Brown Derby has a Brown Gravy version which they refer to as a "quick version of a brown sauce," and it's the basis for a bunch of sauces in their cookbook. I am also finding a number of sauces in other books that use brown gravy, so this may prove very useful.

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This is an adaptation of a recipe found in a cookbook, Caramel Knowledge, by Al Sicherman. JS and I both thought it sounded interesting, so we gave it a try. Comments and thoughts for next time are included.

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Boy, this one is hard to describe! My paternal grandmother (Mom Mom) was a fantastic baker. This recipe has been one of Dad's favorites as well.

The crust is made with cream cheese and butter, which makes it a nicely short and flaky. The filling is harder to explain. Because you fold in stiffly beaten egg whites to what would be a peach custard, the result is almost "cakey", albeit without flour.

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Here's another contribution from Helen -- this is her recipe for vinaigrette. It's easy, very flavorful and worth bothering to make it from scratch.



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Helen makes some amazing pickled garbanzo beans that we nosh on while on the Vineyard during July and whenever we visit her place. I asked for the recipe, so here it is.

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We found this recipe in an old Yankee Magazine (September 2003) clipping. The Yankee magazine version has the beans only cooked until crisp-tender and then chilled in an ice water bath; since I need my veggies cooked more, I've omitted that step, but feel free to try it.

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JS made these tonight adjusting the recipe to fit what we could lay our hands on -while at the Vineyard -- he got the recipe from the Wall Street Journal's "How's Your Drink?" column. This is the predecessaor to the Pina Colada.

As the late Philip Craig would say, "Delish!"

Click on the title for the full recipe.

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It's really easy to get distracted and forget to put things into my cooking blog. I'd hoped that adding a gardening category would help, since I've been so focused on that of late, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, I'm trying to get back into the habit (and posting to Carnival of the Recipes, too), so I'll post a new recipe or two today to get myself kick started.

I got a large bag of green chiles at the little neighborhood produce store for a song; with travel plans coming up, it seemed like today would be a good day for me to roast and peel the peppers and use some (freezing the leftovers). Since it's early in the day, I'm hoping to get this done before the temperature outside gets too warm.

Corey taught me that you roast peppers by charring them under the broiler, then you put them into a paper bag to steam for 5 - 10 min. then peel (use gloves

Amazing!

Tasted it at the Mendocino Wine Affair's Friday evening Western-themed dinner. Gotta see where we can get it!

Boy have I been out of touch! Being in the hospital for 21 days kept me from getting more things written up here -- it's about time I get back to it!

Sorry for the delay, everyone. Between gardening tasks (so many tomato plants, so little time! ) and recuperating, I'll post what I've been making.

The Queen isn't drunk! The sauce is (with red wine, at least)!
Click on [More..] below to get to the recipe. There's a printer-friendly version available there, too!

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Hi all--

Sorry about being quiet for the last month and a half, but we've been doing a ton of traveling... First we were off to Sweden (anyone know a bakery that makes an authentic Swedish Semla?!? ), then we were back only a short time before a trip to Washington DC. We'll be leaving again in about another week and a half, but I now have a bit of time to cook and blog about it, so keep your eyes on this page!

This week's Carnival of the Recipes is up at Dubious Wonder. Thank you, Trouble, for a great job!

Boy, this week has just flown by! I missed posting that the latest installment of the Carnival of the Recipes was up at Everything and Nothing. And I haven't even finished writing my entry for the Tri tip, even though I cooked it last week (yum)! Meanwhile, I've acquired about 3 - 4 pounds each of end-of-season plums and pluots, so I may make another cobbler or do something else with 'em.