FROM SCRATCH CLUB

I love the food of the Levant and the Middle East. I’m an unrepentant omnivore, but the vegetarian dishes from this region are so hearty and delicious on their own, meatless eating doesn’t seem like a punishment. One of my favorites dishes is a rice and lentil one called mujaddara. Or megadarra. Or imjadara. The […]

Editor’s Note: I have the extreme pleasure of welcoming a new contributor to the FSC Family, Jennifer Wilkerson. You might remember her from our podcast episode, {Episode 7} The Farmers Market Scene where we interviewed Jennifer about the unique & inspiring start of the Schenectady Greenmarket. Jennifer came into the FSC fold when she was a swapper […]

I asked my husband to write down some of the recipes he misses from his childhood in Estonia. He wrote Vatrushka on our family message board and it was there for over a year. I am on the third version and we are all happy with how it came out.  My starting point was a […]

Grain Brains Challenge A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. When Alan challenged me to a cracker duel, I thought I would whomp him with the kind of crackers I mostly make – very stiff flatbreads. But he sent me a beautiful recipe for crackers came out more […]

A friend of mine just came back from a trip to Spain raving about the people, architecture, sunshine and food.  It reminded me that I wanted to try making paella.  Classic paella is made with chicken, chorizo and shrimp but I am allergic to shrimp and don’t eat anything smarter than my dog, including pigs. […]

Over the past few months, I’ve thought a lot about fear. Dealing with health issues tends to do that to a person. (Especially if the person is a gifted worrier like me.) Some of this pondering happened inside of MRI machines and some in the kitchen while I prepared dinner. And you know what? It […]

I feel bad. I’m forever making goodies for my family, friends, and neighbors… but what about our poor dogs? Should they be resigned to a life of drab kibble, and nothing but? Whenever I make cookies for lunchpails, etc., I also try to set aside some time to make cookies for the dogs. Yes, we call […]

It has really happened, Spring is finally here after a loooong winter. This time every year I fall into a cooking funk caused by lack of inspiration, lack of fresh produce and a deep yearning for sun filled days and warm nights on the patio. What could cure this funk…Tequila, of course! Tequila is often […]

Honest Weight Food Coop invited Ellie and me to make food for their Food for Thought film series, co-hosted by the Linda, WAMC radio station’s auditorium. The film was A Place at the Table, a documentary about hunger in America. Ellie and I made our favorites: beans and pancakes. Beans are quick with a pressure […]

Chocolate. Caramel. Shortbread. Three of the loveliest words in the English language. And bringing them all together is America’s beloved Twix bar. As I was preparing for my annual homemade Christmas gift extravaganza, I stumbled across a recipe for homemade Twix bars, and they have proven themselves to be a fan favorite. They were such […]

I have written a lot about breakfast on this blog.  I’ve realized recently that making breakfast is meaningful to me.  I like eating breakfast foods, but I now recognize that, more importantly, the process of cooking breakfast improves my mental health.  When I feel scattered and disorganized, making breakfast helps me to consolidate and settle […]

We had 96 amazing answers to our request to tell us about your love for fruit: in jam, as soda syrup base, poached in wine, used on meat, in a salad, etc… A comment won someone a copy of Sherri Brooks Vinton’s newest book, Put ‘em Up! Fruit. First up, some amazingly personal & thoughtful comments: Terry: Since I […]

Grain Brains Challenge A recipe challenge to help you get whole grains into your mouth, not just your kitchen. I grew up in Mississippi right outside of New Orleans. Down there, every family has a favorite gumbo, and everyone thinks theirs is the perfect recipe. But the truth is gumbo is about as variable as South Louisiana […]

I’ve lived a lot of places but grew up mostly in Phoenix. Phoenix is a very interesting place. The things I love about it are pretty much what most tourists would find really stupid, or just plain odd. Since my whole family still lives there (How can they possibly still live there? It’s so hot!!) […]

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, […]