I’ve read “Dear Abby” for years and years. Handled the column during my newspaper days. But never felt moved to write a letter to her (or her daughter, who now handles the column) until a couple of months ago.
A young woman wrote in worried about her cooking shortcuts. Neither she nor her husband cared for cooking, both worked outside the home, and she was Continue reading
Learned a new food word recently: Kickshaw. (No, not related to “rickshaw.”)
I bumped into it in “Food in History,” by Reay Tannahill (Crown Publishers Inc., Continue reading
Sauerkraut, potato chips and tomato soup can put a little harmless April Fools’ Day fun on your dessert table. Photo by Laura Groch
As April Fools’ Day approaches, we’ll see plenty of ideas from clever, creative sorts for cakes, cookies and other foods transformed into things they are not, the better to turn the tables on folks. Such as cakes turned into what looks like, oh, scrambled eggs or hamburgers, or cookies turned into carrots, and the like.
Such “Fooler Foods” bring to mind some of our efforts at the now-defunct Times Advocate newspaper, precursor to the also-now-defunct North County Times.
Our Food Department was me, whichever feature reporter was free at the time, Continue reading
Welsh cakes in their native habitat. A UK grocery store, that is. Unprepossessing in appearance, they turned out to be surprisingly good. (Photo by Laura Groch)
Ah, St. Patrick gets all the love in March, but there’s another UK saint who deserves remembering, and that’s St. David. His feast day is March 1 (oops), and among other things, he’s known for urging his flock to “do ye the little things in life.” Not a bad sentiment.
I’m bringing up the Welsh saint as a (shameless) segue into talking about Welsh cakes, about which I’ll have more in a moment. This is my wordy way of returning to sharing observations about our (fairly) recent Scottish/English Continue reading
The “buttery” (or at least part of it) containing “Crowdie” served at the Scottish Cafe and Restaurant at the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh. Photo by Laura Groch
Jack in the Box’s recent ads for their new “buttery” burger reminded me that I haven’t written anything about our Scottish adventure, and the tale of “The Buttery and the Crowdie.”
We took a wonderful trip to Scotland last September: Edinburgh, Inverness and Orkney, the last of which is very far north and off the mainland (Orkney encompasses several islands full of WWII history and ancient monoliths). The scenery and history were magnificent; the people were so friendly; and the food, Continue reading
Easy-to-prepare Hershey’s Deep, Dark Chocolate Cake (shown here with peanut-butter frosting) is a delicious treat for Valentine’s Day or any special occasion. (Photo by Laura Groch)
Best wishes to everyone for a sweet Valentine’s Day — which doesn’t have to be as commercial as all the advertising that’s been surrounding us for the past two weeks. Kisses, hugs, small kindnesses and heartfelt words will have a longer-lasting impact than candy, flowers or jewelry. (Not that I’m knocking candy, flowers or jewelry.)
But telling and showing the people you care for that you do care for them doesn’t Continue reading
People come up with some amazing ideas using beans at the annual Lima Bean Festival. Marcy Jimenez and Mackenzie Willkins created brownies. (Want more bean ideas? Contact the San Dieguito Heritage Museum.) (Photo by Laura Groch)
Gray day in SoCal today, so in solidarity with our East Coast br-r-r-ethren, I think some warming foods are in order. Here are a couple of winners from the 2014 Lima Bean festival, held in September at the San Dieguito Heritage Museum in Encinitas. For the past several years, I’ve been honored to help with the judging (yes, I work cheap) of this boisterous, fun event.
Both recipes are hearty enough for chilly weather, and both would make fine additions to your Super Bowl table (you are planning more than chips and dip, right?).
BTW, if you’ve never visited the museum, or attended the festival, I can Continue reading
My Thanksgiving blunder yielded a sparkling clean fridge, and this warm apple-cranberry crisp. (Photo by Laura Groch)
Being an experienced cook — even of the home variety — doesn’t guarantee perfection. Memories lapse, attention wanders, and before you know it, disaster strikes.
One lesson I learned early is not to cook when I’m angry. Many years ago, my husband and I were experimenting with what was then a new food on the American scene — tofu. I couldn’t tell you today what we were bickering about, but as we argued, we stir-fried the heck out of that poor block of soy. By the time we were finished, so was the tofu — a pulverized mess. And we had to eat it, because there was nothing else.
On another afternoon (also many years ago), Continue reading
Want to freshen that cranberry sauce? Try adding some orange peel (left), crystallized or candied ginger (right) or a bit of chopped jalapeño pepper (top). Or perhaps a blend of all three. (Photo by Laura Groch)
Thanksgiving oughta be when we make life-altering resolutions, not the new year. I think we have a lot better chance of achieving new goals when they’re food-based, not regret- and hangover-based. So I offer my Thanksgiving resolutions:
1) Have lots of food. I attended two dinners with a hostess who doled out the Continue reading
The bean scene was lively at the 2013 Lima Bean Festival held at the San Dieguito Heritage Museum in Encinitas, Calif.
Time once again to make the bean scene! I’m referring to the sixth annual Lima Bean Festival and cooking competition put on from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday (Sept. 27) by the San Dieguito Heritage Museum at 450 Quail Gardens Drive, Encinitas, California. Folks, when other tasting events can run you upward of $35 a pop, this is a nicely priced alternative at $15 adults and $5 kids (for advance tickets) or $20 adults on event day. Buy them at www.sdheritage.org/limatickets.php.
And the cuisine on call isn’t just lima beans — other legumes are in play, in
beyondbites 