My youngest two boys and I are still at the family cottage in Michigan; to our great delight, our cottage neighbor extended an invitation to the boys to go fishing with him at dawn. The boys leapt at the chance and willingly trundled out of bed before 6:00 AM. To his great delight, Jon vanquished [...]

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Home-canned pickles are so much better than anything you get in the stores and SOOOOO much cheaper that it hurts me to buy them on the sad occasions that we run out. I try to avoid that by making large quantities every summer.
First off, I should admit that the recipe is not entirely my own–I [...]

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Every year we spend a couple of weeks in Michigan, living in a hundred-year-old cottage. This vacation always includes careful use of an ancient septic system, removal of entire mouse cities from cupboards, and battling swarms of fruit flies. Life is simpler and sometimes more primitive.
Cooking requires lots of creativity and innovation. Rarely do the [...]

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I received this comment from High Country Mom Tiffany, and thought we could call on the readers to suggest some resources for Gluten/Dairy free foods and recipes.  So comment away, High Country Moms and Dads! (Click on the title, then scroll to the bottom.
Michelle, from In the Life of a Child, a bloggy friend of [...]

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Do you make a weekly pilgrimage to the local farmers market? ….ah, the sounds and smells and colors make me glad to live in the Appalachian mountains! I’m always delighted when I find someone selling huge bunches of fresh basil. In fact, I probably can locate anyone selling basil with my eyes shut, the basil [...]

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I’m so glad that Sarah wrote about picking blueberries yesterday because blueberries make the most amazing fresh fruit pies. People in my house have been known to behave badly when blueberry pies are on the line.
Fresh fruit pies are some of the most delicious desserts on the planet. They’re also really nice to look at, [...]

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It’s going around again….sort of like a scourge….only it’s a scourge that tastes delicious and carries a lot of calories. Well, maybe it’s not really a scourge. It’s more like a chain letter, only with sweet bread! Most of you know what I’m talking about. Many of you have probably already done the whole squeeze-the-plastic-bag-for-the-first-six-days [...]

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This past year I had the wonderful privilege of feeding my second son’s friend and classmate twice a week. Nate’s Friend started out as a fairly picky eater; fortunately, he was a good sport. He ate everything I served and seemed to like just about everything. The highpoint for me of this food education occurred [...]

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Tomatoes, lovely tomatoes. I could rhapsodize for hours on the joys of perfectly ripe tomatoes. THESE are the tomatoes that I dream of all winter when the only tomatoes I can buy are pale, juiceless shadows of the real thing.
I have one son who will eat tomatoes like he’ll eat an apple. In fact, he’d [...]

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It’s here! Corn-on-the-cob time of the year has arrived! When I was growing up, I ate corn-on-the-cob the same way every time my mom cooked it. We’d slather the ears of corn up with butter, salt heavily, and fire up the teeth. Those days are, quite frankly, long gone.
Last summer I discovered a new way [...]

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