Italian plums will always remind me of my mom when we were growing up, her delight when plum season arrived in the summertime, and her two bite technique for eating these plums out of hand, deftly plucking the pit from the halved fruit and forging ahead with the second bite without a hitch. She…
Category: Preserves
Dominguez Canyon Jalapeno Peach Hot Sauce
Peach season has come ’round again. This year, we had such a hot and cold spring that early blossoming orchards in the North Fork Valley where I live have been mostly ill-fated. But to the west, on the Colorado – Utah border, peaches have popped. Luscious, organic peaches from Dominguez Canyon …. I love to…
Plums – under a rain soaked sky
I have been eating. Truly. I have been thinking about recipes, and making them, and then sitting down somewhere and actually eating them. But my recent move – back to the countryside ’round Paonia, Colorado from the city, has added fullness and textures and people that are being juggled, and huggled, sifted and arranged. I…
The April Fool’s Day Banana, along with a tasty recipe for Banana Jam
Long ago, in the cavern of time, when I was a young mom and my son was 8 or 9, there was the celebrating of every holiday together, and particular fun come April 1st. According to the scholarly words of Wikipedia: “April Fools’ Day (sometimes called All Fools’ Day) is an informal holiday celebrated every year on…
God is in the Details ~ and the Christmas Pears
God – Goddess – Creator – Holy Spirit – Allah – Universal Light – is definitely in the details. However you perceive the life force, the movement of this un-nameable essence flows throughout everything. I pray we are moving towards that time when we realize we are all believing in the same thing. And let go of the…
Spring Crepes with Fresh Goat’s Milk Yogurt and Maple Sugared Violets
A sweet dessert to stun your loved ones with the fantastic fact that it is Spring… …started out like this, here’s the Girls giving some smooches… (take a visit to Rain Crow Farm in my herbed goat cheese au poivre post): …and then into the kitchen to make a batch of tangy, luscious goat’s milk yogurt….
Welcoming Bees … in the Apricot Blossoms
There is always something to be grateful for. The heady buzzing, dizzying swoop and impulses of bees. I stand near the apricot blossoms, opening today in April 3rd sun, and the bees navigate instinctively, intently, all around me, paying me no mind. What is it like, guided by scent and temperature through the world? Diaphanous whir…
Bee Heaven, Elderberry Syrup, and a Sunrise Smoothie
When I first visited this amazing Paonia, Colorado home in July of 2011, and was taken into the back yard, I fell in love. The grape bower made of old tree limbs, with a shady alcove to sit underneath -looking out at a rich garden plot beyond. And the towering bushes framing the garden, were loaded, LOADED with elderberries….
Lemon Curd and Other Love Stories
I walked into my bedroom after a busy day today and realized I hadn’t had time to make the bed this morning – a typical daily ritual before heading downstairs. It triggered the memory of the lines of a poem. I wrote it years ago, the day after the man I eventually married left my…
Amaretto Pear Preserves
Pears and almonds go together like childhood friends. It’s true! This pear preserves recipe has a wonderful depth added by flavoring with a little Amaretto (Italian almond liqueur), fresh nutmeg, and honey. So easy, and lushly delicious, like these pears it was made from this afternoon. Assembling ingredients for a recipe like this brings a smile….
Paonia Peaches! Elderberry peach crisp, Frangelico peach preserves, Serrano peach hot sauce
The North Fork Valley of Colorado where I live is blessed with so many orchards, most of them organic. In mid – August, everyone was talking about JJ’s peaches, u-pick for 1.25 a lb. I decided to drive up to Lamborn Mesa during the height of the earliest picking season, on a coolish morning which was quickly warming…
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…
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…
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…
Pachamama's Beautiful Food 