Launching into Day Three of the Eat Local Challenge and the breakfast I made has brought me the most joy so far on this three week (and probably beyond) ride! These sweet stacks of silver dollar pancakes began their history in 2013, when I grew the magical Glass Gem corn in our garden on the…
Category: Preserving the harvest
Ginger Plum Butter
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…
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…
Glass Gem Corn Grinding Day
One of my wildest garden to table dreams came true. We grew a package of Glass Gem corn from Native Seeds out of New Mexico – and the harvest was a kaleidoscope, a celebration of awe. I posted ecstatically about this corn a while back in The First Magical Ear. But I am so happy to…
Perfect Picnic Thai Green Curry Pasta Salad
Thai green curry is an ongoing passion of mine. The herb-iness, the spice, the HOT, the coconut…… And, when I started to think about it, how perfect it is for outdoor summer eating adventures. Picnics. Instead of pesto in a salad. We grew a ton of basil last year as well as mint, and I…
Lemon Verbena Shortbread
Doesn’t the smell of lemon verbena make you just swoon with delight?! This summer our plant in the garden grew by leaps and bounds, and I would literally stick my face in it, rub my fingers in the leaves and breathe in the scent in deep, luxurious breaths. When I traveled to Ecuador in the…
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…
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…
A Grilled Spaghetti Squash, with Fresh Pulled Ramps! Tuscany Style Influenced-by-Paul-Newman Dinner
It’s a precious time, really, to spend an evening relaxing, laughing and cooking with family, especially when they have a nice balcony, great grill, enthusiastic epicurean appetites, and a little wine to share…along with pleasant breezes and a long weekend. With the garden just beginning to pop, my contribution was a thick handful of ramps, two varieties of…
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…
Spring Rolls with Japonica and Sushi Rice, Sesame Ginger Marinated Green Beans, Mixed Lettuce and — Sriracha!
I love the transformation that takes place with a round of rice paper when I make spring rolls ~ Whatever you choose to roll up inside, you create this beautiful, translucent, portable delight! Don’t you just love them? Sriracha – the oh-so-spicy Vietnamese hot sauce – makes everything a little bit brighter! A dot here, a…
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….
A Fervent Planting Day, Spring Altar, and Persian Soup
A wildness is coursing through my veins, bucking winter out of nooks and crannies with a single minded purpose. Get out in that dirt, and start digging. When I did, I immediately unearthed three carrots from last fall – they were crisp, and looked so inviting I came back inside, kicked off my shoes, and ate…
Garbanzo Artichoke Sliders with Sundried Tomatoes, Lemon Basil Pesto and Sweet Potato “Buns”
Believe it or not – with the Slider Craze that’s sweeping the globe, these are my first ever, though a very tasty jumping off point – sliders. Of course they are untraditional, because that’s just how it generally works in Pachamama’s cocina. Some folks steeped in slider tradition may even not believe they ARE sliders, but…
Pachamama's Beautiful Food 