balsamic dijon vinaigrette
This is another one of those fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants recipes that I came up with when I was (a) desperate for a quick and easy salad dressing and (b) tired of bruising my knuckles trying to get the last of the dijon out of the jar. (Hey, that stuff is spendy and I’m not gonna throw away the jar with mustard left in it!) So I start with this – a nearly empty jar... Read More
daring cooks | vanilla peach butter and canning
The September 2010 Daring Cooks’ challenge was hosted by John of Eat4Fun. John chose to challenge The Daring Cooks to learn about food preservation, mainly in the form of canning and freezing. He challenged everyone to make a recipe and preserve it. John’s source for food preservation information was from The National Center for Home Food Preservation. Ok, so the original challenge... Read More
grilled potatoes and summer squash
A lot of people have a hard time figuring out meals – how to choose side dishes, how to know what goes with what, etc. I get asked how I choose my side dishes a lot; it’s something people seem to have a particularly hard time with. Maybe this will give some insight into how I choose side dishes and mix and match things, often on the spur of the moment depending on... Read More
crustless ham + cheese quiche
This weekend turned out to be a cleaning weekend at Casa Kara. And because the majority of the cleaning focused on the freezer, fridge, and pantry, it also became a cooking weekend as I worked to use up a bunch of leftovers and bits and pieces. It also served as a bit of a “get back on track” weekend for me personally. My food choices the last few weeks have been... Read More
peachy goodness coming soon!
I have a ton of posts pending … just need to find the time to write up recipes and work on the images. Here’s part of what’s been taking up my time lately. 3 boxes of these take a while to process. More coming soon! Read More
daring cooks | pierogi
The August 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by LizG of Bits n’ Bites and Anula of Anula’s Kitchen. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make pierogi from scratch and an optional challenge to provide one filling that best represents their locale. This was a really fun challenge for me, although it definitely drove home why I don’t make stuff like this on a... Read More
tomato salsa
This week at the farmer’s market, it was all about the tomatoes. I bought 2 large bags of tomatoes at about $0.30 a pound. I knew immediately that I’d be making a huge batch of my summer-time standby salsa. This is one of those “recipes” that is really all about personal taste. The technique is applicable to any combination of ingredients you choose. Core... Read More
daring cooks | nut butters + chicken in peanut sauce
The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online. Much... Read More
let’s ramp things up, shall we?
Ok, guys and gals. It’s time for me to get this show on the road again, isn’t it? I have to admit that lately I’ve been flailing around with the blog a bit. I’ve lost focus for the content here and I haven’t felt much excitement about cooking or photographing food. But I think I’ve got my mojo back now and I’m ready to rock and roll. So... Read More
