This is the first edition of what will hopefully become a new blog series: Witch’s Brew! This series will feature craft cocktails, wine, cider and other spirits of note. My intention is to make this a weekly series, but I may need to re-evaluate as time goes on and to gauge interest. So please let me know you love this series and these posts by commenting on the posts, “liking” links on ...
Nourish
Refreshment is one of the simplest pleasures in life and we eat everyday. I love food that pops with flavor, and I am mindful as I eat to save all the best tidbits on the plate for what I lovingly refer to as “the last bite”. This bite is the cumulating moment of the entire eating experience, where the best flavors are compacted into one amazing bite. I gently scoop it all together, close my eyes and then taste, letting my taste buds rejoice!
The recipes you find here are inspired by “the last bite”, my goal is to infuse each bite with that vibrant profile. I will often give ideas for “upping the YUM” even more, with simple tips for taking your food from delicious to extraordinary.
These recipes are for everyone and can be modified for most diets and eating styles. Recipes include whole foods, are naturally gluten free and display the best of what Mother Nature offers to nourish us every single day- fresh, seasonal, natural, organic, humanely raised and artisan products.
Get ready to infuse your food with YUM!
Chamomile, A Hearth Keeper’s Friend
DISCLAIMER: I am not a professional health care provider, herbalist, nor homeopath. I am just a person who has used and researched these integrated therapies for close to 20 years and I use them on myself and my family and have had excellent results. Please read the safety precautions of each herb before ingesting, or consult a health care provider. Who is a Hearth Keeper? It is ...
Red Lentil Pasta with Wilted Arugula, Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese
This combination of sun-dried tomatoes, chèvre, pine nuts and baby greens, mixed with pasta is something I created long ago and it is still my favorite. This dish is quick, easy, healthy and full of taste popping ingredients that you are sure to love! I should just call this Pasta alla Jenn, because for the past 20 odd years I have been making a version of this dish using these key ...
The Best Espresso Drinks…Why I love Nespresso, Let me count the ways…
Disclaimer: This post is NOT SPONSORED by Nespresso. These are my own personal thoughts and evaluation of their products. I believe my readers should be introduced to wonderful products whether or not I am paid for it. If I love a product, I will share it with you, if I don’t I won’t. It’s that simple. My very favorite kitchen appliance these days is my DeLonghi Nespresso Lattissima Plus ...
Pickle Lover’s Salad with Hard-Boiled Eggs and Farmer’s Cheese
This salad is a fun and delicious way to use up last year’s pickles, or maybe you are just a pickle junkie like me and have lots of varieties around at all times. Either way, this salad will wake up your taste buds! Pickles remind me of spring. Perhaps it is because you can find a lot of spring produce pickled, like beets, ramps, fiddleheads, etc. As someone who enjoys canning and preserving, I ...
The Empty Pantry Crazy Delicious Meatball Incident
Sometimes what you don’t know helps you enjoy things you might have a mental block towards or in the case of this post, unknowingly create something delicious in the kitchen, something you never would have thought to try. Something that is slightly funky and pretty weird. When you taste it, the flavor is really good yet hard to place, and you are trying to figure out why it tastes so good and ...
Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas
Eating certain foods can strike up fond memories and I made these quesadillas to bring me back to the sun and surf of Saint Augustine, Florida and the fabulous weekly farmers market there. I made these a few weeks before we made our annual trip back and it was the perfect lunch to get me in the mood to trade in freezing temperatures and snow for blue skies and palm trees! There are a lot of ...
Scottish Style Oat Cakes & An Outlandish Ploughman’s Lunch
Outlander is a big thing these days. If you don’t know what I am talking about, you are seriously missing out and have either 1) been under a rock for the past 6 months or 2) recently traveled between the stones to this time period and haven’t quite figured out the internet or television yet…but then you wouldn’t be reading this! In reality Outlander has been a thing for years, but mostly for ...
Scotch Eggs with Curry Mayo To Celebrate Spring! (…and how to boil the perfect hard-boiled eggs)
The weather is definitely turning. We went from two months of sub-zero temperatures into the mid 30’s (almost a 70-degree change), literally overnight! The snow is melting and there is a definite shift in the air. Many of our spring celebrations like the Spring Equinox (Ēostre, Ostara), Easter and Passover are just around the corner and I for one am ready for a change of season! Long held ...
Neep (Rutabaga) Fritters
Rutabagas, also known as swedes or turnips in the UK, Scotland and Ireland are a wonderful root vegetable to add to your repertoire. They have an underlying sweetness to them, they caramelize when roasted and are comforting when mashed and mixed with butter and winter herbs, like thyme or winter savory. Rutabagas are different from what we think of as turnips in the US, as they are golden ...
Infuse Your Life with (more) YUM. YUM is the stuff that feeds not just our bodies but also our spirits. Offering simple recipes and tips, life hacks and tools and little pleasures to infuse life with more of the Good Stuff, the YUM.