Vegetarian – Page 3

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….

Watermelon Rind Pickles

September 8, 2015 Leave a Comment

I know summer is winding up, but you should really go get yourself one last watermelon, if only for the rind.

I did not grow up eating watermelon rind pickles, but a yellowed newspaper clipping lodged among my great-aunt Marnie’s recipes spurred me to give them a try.

Watermelon rind pickles are the ultimate in thrifty — made from the part of the melon that is usually discarded anyway.

This summer, we’ve been giving our watermelon rinds to the chickens for a cool and refreshing treat on super hot days, so they really weren’t going to waste, but I decided to set aside some rind for pickling purposes too and I’m so glad that I did….

Game Changer Peach Cobbler

August 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

When it comes to peaches, I am a cobbler girl all the way.

Sure, I like peach pie, and I would never turn down a crumble or crisp. I also love peaches sliced over my morning yogurt, eaten straight out of hand, baked into bar cookies with a shortbread crust or turned into preserves and spread on hot biscuits.

But, in my book, nothing beats peach cobbler.

The thing about cobbler is that there’s no one definition for it. We Southerners can get pretty passionate about cobbler, but even in the same general region (or, for that matter, even in the same family) two people can have vastly different ideas of just what constitutes this homey dessert.

My dad is a big fan of cobbler made with pie crust, similar to a deep-dish pie, with the possible addition of little scraps of dough tucked into the filling, so that they will bake up like almost dumplings.

Meanwhile, I was always adamant that the best cobblers were topped not with pie dough, but with barely-sweet buttermilk biscuits.

This summer my allegiance shifted. …