Don’t you hate it when fruit goes off before you have a chance to eat it?  I feel really guilty when that happens (likely due to the echos of my mother’s voice in my head about wasting food!)  So I’m always on the lookout for tasty ways to use fruit, especially when it’s past its prime.  Things like muffins, crumbles/crisps, pie, cobbler, jam, syrup (cordial), coulis (aka. fruit sauce) and now… chutney!

Ok this is probably cheating a bit.  A quick search on Wikipedia told me that chutney is originally from India and Pakistan, contain spices and vegetables, never raisins, and is served alongside meat.  However, here in the UK chutney also contains vinegar or another acid as a preservative, and I swear I’ve seen raisins in there.  So please allow me some creative license with this recipe

I made this chutney with the remainder … Read the rest of this post >>

Muffins have become my go-to weekend recipe.  They’re homey and comforting.  Baking muffins makes the house smell great.  I only need to use one bowl.  They’re quick to prepare and then can bake while I’m taking a shower.  And muffin recipes are so flexible, I can use up whatever fruit I have in the fridge.  This weekend it was Blackberry Peach muffins.

We’re going to move house next month, so the long process of decluttering and packing started this weekend.  I personally like the ‘decluttering the fridge/freezer’ portion, where I dig around in the freezer for lost packets of unlabeled food, and try to figure out how to use them creatively.  That’s how I came across these blackberries.

You might remember we made Apple Blackberry Muffins back in March.  In the spirit of summertime, this weekend I combined blackberries with peaches.  I think this combination … Read the rest of this post >>

Cracker making seems a bit excessive when you can buy perfectly lovely crackers in the store.  But in desperate times…

Last weekend I had a ton of broad beans leftover from my farm-share (CSA) box.  I really like making this broad bean dip, but we didn’t have anything to eat it on.   After some searching, I came across this cracker recipe and thought: 4 ingredients, 15 minutes, simple!

Unfortunately, this experience with cracker making left me less than convinced.  Maybe there’s a reason (other than laziness) why we buy crackers?  Maybe I just didn’t roll them thin enough?  Maybe there was too much flour?

A few of the crackers got very golden brown and crispy in the oven – these were pretty tasty.  But lots of them were just slightly chewy (not a good quality in a cracker).  And some were still coated with flour, … Read the rest of this post >>

Last night for dinner I had an Asian-inspired ramen noodle soup with sliced fresh mushrooms, miso, and applesauce.

Applesauce.  Yep.

It was supposed to be homemade chicken stock, but in my haste to pull yet-another-square-container-frozen-solid-with-yellowish-substance out of the freezer, I inadvertently added applesauce to my soup.

Since I know you’re curious:  Yes, I ate it (it was slightly sweet-sour.  And very thick!).  No, I’m not adding it to my recipe repertoire.

The moral of the story is that you HAVE to label all of your containers.  This is important when stocking your apothecary, your homemade beauty boudoir or your freezer.  I always harp on and on about the importance of labeling, and then this happens.  Unlabeled applesauce and chicken stock, side by side.

No matter how much you think you will remember … trust me, there is a good chance you won’t.  And while defrosting an unknown frozen … Read the rest of this post >>

Hot, summer days.  Cool refreshing soup.   Soup?

You’ve probably had Spanish gazpacho as a chilled soup.  But what about a bowl of cool, fuschia delicious-ness?

This vintage recipe is from Zak’s Lithuanian grandmother.  Cold beet soup is a Lithuanian tradition, and has become one of my favorite summer lunches.  Beet soup (Saltibarsciai, in Lithuanian) is a creamy buttermilk or yogurt based soup, filled with beets, cucumbers and dill.

When we visited Vilnius last year, beet soup was everywhere, often served with hot potatoes (and a good dollop of sour cream, of course!)  It’s often eaten as a starter to a bigger meal, but I also like it with a salad or sandwich for a summer lunch.

Don’t worry about the color, and trust me on this one, it’s really tasty!

Chilled Beet Soup

2 cooked red beets, peeled and coarsely grated

2 fresh … Read the rest of this post >>