On Recipe Development

Though it was a footnote, I’ve mentioned once before that I don’t understand how other food bloggers develop recipes, in part due to the repetition. And in part due to the fact that sometimes perfection happens out of accident.

I never did manage to replicate that pasta sauce. And, post-move, we no longer have the base to compare it to. In some ways, that’s good. It means I can just start from scratch and say, “I want to make a smoked pasta sauce.” In some ways, though, it’s bad. I can’t compare to perfection. I think of this because I’ve recently been working on a squash custard recipe.

The very first time I tasted delicata squash earlier this year, I immediately thought “dessert.” I wanted to make a pie.… Continue reading →

A gift of produce

In light of my last post on interdependency, I thought it might be nice to show a fun little slice of it. In this case, it ties back to Ellen and Grant.

As I said in the linked post, I met them on Twitter. So this is maybe 90% of how we interact. Ellen, a bit ago, tweeted something about eating tomatoes for every meal. She also said something about Grant abandoning her with a prolific garden.

You see, Grant and Ellen share a large garden and some chickens somewhere in the north of Chicago. I guess Grant is traveling right now, and so not pulling his weight in terms of eating the food they’ve grown. And apparently there’s only so much Ellen and the chickens can eat.… Continue reading →

[59] Creamy Butternut Squash

cover of Cook With Jamie

I love butternut squash. I don’t think I had it a lot as a kid, but I definitely had it some. Mostly, my mother would cut one in half and put a little butter and brown sugar in the cavity and bake it until it was soft and delicious. In fact, I don’t think I had it any other way until years after I started making it at home. Of course, over time that sort of preparation makes you wonder if you’re having a veggie or a dessert, so I started looking for other ways to make it. Mostly, I found soups. I like them, but I still wanted something else.

That’s part of what’s been making this challenge so neat; I’m being forced to branch out in two ways.… Continue reading →