Cornbread Stuffing with Jalapeños and Garden Sage

In my Ohio garden sage and thyme stay evergreen through most of the late fall and early winter. Berggarten is my favorite culinary sage because of how it looks in the garden all year and because of how it tastes. Fill your kitchen with the aroma of sage for the holidays.  This cornbread stuffing with sage, thyme, jalapenos, corn, sun-dried tomatoes and parsley is for the vegetarians at Thanksgiving or feel free to stuff it into your favorite turkey before roasting. Here is... Read More

Japanese Farmer’s Markets

Just a  few of the photos from my recent trip to Japan. Genovese basil for sale along a busy sidewalk in Tokyo. Cool season vegetable seeds for sale outside a convenience store in Shirakawa-go. Expensive mushrooms at an indoor market in Kanazawa. Hand blended spices packaged for sale in Takayama. American paw paws for sale in Takayama. Tomatoes with their skins removed are packaged for sale in Takayama. Steamed dumplings for sale in Takayama.  Read More

From Garden to Gumbo

Okra is my new favorite vegetable and the star of the vegetable garden this hot, humid, record setting summer. Why do you think southerners love it so? Okra thrives in the heat. I can hear you now… oooh, I don’t like okra- too slimy. Don’t worry. It’s the goo that makes gumbo glorious. Chicken Gumbo Prepare the Chicken: 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp. paprika 2 tsp. coarse steak salt 5 chicken breasts, thinly sliced 1/4 cup butter Combine the... Read More

Pick a Bouquet (Early Summer)

Growing your own food is one thing. Growing your own flowers for the vase is another. This very relaxed carefree notion of gathering a bouquet on a whim takes careful planning. What’s in bloom when? What colors do you love? Filling our vase is Hydrangea quercifolia (Oakleaf hydrangea), Itea virginica ‘Little Henry’ (Little Henry sweetspire), Echinacea purpurea ‘Tiki Torch’ (Tiki Torch coneflower), and Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly weed).  Read More

Food & Flowers (early summer garden)

I am cooking up something great tomorrow at the Granville Art Affair and Wine Festival. I will be there at 2:30. It looks like a fun day of tasting wine and sampling treats. On the menu for tomorrow are Grilled Lamb Kabobs with Mint Chutney and Cool Yogurt Sauce. Today I am walking around my garden thinking of the flower arrangement that will be plopped on the table. We take a very casual approach here. Whatever we can gather. What goes with orange? What goes with chartreuse?... Read More