Eating Local in the Summer Is Easy
Despite the sweltering, miserable, suffocating heat of Mississippi in the summer, I still adore this time of year because I am able to grow a lot of my own food, watch hummingbirds (from a distance though because they're a little too much like big bees for my taste), and have daylight until after 8pm. I also enjoy buying vegetables from an old man on the side of the road and going to the farmers' market. Side note: This year, my husband and I are even running a booth at the market. We bake and sell fresh bread. It's...
Soup for a Sore Throat
I was sick a few weeks ago. Really sick. Ed's band had a show out of town, so I was home alone for the weekend and wanted to cook something that would last until I was well. My option: thaw out some chicken stock, throw some vegetables in a pot, and sit on the couch while it cooked. It was pretty good, so I'm now (several weeks later) going to share the recipe. You will need: 3-4 carrots 1 onion 3-4 garlic cloves 1 turnip...
Boardtown Organics: My Solution for Local, Free-range Chicken and Eggs
As you all know, I have sworn off non-local meat, and, although Sanderson Farms is a Mississippi company, that’s not quite what I was going for with “local.” So far this year, my meals have been mostly meatless until recently when I got a deer, just about as local as you can get. But I was looking around on Local Harvest and discovered a family farm just outside my door. Boardtown Organics (Boardtown, by the way, is what Starkville was before it was Starkville) is a small operation just outside the city limits, but I don’t...
Deer Meal #1: The Deerburger Steak
I know you’re all anxiously awaiting a venison update, and I’ve now got one to share. About two weeks ago, we got our deer. I bet she was pretty, but, when she arrived to us (and by arrived, I mean that I picked her up under an overpass in nowhere Mississippi around 7PM—I think this makes the experience so much better), she had already been processed and came in vacuum-packed packages of ground meat, steak, roast, and cured sausage. I quickly thawed out one package of the ground meat (probably about 1.5 lbs. or so) and proceeded to make “hamburger”...
New Year’s Resolutions and Deer
I usually make a resolution or two each year, and just like everyone else, I fall off the wagon at some point on some of them, but others stick. For instance, last year, I made these resolutions: Eat fish twice a week Cook food from a different country each month Eat a mono-unsaturated fat (MUFA) with each meal Drink no more than two cokes a week I failed pretty miserably at the second one. I bought two cookbooks about food from Spain, the country chosen for January, and promptly stopped there. The others I did fairly well at for most of the year. I ordered...
Learning to Cook a Meatless Meal for a Crowd
A good friend is in town for a few weeks, and we had him and some other friends over for dinner last night. Because one of my New Year’s resolutions is to only eat local meat, preferably with no added hormones, and I haven’t acquired said meat yet, I needed a veggie meal that could feed a crowd and was hearty and filling. I opted for one of my favorites: baked penne with vegetables. I’ve used a variety of vegetables and cheeses in the past, but I think the version last night is one of my...
Learning How to do Thanksgiving, Part 4, the Final Installment: The Rest
I’m staying home for Thanksgiving this year. My husband and I decided to do some projects around the house and to simultaneously try our hands at cooking a Thanksgiving meal this year. We aren’t spending the holiday with extended family, but we are spending it with family (because two people who are married, even if they don’t have children, still count as a family). Item #4 on the list: everything else. To complement our tasty turkey and dressing, we made mashed potatoes and gravy, sautéed Brussels sprouts, bread, and butter pecan ice cream. And lots of wine.
Learning How to do Thanksgiving, Part 3: The Dressing
I’m staying home for Thanksgiving this year. My husband and I decided to do some projects around the house and to simultaneously try our hands at cooking a Thanksgiving meal this year. We aren’t spending the holiday with extended family, but we are spending it with family (because two people who are married, even if they don’t have children, still count as a family). Item #3 on the list: the dressing. Anyone who makes bad dressing (read: runny, dry, crumbly, tasteless) is talked about on the way home from grandma’s house. In the South,...
Learning How to do Thanksgiving, Part 2: Smoking a Turkey
I’m staying home for Thanksgiving this year. My husband and I decided to do some projects around the house and to simultaneously try our hands at cooking a Thanksgiving meal this year. We aren’t spending the holiday with extended family, but we are spending it with family (because two people who are married, even if they don’t have children, still count as a family). Item #2 on the list: still the turkey. We successfully smoked a turkey, and I was right about my hunch that you can throw anything in the brine. Our turkey was...
Learning How to do Thanksgiving, Part 1: Brining a Turkey
I’m staying home for Thanksgiving this year. My husband and I decided to do some projects around the house and to simultaneously try our hands at cooking a Thanksgiving meal. We aren’t spending the holiday with extended family, but we are spending it with family (because two people who are married, even if they don’t have children, still count as a family). Item #1 on the list: the turkey. We have cooked turkeys before, but nothing of this magnitude. Usually we buy a 3-6 lb. turkey breast to cook in the oven for sandwich meat. This...
Now Reading
Planned books:
None
Current books:
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The Western Intellectual Tradition, from Leonardo to Hegel by Jacob Bronowski
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The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
Recent books:
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- Wandering Star (Lannan Translation Selection Series) by J.M.G. Le Clézio
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