spring flowers and foliage after a long and seemingly endless winter. To that end, I’ve been taking every opportunity to celebrate the return of visible life & recovery. I’ve also recently taken up running (to be honest–jogging) as a hobby/fitness routine. I’ve noticed so many violets popping…

Something I Love: Microplane

I recently read an article where a chef was asked her favorite tool/utensil in the kitchen. I don’t recall the answer and it wasn’t the first time I’d seen that question asked of someone. I just kept thinking there’s no way I could answer because I couldn’t do what I do in the kitchen without…

Growing Our Family

This is likely the most personal thing I’ve ever written that will be made available to a public audience, but I’m doing so for multiple reasons. First, I’m choosing not to hold this in any more. As an extrovert I often need to express myself in order to process through thoughts and emotions fully. Second,…

One Year of Blogging

The ride so far… It’s hard to believe, but it’s been one year since I wrote my first blog post. In that year, I’ve written 40 posts– largely food-related–and have interacted with quite a few folks I’d have likely not met otherwise. I rented a domain to give this blog a proper home and even started…

Spring Cleaning Challenge: Week In Review

Well, we made it. No one was harmed or suffered too much during the challenge. All tolled, we ended up using over 20 things from the freezer, avoided buying any groceries all week and only went out to eat the two times I mentioned in my mid-week check-in post. So, what’d we make? Was it…

Spring Cleaning Challenge: Mid Week Check-In

Okay, so Sunday I announced that I’d be embarking on a freezer spring cleaning. You can read the rules here. It’s now Wednesday. Here’s how things stand: As far as not eating out, I had two pre-scheduled business meetings–last night (Tuesday) for dinner and another today (Wednesday) for lunch so I’m giving myself an out…

Spring Cleaning Challenge

Loving to cook and not wanting to waste means our freezer fills up pretty regularly. I also like to make large batches of things like soup to enjoy on days when I don’t feel like/have time for cooking. The bad part is I also get bored eating the same things often and I want to…

Shaken, Not Stirred

I freely admit that I’m highly susceptible to the power of suggestion. I recently read a recipe in Bon Appetit for a shaken egg white cocktail. Fast forward a few days to when I was in the mood for a nightcap. I decided to give it a try. Here’s what I did:

Spinach-Artichoke Ricotta Pie

We had a frozen pie crust left over from Christmas brunch, several eggs that needed using, as well as a bunch of ricotta that I overbought the last time we made lasagna. If you follow this blog, you probably know how much I don’t like to waste things. So, I decided to make use of all…