Tom and I’s first date he made me dinner at his apartment. It was a simple yet tasty dinner but I was most impressed that not only that he could cook but also that he enjoyed it. One of his best dishes was spaghetti sauce from scratch. Everyone who ever tries it raves about it….
We love all things spicy. REALLY spicy. I was pissed when Sriracha changed their formula and became milder. That shit was the bomb and now I have to slather it on my food just to get some heat. We go through Tapatio like it’s going out of style. It’s only taken about a month for…
I probably chose the two most difficult fruits to find commercially to combine into one jelly. Rose hips are available, but they are generally dried, and difficult to remove the seeds from. But if you’re lucky enough to have a quince tree and rugosa roses this is a fantastic way to combine them into a…
If you have chickens you probably have a good supply of eggs. One of the many things you can make with them is homemade mayonnaise. When I was in high school there was this guy from France that was staying with us. He thought it was so strange that Americans bought mayo and kept it…
Preserves were the first thing I learned how to can. We got gobs and gobs of various fruits every year – from nectarines to strawberries to figs to persimmons and everything in between. They sit in our freezer taking up space. Then we decided that preserves would make awesome gifts for people. I haven’t bought…
We’ve made many changes in the garden this year. We’ve planted more responsibly; growing what we will actually harvest and eat, and what will produce well in our climate. We’re eating more seasonally now that we are depending more on our yard to provide most of our produce. We’re at a point where we may…
Radishes. The favorite crop of the impatient gardener. Reliable, easy, pretty, no-hassle. Radish seeds were the first I ever pushed into the ground. The first sprouts I coaxed into tiny plants; the first plants I ever raised all the way to harvest. A bunch of radishes always looked so impressive: I GREW these. In my…
When life gives you lemons, make lemon curd. Then ask life if you can come over to pick more lemons. Tell life you’ll trade for jars of curd. Life would be stupid not to comply. I had never made lemon curd before last week. Crazy, I know. I can make custard, jams, jellies, and roux…
(This recipe’s gonna be short. Which is good, since it’s great for those last-minute parties where you still want to be a snobby foodie, but don’t have the time to make something complicated.) It’s winter. It’s raining, and I feel like I haven’t been sufficiently warm or dry in weeks. Generally, I am not a…
One of the last battlefields in my quest to be self-sufficient has been condiments. Yes, I can bake my own bread, clean and dress a chicken, or make a kickass batch of Russian tea cakes (OMG – I need to make those again soon!), but when it comes to those little things – the mayonnaise*,…
Dog Island Farm is a small urban farm in the San Francisco Bay Area.
