Summer is winding down, and season 3 of Hannibal is over. It was all I ever wanted* and it was beautiful. For one of our last Hannimeals, I made a dish almost entirely out of items from the farmers’ market, save the sweet basil from my fledgling balcony herb garden and lemon and cheese from…
Category: Summer
Strawberry-Gooseberry Pie
I love summer in the Pacific Northwest: beer gardens, picnics at the lake, gorgeous sunsets, and, more than anything, the berries: blueberries, huckleberries, blackberries, tayberries, strawberries, raspberries, marion berries. Today we’re cooking with gooseberries!
Recipe: Rhubarb-Berry Crisp
This recipe combines rhubarb, raspberries, and blackberries with my family’s oatmeal topping and a hint of ginger. It’s a snap to throw together and perfect for those spooky proto-autumn PNW summer nights when the temperature drops and it actually rains.
Savory Winter Root Vegetable Tart
It took me a year to get this one down pat, but this vegetarian tart has been a hit at dinner parties. Rosemary-roasted beets, butternut squash, parsnips, and carrots are tossed with roasted garlic and goat cheese, then baked in a savory pie crust.
Whole-Wheat Blueberry-Lavender Muffins
It’s only now, right at the end of berry season here in the Pacific Northwest, that I’ve gotten this recipe to where I want it. For some reason, The Joy of Cooking‘s whole-wheat-muffin base recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of butter when the non-whole-wheat recipe calls for 4-8. Trust me, you need that “extra” butter….
Vegan Rhubarb-Raspberry Crostata
Updated 5-21-2015: new photos! A few notes: Olive oil: not only is this recipe vegan, but you don’t have to worry about the butter in the crust getting too warm while rolling it out. (Seattle = no AC! It’s great until you try working with buttercream in the summer) One crust, rustic-style: way easier to…
Nerdache Cake’s Wolfsbane Cupcakes (MTV Teen Wolf)
Teen Wolf is back! To celebrate, I decided to try Nerdache Cake’s Teen-Wolf-themed “wolfsbane” cupcakes, a dark-chocolate brownie with berries and berry frosting.
Fresh Mango Salsa
A nice bright salsa to end the summer (never mind it’s been over for a month). This recipe is very simple, and I love the way the flavors and textures work together. I like to serve this with homemade tortillas (or rice or quinoa), avocados, and roasted kabocha tossed with cumin and cayenne.
The Best Sakura Soft Cream in Town: Kyokusuien
I had a hell of a time looking up the name to this hole-in-the-wall ice cream shop, but it’s actually hard to miss the storefront! Located at the base of the hill leading up to the Ishikawamon (石川門) Gate of Kanazawa Castle and Kenrokuen, Kyokusuien (曲水案) specializes in Japanese flavors of soft ice cream. While…
Baudrillard and the Food Truck: Dragon Fest 2013
One of the aspects I hadn’t anticipated as much regarding my culture shock expectations was adjusting to Americanized- and fusion Japanese food, especially for foods that I encountered for the first time in Japan. This isn’t to say that American-Japanese food isn’t delicious–quite the contrary–but it can be a bit alarming at times to see…
Raspberry-Almond Mini Baked Oatmeals
One of my go-to breakfast recipes is Heidi Swanson’s baked oatmeal (via Lottie & Doof). Extremely versatile, you can swap in any seasonal local fruit you like–in Japan, I often used persimmons, apples, or figs instead of bananas on the bottom; diced apples, raisins, or mikan mixed in when blueberries were out of season; and, best…
Kabocha Squash Purée (Pumpkin Purée Substitute)
Have your pie and eat it, too
I'll Make It Myself! 