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Apr 18

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Buttermilk and Herb Dressing

Have you ever made your own creamy dressing? If not you really should. Cool buttermilk, fresh herbs and little else generously adorning bitter greens, cucumber and radish (and anything else that might be on your plate) may induce swooning.

And although I do not consider an utterly plain, roasted potato boring in any way, just wait until you try it doused drizzled in homemade, buttermilk dressing.

Buttermilk and Herb Dressing | rootlust.com

In this recipe I combine the buttermilk with crème fraîche but sour cream or even full-fat Greek yogurt would work.  Of course only fresh herbs will do.  While it’s still too early to get all the herbs from my garden I was happy to send my 6-year-old out for the first chive harvest of the season. Read more

Apr 11

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Lemon-Garlic Grilled Chicken Legs

Melanie said it the other day in her homage to simplicity – complicated isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At 5 o’clock when all I’ve done to prepare for dinner is thaw some chicken I don’t worry one bit. Olive oil, salt and pepper can take most foods as far as they need to go. Especially chicken, especially if you grill it.

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Looking back at an old post I referred to myself as having grillaphobia! So funny because now I grill several times a week, all year round. If you are scared of your grill maybe this will help you too. Read more

Apr 10

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Emphasis on Simple

Last night I was just spending any ordinary night off at home listening to music and flipping through my new copy of Nourishing Traditions when I received a curious text message from a guy I went out with a few times last summer.  We have since been friends but hadn’t spoken in months.  He says he has a present for me and would like to come by. I was intrigued.

Within an hour he is standing in my living room holding a plastic baggie with a freshly filleted walleye fish.  He had been fishing and was about to toss it back but thought of me at the last minute.

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I had once mentioned that I really wanted to cook some fresh fish. So here he was.  I think people out here are just nice like that but it probably helps that I make it known that I am a little odd and slightly obsessed with food that didn’t begin on a factory farm. Read more

Apr 9

Asparagus and Spring Pea Soup

I confess.  I get a bit overexcited for spring.  Not for the warmer days and promise of summer or the tulips or anything else one might associate with spring.

I’m excited for the asparagus.

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Asparagus has a very short season that varies by region.  In Maine it doesn’t start until May but my Whole Foods carries gorgeous asparagus from California in mid-March through April.  My other local supermarket seems to exclusively carry Mexican asparagus so you might have to make a special trip.  If you’re really lucky maybe you can get some from a local grower or even grow your own (it takes three years before it can be harvested…no instant gratification for this veggie). Read more

Apr 8

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Sweet Potato and Spinach Pancakes

Those who know me might already be aware that some of my recipes might be more of a suggested list of ingredients with approximate quantities. I rarely measure things strictly (which is why no one asks me to bake)  and most of the time, especially for pancakes like these, I rely mostly on what items I have on hand. Varying the quantities of the ingredients usually doesn’t ruin anything here either. The worst that can really happen is that you get a thinner or thicker batter.

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Depending on what I might find in the fridge I make some variation of of this recipe quite frequently.  For breakfast, snacks, dinner even entertaining. I have even been known to bring a batch to a group workout and pass them out afterwards. Read more

Apr 4

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Kefir Pancakes

A month ago I started making my own raw milk kefir at home. For those of you who don’t know what kefir is, it’s milk that is fermented with the help of kefir grains which are these little rice like colonies of yeast and bacteria.

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Kefir is sort of like liquid yogurt but it contains even more probiotic goodness. Since learning to make my own, I literally have kefir coming out of my ears. I have no clue what to do with it all. I can only drink so much. Read more

Apr 4

Hello.

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I just can’t wait another second!  I should have driven the boy to pre-school 15 minutes ago.  I am going to yoga at 10 and I’m still not dressed.  The house is a mess.  The boy isn’t even dressed (he has been watching my iPad for way too long).  Yet here I am writing this quick little post to say, HI!

My sis and I are super excited to be blogging together here.  I started blogging a few years ago…yada, yada, yada…I am back!

She started blogging last year…yada, yada, yada now she blogs here with me!

 

Mar 26

Lessons from Pre-School

About six years ago my oldest daughter started preschool. It sounds trite to say but I never thought that I’d be the one to learn so much! They did a lot of things a little differently. Of course my favorite was the food.

Every morning the dining tables were set with small, real (as in breakable) dishes, candles, a flower and maybe a seasonal figurine or natural item (acorn, stone).

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Each day of the week had a snack associated with it. While young children might struggle with the abstract concept of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday etc., they quickly learned Moon Rice, Stone Soup, Applesauce, Bread and Porridge.
Read more

Mar 21

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Inspired By Food

Melanie loves food so much she paints pictures of it.

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Mar 21

Hi. I’m Melanie!

I am very excited to introduce a new voice to this blog. My sister, Melanie.  She currently lives in North Dakota, has an intellectual crush on Michael Pollan and is passionate about real food.  When she is not painting pictures of produce, fermenting her own vegetables, making her own yogurt, straining her own cottage cheese and finding local sources of real foods she works the weekend, night shift as an RN. As far as I know she does not work in a munitions factory.

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Here’s a little intro from her…

When I first arrived to North Dakota in 2010 I was completely horrified by the lack of a Whole Foods, Trader Joes, or really any store where you could walk in and ask for kombucha without being looked at sideways. Read more

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