November 2013 Blog Posts (19)

Strips of winter squash, roasted with peppers and onions, for a seasonal, vegetarian twist on the classic Taco Night

You can link here to the…

            One of the best things about living in Corvallis is the number of people who are working for change. We have Mr. Eager (yup, Eager), a retired OSU professor whose wife remembers pre-war Germany, who is interested in solar energy. So, they set up a two different systems of the roof of the passive solar house they built in the early nineteen seventies, to test which was more efficient on rainy days. If you visit, you can climb up to a rickety viewing platform to examine the panels…

It's a Homecoming pizza, and not the football/dance kind.

Crumbled Italian sausage, fresh spinach, marinated mozzarella balls and artichoke hearts top this welcoming pizza.

You can find…

It's crazy for me, a US American ;) to be sharing a recipe for Poutine.  But I'm doing it anyway, because it's a fun use of one of our Thanksgiving leftover orphans--gravy.  

Always seem to have a bit of gravy leftover, and this is a wonderful way to enjoy it.  Especially good if you get to visit the cows providing your squeaky cheese curds!…

I finally got over being sick, several miserable days worth, and decided that since it was decently dry, I'd go see if there were any potatos available.

This is my second year trying potato towers made out of old tires, and this year, I got a reasonable amount of taters for the utter lack of care my garden thrives under. (I'm serious. If I weed, the plants die. If I don't, they give me noms.) I planted Yukon Gold for the first time ever. Last night, we had a couple of the…

Over the years we've lost and gained birds.  We've taken in birds from our friends, hatched chicks in an incubator, hatched chicks with a broody hen, given away birds, and butchered birds. All that experience has enabled me to amass quite the list when it comes to city chickens.  So, hold onto your seats, cause away we go!

The…

In my world Grandmas rock the French toast.  Even though I'm not a grandma yet (shudder to think!  My kids are teens!) I'm making my own mark on the breakfast staple with this dish.

Using put up roasted sugar pie pumpkin and ever-present eggnog, it's a rich treat for a…

Take those Thanksgiving leftovers and turn them into something new!  This turkey is combined with pesto, green olives and feta cheese  in a rolled pizza for a change up from traditional post-holiday fare.

You can find…

A colorful side dish of cranberries with beets and apricots, a delicious addition to holiday meals and lovely on a leftover sandwich …

Here's a hearty, earthy stew that just might fill the menu (and the tummies) Thanksgiving Eve or on any blustery cold day! Serve with a nice crusty sourdough bread or cheese toast.  This is very filling but very low cal!

2 T. olive oil                                                                 2 cups water

1 cup slivered onion                                                   2 T. tomato paste

3/4 cut thinly sliced celery                                    …

This is a straight forward pate recipe but special to me because it came from our own lamb. Organ meats are so beneficial to our bodies, yet very under consumed.…

Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincide this year for a once in a lifetime opportunity.  This cross-cultural mash up of fresh pumpkin, cranberries, and maple syrup with noodle kugel makes a lightly sweet (without sugar) dessert--and a terrific post-holiday breakfast!…

It began as a joking comment about my southern heritage on Twitter: I should make a chocolate sweet potato pie. Because (self-evident). Shortly afterwards, I had people inviting themselves to my house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Bit by bit, over the course of…

I've been in love with farming since 2008, when I started hanging out with Loran Shallenberger, a great guy and a very talented farmer who was living near the base of Sugarloaf mountain at the time. I started helping Loran, who had just begun his own farm project called North Comus Acres on a rented piece of farmland. Loran raised hogs, chickens and grew vegetables, and we became good friends. I helped Loran, alongside my daughter Amber, who was 7 or 8 at the time for the better part of 2…

A cheesy mix of mushrooms, artichokes, pickled peppers, pesto and olives rolled in a sweet potato crust.

You can find the recipe…

Cranberries, sage, and red onion flavor ground chicken in meatballs served with cranberry gravy

You can find the recipes…

I like to stock up on bags of cranberries when they are plentiful and cheap.  Then I pull them out of the freezer and enjoy cranberries year 'round.

This is a pretty little lightly sweet muffin with cranberries, Greek yogurt-soaked oats, and a candy topper that makes a terrific after school treat.…

This is a recipe I clipped from a local newspaper about 30 years ago.  It is a family favorite at holiday time.

1 pound mushrooms, sliced thin

1 1/2 cups chopped celery with leaves

1 large onion, chopped fine

1 cup butter or margarine

7 cups soft bread cubes

2 teaspoons of poultry seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

In large skillet (I use cast iron), saute mushrooms, celery and onion in butter until…

You'd think for the baby of the family I would not be such a people pleaser.  

After sharing a vegetarian Pumpkin and Black Bean pizza, I had some Roasted Pumpkin Pizza dough and made this BBQ Beef and Cheddar for the carnivorous kids.

It's a hearty pizza of roast beef, mixed with barbecue sauce and topped with cheddar, on a roasted pumpkin pizza crust…