When it’s high season at the farmers’ market I often buy way too many vegetables because everything is so beautiful and fresh. I like to preserve the excess veggies by fermenting them into healthy probiotic treats. Fermenting is simple and requires no special equipment although a few tools like Mason jar weights, Pickle Pebbles for example, and venting lids like Pickle Pipes or Stainless Steel Fermentation Lids will make it easier. Continue reading Asian Style Pickled Vegetables
My Mother’s Pea Salad
My mother made this simple yet different pea salad for picnics or for dinner on hot summer nights. Continuing her tradition, I made it to take to a small boat meet, the Mid Atlantic Small Craft Festival at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum and again to take to the Urbanna Small Craft Meet. Continue reading My Mother’s Pea Salad
Red Jalapeño Hot Sauce
The beautiful ripe red jalapeños at our farmers market inspired me to make yet another flavor of hot sauce. The heat level of the sauce will vary depending on the peppers. Mine was not as hot at the green jalapeño sauce I previously made. One pound of peppers makes approximately one pint of sauce. Continue reading Red Jalapeño Hot Sauce
Persimmon Chutney
Most years we harvest bushels of persimmons from our two trees. I dehydrate many, give many away, eat at lot of them fresh, and still end up with a freezer full of whole fruit. This unusual and yummy recipe combines our love of probiotic fermented foods with our love of spices. Ripe persimmons are so sweet that no additional sweetener is needed. Makes about a quart. Don’t have persimmons? Try substituting a different sweet tasting fruit. Continue reading Persimmon Chutney
Cranberry Chutney Recipe
Incorporating the old standard orange and cranberry sauce flavors, this raw fermented chutney is both probiotic and delicious. We ate half of the first batch at one dinner and then put it on our breakfast the next day. It will keep over a month in the refrigerator, perhaps even longer, but we always eat it too quickly to find out. Makes about 1 quart. Continue reading Cranberry Chutney Recipe
Six Weeks in Six Minutes: Fall 2015 Road Trip Video
Here’s a glimpse of our life on the road last year. We had a wonderful trip from Maryland to California and back in our Four Wheel Campers flatbed Hawk on a RAM2500 Cummins Diesel. The frequent rain, cold temperatures, some snow, and many many windy days reminded us why we bought the camper. Although friends and relatives asked us to stay in their homes, we spent every night in the camper and cooked the vast majority of our meals on the road. Having an indoor galley is the bomb!
Great Green Jalapeño Sauce Recipe
We are serious “chile heads”, lovers of spicy food that is, 
and hot sauce. Several vendors at our local farmers market grow beautiful hot peppers. The super meaty plump green jalapeños caught my eye so I made this great green jalapeño sauce. Continue reading Great Green Jalapeño Sauce Recipe
Crazy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Our family loves cranberry sauce and they always request this one in addition to any new recipes we try. It only takes a few minutes to make this creamy tangy sauce that can be frozen and stored for several months. The ingredients are unusual but well balanced with no single flavor predominating. Continue reading Crazy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
And Back to Maryland 11.14.2015
In the morning we discovered that Pipestem Resort State Park was overrun with deer like many other eastern parks and cities. Fortunately none stepped in front of us as we left via the narrow road. With work and family calling us back to Maryland, we headed north along WV 20 through small towns and along the southern end of the New River Gorge where we stopped to admire the view. Continue reading And Back to Maryland 11.14.2015
Pipestem State Park, WVA 11.13.2015
We awoke to another windy day and headed east and north to spend the night in West Virginia. The highways we traveled were wide and pleasant with the exception of some narrow, steep and winding mountain crossings. Continue reading Pipestem State Park, WVA 11.13.2015
Persimmon (or pumpkin) Pie Recipe
We have two large persimmon trees that usually produce bushels of fruit. The Fuyu type flat persimmons can be eaten when still firm, although they get sweeter when they are soft. The Hachiya type pointy persimmons, however, are astringent and can only be eaten when they are gushy soft. They are good dried, eaten fresh, in smoothies, and pureed. Excess fruit gets frozen whole–just put them on a cookie sheet in the freezer until frozen solid then store them in a gallon freezer bag. Frozen persimmons enable us to enjoy the fruit year round since they still make great tasting puree and smoothies and now this pie! The crust is gluten free and there is no added sweetener in the filling. Not into permissions? Substitute pureed pumpkin, winter squash or sweet potatoes and add honey to taste for a more traditional dish. Continue reading Persimmon (or pumpkin) Pie Recipe
Levi Jackson State Park 11.12.2015
It rained during the night and the wind blew hard again, pelting the roof with acorns that kept us awake all night. We filled our gallon water jugs and headed to Bowling Green, Kentucky for supplies. The Krogers was just like City Market in Colorado. Continue reading Levi Jackson State Park 11.12.2015