It’s almost time for the liquid purple gold of the summer: seedless blackberry jelly. In case you are wondering, it’s called preserves when most of the fruits are whole, it’s called jelly when it’s made from juice only (no fruit chunks), and jam is halfway in between these two. Because we only make seedless—and the

I have a confession. I’ve been hoarding my blackberries. Last year we ate as many blackberries as we could. I also made over 100 jars of jelly, countless cobblers, and a batch of blackberry wine. After all of that I was left with five gallons of frozen berries, and 6 quart jars of blackberries that

The thing I love most about those hot days of spring and summer is, after being thoroughly chilled from a full day of air conditioning indoors, stepping outside and feeling the warmth of the air on my skin. Then I sit down in my car with an even higher temperature, and letting the heat soaking

I try to make everything from scratch and to always use whole food ingredients, but I also live in the real world. I work full-time. I drive kids to and from different schools. I have to get those children up in the morning, and feed them, and clothe them, and get them out the door.

Every now and then I get a craving for salmon patties. Whether you pronounce the, “L” or not, they are a versatile staple in our kitchen. If you’re wondering, I’ve decided that when I’m talking about a filet, I don’t pronounce the, “L”, when I’m talking about patties I do. Patties are a good southern

I know it’s only Monday, but these blackberry jalapeño margaritas are good any day of the week. We picked around twenty five gallons of blackberries last summer. I made 100 jars of jelly, I canned six quart jars of blackberries in a simple syrup to be used for blackberry cobbler throughout the year, I made

First let me get this out of the way. I don’t judge people who use microwaves. If you’ve ever served me a meal prepared in a microwave, I didn’t secretly hate it. I didn’t wake up and decide one day that I had a moral issue with microwaves. For me it was more gradual than

I love perfectly baked potatoes. Nothing is better than a crispy seasoned skin and an inside so creamy and moist you don’t even have to add butter. Impossible, you say? Try this, then we’ll talk. I picked up this technique from my time at the Barrel, Cracker that is. Jamie and I both worked there.

Salmon is Maddox’s favorite, and when my kids like something that is healthy for them, I make a point to incorporate it into our routine. One problem. Maddox likes things plainer than plain–no sauce, no seasoning, sometimes no salt. That can get monotonous for adult taste buds. Sometimes I try to slip in a tiny