Fall

Diana Henry’s Uzbeki Carrots

November 18, 2015 Leave a Comment

I like carrots just fine.

They are readily available, inexpensive and versatile, well-suited to everything from roasting, to pickling, to scooping up hummus.

But they are not, generally speaking, all that interesting.

So when I saw Heidi Swanson describe this Uzbeki carrot recipe as exactly that on her website, 101 Cookbooks, I immediately began to pay attention.

The recipe originally comes from Diana Henry’s book, “A Change of Appetite,” and just like Heidi said, it is among the most interesting things I’ve ever seen anyone do with carrots. Somehow, the carrots, tomatoes, spices, herbs, dried fruit and honey all come together, turning one of the most mundane root vegetables into something truly intriguing.

I don’t really know anything about Uzbeki cuisine or even what about it is about this recipe that earns it the moniker, but if it is all as complex and nuanced as these carrots then I definitely want to learn more….

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies

October 9, 2015 2 Comments

A month ago, I was still solidly in summer mode, eating piles of cubed watermelon (and pickling the rind!) and hoarding the last of the season’s peaches.

But on social media and elsewhere it seemed like practically everyone else was pumped up for fall, getting a jump on Halloween decorations and counting down the days until a certain coffee retailer began hawking pumpkin-flavored lattes once again.

It always takes me a little while to warm up to the idea of colder weather and shorter days. The prospect of pumpkin in my coffee (blech) does nothing to help, but pumpkin in baked goods is another story altogether.

If there is one thing about fall that I look forward to, it’s pumpkin whoopie pies. …

Peanut and Greens Stew

September 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

When I was a little kid, we did not live very close to a public library.

The library was in another town, maybe about 45 minutes away from our house, and going there was a special treat that usually occurred only in conjunction with some far less appealing occasion, like a visit to the dentist.

But these days, E. and I go to the library about once a week. We go to story time, work a few puzzles in the children’s room and we each check out a few books. E. knows how to return books into the book slot (or “that big, big hole,” as he likes to say) and he stands on a stool to help me at the self-service checkout terminal. He even knows where to go to look for any books that we’ve reserved ahead of time.

We own a lot of books and I really do like seeing my favorites on the shelves in our family room and bedroom, but I’m also pretty happy to just borrow them from the library, especially since I don’t read most books more than once.

One exception is cookbooks. I really like owning cookbooks so that I can refer to them whenever I want.

Having said that, borrowing cookbooks from the library has exposed me to lots of books and recipes that I would otherwise have never come across, like this one for a hearty, vegan stew with an African vibe….

Cranberry Chutney

November 17, 2014 4 Comments

I always get a little excited when cranberries make an appearance at the grocery store, but then I never really get around to doing much with them. I toss a bag into the freezer and let it sit there until I eventually realize that I have an entire freezer full of cranberries, spotty bananas and the heels of bread that Paul refuses to eat and I refuse to throw in the garbage.

So this time, I resolved not to buy any cranberries until I knew what I was going to do with them first….