Category: Everything

What I’ve Been Up To: The Garden

What I’ve Been Up To: The Garden

It’s been a whole while since I’ve posted here; not for lack of cooking or ideas, but for lack of time. The past 3 months have been packed with things that had to be done, even if they weren’t the fun things. Things like unpacking, 

Thanksgiving 2022 Menu

Thanksgiving 2022 Menu

I finalized our Thanksgiving menu for this year. It’s pretty much the same as every other year. Thanksgiving is the one holiday that no-one in the family wants to mess with. We’ve pretty much perfected it with our combination sous-vide/deep fried turkey and sides that 

Overnight Chicken Stock

Overnight Chicken Stock

A while back I posted a recipe for Instant Pot chicken stock, and I still use that recipe once in a while when I need chicken stock quickly or I need to make multiple batches for a big cook. In the last couple of years, 

2022 Garden Plans

2022 Garden Plans

The seed catalogs and garden catalogs are starting to show up in my mailbox and it’s making me excited about the coming year and some of the things we have planned to do around the property! Last year was our “discovery” year, so most of 

What I Read #1 (Jan 2022)

Adding more “lifestyle” to this here blog! How about a roundup of my reading each month? Maybe y’all will be interested, maybe not – but we’ll see how it goes, shall we? Here’s what I read in January of 2022: My favorite book this month 

Tuna & Rice Bowl

Tuna & Rice Bowl

Right before the Covid lockdowns started a couple of years ago, we were starting to see “poke” shops popping up everywhere around here. If you’re not familiar with it, poke (pronounced poh-KAY) is a Hawaiian dish of raw fish served with soy or sesame oil 

Rustic Cauliflower Potato Soup

Rustic Cauliflower Potato Soup

This soup is one of my go-to lunch soups, especially as the weather gets colder. It’s dead simple to make, keeps well, freezes well, and can be jazzed up multiple ways to keep it from getting boring.

Basic Red Tomato Sauce

Basic Red Tomato Sauce

This tomato sauce is at the heart of a good number of the dishes I make on a regular basis as well as being a go-to for a quick and easy dinner when the meal plan falls through. I always want to keep some in 

Black Eyed Peas

Black Eyed Peas

Skip directly to the recipe It’s tradition in the South to eat black-eyed peas in some shape or form for luck in the new year. Some places make Hoppin’ John, a mixture of peas, rice, and pork or ham. In Texas, you couldn’t watch a 

Welcome 2022

Welcome 2022

I’ve always enjoyed and looked forward to the symbolic “restart” of the New Year. The winding down of Christmas and the indulgent holidays, the packing away of the decorations, the traditional New Year’s Day meal of black-eyed peas and greens and cornbread instead of the 

Closing out 2021

Closing out 2021

I’m honestly not sure what to say about 2021 other than for us it epitomized Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”. The Worst: We’re still firmly locked in a Covid loop, despite being 

Friday Five #3

Friday Five #3

Today is my last day of work before vacation and I’m definitely having a little “vacation brain” kicking in early. I have a couple of things I need to finish and document for my co-workers who are covering for me next week and then I