From the category archives:

Gluten-free

Pink Grapefruit Curd with Honey

by Laura 14 April 2012
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This pink grapefruit curd is buttery and silky and pleasantly piquant with a strong note of honey. Eat it smeared on toast, biscuits, or scones; stirred into plain yogurt or oatmeal or porridge; rolled up in a jellyroll or between cake layers; or piped into plain cookies. Share This: Recommend on FacebookShare on PinterestShare with [...]

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Simple, Perfect Roast Chicken

by Laura 3 March 2012
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Cheesemaker Jodi Ohlsen Reed asked me about myself when I first met her.  I was nervous, writing about a local gem in Minnesota, my first such piece, and I didn’t expect to talk about myself.  I think I said something about it all being a blur, which is not what I meant to say, or [...]

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Braised Lamb Shanks

by Laura 1 March 2012
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My grandma was a letter writer.  I have sheaves of her letters, all typed and on thin, pale green paper.  They detail the buses she took, and in what weather, to the bank, to Mass, to help with the church rummage sale; the breakfasts and lunches and dinners she ate—toast with butter or peanut butter, [...]

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Five-minute Cranberry Schmutz

by Laura 14 December 2011
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Alongside a Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey or smeared on sandwiches, this five-minute, four-ingredient cranberry schmutz is a little tart, a little sweet, and exactly perfect.  I’m putting a little on a pumpkin muffin for breakfast, too.  If there were ever a reason to stop sliding that factory cranberry sludge out of a can, this is [...]

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Nectarine Lemon Balm Tipple

by Laura 23 July 2011
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We are in the throes of quite a peculiar summer: cold nearly ‘til July, and wet, relentlessly wet.  And now steamy—literally.   This morning I can see nothing from the windows of the house, save through the trickles, as it is wrapped in a dense and ghostlike condensation.  They say that according to the heat index [...]

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Lemon Balm Syrup

by Laura 2 July 2011
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It’s my birthday today, so I’ll be brief.  I’ve got celebrating to do!  I made this lemon balm syrup the other day with a summer tipple in mind (recipe soon), but I think it would nice in iced tea or brushed onto cake layers, too.  Lemon balm is a member of the mint family and [...]

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Strawberry Lemon Verbena Refrigerator Jam with Candied Lemon Slices

by Laura 1 July 2011
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Yesterday morning I went out to the hen house in my pajamas at six o’clock in the morning to open the door to the coop. Instead of the usual parade, Beatrice emerged first. She needs a minute or two, thank you very much, to sort out this whole business. When you’re second to last to [...]

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Rhubarb Compote-swirl Cornmeal Coffee Cake

by Laura 1 June 2011
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The specter of spring cleaning has filled me with a certain dread this year, but I am coming around slowly and with much coaxing.  The days when our home was deeply clean and organized feel like a phantom life to me.  I still open closets with expectation, a clear vision of their former lives.  But [...]

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Rhubarb Baked Oatmeal

by Laura 26 May 2011
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It has rained and rained and then rained some more here this spring. So it’s put us in the mood for something warm and comforting for breakfast.  I sweetened my version of baked oatmeal with rhubarb sauce, and then a couple of days later with rhubarb conserve, and scattered the top with diced rhubarb, which [...]

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Potato & Fiddlehead Fern Gratin

by Laura 25 May 2011
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Thin slices of creamy potato and tender fiddlehead ferns baked in a bath of cream and topped with a crust of melted Emmenthaler.   Share This: Recommend on FacebookShare on PinterestShare with StumblersTweet about itEmail a friend

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Stinging Nettle Soup

by Laura 22 May 2011
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Spring has come to Minnesota, hesitantly and then with a rush.  This week the trees have leafed out, apple and plum trees have blossomed, and the lilacs are ready to burst into bloom.  Winter is a barren season in Minnesota, and spring comes begrudgingly.  When it finally arrives, seemingly overnight, from dim gray to shades [...]

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