Recipe: Making applesauce in a slow cooker

sliced apples in crockpot

I made some applesauce today. First, I threw a bunch of coarsely chopped apples (everything but the cores) into the slow cooker: I heated them until they were mushy and put them in the Vitamix: I blended on high for about a minute. I love the Vitamix because it gives a super-smooth texture even when I keep the skins in … Read more

Time to harvest apples and pears!

fresh-picked pears

Dekalb came over today to pick apples and pears in my neighborhood. There’s just one pear tree in the neighborhood, and all pears within reach of the ground had already been picked by others. We use a ladder and a picker pole to pick the rest. We got about 20 pounds. I set aside a few for snacking, but since … Read more

Recipe in a Flash: Black Raspberry Nice Cream (Vegan)

Black Raspberry Nice Cream (Vegan)

Ingredients 1 cup cubes of frozen applesauce 1/2 cup frozen cherries 1/2 cup cup frozen black raspberry 15 almonds 1/8 teaspoon Truvia (1/2 packet) Instructions Reserving a few pomegranate seeds aside, put everything else in a blender or food processor (see my previous post for thoughts on blenders) and turn to high power following your blender manufacturer’s instructions. Use the blender’s tamper … Read more

Recipe in a Flash: Tomato Ice Cream

Tomato ice cream? It seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, the earliest ice creams were savory puddings served as appetizers and palate cleansers, not as desserts—or so I’ve heard. Besides, a tomato thrown in a blender with basil is basically minimalist Also, I had LOTS of tomatoes and didn’t want to eat them all the same … Read more

Sewing: How I mended a duvet cover and added ribbons so the duvet wouldn't slip

ties to anchor duvet in duvet cover

I’m still working on mending some things that Lilo the cat ate before she was taking medicine for her fabric-eating compulsion. This project is a duvet cover that she nibbled near one of the corners. I sewed a seam around the hole, at an angle that connected the side and bottom (using white thread, below). I trimmed off the excess … Read more

Recipe in a Flash: Black Raspberry Ice Cream

   Ingredients 1¼ cups frozen pear pieces or cubes of frozen pear sauce ½ cup frozen black raspberries ¼ cup frozen juneberries or blueberries 2 tablespoons heavy cream or unsweetened coconut milk (full fat) ¼ teaspoon or 1 packet Truvia (optional) Instructions Put everything in a blender or food processor (see my previous post for thoughts on blenders) and turn to high power following … Read more

Recipe: Pizza marghuerita

Last week I wrote about making whole wheat pizza dough. Starting today, I’ll be giving you lots of ideas for topping the dough! I’ll be posting some different recipes over the next few weeks, starting with the classic: pizza marghuerita. This is an incredibly simple recipe that tastes incredibly good. (See all pizza-related recipes I’ve posted so far here.) Supplies pizza peel pizza … Read more

Gluten free Banana Veggie muffins

It’s been a hectic week with lots of deadlines and a stray tomcat to deal with, so there was no muffin post from me on Monday. Enjoy this one, which has zucchini (of course) in the meantime! Laura at Feast Wisely did a fun take on one of my fruit-and-veggie muffin recipes where she managed to stuff even MORE veggies … Read more