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recipes
Perhaps the title doesn't inspire rapturous visions of breakfast for you. Grain-free, you're thinking. Hmmm...
Perhaps the open-minded among you will say, "Well, it's healthy, so you have to give it a pass." And I know some of you, those a bit more protective of your mealtimes, will shrug it off as yet another blogging phenomenon destined to be lost to the annals of internet flotsam.
I would be lying if I said I loved carrots.
They seem like the perfect snack--crunchy, healthy, bright and cheerful. But I've just never loved them. I have a suspicion that this is because the ones at the supermarket are big and kind of woody, and perhaps if I could find some little tender ones I'd be in business.
What does spring mean to you? Wildflowers, chirping birds, bumble bees ponderously levitating from one bloom to the next like drunks on a bar crawl? Come good weather, these things occur to me and brighten my temperament… but the seasonal change doesn’t really hit home for me until I light the chimney starter and cook something over an open flame.
I'm going to have to start this post with a disclaimer. I know almost nothing about making cocktails.
I like cocktails, you understand, but they always seem to require a cabinet full of various liquors, liqueurs, bitters, mixers, and special ice cube trays. It would be great to have all that, of course, but we're just not there yet. And really, we don't necessarily want to be.
When you do a lot of baking, you learn to balance sweetness. Sugar is a tremendous blessing--we crave it, we love it, it heightens flavors, and it makes baked goods tender and moist. There are all kinds of sugar substitutes out there, some better than others, but we all know they're not fooling anyone. You can tell when it's not sugar.
When you come of age as a vegetarian in the South, you end up eating a lot of hummus (and bad salads, but we've already discussed that).
And, frankly, hummus has become so widespread and popular that you think once you've had hummus, that's it. Done. Hummus is hummus is hummus.
Judging from the salad dressing aisle in the supermarket, you might imagine that dressings are difficult to make. Why else, after all, would there be such a plethora of bottled concoctions in all hues of the rainbow? But as is the case with many popular foodstuffs, it's all just marketing.
We've been relieved to see the spring landscape unfold this year. For some reason, winter felt particularly long and insipid, and just seeing the forest blush with tender green punctuated by the festive purple of the redbuds is like seeing a dear friend for the first time in months. An awakening of the best sort.
It's spring, you guys!
While spring officially began weeks ago, winter persisted and gave us an extra dose of cold, nasty weather. A far cry from last year when I was hardening off my tomato starts in March!