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 [...]

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, [...]

Sunday at the grocery store I saw the most gorgeous artichokes on sale for $1.50 each.  It was all I could do to not buy 10 of them.  Have I mentioned that artichokes are one of my favorite things?  I know some people think they’re too fussy and too much work for too little reward, [...]

I can’t remember where I found this recipe, but it’s been saved in my “keepers” folder for a while.  The original recipe calls for leek and a few other things that I didn’t happen to have around.  So I made a substitution, an addition, and … well … yum! The photograph above doesn’t adequately show [...]

Quesadillas are one of my standby lunch items.  They’re so easy to make, taste yummy, and can be stuffed with a huge variety of leftovers. I always use my Lodge Logic 6″ Skillet for making quesadillas. It’s a perfect size for the smaller flour tortillas, and of course cast iron conducts heat so beautifully that [...]