I’m on a mission to fulfill a Birthday Cake Quest. Niki is looking for a birthday cake for a special little girl, who happens to be turning one towards the end of the month. There is a large spot carved out in each of the hearts of the kids here at our house for her. In fact, Kidney Bean’s first night of babysitting happened at her house. Looking to avoid the usual food-dye-laden birthday cakes, she is in search of something more on the natural side of things. My mission is to construct... more

Seeing as how my prior post about bacon wrapped tenderloin medallions glazed over a few steps, I will attempt to fill in these gaps for you.    Tenderloin went on sale again and this time for $4.99/lb – what a steal!  So, even though I had some of these goodies already prepared and waiting in the freezer, I decided to make some more.  The deal was just too good to pass up.  So this time around I was able to take more pictures to better illustrate the process of preparing these carnivorous... 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

I have a relatively large backyard for living in an urban area, yet my herb gardens live in pots. There are many reasons for this, but I first became a believer in the potted herbs after my first attempt at growing them. I had purchased seedlings and planted them hoping to serve more flavorful dishes to my family without handing over $3.00 every time a recipe called for fresh herbs. It was going well, my plants were growing, and then June appeared and brought with it a rash of thunderstorms. ... more

Photo by kretyen Tuesday is Cinco de Mayo, and while it is not the Mexican Independence Day (that’s September 16) and it is celebrated more in America than in Mexico, it’s a chance to make whatever your favorite Mexican dish happens to be and raise a glass in honor of your Mexican American friends. Here are a few of our favorite Mexican dishes from some of my favorite food blogs. Pico de Gallo – The Pioneer Woman Grandma Salazar’s Tamales – Delicious Days Beef Empañadas... more

I just wanted to thank Jessica Chapman at the City Pages for her write-up about my blog. For those of you that had a hand in making that happen (you know who you are), you are incredible. Did you see she called me personable AND useful? I don’t know that anyone has ever called me personable before, but it ain’t for lack of trying. I’ll admit I blushed from the sheer excitement of it all. It also made me think of what I’ve accomplished here since I launched in March. ... more

The past couple of weeks I’ve been having some…issues with a certain Kola Nut. He’s not a bad kid. In fact, he’s anything but. Still, he has moments of seeming malicious intent. Like the time he dumped all the soap out of the dispenser in the bathroom and filled it up with water. Last week. Or yesterday, when he decided to help Kumquat remove every item of clothing from her dresser so she could find the perfect outfit. What about the day he played “Master of... more