Delicious Herbal Recipes from My Kitchen to Yours

October 9, 2024

Summer, with its heat waves, is undoubtedly over. The last tomatoes are on the vine, and the dahlias are still blooming, but the writing is on the wall. The leaves are just starting to change to their autumn colors, and it’s getting cooler at night. I’m glad about that, but…

October 7, 2024

This sweet little girl came into our lives two years ago this past August. She started by hanging out with us on our back porch in the evenings. She did it long enough that we began to worry about when the weather would turn cold and where she would go.…

October 3, 2024

It’s no secret that I love them—they are tasty, sweet, totally ancient, beautiful, and genuinely photogenic. They can be used in sweet or savory recipes. They are never in season for very long, but you can bet I will jump on them as soon as they are available in the…

September 24, 2024

Yes, I know it's Autumn now, but we are having a little bit of a warm spell—the temperature is supposed to hit 88º today, so it's hard to think about cool-weather food. So, I'm back to making ice cream again. As a lover of anise/licorice flavors, I’ve grown anise hyssop…

September 16, 2024

I’ve been working to use the last good summer veggies while they’re here—hopefully, the tomatoes in my yard will ripen before the first frost. In addition to my own tomatoes, my neighbor went on vacation and told me before she left to take a few of her ripe ones so…

September 7, 2024

Autumn may be approaching, but my strawberry plants are still producing flowers and fruit (let’s not even talk about our current heat wave—gah), so I’ll keep celebrating summer for a bit longer; thank you very much.  It’s been over 90º over the past few days after a relatively cool August.…

August 29, 2024

I’m glad there are so many ways to use tomatoes because I have a truckload of them right now. First of all, I’m thrilled with these beautiful heart-shaped heirlooms because they are not only beautiful but also juicy, meaty, and not so loaded with seeds. There is a lot to love about…

August 17, 2024

We are fortunate to have a plum tree in our backyard, though some years it produces more fruit than others. Last year, we got a whole two plums, thanks to the squirrels and bluejays taking a bite and leaving the rest of the fruit—not that we got many plums to…

August 14, 2024

I’ve never grown green beans before this year, so imagine my surprise when I get dozens of them all at once! I had no idea that they were so prolific. As it turns out, my pretty little yellow plum tomatoes are producing like hotcakes, too, so I decided to combine…

August 8, 2024

Chive flowers are among my favorite things to emerge in the late spring garden. These purple flowers are not only pretty but also beloved by pollinators, and they taste pretty darned good, too. I’ve learned that their life can be extended through a good portion of the summer by deadheading…

August 5, 2024

Now that it’s August, the dog days are here. I can no longer handle much sun, so I really look forward to the evenings. We are fortunate that the back garden is shaded for most of the afternoon, so it’s a pleasant place to hang out.  I had to quit…

August 1, 2024

My strawberries have come into their own this year since I planted them in a large box with a cover to keep the birdies and critters out. I’ve been trying to grow them for the past three years, but thanks to all the other creatures getting to them, I've managed…

July 25, 2024

I had no idea that violas and pansies reseed themselves to the extent they could, but I’m a witness. The pathways (and everything else) in my garden are covered with them. They are so beautiful that I can’t bear to pull them up! So, I have an absolute bounty of…

July 22, 2024

I discovered snow leopard melons at the end of last summer and couldn’t wait to find them again this year. They are so refreshing! I found them in my local market this week, and I’ve really looked forward to preparing them again as I did last year.  This salad is…

July 18, 2024

I have a favorite recipe based on a French apple cake. I like it so much that I’ve made it in lieu of pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving and even as a birthday cake. Every time I’ve made it, I can’t help but wonder how it would taste with strawberries instead…

July 16, 2024

I just harvested my first batch of carrots, which are so cute! According to the starter label, they are called ’Parisian Carrots,' so I have to do them honor by cooking them French-style.  I’ve chosen a classic recipe because I like its simplicity. The list of ingredients is very short, and…

July 15, 2024

Raspberries and peaches have long been one of my favorite food combinations. Short & sweet, this is delicious! I used macadamia nut milk for this one, and I’m glad I did.  Peach Melba Overnight Oats Ingredients The evening before you want to eat overnight oats, combine ½ cup of the…

July 9, 2024

I’ve been having a lot of fun growing Roman chamomile this season. I acquired a scraggly plant for a song late last summer and got a few flowers from it. Because it is Roman chamomile, rather than the German variety, it is perennial, so as sure as the sun rises,…

July 7, 2024

We are in the middle of our first summer heatwave, and it’s a doozy! Our cool, temperate spring just turned this town into a furnace that will last well into next week. Meanwhile, I spend most of my days indoors—not my cup of tea—though I’m getting a few things done.…

June 29, 2024

I’ve had the great pleasure this year of successfully growing snow peas. The particular variety (Oregon Sugar Pods) that seems to have been developed for this area has been a prolific grower and tastes exceptionally sweet. The first couple of harvests were the best I’ve had. I’ve also been growing…

June 26, 2024

My husband hates arugula, and I know why: it’s bitter. The only way to deal with that bitterness is to ’bite’ back with more bitterness. Also, maybe a little bit of sweet and salty, too.  I remember this lesson from the first time I cooked broccoli rabe. ’Cook it with…

June 24, 2024

You don’t need a lot of lavender to get the essence in overnight oats—just a teaspoonful will do.

June 18, 2024

I recently discovered pineapple sage—it’s fast becoming a favorite herb. The leaves taste like any other sage, the flowers are sweet, and the hummingbirds love it. I like this plant so much that I now have three of them growing in my garden.  I got the idea of making a…

June 16, 2024

'What? Pancakes again?’ said no American man ever. With the acquisition of blue cornmeal from my local market, I am making them again. Blue cornmeal is not something I see every day, so when it caught my eye, I could immediately see possibilities. I started with muffins, and here I…

June 8, 2024

The first time I ever saw a real, live garlic scape was about a year ago at the farmers’ market—not something I’d seen in Hawaii, nor in the home I’d grown up in. I remember thinking to myself what a crazy thing to come up out of the earth! I…

June 4, 2024

The blackberry bushes are blooming everywhere here, inspiring me to make something with the sweet, dark fruit that is yet to come. Vancouver is teeming with blackberries, much to one’s bane when they are growing in the yard, but a bit more tolerated when the bushes are sagging with their…

May 31, 2024

I’ll be honest—I used to hate radishes. I never cared for them as a kid and have pretty much avoided them for most of my life. Until now. Last year, I tried roasting them—it takes the bite out of them, which was just enough to prime my taste buds. This…

May 18, 2024

I must admit that I was thrilled when I found blue cornmeal in my local market recently. All I could think of were the possibilities! I already have an excellent honey basil cornmeal bread recipe; making that into muffins wouldn’t take any more work.  My original cornbread recipe contains basil,…

May 10, 2024

Macerated strawberries have long been a favorite recipe of mine so much so that I included it in my book. I love adding fresh basil and mint and a little splash of Grand Marnier if the occasion calls for it. Macerating berries is simple—all it really takes is sugar and…

May 8, 2024

Here’s an easy Spring dinner that looks and tastes impressive. This dish uses sole (either Dover or Petrale), a type of flounder primarily caught between December and April along the West Coast, from Alaska to Baja. Sole is a firm, white fish with a delicate, mild, and sweet flavor. It…

May 5, 2024

We love Mexican food in this house, especially in warmer weather, so I learned how to make enchiladas early in life. I found that they are a very flexible food for fillings and not nearly as difficult to make as they look. I won’t say that mine are authentic—I’m not…

April 30, 2024

Though Spring is here, I’m still making some heavier meals, such as soups and stews. Pacific Northwest Spring is hit or miss with the weather—one week hitting 70º F, and the next feeling like we're back to Winter. Like right now. With that, I often find myself seeking the perfect…

April 18, 2024

There's still some beautiful citrus left, so I'm making the most of it using its bounty when possible. This recipe is largely Mediterranean, with its bright, sunny flavors. It takes some time to put together, but the flavor is worth it. Chicken with Lemon, Olives, and Artichoke Hearts Ingredients About…

April 12, 2024

Blood oranges are such a beautiful fruit, and they’re usually only available Winter through early Spring. This recipe is based on one that’s in my cookbook. I made it last Winter in the form of ’cakelets,’ and we both loved it, so here I am, making it again, this time…

April 8, 2024

I don’t eat it often, but I love a little bit of lamb occasionally. Growing up in the 60s, lamb was a standard offering, I guess because it wasn’t as expensive as it is now. We’d often had fried lamb chops for dinner, and a leg of lamb was a…

March 25, 2024

In my book Simply Herbaceous, I have a couple of recipes for compound butter, which is a fun way to experiment with herbs and edible flowers. Having a very large rosemary bush in my garden, I’ve found that the flowers are pretty and have rosemary flavor without the herb's sometimes…

March 21, 2024

Spring is here—look up, and you’ll see trees bursting into bloom. Look down, and you’ll find tiny purple violets growing everywhere. Well, at least I’m seeing them here.  Violets have been used for ages, going back to the ancient Romans and Greeks, They were especially popular in Europe and particularly…

March 17, 2024

This cake is similar to the French in that the apples are coated and baked in a cake-like batter, but this is seasoned differently and has a streusel topping. It is also usually served with some kind of custard sauce. For this, I've chosen a Bailey's Irish Cream Vanilla Sauce.

March 10, 2024

We were food shopping a couple of weeks ago and noticed purple sweet potatoes—just like the ones we once got in Hawai’i.  Sweet potatoes (actually, they are yams, but old habits die hard) are a favorite food for us in the Winter, though I usually buy the orange ones. I…

March 9, 2024

My local market recently had something akin to these stuffed portobellos as a special, and I liked them so much I figured out how to make them for myself, adding my own flavorings.