Broccoli Spoon Bread is definitely a comfort food – hot, starchy, and cheesy – from plain ingredients. It’s also health food, containing protein; calcium; Vitamins A, B6, C, and K; […]

  • 4 TBS balsamic vinegar
  • 4 TBS shagbark hickory syrup
  • 3 TBSP sour cream
  • 1 TSP salt
  • 3 TBSP olive oil

Place ingredients in a pint-sized mason jar and securely tighten the lid. Shake well to mix the ingredients. Store in the fridge when not in use.

Do you love Ranch dressing on lots of things: pizza crust, carrot sticks, French fries, bacon, and even salad?

Here’s a recipe from scratch.

At the Holler, we make the mayonnaise with olive oil and duck eggs. Decades ago, we used MSG to bring out the flavor in this dressing, but now we think Worcestershire sauce is a healthier idea. Read more

If you love your after-dinner espresso and your Black or White Russian, try this derivative – made with great coffee, of course. Read more

Nicole Sauce’s grandfather was a cook from the time he served in the military until his death, a span of 70 years or so. For several decades, he owned and did the bulk of the cooking for a nifty small restaurant in a scenic small town not too far from Portland, Oregon. One of his sons, Nicole’s dad, worked during his teen years as a short-order cook at Darby’s and went on to a career in food science.

Let’s celebrate with a breakfast sausage the entire extended family clamored for – well over 100 people during Nicole’s childhood – when relatives joined for meals. This recipe came directly from Darby, makes just a taster’s worth of sausage (so you know he scaled it down for household use), and bears the name he gave it. Read more

There are few delights more complete than homemade bread. You feel it get silky as you knead. You take delight in the magic of little yeasties turning a lump of dough into a taut risen bubble ready to shape into loaves. You enjoy its yeasty odors, different while rising than while baking. At last, four hours later, you wait for a pat of butter to melt before crunching through crispy crust into the melting insides fresh-baked bread.

The first few times a person does anything are daunting, right? With bread, you’ll soon find an easy rhythm to weave among other activities during an at-home afternoon.

Today’s recipe aims to de-mystify the process of baking bread so you can join the legion of “I made it” bread mavens. Before long, you’ll create your own mixes, shapes, and tastes in home-baked bread. Read more

One good reason to make your own washing compound is that you control its ingredients. Another, equally satisfying justification, is money: you save by buying ingredients in bulk and you store in reusable containers.

There are many laundry soap formulations that work in old and new top-loader and side-loader washing machines. Here’s one we like, courtesy of my favorite librarian via the Duggan family. Read more