All entries for May, 2010

Fava Bean Season is Upon Us

30 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
If you have Hippie Kitchen you'll see this picture on page 52. I choose to show off the fava beans in their pods rather than the actual dish because they have been so maligned. Typical instructions in American cookbooks are to do not pass go and double peel the beans--first ...

Little Aunties Pie Class, A Photo and Video Essay

16 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
Our Cooking with the Little Aunties Class turned out to have little uncles and big aunties as well as younger girls. That was fine by me because great people cluster around the Stevenson Community Library up the Columbia from Portland on the Washington side of the river. Yes, indeed. A good ...

Thrift + Creativity = Empowerment + Joy

7 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
I'm including these Astonishing Muffins in Grow Your Own, accompaniment as they are to Laurel & Carol's Astonishing Spinach Salad. I don't have the recipe written up just yet, but I did dutifully put dried apricots in along with walnuts. Just the kind of muffin people would think is fun ...

On Vinegar and Wine

by Jean Johnson
Help me out here. Standard oenophile wisdom is that using vinegar when you're drinking wine is a no-no. Thus, I assume that's why Laurel and Carol called for lemon juice in their Astonishing Salad. The gist of their idea is to soak dried apricots in warm wine and lemon juice, toss ...

Corn Crescents with Avocado for Justine

6 May 2010 by Jean Johnson
Corn Crescents with Avocado for Justine These little stovetop cornbreads are quick, warm, crowd pleasers. On tours I make them round, stuffed with cheese or refried beans drawing on gorditas and empanadas as my guide. In April 2010, though, Justine, a Facebook pal from Southern California, shipped a box of avocadoes ...

Laurel & Carol’s Astonishing Salad

by Jean Johnson
This is verbatim from Grow Your Own, the third in my measurefree kitchen companion trilogy that comes out this November. Laurel Robertson, who wrote Laurel’s Kitchen with Carol Flinders, is some kind of woman. This salad is adapted from their pages where they titled it “Astonishing.” I’ve made it many ...