recipes

I’ve made cornbread for my family from a mix but never really used cornmeal before so I thought I would try it.  Cornmeal is a kind of flour that is made from ground sweet corn. After grinding it, you will sometimes see black specks in the cornmeal.  These are safe to eat. It comes in yellow, white, blue or red...

My grandmother makes the world's best rice pudding. She always made it for me when I was home sick from school and needed a warm treat to restore my health. It's amazing that I didn't try to skip more school just for an excuse to indulge in this delicious custard. It wasn't until college that I realized that rice pudding...

Chickpeas, also called garbanzo beans, are a staple of Middle Eastern cuisine and are the star of dishes like hummus and baba ganoush. I like them stirred into soups or paired with a curry sauce, but one of my favorite chickpea recipes is also the simplest way to eat these protein-packed beans. Roasted chickpeas are made with olive oil and...

Golden Carrot Soup Do you love carrots as much as I do? This simple soup is flavorful and versatile enough to be made in any season. It's a refreshing appetizer when  served chilled in summertime, or it can be a warming side dish or light main course when served hot in the autumn or winter months.  The bright, beautiful...

I love Thai food, but I rarely eat it because restaurants are pretty expensive where I live.  I was too intimidated by the complex flavors to try cooking it at home.  Enter coconut curry -- simple enough for a weeknight but with a taste that will knock your socks off. This dish comes together quickly, freezes well, and the flavor...

Sprouting is an easy technique that, with a little practice, can give you fresh, nutrient-dense seedlings year-round.  You can grow your own sprouts indoors, even in the heart of winter.  In general, producing  sprouts is as simple as placing some beans in a jar and helping them to maintain a humid environment for a few days. The process of sprouting...

There's a good chance that shepherd's pie, or "cottage pie," will bring a different dish to mind for almost every reader of this blog post. The shepherd's pie that I ate while growing up was made of beef and gravy with the classic mashed potato "crust," but there are now many, many variations to this theme.  The meat can be...

It’s reunion time at our house and that means pot-luck dishes and feeding extra people.  I always like to take a tried and true recipe to these gatherings.  I also like to experiment a little.  That’s why I made my favorite chocolate sheet cake with something I’ve never tried before:  buttermilk powder.  I also decided to be really daring by...

I'm in the process of moving , which is always an exciting time.   What could be bad about more storage space and a bigger yard? However, trying to pack and move across town while still working full-time  doesn't leave me with a lot of energy for anything else.   This baked oatmeal is a great way to save time in the...

Treats can be so yummy, but sometimes they’re needed at inconvenient times.  Recently this was the case at our home.  Needless to say, I was so happy I had all of the ingredients on hand in my pantry.  This reaffirmed to me the importance of storing food.  Even if you’re not into storing emergency items like wheat, rice and beans...