Pineapple sage was a new addition to the herb garden this year. What an amazing plant. First of all, the leaves taste like pineapple. And it smells like it, too. Mine hasn’t flowered yet, but it will also bloom with beautiful reddish pink flowers that attract humming birds.
It’s taken off well in the garden. Some of the older leaves are burning in the sun, but I was pleased to find some new, pretty growth in the inner part of the plant. It seems to be sticking around.
I had a purple basil plant back in our Kentucky garden. I love the deep purple color it adds to a landscape that is otherwise all green. When I found one here earlier this spring, I decided to give it a go.
After our first hot spell, I thought it had bit the dust. The strong sun here tends to turn the leaves a brownish gray, not the purple I was hoping for. But a couple weeks ago, it started coming back a bit. I’ve upped the watering and it now has new purple leaves peeking out.
Next year I think I’ll try it in more shade, but for now, I have enough purple basil for garnishes and cocktails.
I’m still working on cracking the code for successfully growing food here in the Central Valley. Blueberries and citrus are going well and I can pull off some kale through winter.
Peppers last year were a no go, and I’ve murdered a few tomato plants as well. As I continue to attend workshops and talk with others, I’m slowly gaining more knowledge. I do see a few tomatoes and maybe an eggplant in the near future.
The first time we walked through this house, before we even made an offer, I knew I wanted that wall to go.
We liked the house as it was, of course. In fact, the kitchen was much more updated than most of the houses we’d looked at. But what could have been a beautifully open space when this house was built was turned into a cramped spot with a blocked view.
It was also brown. Oh man, I am simply not a fan of the neutrals and browns family of colors. I feel like people have gone to town with those colors with this idea that they go with everything. Well, they really only go with other browns and neutrals.
I wanted gray, I wanted white and bright, and I wanted…subway tile.
And that wall I was talking about. It was this one.
When you have a party there is always one thing that no one ends up eating or drinking. At least there always is for me. It’s usually that thing I bought just to make sure all the bases and guests preferences were covered.
During our 4th of July party a few weeks ago it was the lemonade I bought to make sure those who weren’t drinking alcohol had some options. It was just a jug of organic Trader Joe’s lemonade, but once the party ended it went back in the fridge unopened and has been in there ever since.
I expected I’d use it in cocktails or something later this summer. Then we walked past a coffee shop during our trip to the Seattle area this past weekend, and the whiteboard out front caught my attention.
Lemonade lavender smoothie.
I hate to say it, but I’m pretty sure my days of canning are over. Or at least on pause for a while.
I’m not opposed to doing it again, but I learned something pretty quickly after our big garden and endless canning motivation back in Kentucky – we can’t eat it all. Especially when it is jam, or jalapenos, or relish.
Salsa we did a pretty good job of polishing off, but the rest of it? It was just too much to have around or even to give away.
These days my time is spent making small batches of jam in a saucepan and popping it in the fridge, versus a water bath for long term storage. Same goes for pickling – it is small batch quick pickling all the way.
Growing up we always had cucumber salad in the summer made with a sugar and vinegar dressing.
I still make a similar version, but with a bit less sugar. Occasionally I throw in other veggies which is how this salad came about.
When we travel abroad and find ourselves at a hotel breakfast, one thing I always have my eye out for is muesli.
Up until food bloggers in the U.S. started recreating it as overnight oats, it had never caught on in the States. And it’s still not something you are going to see out much.
In other places, it’s a continental breakfast standard. And despite the fact that I’m usually not huge on soaked, mushy things, it has always been a welcomed find.
I’m not sure what prompted me to make up a batch last week. It was either the hot summer weather, or that I’d made a round of homemade almond milk and wanted to use it up.
Either way, I found myself inspired to make a new muesli creation.
So I’m happy to say that Fake Food Free has transitioned to the Substack Newsletter called Every Corner of the World.
I hope to see you there.
I rarely have an occasion to make sangria, but last week we had a little Fourth of July party to break in the new kitchen. It was a simple affair – charcuterie, salad, and sausages on the grill. I had a lot of fruit around so stepping things up in the drink department seemed like a good idea. A fellow blogger and friend visited the Saturday prior and brought us some beautiful plums. I’ve also been trying to take advantage of the last few days of berry season around here so I’ve been buying up way more than we can eat. Sangria was a natural fit for all the fruit. Continue Reading…This post is sponsored by Sahadi’s.
Food access is important in my line of work. Well, if you love food, regardless of the type of work you do, it’s important. But when you are tasked to make specific foods or need to photograph a certain ingredient, you have to find it.
I’m the first one to admit that regularly accessing what I need isn’t always easy around here. Of course, this comes after spending 10 years in the surprisingly excellent local food scene of Central Kentucky, and then a few more years in the Bay Area. Which, I mean, come on. What can’t you find in the Bay Area?
Internet shopping for groceries is not only a fun pastime these days, it’s often a necessity.
When I was in Italy attending Meeta’s food photography workshop back in May, we were given the opportunity to pick from loads of gorgeous produce to take outside and photograph. And as I just mentioned – Italy. So you know everything was perfectly ripe, heirloom, and stunning. The tomatoes were the most coveted item, beautiful varieties I hadn’t seen before.
When it came time to gather our things and head outside, my Cut Throat Kitchen style grabbing skills failed me, though. The tomatoes were the first to go.
After coming in second place for those, I started to eye the olives on the table. My first thought was – these would look great with those tomatoes – but those beauties weren’t coming back any time soon. I had to get more creative.
