Isn’t it the memory of watermelons that makes us want to grow them? It is for me. I was in third grade, with a teacher named Ms. Hoover. Ms. The first woman I had ever known who wasn’t a Miss, or a Mrs. Ms. Hoover had teased up hair and big brown eyes that seem…
Category: Cooking
The Chokecherry Tree ~ and a fine dessert recipe of GF Honey Lavender Shortcakes with Caramelized Peaches and Chokecherry Syrup
I’m living in a sweet, residential neighborhood of a small town on the western slope of Colorado, the North Fork Valley. The street has a lush canopy of leaves, my home is a 106 year old renovated two story, with plenty of trees and flowers, and a rich garden plot in the back. It really…
KIMCHI !! Making Korean Sauerkraut straight out of a Colorado garden
I’ve been doing some miles on my kitchen floor these days – August is that glorious crazy time when winter visions of this season’s garden are coming into wild, abundant fruition and there is plenty to pick, eat and preserve! I love kimchi and have been waiting all season for my cabbages to arrive at…
Potatoes – Tomatoes; and an authentic Ecuadorian recipe from the Andean Highlands
I do have a reverence for the garden, which sustains me – with a love deep within my heart expanding into the earth. Digging potatoes is a marvelous treasure hunt, a reflection back out of the earth of all that love – and in gardens past, also a race against the wily and voracious wire worms. This year,…
Broccoli, Sharp Cheddar and Five Herb Soup with Peppered Cornbread
AND NEW KITCHEN GADGETS: While in Laramie, Wyoming I happened upon several great finds in Mimi’s consignment shop – the most exciting of which is this fantastic fish cast iron muffin pan! It’s made by the company Lodge from the U.S. I’m a big fan of cast iron cookware, and have quite a few pieces…
Hot off the Vine: Dolmades!
I’ve always wanted to prepare Greek dolmades – or dolmas from the VERY beginning. From scratch. So the following is my first experience! Living in the place I do has at least a couple dozen advantages, one of them being a BEAUTIFUL home made grape arbor you can sit under with coffee in the morning,…
The Pickle Chronicles
I planted 12 pickling cucumber starts around mid-May, and today picked the first mature cucumbers! YES. Where there are good spicy pickles, cold winter days are tolerable, and a grilled cheese sandwich elevates into heaven. There always seems to be an acclimating time after planting, before vegetables really take hold and begin to thrive. I spent…
A Moving-in Celebration (and) Eating Local in Denver
This weekend was a greatly anticipated trip to Denver to see my son and daughter-in-law, their new place in the city (and their two dogs, a beagle and chihuahua mix, and cat, of course!) Coming from my garden in rural Colorado and with the cherries, apricots and peaches literally bouncing off the trees right now gave me…
Apricots, a parade……and cooking dinner with friends on the Fourth of July
I was so happy to have a sweet invitation on the Fourth of July to come over to a friend’s house and cook dinner with a vibrant group of people. Living in a town of about 1600 folks with a few yearly festivals and lots of culture means that on July 4th the annual Cherry Days/Fourth of July…
Collard greens and andouille sausage with black eyed peas
For company last night, an impromptu delicious meal with collards and new potatoes from the garden. We started out with a glass of local Black Bridge Winery Chardonnay. These are my family’s heirloom crystal goblets. I remember family holiday dinners across the table from my twin sister Mary, tipping up these glasses as we’d drink our…
Sour Cherry Season – with recipes
The season of Cherries is upon us! These trees are in my friends’ expansive organic AND biodynamic orchard in Paonia, Colorado – in the fruit grower’s valley, THE fruit grower’s valley of the state. I have an Italian plum, small “summer” apple, a big grape bower with Reliance and Thompson seedless grapes, a small strawberry…
Welcome to Pachamama’s Beautiful Food!
Welcome to Pachamama’s Beautiful Food! I am filled with wonder and joy every moment and especially every morning when I walk outside and witness Creation first hand in my garden. Feeling, seeing, nurturing, hearing — which plants are speaking out, asking for, teaching me. And listening, with a fluid sense by-passing the ears themselves, inwardly,…
Pachamama's Beautiful Food 