From the category archives:

Gluten-free

Spring Salad

by Laura 22 May 2011

Spring Salad: wild cress, butter lettuce, wild violets, hazelnuts, avocado, red spring onion, champagne vinaigrette Share This: Recommend on FacebookShare on PinterestShare with StumblersTweet about itEmail a friend

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Candied Wild Violets

by Laura 21 May 2011

I’m something of a guilty forager. It’s public land, yes, but part of me still feels like I’m taking something that doesn’t belong to me, like I’m breaking a rule. Gathering wild violets or ramps or morels, well, it feels like a secret engagement, something quietly forbidden. I know logically that that’s just bunk, but [...]

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Rhubarb Cordial

by Laura 19 May 2011

Definitions for cordials seem rather contradictory. Dictionary dot com defines one as “a strong, sweetened, aromatic alcoholic liquor or liqueur;” others describe a sweet, nonalcoholic fruit concentrate. My favorite definition comes from Merriam Webster: “tending to revive, cheer or invigorate,” and is associated with cordial waters. It seems the most fitting for this rhubarb cordial. [...]

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Wild Ramp Cream Cheese

by Laura 13 May 2011

If you are lucky enough to find some ramps this spring, and you can barely wait to cook with them, you can tame them and get one or two onto your plate in a heartbeat with this cream cheese. Smeared onto some good bread, a bagel, or crispbread, these wild leeks, redolent of garlic and [...]

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Ten-minute Rhubarb Vanilla Conserve

by Laura 12 May 2011

Thirteen years ago, during the first spring in our house, I discovered that you could make a simple rhubarb conserve in less than ten minutes. We’ve come to call it a refrigerator preserve, since there isn’t a high heat canning process involved, and the springtime jars vanish from our refrigerator so quickly it would be [...]

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Cheese and Apple Salad

by Laura 6 May 2011

At our house, when you’re the birthday boy or girl, “plan your heart’s wishes, plan your menus, and enjoy” is the rule of the day. Here is our Sweet Boy’s supper menu for his 17th, which we celebrated Wednesday: filet of beef juicy Lucy (grilled filet stuffed with fresh mozzarella and wrapped in thick bacon), [...]

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Simple Leek and Potato Soup with Ham

by Laura 3 May 2011

Stubborn grey winter is hanging on in Minnesota. We had snow fall briefly yesterday and a couple of days before that, and the temperatures have been in the low 30s. The trees are still bare, but the buds have begun to pop on shrubs and lilacs despite the cold, and the owls have returned. On [...]

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Date Balls and Lessons from Merriam Park

by Laura 9 April 2011

Even if you’re the kind of person who thinks there could be nothing less appetizing than a humble date ball, I hope you’ll consider making these. Brown sugar and butter caramelize in a pan while whole dates melt slowly into the mix, and you stir them together with toasted almonds, a little crunchy salt and [...]

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Champagne Jelly

by Laura 6 April 2011

Yesterday a childhood friend from France came for a visit. I served caramel rolls and pecan sticky buns and cinnamon rolls and pots of coffee. And then we moved on to champagne. I had half a bottle left and decided this morning to mold it into a shimmering champagne jelly. I used a small mold, [...]

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Crustless Quiche with Bacon, Gruyere, Fat Whole Asparagus Spears, and Leeks & Roasted Sugarplum Tomatoes

by Laura 2 April 2011

I think a lot of people can’t be bothered with making a quiche at home because they don’t want to fiddle with pastry for a crust. Some years ago I discovered that a quiche will bake up beautifully without one. Here’s the latest quiche from my oven, served with a side of sweet roasted sugarplum [...]

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Whipped Fresh Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with Frozen Blueberries

by Laura 27 March 2011

My Honey Girl and I attended a cheesemaking class with Jodi Ohlsen Read of Shepherd’s Way Farms yesterday, at a charming shop in St. Paul called Egg Plant Urban Farm Supply. I’m totally smitten. They stock baby chicks(!), chicken coop, gardening, cheesemaking, canning, and maple syrupping supplies, and more. It’s a small retail space, but [...]

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