From the category archives:

Dairy

Beer Battered Cheese Curds

by Laura 19 February 2012
Thumbnail image for Beer Battered Cheese Curds

Every August we make a pilgrimage to the Minnesota State Fair for a shortlist of deep fried foods on a stick.  When we spotted fresh cheese curds at our co-op this week, we had to try frying them at home.   Salty, oozing cheese and crisp batter—and in less time than it takes to get them [...]

Read the full article

Top Shelf Egg Nog

by Laura 21 December 2011
Thumbnail image for Top Shelf Egg Nog

This egg nog combines excellent orange liqueur, brandy, and dark rum with egg-enriched heavy cream and whole milk. Share This: Recommend on FacebookShare on PinterestShare with StumblersTweet about itEmail a friend

Read the full article

Potato & Fiddlehead Fern Gratin

by Laura 25 May 2011
Thumbnail image for Potato & Fiddlehead Fern Gratin

Thin slices of creamy potato and tender fiddlehead ferns baked in a bath of cream and topped with a crust of melted Emmenthaler.   Share This: Recommend on FacebookShare on PinterestShare with StumblersTweet about itEmail a friend

Read the full article

Wild Ramp Cream Cheese

by Laura 13 May 2011
Thumbnail image for Wild Ramp Cream Cheese

If you are lucky enough to find some ramps this spring, and you can barely wait to cook with them, you can tame them and get one or two onto your plate in a heartbeat with this cream cheese.  Smeared onto some good bread, a bagel, or crispbread, these wild leeks, redolent of garlic and [...]

Read the full article

A Fool for April Fool’s

by Laura 31 March 2011
Thumbnail image for A Fool for April Fool’s

We’re kind of nutty for April Fool’s Day around here. We’re a silly family in the first place (see here). My Dear Husband is the truly funny one, but the rest of us take on April Fool’s with something of a mission, as our one day of the year to make him laugh. We start [...]

Read the full article

Whipped Fresh Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with Frozen Blueberries

by Laura 27 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Whipped Fresh Sheep’s Milk Ricotta with Frozen Blueberries

My Honey Girl and I attended a cheesemaking class with Jodi Ohlsen Read of Shepherd’s Way Farms yesterday, at a charming shop in St. Paul called Egg Plant Urban Farm Supply.  I’m totally smitten.  They stock baby chicks(!), chicken coop, gardening, cheesemaking, canning, and maple syrupping supplies, and more.  It’s a small retail space, but [...]

Read the full article

Homemade Yogurt with Winter Citrus Syrup

by Laura 10 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Homemade Yogurt with Winter Citrus Syrup

I’m thinking this morning about long lost books. My books.  I have what is perhaps a peculiar emotional attachment to them.  And I wish they could return home to their places, still waiting, on my bookshelves.  Some of the books, I know, are well cared for and will return someday after their long excursions. The [...]

Read the full article

Vanilla Custard

by Laura 5 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Vanilla Custard

I made coconut macaroons yesterday.  This recipe is an Ole to their Lena, a Hardy to their Laurel.  It’s a pairing recipe in every sense, a frugal sister to egg-white only recipes, and a happy partner for a crumble or a figgy pudding or a slice of chocolate cake.  You could eat it with a [...]

Read the full article

Homemade Cultured Butter Pressed with a Hand-carved Butter Mold

by Laura 1 March 2011
Thumbnail image for Homemade Cultured Butter Pressed with a Hand-carved Butter Mold

My Norwegian grandfather had something of a love affair with butter; he loved a pool in which to cook an egg or some hash, or a thick smear on toast.  But mostly, it was his tableside companion at every home-cooked dinner I can remember eating with him, and he was not shy with it.  A [...]

Read the full article

An Old-fashioned Minnesota Blizzard & Rich Hot Chocolate for Two

by Laura 20 February 2011
Thumbnail image for An Old-fashioned Minnesota Blizzard & Rich Hot Chocolate for Two

After a taste of spring, we are in the midst of another good old-fashioned Minnesota blizzard.  I love a blizzard.  Here in Minnesota, snowfalls come and stay for the winter every year, but a real pileup, one that sends people en masse to the markets and shops the day before it’s to hit, is always [...]

Read the full article

Cream Tea: A Proper Cup of Tea with Cream Scones, Homemade Clotted Cream, & Jam

by Laura 10 January 2011
Thumbnail image for Cream Tea:  A Proper Cup of Tea with Cream Scones, Homemade Clotted Cream, & Jam

When we lived in England, one of my favorite things to do was to pause for cream tea in the afternoon. It’s such a nice respite in the middle of a busy day, so civilized, and so edifying. It really only takes a few minutes, too. These cream scones are prepped and out of the [...]

Read the full article