Author: Kasha

What to do with Bespeckled Bananas

What to do with Bespeckled Bananas

Obviously, make banana bread. But not some oily, bland, burnt banana bread... you want one that tastes just like Aunt Pam's! And Aunt Pam would be whom, you ask? Well, she would be my mom's sister, and she is also the family expert on banana bread baking.  None of the banana breads I've had can compare to hers. I set out to find a recipe on Sunday morning (because Sunday mornings were made for baking... in case you didn't know), and found one in The Fannie Farmer Baking Book by Marion Cunningham.  It looked like it would be similar to...Read More
Roasted Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese Main Dish Salad

Roasted Sweet Potato and Blue Cheese Main Dish Salad

or.... they eat flowers, don't they? I do, for sure. In fact, at this time of year, when our homegrown onions are sprouty and bound for the compost heap, I get antsy for all things allium.  I'm starting to panic a little.  I've even gotten to the point where I ration the few onions I have left. I have this issue with BUYING vegetables that are 1) not local and 2) inferior to what we grow here in the fertile valley known as "the Black Dirt region". That's not to say that I don't buy produce in the off-season.  I...Read More
DIY Taco Seasoning Mix

DIY Taco Seasoning Mix

I have a thing for spices, and for Taco seasoning. 'A thing' meaning I cannot stop buying them even if I don't use them. I use a lot, don't get me wrong. It's just that cardamom pods and Bell's poultry seasoning aren't exactly things I use every day. I needed them for a particular recipe and bought them, then they got lost behind the myriad other spice bottles in my closet that undoubtedly fall out onto my head when I'm digging around for something. I took Thomas grocery shopping with me the other day and he decided he wanted tacos...Read More
There’s No Place Like Home

There’s No Place Like Home

Out here in the Black Dirt area of Orange County, NY, we have to deal with very unique circumstances and events, and after 40<cough, cough> years of living here, I'm kinda used to those things.  My father, after 70 years on Celery Avenue, probably knows the place better than anyone else, except maybe his big sister Beverly.  Hell, my kid has seen 3 devastating floods in his short lifetime, each one worse than the last, and he thinks it's just the way things are here in the farmland. Twisters, or dust devils, are a regular occurrence around here and while...Read More
Forgot to buy colored sugar for cookies?  MAKE IT!

Forgot to buy colored sugar for cookies? MAKE IT!

A friend of mine asked me to make a cookie donation to a very worthy cause: The Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. As her way of raising funds for this cause, Katie hosted a Spa Day complete with raffles and giveaways and the cookies I sent her were included. I was absolutely honored to help. I can't say that I've lost anyone very close to me because of breast cancer, but it's touched the lives of several in my family and surrounding circles over the years. I've even had my own 'let's have another look at that shadow' and 'perhaps...Read More
No Dough Left Behind

No Dough Left Behind

Thomas will be turning 9 this week. He's wicked smaht with a mouth to match and has, apparently, no fear of punishment.  As much as it pains me afterward, I tend to let him have an opinion and voice it as well.  Then I suddenly regain my composure and tell him to zip it and go to his room until he can speak to me with respect and kindness. [caption id="attachment_4113" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Thomas snagged the camera once we arrived in sunny Florida.[/caption] It kind of irked me when we were away last week and he complained about my driving....Read More
I’m Ba-ack!

I’m Ba-ack!

It seems like I fell off the face of the earth, right? Not exactly.... but it feels like I spent the last week roaming the surface of the sun. Thomas: That's impossible, Mommy.  The sun doesn't even HAVE a surface because it's made up of gases.  EVERYBODY knows that. <insert pre-pubescent eye roll> Thus was my vacation in hot and sunny southern Florida.  The Boy will turn nine next weekend.  Judging by his behavior of late, he may not make it to ten. All things considered, and by all things I mean airport security (way to go, Kash, heading home...Read More
Eggs Benedict Three Ways: KC’s Hat Trick

Eggs Benedict Three Ways: KC’s Hat Trick

Classic Eggs Benedict or a revised edition, you decide! My friend Kristin guest posted here a few weeks ago, and prior to that, we did a Pi Day Recipe Swap.   In our discussions about those posts, we kept getting sidetracked talking about all the cool stuff we could make.  Those conversations led back to Eggs Benedict. Every. Single. Time. We decided that the only way for us to get this creativity out of our system was to cook together.  Eggs Benedict it was, and that was F.I.N.E. fine with me because I haven't had hollandaise in decades.  This classic...Read More
Back to Basics: Eggs Goldenrod (Learn how to make a white sauce!)

Back to Basics: Eggs Goldenrod (Learn how to make a white sauce!)

Eggs Goldenrod? Someone please hand my mother a napkin. I'm pretty sure she just spit her coffee all over her monitor. You see, Eggs Goldenrod was  a staple in my childhood home, and not just at Easter.  It is a fabulous way to stretch a food dollar and who doesn't like breakfast for dinner? Why did my mother do a spit-take?  Because this dish was NOT one of my favorites.  Oh, don't get me wrong, it was the stuff of which memories were made - memories that I will relive with my darling boy every time he complains about the...Read More
Amazing Dulce de Leche-Kahlua Cream Cupcakes

Amazing Dulce de Leche-Kahlua Cream Cupcakes

Because you can't have a birthday without cupcakes! I started blogging exactly three years ago in hopes that my farmers market customers would stop by here to find the recipes and cooking ideas that I dole out with reckless abandon each week during market season.  Seriously, if you see me at market, you know that I will tally a sale, instruct workers, corral my child, zing my mother, and give a lecture on the proper care and storage of sweet corn all at the same time. Over the course of the last three years, however, this blog has undergone a...Read More