Turmeric: For Pain and Inflammation

If you had told me four years ago that I would one day stop taking ibuprofen... I wouldn't have believed you. If you told me that I would be making my own capsules for pain and inflammation... I would have laughed. And if you told me that I'd be filling those capsules with turmeric, a common pantry spice... I'd just have laughed harder. But here I am not laughing... and not missing my OTC anti-inflammitories one bit.

I feel so much better about how I'm treating my aches and pains, and worry a lot less about any long-term or cumulative effects from my pain-management choices. But that's me, and I'm not here to convince you to change what you're doing. It's just that friends and acquaintances always ask about our switch to turmeric and I figured it would be easier to just steer them here and have the info in one spot.

Scores of others have already written about turmeric and it's many benefits—and done so better than I could—so I won't rehash any of that here. Instead, I will point you to some articles/posts to get you started. After that, if you are at all interested in pursuing it further, I'll link to some sources for supplies.

Start Here...
There is a very thorough blog post on the many benefits of turmeric at Fresh Bites Daily. You can also check out what Doctors Weil, Axe, and Mercola have to say. But don't just take their word for it, do more reading and research on your own before making a decision. It's your body and your health after all.

If you do decide to replace your current NSAID with turmeric, you can either buy pre-filled capsules or fill them yourself. Not a DIY kind of person? You can usually find them ready-made wherever you buy vitamins and supplements. I've seen some great sale prices at Swanson-Vitamins.com (get on their email list, they're always having sales).

You may find it easier on your wallet to make your own. If so, you'll need a capsule machine, empty capsules, and organic turmeric root powder. The capsule machine and empty capsules come in two sizes: "0" (500mg) and "00" (735mg). The empty capsules also are available vegan-style (called "V-Caps" they're made without gelatin). Mountain Rose Herbs has a great video on how to use the capsule machine.

FYI: Turmeric has been used historically as a dye, so don't wear white when working with the powder, and put some paper down on your work surface before you begin. It can and will stain, so wash and scrub your hands immediately after working with it (or wash a sink-full of dishes!).

A Toddy for the Body...
Another option I like is to make a therapeutic hot drink called Golden Milk (or Turmeric Tea, Turmeric Milk, Turmeric Tonic) which works just as well as the caps but is administered via a mug of hot soothing liquid goodness. Here are some recipes and methods to get you started...

• From RootedLondon... Rooted Turmeric Milk
• A handy method from 101 Cookbooks for turmeric "tea-base" that keeps in your fridge to use as needed. 
• The Bloody Mary Mix with Turmeric and Black Pepper from HelloGlow sounds healthy and delish!
• The mommypotomus blog shares tasty Turmeric Tonic "shots" to drink with breakfast.
• The Doctors Weil, Axe, and Mercola all have recipes for variations of this healing drink.

Unlocking The Treasure
Whether using the capsules or hot drinks, be sure to take them with a pinch of black pepper and some healthy fat. Turmeric is fat-soluble, so it needs to be consumed with some sort of fat to help your body absorb the nutrients effectively. Black pepper also greatly increases the bioavailability of the compounds in the turmeric.

It's easy to add a bit of coconut oil and a grind of pepper when you're making a turmeric drink, but if you prefer the caps, just remember to take them with meals. If it's not mealtime, I'll have a few nuts or olives, a dab of nut butter, glass of milk or piece of cheese, etc. As for the black pepper, I add some to the turmeric when I make the capsules (or you can even buy them that way). 

Some Sources for Ingredients and Supplies

Whether ready-made or DIY, for one-stop-shopping you can get everything at Mountain Rose Herbs or bulkherbstore. You can also find most everything at Vitacost. Local Sonoma County sources to try are: Oliver's or Sprout's, and in Sebastopol there's a nice little herb shop called Rosemary's Garden that should have everything you need.

One Last Word...
Fresh is best of course, and if you have the means, time, and availability to use fresh turmeric root... all the better! I don't, so I can't relate any favorite recipes etc. for using it in that form, but between the internet and your local library... you should find all the info you need. 

—be well... and stay well!

Big Ol' Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or health professional. I am only relating what I do myself. Take your health seriously and take your personal medical history into account when making any decisions that concern your well-being. Unsure? Talk to your doctor or other trusted health professional. Everyone's different. Results may vary. None of the links in this post are affiliate links. I am not connected with any of the brands, companies, or stores mentioned except as a customer. All opinions are 100% my own. Nothing was given to me for free, or provided for review, etc. Please recycle and do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

End-Of-Season Misfit Cherry Tomato Paste

Well, it's over. For us anyway. Tomato season is officially done. We plucked the last hangers-on off, and there won't be any more until next summer. Do you still have tomatoes where you live? Some years have found us picking them into November, but that was an exceptional year in a backyard that got oodles of sunlight. This was not such a year, and this is not such a yard. Alas.

Waste not... want not

As you may have noticed by now, I hate to waste any bounty and am always looking for ways to make the most of what we have. These last-of-the-season cherry tomatoes were in all different states of being. Some were perfection, some on the green side, and a few so ripe they practically imploded on contact. There were also those that looked ripe but had taken so long to get color that they just didn't taste as good as they should have.

You can leave the skins on
I figured the best thing for this to-motley crew was to make a tomato paste. But with all the stuff I've got going on right now, I just didn't want to drag out the food mill. Did I really need to get rid of the skins? (That's another theme around here: I don't peel or skin fruits and vegetables unless I absolutely have to.)

It's not laziness, it's efficiency!
I'm all about saving unnecessary steps, time, and energy, with one condition... the end result can not be lacking in any way. In fact, the end result should be at least as good as the version that it's riffing. OK, so maybe it doesn't always happen that way, but that's what I shoot for. This golden tomato paste (from Sun Gold tomatoes) is the very essence of ripe homegrown tomatoes. It's like all of summer condensed down into a little jar (and it's going to taste grand this winter in stews and pasta sauces)!


The Lazy Girl's End-Of-Season Misfit Cherry Tomato Paste
There is a tinge of bitterness from the skins, but it can be tempered with a bit of sea salt and/or sugar. I'm betting though that when used in a hearty stew or ragout... it will won't be an issue.

Ingredients...

Cherry Tomatoes: enough to cover the bottom of a baking sheet in a single layer
Olive Oil
Salt & Black Pepper
Fresh Herbs: basil, oregano, or thyme, roughly chopped (Don't bother chopping the thyme, just strip the leaves from the stem.)
Sugar (Optional, and possibly not needed depending on the tomatoes of course)

Directions...

1. Wash, stem, and dry the tomatoes. Fill the pans with a single layer of them. Turn the oven to 300°F.
2. Drizzle a little olive oil over the tomatoes. Grab the baking sheet in two hands and shimmy the tomatoes back and forth in the oil. Then sprinkle some sea salt over the tomatoes, followed by the black pepper.
3. Roast for two hours, rotating the tray(s) half-way through. If the tomatoes start to get too dark, push them around on the tray and turn your oven down a bit. If after two hours, they don't seem done (kissed with golden brown, squishy and collapsed), leave them in until they do.
4. Take trays out of oven and let cool briefly, then transfer roasted tomatoes to the bowl of a food processor. You may have to process them in batches, but it will go fast. Pulse until skins are cut up quite small.
5. Look at the texture: does it look dry-ish and too pasty? If so add a little more oil and pulse it in until it's more of a glossy-creamy consistency. Now taste it. Does it need more salt? More pepper? What about a touch of sugar? Always add in small increments. Keep tasting until you're happy with it.
6. Toss any herbs you want to use (if any) into the food processor with the tomato paste and pulse briefly to distribute them throughout.
7. You're done! Let it cool completely, then transfer to freezer containers, label, and freeze.

Notes: This yields anywhere from 1 to 2 cups of finished tomato paste. Freeze it in quantities that you are likely to use when cooking: half-pint canning jars, smaller plastic freezer-safe containers, even ice cube trays. 

More Notes: The first batch I made got some thyme added in at the end, and I used my stick blender. It took longer to get the skins broken up enough that way, but it's a good option if you don't have a food processor. The next two trays went into the food processor and had fresh chopped basil and oregano added.

Shine on, harvest moon!

Simply Cilantro Salad Dressing

One of the last things I did before my second cilantro plant bolted, was to make a simple dressing with it. A simply delicious dressing. If you are one of the many people that don't like cilantro, you probably won't find this tasty in the least. The rest of us, who do like cilantro... will love it.

Simply Cilantro Salad Dressing

Adapted from: simplefoodhealthylife

1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1 Tbsp white vinegar
1 bunch/handful cilantro
1/2 tsp ground pepper
sea salt to taste

Mix everything but the salt together in a food processor. Taste the dressing, then start adding the salt, a 1/4 tsp at a time, tasting as you go. When you're happy with it, transfer the dressing to a bottle or jar and store in the fridge. It should keep at least a couple of weeks.

Notes: We've been using this on lots more than just salads... tacos, quesadillas, even omelets and baked potatoes. It's great for a bright little touch of flavor almost anywhere.

Happy Kefir-versary!

And just what ever happened to that half-gallon of murky Concord grape juice that I threw in the freezer last month? Well, part of it went into making some kefir soda. It so happened that we were out of store-bought juice and there was all that leftover grape juice just sitting there.

I introduced it to my water kefir and SHAZAM! As you can see in the photo, water kefir loves raw organic unfiltered unpasteurized fruit juice! Duh, right? Of course it does! Fizzy bubble-rific-ness. Delicious, free (yea!), and full of all kinds of health and happiness. Hubs calls our kefir sodas Fizzy Lifting Drinks, after his favorite boyhood film.

It's been just over a year since I started these kefir grains. We still drink kefir soda every single day and the little darlings seem to be going strong with no signs of stopping... except that one time when I left Hubs in charge of them... but enough said on that. They bounced back and were none the worse for the ordeal.

We've all settled into a nice routine and they're pretty forgiving if I'm late a day here or there. I still make the kefir soda as cheaply as possible, and I only make as much as we can consume before the next batch is ready. It works out really well... nice and predictable!

My secret to making great budget kefir soda (from juice), is this: Use the best juice you can find for the best price you can find it at.* It sounds obvious, and it sounds easy... but it isn't if you're trying to do this on a squeaky-tight budget. I tried a lot of different brands from a lot of different stores and read a whole lot of labels...

Farm Fresh Harvest Pasta Sauce

Just days before our trip, while I was in fact hip deep in Concord grapes, cherry tomatoes, and other fresh produce that wouldn't wait for our return, we stopped to chat with a neighbor while on a walk through the neighborhood....

This neighbor, who has a small farm, was busy that day harvesting everything she possibly could before they moved. They were being forced out, not by a giant food conglomerate, and not by the government policies that hobble small farms. No, it was the simple act of their rent being raised to the point where they could no longer afford to remain. It's a sweet little farm with a tidy little house to one side with contented cows, happy pigs, and chatty chickens wandering about. The kind of sweet little farm that could only exist because of the hard work and commitment of two conscientious and genuinely nice people.

She asked if we'd like some tomatoes
Well, we couldn't say no. Who can say no to homegrown tomatoes? We may have had a truckload of cherry tomatoes this summer, but it's a little hard to make a BLT with tomatoes the size of marbles. So we finished our walk and Hubby went back over with a bowl. What he returned with were the most glorious Roma tomatoes I'd ever seen. There were a couple of big heirloom beauties also, and an onion that left me speechless, it was so fat and healthy looking.

Concord Grape Jelly (and the errors of my ways)

So.... I mentioned having a ton of grapes the other day. Well, it wasn't really a ton... it was 13 pounds. I exaggerated. I can't even say that it seemed like a ton of grapes. I've actually had hands-on experience with what an actual ton (or twenty) of grapes is like when Hubby and I help with the wine crush at our favorite winery each autumn.

Our harvest of Concord grapes was like a drop in the proverbial bucket (barrel?) compared to that. But since my backyard is a far cry from ever being called a vineyard and my kitchen is certainly no winery... those 13 lbs. still seemed like a whole awful lotta grapes.

Making the most of what we've been given
The vines came with the house, stealthily growing under the ivy on the back fence. And although we didn't plant them, pay them any attention, or even want them... there they were: fat, juicy, sweet, abundant, and free. They were a truly a gift to us, and I wasn't about to waste them.

How Marriage Is Like A Toaster

(or... How we kept 4 toasters out of the local landfill)

Last year for our anniversary, our toaster died. For the fourth time. Or, should I say... for the last time.

I'd better start from the beginning. One year and one month after receiving our lovely big toaster as a wedding gift, it stopped toasting. It, of course, had a one-year warranty. Our newly-married budget would not allow for it's replacement in kind, so we would have to buy a cheap new one... or have it repaired.

Words That Start With "R"
What are the green 3-Rs again... Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle? What ever happened to Repair? Is it lumped under the Reuse heading? It needs to be its own "R". Twelve years ago, it looked like the honeymoon was over for our wedding-toaster when I realized that small appliance repair was apparently a lost or dying art. Too many years of people thinking that the fourth "R" stands for Replace. I found one repair shop though, and they told me on the phone that if they couldn't fix it there would be no charge. If they could fix it, $24.

Such A Deal
Well, the way I saw it, even a cheap toaster would cost us something in that neighborhood, so fixing it would be like buying that same $60 toaster at 60% off. We decided to go the repair-route. That repair lasted us 6 years before the toaster bit the dust again. Back to the shop, and another $24 fix job. So we've put a total of $48 into it (or by my calculations, bought a $60 toaster for 20% off).

Fast forward four years. Once again, kaput. The shop had moved, but was thankfully still in business. This time it was the circuit board. Our tally is now up to $72 for a $60 toaster. I looked over at Hubby on the way home, "You realize this was the last time?" He nodded in reply.

Requiem For A Toaster
When the oft-resuscitated toaster kicked the bucket last September, Hubs brought up the R-word: repair. I used a different R-word and reminded him of our toaster's history, the timeline, the math. He nodded again... remembering.

It Was Finally Time For A Replacement
Time now to research brands and models, features and reviews. Tedious stuff. But we take our toast seriously. And after living with that toaster for 12 years, we both had definite ideas about what we each wanted in a new one:

1. I bake a lot of rustic round loaves of bread, and I prefer toasting whole slices. 
2. Hubs has strong feelings about different manufacturers and their quality. 
3. We both wanted something simple and basic. One that does what it does, and does it well.

The field of contenders was actually pretty small after we combined our needs and requirements.* Which toaster we ended up with, isn't important to this story. Toast is so subjective anyway. A real hot topic. I'll just say though that we found exactly what we wanted, it cost more than I'd hoped to spend, but then it's also been 12 years since we've shopped for a toaster. I really can't complain!

Happy Toaster-versary!
So here's to our toaster... It's one year later and we're still really happy with our second ever toaster. In honor of the occasion, I baked up an awesome bread recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks:

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread from page 130 of Good To The Grain by Kim Boyce
Find the recipe adapted over at the Diary Of A Locavore blog ...or better yet, just go get the book from your local library or bookstore. It's a great introduction to baking with different grains and flours. I've baked up at least a half-dozen of the recipes so far and have loved every one.

My Notes: Just for the heck of it, I substituted Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Rolled Hot Cereal for the oats. And since I didn't have any bread flour in the cupboard, I simply used 2 cups of all-purpose flour and added two tablespoons of gluten. The bread tasted—and toasted—great!

* This is all about compromising and it begins with respecting each other. It's a very grown-up thing to do and it helps build a happy marriage. Consider it my Marital Tip Of The Day. Cheers!

Simply Simpler Simple Syrup

I kind of love recipes that are expressed as ratios; where any unit of measure will work regardless of whether you use metric, Imperial, or an old chipped teacup. You know: one part of this to three parts of that, where the "part" can be anything from a thimble to a 5-gallon drum. Super simple.

Well, the other day I needed to make a small amount of simple syrup for a batch of iced tea I was making. The classic simple syrup recipe is 1:1 (one part sugar to one part water, boiled together and cooled). Couldn't be simpler... or could it?

It was HOT that day—the day I needed to make my liquid sweetener. I did not want to turn on the stove for anything. Not even 10 minutes. Besides, I really didn't need a lot of it; hardly worth dirtying a saucepan for. And that's when it hit me... when I feed my water kefir grains, I just add the sugar to the water and swirl the heck out of it for a few seconds until it dissolves. No heat required... Hello!

I quickly tossed a half-cup of sugar and a half-cup of water into a pint Mason jar, then I capped it and shook it like I meant it. It took about 2-3 minutes of shimmying, but the result was a jar of liquid sweetener, ready to use.

Herb-y Eggs with Easy Freezer Hash Browns

I am not a morning person. I get up early, but let's just say I'm not exactly chipper and cheerful about it. Not right away anyhow. A little time, a little quiet, and a little caffeine... ease into it, you know? So I really don't want to have to think too much about cooking breakfast every morning.

But....... I also want a good breakfast. Steel-cut oats, granola, egg quesadillas, muffins,  smoothies, banana bread, pancakes, scones, yogurt with fruit... I even like breakfast for dinner (I could go on and on). Are you getting the idea that I like breakfast? A lot? And I love hash browns too, but with all the shredding and squeezing, they're too much effort for a regular weekday breakfast. Until now.

Thanks to this method that a friend clued me into, we've been having truck-stop-worthy hash browns whenever we want. They go straight from freezer to frying pan. No fuss, no muss, and no early morning exertion... practically no brain function necessary at all!

Keeping The Colony Happy

In addition to my oft-neglected sourdough starter ("Edwina"), I have for the past six months been caring for and benefiting from, a different kind of bacterial colony... Water Kefir Grains. Never heard of 'em? Don't worry, I hadn't either. But now (thanks to this gracious lady), I am involved in a mutually beneficial relationship with what amounts to a science experiment. You see, I feel responsible for the well-being of my colony, like I would with a bowl of goldfish. But in a way that goldfish never could, my little colony is responsible for my well-being too. Intrigued  yet?

More fun than a barrel of Sea Monkeys
There is so much info on the web about water kefir that I won't spend time or space here reiterating it. I will however link to some info at the end in case you're still curious and want to read more about it. In a nutshell, water kefir is a type of SCOBY... a Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast. Now before you get scared off... just think "probiotics". You know, the good/friendly/beneficial bacteria that are so good for your gut and immune system. That's what water kefir is: pure probiotic goodness.

I see so many products trumpeting "Now With Probiotics!!" on the packaging, not to mention the probiotic supplements that you can buy (I shudder to think of what they would cost to take regularly). The beauty of these little water-babies is that you only have to buy them once. That's it! Feed them and care for them and not only can they be used over and over again, but if conditions are favorable, they just may even multiply so you can share them with friends.

Total Concentration

We were blessed this summer/fall with an abundant crop of tomatoes. I am talking about major abbondanza. Some of the shrubs didn't do very well or produce much, but the ones that did... did so with sheer abandon. Not only did we have enough to stuff ourselves silly with, but we had enough to bless friends and neighbors with too. Such a great feeling. But all good things come to an end as they say, sunshine and tomatoes included. So I reduced, concentrated, and intensified the last 5 lbs of sun and warmth... and stuck them in a little jar for when the cold, wet, gray of the coming winter starts to get me down. Just like rainy days and Mondays. 

Eating Paste

It may seem an odd choice, to make what is essentially a small amount of tomato paste out of the last of our homegrown tomatoes, but to call this stuff "paste" is to call filet mignon "a steak", or aged balsamic "vinegar"... doesn't quite do it justice. No tomato paste I've ever had has the depth and intensity of flavor that this stuff has. So is it tomato paste? Yeah... but it's really really really good tomato paste. And won't it be wonderful to use in the middle of winter when flavorful ripe tomatoes are the stuff of summer dreams and memories.

Jack-Be-Useful

What can you do with a jack-o-lantern that never fulfilled its Halloween destiny? That was what I pondered earlier this week. We bought two rather large orange beauties but then got too busy to carve them in time for Halloween. In the past, I would've just called them autumnal decor and enjoyed them as-is until they started to get squishy. Now I'm thinking what a silly wasteful girl I was. There is so much goodness in these orange orbs... it's almost spooky.

Most folks use sugar pumpkins for their pie-baking etc. Truth be told, I prefer them also. They're smaller and easier to work with as well as being naturally sweeter than their carve-able cousins. They also cost more. The cheapest I found was a buck a pound. Might as well buy the canned purée. But... there is a trick to using jack-o-lantern pumpkins (which are a much better deal) which you'll see in a minute. First things first...

Herb Drying Made E-Z (Weather, Or Not)

resh herbs never go to waste at my house. What doesn't get used right away, usually gets hung to dry so I can use them throughout the year. Sometimes there's too much humidity in the air though (or not enough patience). Other times, I'll just have a handful of herbs to dry, not really enough to tie into a bundle. That's when hang-drying may not be the best or fastest route. And that's when I utilize this nifty trick. I happened upon it purely by accident, but it works so well I wanted to share it with you...

My Super E-Z Herb Drying Instructions:

1. Lay the herbs in a single layer on a baking sheet.
2. Place baking sheet in oven before you go to bed.
3. Turn oven light on.
4. Go to bed.
5. In the morning, check herbs. If they're crumbly-dry... you're done! Put them in an air-tight container and store them someplace dark, dry, and cool. 

If the herbs are still a bit bendy, repeat the steps (leave them in for another eight hours or so) until they are completely dry. Any residual moisture can turn into mildew/mold... and we don't want that. Store them in an airtight container away from heat and direct light. Crush them, crumble them, or grind them as needed throughout the year.

Lavender, Sage, Rosemary & Time

Gardening was never my first love, I don't think it would even crack the top 20. In my dictionary, "garden" is a noun, not a verb. Nevertheless, I often find myself thinking about my dream-garden and what plants I would put in it.* Perhaps partly due to my aversion to actual hands-on gardening, my dream garden is what's known as a perennial garden.

Plants tend to fall into one of two camps: annuals or perennials.** Annuals are generally the ones you see making a big splash of color on racks outside the garden department of the home store. They are often bright, brash, and bedazzling. Picture petunias, pansies, marigolds and impatiens. They also need to be replaced every year. Annually. They are the pop stars of the garden. The flashes in the pan.

Long Live The Perennials!
Unlike annuals, perennials are described with words like consistency and continuity. Think of buddleia (butterfly bush), hydrangea, or peonies. They keep on keepin' on. Perennially. They are the Dave Brubeck of the plant world. They are Ella Fitzgerald in bloom. There is something so comforting about being in a mature perennial garden; a real feeling of stability and history. Perennials are survivors. Below ground are deep strong roots, holding the soil together and supporting the new growth and seasonal changes taking place up above.

While You Were Steeping

Ordering iced tea in a restaurant shouldn't be a complicated matter. But somehow it is. "Do you remember if we liked the iced tea here?", Hubs and I furtively whisper to each other as soon as we sit down. We love iced tea you see, and there's nothing worse than taking that first sip and finding something stale and old (or even worse, from a mix) at the other end of the straw. 

Rare is the restaurant that takes as much care with their iced (or hot) tea as they do with their coffee. We tea drinkers are partly to blame. We're just not as bold, robust, and vociferous a group as our coffee counterparts. The differences between us are much the same as how these two drinks act upon my brain: coffee is like jumping out of an airplane, while tea is more like jumping out of an airplane with a parachute... I'm going to hit the ground either way, it's all just a matter of how soon and how hard. This may explain why tea lovers are often mellow, easy-going types who as a group get overlooked by most restaurants and chains.

There are exceptions of course. One of my favorite deli/cafés delivers the ultimate order of iced tea: a tall glass filled to the brim with ice and a small pot of strong hot tea on the side. As soon as the tea has steeped to satisfaction, you pour it over the ice and have the perfect glass of fresh brewed iced tea. This is precisely how I used to make it at home, and still do, when a single perfect glass of the stuff is all I want.

My Kitchen Elves Have Insomnia

If necessity is the mother of invention, then is laziness is the father of efficiency? Can slow ever be fast?  And when does "from scratch" ever equal "E-Z"?

I spend an inordinate amount of my time in the kitchen. What with all the DIY, MIY, MYO, and MIM-ing going on (even my computer is in the kitchen). Making all our meals from scratch may be healthier, more economical, and less wasteful, but it doesn't mean I want to start from square-one every single day. Oh, heck no. That's why I tend to gravitate toward "big batch" recipes, freezer meals, and other sensible shortcuts and time-savers.

I'm just glad they don't whistle while they work

So how do I manage to combine homemade with convenience (two words that don't usually show up in the same sentence)? Easy... I employ kitchen elves. Yep, elves. Or as they like to be called: Kitchen Convenience Facilitators. They work at night while we're asleep, and in the morning coffee is made, breakfast is ready, and the dishes are clean. Now if only I could get them to vacuum and mop the floors, I'd really be a happy girl.

Lemon Pepper Pasta With Chicken

I've been wanting to make this dish for a while now, but I knew I wanted to tackle making the actual lemon-pepper flavored pasta itself from scratch... so that's just what I did. 

It's nothing more than my favorite go-to pasta recipe, but I added the zest from 2 Meyer lemons and about 20 cranks of the old pepper grinder. It might have been more, I lost count. Let's call it a 1/2 tsp.

The pasta itself turned out great, the only drawback was that the sauce pretty much stepped all over the subtle lemony-pep of the noodles. But, in a good way... it's an easy sauce with great flavor. I'm just thinking that this would be a perfectly fine dish with regular pasta. Or... I might try doubling the lemon zest and pepper when I make the pasta next time. Either way it's an easy and tasty dish that we both really enjoyed. We must've... we ate all of it in one sitting.*

Wanted: Cheese Delivery Facilitators

Homemade crackers are almost always tasty but they're not always crispy. In fact, lots of the homemade cracker recipes I have found are really just savory cookies, often with the cheese baked right in. Let's say that together: "cheese baked right in". Mmm. They are self-contained. They don't need anyone else. They bring their party with them.

What I've been looking for though are crisp crackers I could make at home, crackers that would taste good alone but would be even better if they met up with a fabulous piece of cheese. They have a bit of snap to them, they're friendly, and they get along well with others.

Everything's Better On Homemade Crackers

I found two recipes for the latter variety of cracker and truly couldn't be happier. They are both easy to make, crispy, tasty, and looking for some good cheeses to pal around with.

Whole Wheat Onion Buns For Slider-Loving Life Forms

Something has happened to my onion-hating husband. I think he may be a replicant. The other night he brought home some ground beef... so I made burger buns since we haven't had cheeseburgers in an age.

These weren't just any burger buns though. These were Whole Wheat Onion Buns. Now, my good ol' hubster hates onions, and won't hesitate to let that fact be known. The other night as the buns were baking though, this impostor man walks through the kitchen and says to me, "Ooh, something smells really good! What are you making?". 

It's uncanny how much like my husband this alien interloper is. But I guess that's the whole point of replication isn't it.

Turkey Soup with Noodles

This soup marks the end of Tom Turkey–well, almost, I still have some of that great turkey gravy in the freezer. There are biscuits and gravy in our future for sure, but tonight, it's Turkey Soup with homemade noodles. After defrosting the turkey stock and the bag of leftover cooked turkey, I just added some herbs, carrots, celery and noodles. In virtually no time at all, it was a soup. A simple, good tasting, nourishing soup.

Play dough for grown-ups
Initially I was going to just make my regular pappardelle noodles and cut them into short pieces, but wouldn't some other shape be more fun? And wouldn't a different shape of pasta just taste so much better too? Without an extruder however, options are somewhat limited. Without years of experience hand-shaping pasta at an Italian grandmother's side, my options dwindled even further. So, after making up a batch of my favorite go-to pasta recipe, I sort of followed the instructions found here for hand-shaping pasta. I say "sort of followed" because I off-roaded just a bit. Okay... I played. A lot. Try it yourself and see if you don't too.