Get-Well Turkey and Vegetable Soup

It is turkey season again! Rick’s already been out once, bringing home a gorgeous 27 lb tom (cleaned and plucked, it was about 17 lbs of edible bits). We cleaned and froze the breasts, wings, and drumsticks for later meals, and made Hank Shaw’s Wild Turkey Marsala with the scrap bits from the breaking-down process….

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The Best Lasagna Ever

My name is Jessa, and I am a planner. You know the type: I’m an organizer, and I like when things are set up ahead of time. Yes, this is because I am totally OCD as well as being more than a little bit neurotic. Having plans in place is comforting, because then I don’t…

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Curry Rice and Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers

Controversy! Intrigue! Catfights! Who knew that a simple question like “what recipe should I post on my blog this week?” would elicit such strong responses? OK, I’m totally exaggerating. There were no catfights, nor was there really much intrigue. There was, however, controversy. Which is totally cool. It’s nice to know that people out there…

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Orange Braised Fennel

The rains have come again, bringing with them all sorts of delicious spring greens. I’ve spent the past few weeks starting lettuce and spinach (to be moved into the garden beds once this cold snap blows through), and am starting to notice all the delicious edibles popping up around empty lots and fields around the…

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German Cabbage

note: Rick went hunting on Wednesday. He got 5 ducks! We have been quite enjoying cooking with and eating them, and I have a post planned for next week about what-to-do-with-organ-meat and a wonderful no-brainer roasted whole duck recipe. I have some things I need to figure out how to say about hunting and meat…

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Hearty Winter Chili and Cornbread

I have never made chili. Well, I take that back. I have -now-. But before last week, I had never made chili. I’d eaten a lot of chili, sure – who hasn’t? And every time I tasted a chili that I particularly liked, I’d ask the person who made it what makes their recipe special….

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Rustic Hamburgers

It occurred to me recently that though I am an omnivore and am very proud of my choices regarding where the meat we have in the house comes from, I very rarely post recipes that involve it. Perhaps this is because I’m a bit of a purist: most of the meat we eat is consumed…

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Duck Fried Wild Rice

For the past four weekends, I have been working the Charles Dickens Christmas Fair at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. It is a beautiful reenactment of Victorian London at Christmas time, and a wonderful way to celebrate the holiday season. It’s great fun. It is also at times stressful, dramatic, and completely exhausting, like…

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