Leek Gratin with Asiago Jarlsberg Mornay Sauce

Late fall and winter actually become easier to bear when it’s finally snowing, and just beautiful to be outside! What eases the early darkness of this season even more for me is, coming back indoors, watching a fire in the fireplace, and – let’s face it – the amazing foods of the season! Freshly pulled leeks are…

Strolling California … Lovely Markets and Other Treasures

Just home from a fantastic trip to San Francisco, Point Reyes, Stinson Beach, Napa and Sonoma deserves a small photo tribute, while I slowly return to life in Colorado … doing my best but still nearly speechless! (click on the first photo if you’d like a slideshow view) Of course, I am managing to savor luscious…

The First Magical Ear

I am so grateful to everyone with passion. For it is passion that makes life such a rich amazement. “Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer living in Oklahoma had an uncanny knack for corn breeding. More specifically, he excelled at selecting and saving seed from those cobs that exhibited vivid, translucent colors. Exactly how long Barnes…

Black Bean, Zucchini Pineapple Chili

Nearly blocked off from town by closed-due-to-the-flood highways, my pioneer spirit from a past life kicked in, high gear. So grateful we are not in the immediate path of high waters, it felt like a just right day to make chili with what was on hand. Grateful for the garden – for zucchini, and jalapenos….

Curry Pickles of Joy

Crunchy and absolutely delicious, these are the curry pickles of summer. Yes, these may be the pickles of your dreams. For one thing, if you grow salad style cucumbers, (we have a “burp-less” variety) and your vines are doing VERY WELL this season like ours are, you may at this point of the season have…

Haiku for a Melon

Grow mightily sweet in these dog days of summer, dream big, wee melon!

Wild Asparagus Soup and Other Joys

I spy asparagus! My good friend Loui and I took a walk with her dog Simon last week while I was visiting her and her husband up in northern Colorado. She brought several newspaper bags along – one for Simon – and two for picking the wild asparagus. Which reminds me of a little Jerry…

Coconut Rice, Peach and Ginger Dessert Spring Rolls

Roll #2. A smash hit at a birthday potluck badminton croquet party in the park yesterday. DESSERT spring rolls, delicious, with a spicy fruity dipping sauce to go with. What a beautiful day it was….it truly is finally spring time here in Paonia. Spring ROLL time. I’ve been on a spring roll roll the last…