FROM SCRATCH CLUB

For my contribution this month, I figured I’d share one of my favorite go-to brownie recipes, and introduce its secret ingredient – roasted chickpea flour. Roasted chickpea flour is orders of magnitude different than plain chickpea flour as it comes from the bag. Roasting the garbanzo flour gives it a nice deep rich nutty flavor, […]

Its Earth Day and I get to gush about a book (and host a giveaway) that inspires and educates folks on the ins & outs of putting fruit up, whether that’s in jam-form, syrup-form, frozen-form or or or…the sky is the limit! Growing your own fruit or buying fruit from your local farmers market or […]

We make maple syrup by tapping neighborhood trees every year and boiling the sap down in our driveway on a make-shift cinder block fireplace.  This year our syruping partner Lin suggested that we try using the fire to cook while we sat around all day drinking rum and watching the sap boil; a kind of […]

My name is Betsy, and I am a lip balm addict. Like many of you, I have lip balm in multiple purses, in my car, in most rooms of the house, etc. As you might imagine, this habit can get expensive, especially since those little tubes are easy to misplace. Making your own lip balm […]

I know.. I know.. I said I didn’t like fish.   What I wasn’t really clear on is that I didn’t like cooked fish.  I actually learned to enjoy lox while I worked at (the now closed) Bagel Bite.  And I do still enjoy lox once in a while but have never made it at home. […]

Recently, I came across a fellow food swapper who had milk kefir grains, and was in search of water kefir grains. I had water kefir grains, and was excited to try milk kefir. A happy swap was born! Like water kefir, milk kefir is fermented at room temperature, so it is easier to make than […]

Over the course of a few winters, Dianna has compiled a detailed series of posts on tapping maple syrup in your urban & suburban surroundings. The time is now to read up on the techniques, supply list and process so that you can begin tapping in another couple of weeks as spring is right around […]

AHHH…chocolate. If my best friend was a food this would be it.  So amazingly satisfying on many different levels with so many options in flavors and taste. Milk, dark, bitter, organic, fair trade; the spices and flavorings are endless.  Little does one realize though, chocolate is simple, easy, and quick to make yourself. You just […]

I’ve been doing some pretty interesting kitchen chemistry experiments as of late. Glass bottles full of mysterious liquids topped with paper towels and rubber bands populate my kitchen counter. Lucky house guests get to try my creations, and most seem to like them. It all began when I got water kefir grains from a friend. […]

Have you ever wanted to process your own meats but didn’t know how to even begin? Below is a step by step guide of how my family explored this option for the first time and how it all turned out. (Editor’s Note: Please be aware that this post contains graphic pictures of a slaughtered pig. […]

As I stated in our first post of our “Best of 2012″ series, Gardening in 2012, for the next handful of weekends I’ll be jumping on the FSC Time Machine to create recap-posts on the different topics we covered in 2012. Its not the weekend you say? I know I know… I was too excited to wait to […]

Quince is an interesting fruit – too tart and hard to eat raw, the fruit turns from green to golden yellow fruit when ripe and grows on small thorned trees. Quince is part of the pear, apple, and rose family, and the ripe fruit smell floral and fragrant. I am lucky to have a neighbor […]

Editor’s Note: Gina of Modschooler & Albany Kid is back with yet another informative post, this time she discusses her love for the FSC Book Club, The Homemade Pantry & Kimchi. Gina’s other pieces include: Slow Cooker Dulce de Leche, Vegetable Bouillon, Slow Cooker Beans, Empire Boardwalk & Downton Abbey- Inspired Drinks, Homemade Grenadine, and Serious […]

When I was in Brooklyn earlier this summer I had fresh silken tofu made by a Japanese restaurant.  It was creamy and delicious and I thought, “You can make tofu?”  It had never occurred to me.  I had to try it. I poked around on the web and found a couple of different recipes for […]

Editor’s Note: FSC Community Voices Contributor, Gina M, a local blogger at ModSchooler and a guest contributor at Albany Kid, is back with another doozie of a post: Homemade Veggie Bouillion.  Its getting food preservation serious up in here! Her first post, No-Fuss Slow Cooker Beans is also terrific, perfect for the summertime no-heat kitchen! […]