When I considered what I would plant in my garden in the spring after Ole had finished placing each and every rock around the bed, I really just picked things that I liked. I didn’t do much planning or thoughtful introspection. I knew I wanted a kitchen garden, a potager, and already had my herbs in pots. I went to the farmer’s market, looked around, found a few things I knew I wanted like everbearing strawberries and tomatoes, picked out a few more items and then I just went for it.... more

It’s summer in Minnesota, and that can mean many things to many people.  For me, it’s not really summer until the road side stands pop up offering cucumbers, melons, potatoes and, of course, sweet corn.  Now, it can’t be just any kind of sweet corn.  You see, I grew up spoiled.  My Uncle Duane had a farm in Southern Minnesota where he raised beef cattle, soybeans and sweet corn, and when the corn was ripe, he’d call my dad and we’d grab a stack of paper bags, head... more

Have you tried to buy salt lately? The aisle has been overrun by grinders, Mediterranean sea salt, Celtic salt, pink Himalayan salt, kosher salt, the familiar iodized and many others. Cooking shows and recipe books specify “kosher salt” and “sea salt,” and there are even restaurants focused around one specific type of salt. How do you know which salt to use when in your everyday cooking? We typically have three varieties of salt in our house for cooking purposes: iodized... more

We eat a lot of avocados.  I like them.  In case you hadn’t noticed. Avocados are a lot like mushrooms. People either hate them or they love them, and then there’s a group that just has never tried them because they were never introduced to them when they were sitting around their dinner table at night in third grade. I urge you to give them a try. They’re good for you. Avocados are wonderful sources of B vitamins, fiber, folate and potassium, which can help lower blood pressure.... more