Between Thanksgiving through to the new year over 144 holidays are celebrated around the world. As the earth settles into rest, and the natural world slows down, cultures everywhere give thanks to harvest, family, health, and spirit. I am blessed to have a circle of friends that broadens my celebrations outside of my own family traditions….
Category: recipes
Country Ham Scones with Pecan Cane Syrup Butter
Nothing pleases me more as a chef then to immerse myself into culinary culture. I created these scones to highlight cane syrup, one of the souths favorite but also forgotten sweet condiment. These are aggressively southern, utilizing staple ingredients that would be easily found in any southern farm kitchen. Smoky, salty country ham meets sweet…
Tarragon Peach Mustard
It was peach season and it was impossible not to pick them up by the pound. But that also meant I had to cook them in everything. And I did. This is a really great condiment you’ll keep reaching for all summer. Tarragon Peach Mustard 1/2 cup white wine vinegar 1/2 cup white wine 1…
Sheet Pan Blueberry Pie
LOVE blueberry season. My Great Grandmother Lola used to get lost in the woods picking huckleberries; a wild blueberry-like cousin. She would come home with bites and scratches all over, but a pile of berries gathered in her dress. I think about her every time I am picking my weight in blueberries at a u-pick…
Squash and Chicken Tortilla Soup
The puree of squash in this helps to add a hearty consistency to the broth while also sweetening just a tad. If you are going to freeze this soup (I recommend doubling this recipe just for that) omit the sour cream until you reheat to serve. INGREDIENTS INSTRUCTIONS *Cooking the Chicken: I take chicken breast…
Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese
Tomato soup and grilled cheese. While I would gladly eat this year round it really shines in the colder months. Less is growing but all the work put into canning a tomato harvest and processing basil in spring makes the effort so worth it. Fresh and bright. Hearty and comforting. Grill up some cheese and…
Ginger Snap Cookies
In the fall of Florida cane sugar growers take to the field to harvest cane stalks to make annual batches of cane syrup, the sticky coffee-brown southern cousin of molasses. On the outside of east Gainesville lies Morningside Nature Center, one of the only living history farms in the area. They put on a cane…
Chocolate Chip Cookies
This isn’t a typical chocolate chip cookies post where I tell you I have the best recipe. Because I just don’t. There are not only tons of recipes, but people love these cookies in very specific ways. I have at least a dozen recipes for chocolate chip cookies. I think they are all amazing they…
Thai Peanut Dressing
This is hands down a dressing worth having on hand, I can quickly throw together wraps or salads and have a delicious mid-day snack or lunch. Gardens can go wild in Florida so its good to have a few recipes to help use up your harvest. I have even been able to take potential wasted…
Marinated Olives
A snack, a garnish, a meal? I love getting the mixes of olives you find on olive bars in grocery stores and then marinate them in my own mix of flavors. This isn’t necessarily a recipe but more an idea. Grab your favorite olives and explore your favorite combination of herbs and spices. Zest –…
Savory Squash Cobbler
In the south we can make anything a cobbler, and we do.
Blue Cheese Candied Pecans
I was catering an event on day for a friend. They requested I make a batch of single small bite foods that could be incorporated with her art on tables into her art event. They wanted a variety but were not specific about what I made. This is when having a pantry can save your…
Creamed Collards
Even if collards aren’t your favorite, this creamy dish can potentially change your mind. In Florida where we are prone to bugs and diseases, collards and other broad leaf brassicas are a perfect addition to any southern garden and a great way to have year-round greens available. Creamed Collards Ingredients: 4½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided…
Weekday Breakfast Burrito
Mornings are tough! Let’s face it, we don’t have time to wake up like we want to. If you are like me you are usually rushed out of bed. I had to find something that was fast and satiating. A while back I created my whole morning routine around starting my day with gratitude, intention,…
Fairytale Eggplant Tart
I’m a southern girl through and through and if you say tomato pie I will hunt you down to get a slice. But I am here to tell you, this one is the closest second best. This, like the majority of what I do when I jump in the kitchen, is put together. Sometimes its…
The Forgotten Coast and Pickled Squash
Every year the matriarchs of the Gunter family would travel to The Forgotten Coast; a place in Florida far from where the tourists loaded with sunscreen, neck hanging cameras, and mouse ears go. The place Floridians know as “real Florida”. Located in the panhandle, it was a central place between the all the Gunter sisters…
Spiced Okra Cake
Chefs are some of the wildest imaginations we have on this planet. And tinkering is what we do. I got a bestie who grows food. It’s the perfect friendship; she grows it, I cook it. Food was how we connected but we stay friends for much much more. A couple years ago she was growing…
Greek braised chickpeas
In a town 30 minutes northwest of Tampa lies Tarpon Springs, a lively coastal town tucked away in Tampa Bay. Its waterways made it a landing place for sponge harvesting and shrimping. Up until the late 1800’s sponging was being done on boats with long poles stabbing blindly and pulling them up to the surface….
Marinated Onions
One of the ways I am able to make things happen in the kitchen is because I have many different things prepped and ready. Marinated onions is one of them. These guys sit on the counter and then I use them throughout the week on salads, sandwiches, top breakfast bagels, omelets, braised meats or an…
Appalachian Sour Corn
What is sour corn? Sour corn is a classic Appalachian secret ingredient. This condiment, the sassy and sweet southern sister to Sauerkraut, has a long history in the Appalachian mountains who have a very rich multi-threaded historical culture that lends itself to many varieties of recipes originating in this area. If you like sauerkraut, it’s…
THE FOOD STORIES PROJECT 