The Springpad Thanksgiving Menu Contest
on Nov 17, 2009 in Announcements Featured Springpad Have you planned your Thanksgiving menu yet? I confess it’s just over a week away and and we are still finalizing the menu. Right now we know we are having turkey—we already have the turkey in hand—and some kind of rolls, the rest is still to b...

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie with Whole Wheat Crust
on Nov 16, 2009 in Dessert Featured Holidays alcohol chocolate nuts pies & tarts Thanksgiving vegetarian whole grains We did it. I can’t believe it’s true, but we planted two pecan trees in our yard. We spotted them at Lowe’s in late September and selected a Sumner Pecan and a Stuart Pecan. We are slightly north of the growing zone for the Sumner, but our area...

Weekend Gardening: Transition from Summer to Winter
on Nov 15, 2009 in Featured Gardening Summer to winter sounds like a big jump, and that’s how it felt around here for a couple weeks. We hit a cold snap in mid October that caught the garden and us by surprise. Daytime temperatures dropped into the 40s, and though we didn’t have a fr...

Whole Wheat Pie Dough
on Nov 12, 2009 in Dessert Featured pastry pies & tarts whole grains Though we’ve had a few detours along the way, we remain committed to our resolution to use more whole grains in our baking, and pie dough was next on the list to change. I’ve tried a number of whole wheat pie dough recipes, and this is one of my...

Drop In & Decorate
on Nov 9, 2009 in Announcements Featured In December 2008 our family hosted our first Drop In & Decorate event in our home. We opened our house up to friends and neighbors, anyone who wanted to drop by and make one cookie or several cookies to donate to families in need during the holid...

Spiced Persimmon Cake with Dates and Lemon Glaze
on Nov 4, 2009 in Dessert Featured Grow Your Own cakes fruit vegetarian We discovered the persimmon tree in September when we noticed the golden orbs hanging from the branches. We hadn’t paid attention to the tree before because it was in a relatively inaccessible area behind our house and we had no idea what it was or...

Grow Your Own #37 Round-up
on Nov 2, 2009 in Grow Your Own GYO round-up Based on the emails I’ve received lately, my announcement of the Grow Your Own winter hiatus seems to have sparked concern, and I want to thank everyone for thinking of us. We are all well, no health problems, home life is just a little overwhelmin...

Papas Criollas (Tiny Yellow Potatoes)
on Oct 26, 2009 in Appetizers Featured Vegetables Colombian gluten-free potatoes vegan One of my fondest food memories is of the tiny round potatoes known as papas criollas from Colombia. The Colombian papas criollas grow wild in the Andes highlands and have a thin, tender skin and a buttery yellow interior that yields an amazing flavo...

BBA Challenge: Cornbread with Bacon
on Oct 19, 2009 in Breads Featured BBA Challenge I realized as I started this challenge that I had forgotten to mention the cinnamon and sticky buns, which I actually made for the first time two years ago with The Daring Bakers. Since I had made them for a previous challenge I decided I did not nee...

Oven-Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
on Oct 16, 2009 in Featured Grow Your Own Mexican Tex Mex Vegetables gluten-free low-fat vegan Have I ever mentioned that purple is my favorite color? I find the color exhilarating and like plants that bear purple fruits and vegetables, including tomatillos. Our tomatillo plants were slow this year along with everything else in the garden. The...