Innocent Sweets

Strawberries Fields Forever?

3 April 2010 by Jean Johnson
Some things just don't change.  I wrote an article in 2005 on the nasties surrounding conventional strawberry production. Here are two excerpts. The papery star of leaves capping the red fruit might be green, but the California strawberry industry has a way to go. At issue is the ozone-depleting ...

Chocolate Goodies for Valentine’s Day

9 February 2010 by Jean Johnson
Here's a video on making Chocolate Goodies. If you don't have a grinder and go the cuisinart route, you might use a little brandy or juice to make things work. The best thing about this chocolate offering is that those of us who don't like dancing up close and personal with ...

Creamy Caramelized Goat Cheese Steals the Show in Stuffed Dates

5 December 2008 by Jean Johnson
I've been out and about at natural food markets doing book signings--and offering samples from Beyond Measure. The last few days I've been on a roll with my stuffed dates recipe. You can't get a more innocent and easier holiday treat than stuffed dates. Stuffed Dates Recipe Note Pit the dates and ...

Thanksgiving Breakfast with KBJ’s Cranberries and Cottage Cream

22 November 2008 by Jean Johnson
Thanksgiving Breakfast complete with Cottage Cream and KBJ's Cranberries is such gorgeous food--as delicious as it is healthy and affordable. Indeed, that's what measure free cooking is all about. But a cookbook without measurements and prescriptive rote directions is so unprecedented that people tend can get wrapped up in the ...

Fresh Carrots

8 August 2008 by Jean Johnson
Cooking Beyond Measure includes a Carrot Slaw with Frozen Grapes (page 142) for the winter. Once you discover how marvelous carrots are grated on the fine side of your box grater, though, you'll probably be like me and grate them up no matter the time of year. ...

It’s the Raspberries–and Adios, Amigo

27 June 2008 by Jean Johnson
The vines grandpa planted out back sixty years ago are in full flourish this year. The first of the berries ripening now. It's as it should be since I want to give some to Paul. He's been bringing the mail to our street for close to twenty years--and it's his last week. If Paul didn't ...

Frozen Grapes Tide You Over in the Spring

2 May 2008 by Jean Johnson
This may be a dish so easy that you won't think of it as really a recipe, but it's so good that I included it in Cooking Beyond Measure on page 142. You can even douse frozen grapes with buttermilk and give them a whirl in the blender. However you ...

Cat in the Cheese

21 March 2008 by Jean Johnson
I'm doing the photos for Cooking Beyond Measure, of course, and while I was getting my camera gear ready for this shot, my cat Iris, was quick on the draw. I won't print this one in the cookbook, but you can say you saw it here first. The dish ...

Warm Kale Salad with Caramelized Goat Cheese

22 February 2008 by Jean Johnson
"What do you do with that?" said Nicole, the deli manager at my neighborhood Fred Meyers. "We sell so much of it, but I've never known what people do with it." "It's all the Norwegians that live here in Portland," I said. "They mostly eat it shaved thinly onto good dark ...

Spiced Holiday Fruits

19 December 2007 by Jean Johnson
Here are the stuffed dates I talked about a few posts ago. Also fresh pears and clementines dipped in melted butter and flax meal spiced with cinnamon, cardamom, and allspice with nary a speck of sugar in the mix. Almonds and pomegranate seeds finish this lovely presentation. Happy Holidays. ...