tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70006848490439296032024-03-14T00:36:14.780-04:00The Spice Garden... a food diary ...Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.comBlogger1020125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-16378775929282275712024-03-12T16:08:00.000-04:002024-03-12T16:08:08.878-04:00Chicken and White Bean Tostito Soup It's been a while ! It's not like we haven't been eating good food, but many times we're eating just what you find in the recipe archives (see Labels in the sidebar), as who doesn't tend to head for old favorites time after time ? This past week, I got a yen for a 'Tex Mex soup' - that Tostito cracker soup that you sometimes find on the menu at your local burrito or taco shop. I've Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-42141999325825302023-03-25T17:13:00.003-04:002023-03-25T17:14:44.068-04:00Chicken Satay ! Peanut Dipping Sauce ! Cucumber Relish ! Oh, my ! Yes, Spring is very much on my mind these days ! Yes, I am having a crisis of seasonal fatigue when it comes to winter weather ! Yes, I have bridled under the yoke of a late winter infection that laid me low ! Yes, I am ready for some fresh tangy food that wakes up the taste buds and zaps my kitchen routine out of the late winter casseroles, soups, and heavy braising.Voila ! Chicken Satay Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-42480339299731025992023-03-18T21:57:00.003-04:002023-03-18T21:59:43.652-04:00The Little House Cooking Club - Maple Sugaring !"Every day Grandpa puts on his boots and his warm coat and his fur cap and he goes out into the snowy woods and gathers the sap. With a barrel on a sled, he drives from tree to tree and empties the sap from the buckets into the barrel. Then, he hauls it to a big iron kettle that hangs by a chain from a cross timber between two trees. "He empties the sap into the iron kettle. There is a big Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-91393743379154901742023-03-14T12:37:00.000-04:002023-03-14T12:37:08.000-04:00Braised Short Ribs with Tomatoes and Mushrooms Mmmmm ! What could that be under that smooth tomato-y, mushroom-y sauce, you ask ?! It's only the most succulent and fall-off-the-bone tender beef short ribs that have been cooking all day in a very slow oven and making the grey cottage smell like Nonna's kitchen !This recipe was gifted to me by my big brother, Rich who is one of the best home cooks that I know. He and Alison are known for Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-26320000351611619662023-02-25T10:45:00.001-05:002023-02-25T21:18:24.135-05:00Dreaming of Summer ... and Key Lime Pie !This week has been a challenge ! Just as February wanes, it seems that winter has grabbed New England by the scruff of its neck and tossed it to the snowbanks ! Our little dirt road is again snow covered and the sounds are all muffled by the blanket of snow that settled on roof, wall, and branches. It's pretty and all, but my wintertime feel-goods are all used up. I'm dreaming on Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-25450536958812578172023-02-21T22:39:00.000-05:002023-02-21T22:39:34.219-05:00The Little House Cooking Club - Oyster Stew "... In all her life Laura had never tasted anything so good as that savory, fragrant, sea-tasting hot milk, with golden dots of melted cream and black specks of pepper on its top, and the little dark canned oysters at its bottom. She sipped slowly, slowly from her spoon, to keep that taste going over her tongue as long as she could." Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-81694367703523377502023-02-20T21:44:00.004-05:002023-02-20T21:45:29.401-05:00Sweet Corn and Butternut Squash Succotash This is SUCH a nice side dish for this Maple Sugar Time of Year ! We had this with roasted baby potatoes and grilled lamb chops this evening. It was a bit of springtime before the actual seasonal warm up. Friends visited this past week. We took them to the local indie bookstore that has just changed hands. We were wanting to support the new folks and also show our friends a high Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-18216532089964280792023-02-13T20:34:00.003-05:002023-02-15T12:29:57.668-05:00The Little House Cooking Club - 1, 2, 3, 4 Cup Cake "Self sufficiency was the badge of the American pioneer. Self sufficient, indeed, the Ingalls seemed. Yet, they never dared settle too far from the country store. It was their lifeline, supplying the essentials that made survival possible and the luxuries that made life livable. " This week, I chose to depart from the corn flour recipes and dwell a bit on the idea of a special Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-85838481266213370022023-02-04T16:50:00.004-05:002023-02-13T20:36:30.018-05:00The Little House Cooking Club - Cornbread and Soup It all starts with a good cornbread recipe. Corn ... the staple of farmers for their animals and for their families. Corn ! Fresh and dried, soaked in lye to make hominy, pounded in various gritty grindings to make flour, grits, and coarse polenta. Boiled and buttered when its fresh off the stalk, grilled and cut from the cob to add to salads and custards. It's such a versatile grain !As I Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-18030963102290319432023-01-15T14:19:00.001-05:002023-01-15T14:19:39.291-05:00Decadent Raspberry Cheesecake Oh, the decadence of this gorgeous cheesecake was just overwhelming ! It was birthday week here at the Grey Cottage. Our lovely daughter-in-law had a birthday on Monday and Silent Bob had his birthday on Saturday. Bookend celebrations ! We opted to choose Friday evening to celebrate over a dinner here, so I was tasked with creating a super duper cake. Since traditional birthday cake is not Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-26957407264675425012023-01-07T10:07:00.000-05:002023-01-07T10:07:23.802-05:00Roasted Chicken with Arugula CreamThis dish is such a dinnertime lifesaver. It's a meal for a busy day. It's a meal for a time when you want a solid meat and potatoes experience. It's got a killer dipping sauce that is so addictive that you'll be thinking of other meat dishes to make that will incorporate the arugula cream. It comes straight from food writer and 'cooking goddess', Diana Henry. Ms. Henry is one of my personalSusan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-86400500425544376982022-11-04T13:29:00.001-04:002022-11-04T13:29:36.644-04:00Maple Pecan Scones for Two Scones tend to dry out and become heavy if you don't knosh them fresh from the oven. Am I right ? This batch gets eaten in one sitting, as the entire batch is four regular sized scones! Baking for two people. It's a revelation ! I came across a recipe for small batch scones and thought it perfect, as I continue to try to keep to a lower calorie daily diet. My philosophy is that all Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-59407242209616808692022-10-25T13:52:00.012-04:002022-10-25T18:54:44.529-04:00Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie What started off as a nimble way using up small bunches of ingredients in the fridge turned into a real revelation. Meet Chicken and Cheese Quesadilla Pie ! Slide these out of their pie pans and right onto the plate. They hold their shape beautifully ! Side them with baked sweet potatoes. Have small bowls of sour cream and spicy hot salsa for dolloping on bites of the pie and Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-66220532704381951042022-10-17T15:36:00.018-04:002022-11-04T13:36:11.072-04:00Avocado Toast - Easy Lunch or Breakfast An easy and healthy lunch here in The Spice Garden today ! You're probably saying, " Really ?! Why is she posting such an easy recipe ? Aren't we all 'over' the Avocado Toast scene ?" Well, the reason is that this is my food diary and I sometimes forget about these easy and simple 'real food' bites. If I post them, though, I tend to scroll through and say to myself, "Ha! Haven't made THAT inSusan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-80842137089682134262022-10-16T18:36:00.000-04:002022-10-16T18:36:52.562-04:00Traditional Frikadeller ... Danish Comfort Food ! So ... this is a recipe that I have had for several years. This summer, I was hot to use it while cooking over the fire on one of our RV jaunts and it was stellar ! Last evening, I had the right combo of ground pork and ground beef to do it again, albeit on the stove at The Grey Cottage and NOT over open fire. It was still really delish !Every culture has its own treatment of minced meat - Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-32632735029804661082022-07-14T17:02:00.000-04:002022-07-14T17:02:15.055-04:00Grammy Lindquist's Blueberry Cake with White Vinegar Sweet Sauce It's blueberry season on Gap Mountain and the first batch came down from the blueberry patch yesterday afternoon. Every year, SB tends the bushes by cutting away brush to encourage the sun and rain to tend the berries ... and not the weedy brush. The pay off is great when nature provides the right amount of sun and rain, no late frosts arrive to freeze the blossoms, and no dry spells settleSusan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-72937687046128464512022-04-06T20:41:00.017-04:002022-04-06T20:49:16.530-04:00Cherry Almond Biscotti Chilly grey day ... baking to warm up the kitchen and give SB and I a nice, crisp snack to have with a cuppa this afternoon. The days of baking sweets once or twice a week have long gone. I'm convinced that we appreciate cookies more, now that they are truly an infrequent treat.That said, these crispy biscotti are easy and quick to mix up. They do take a bit of puttering with, but Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-28125506434603815832022-03-14T14:15:00.001-04:002022-03-14T14:15:59.295-04:00Hamentaschen in Honor of Purim You know how you can get obsessed about making a recipe now and then that you haven't thought about in ages ? These little cookies popped into my mind, last week at about the same time that I saw a post about Purim online.I made these cookies years ago, when SB and Amy, his biking/hiking friend, came home to have lunch after one of their jaunts. They were good then, and they're still good !Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-30432696949317919172022-03-11T08:24:00.001-05:002022-03-11T08:24:58.425-05:00Penne alla Vodka ...Who Knew ? They say that Spring is on the way. I saw, "Ha! Look at all that snow ! Let's stay in by the fire and make a bowl of pasta for supper !" I know many have seen this recipe floating around the Internet this winter. To blog it may seem a repetitive exercise on my part, but here's the deal. This is my food diary. This is the place I return to easily without having to dig around in Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-39618432678426103022022-02-19T17:11:00.002-05:002022-02-19T17:21:34.263-05:00Valentine's Day and Wedding Anniversary Cupcakes It's been ages since I posted a quick food share, but Valentine's Day and my 42nd (count 'em!) wedding anniversary called for a special dessert splurge. As SB and I planned what we might want to do for our wedding anniversary celebration, we talked about having my brother and sister-in-law, Rich and Alison come to help us celebrate. It was at their home that we were married on a very Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-91756150121447896382021-02-26T12:25:00.000-05:002021-02-26T12:25:22.679-05:00Cooking With Cider - Red Cabbage and ApplesIt's almost tax time, so we were on a Skype call this past week with our German friends, Harald and his wife Inge. We help Harold negotiate the finance world of US banks and tax law sometimes. Anyway, in making small talk about late winter and what everyone has been doing and eating during COVID lockdowns, the topic of schnitzel and veggies came up. One thing lead to another and by the time I Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-62004534281240004632021-02-18T22:25:00.003-05:002021-02-18T22:34:52.493-05:00Pan Seared Halibut and Cannellini Beans with Anchovy Herbed Vinaigrette That recipe name ! What a mouthful ! This dish has a bunch of flavours that make for a real mouthful. The vinaigrette looks sparse, but it has so many powerful ingredients! In small amounts, they pack intense power. In addition, the beans have stealth to them. They have the garlic and shallot flavours that have gently infused their way into them. And the fish ... it was heavenly. With its Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-38361876814065936392020-12-27T16:34:00.002-05:002020-12-27T16:52:58.347-05:00Chicken Stew with Mashed Potato 'Dumplings'Merry Christmas ! Happy New Year ! Got leftovers ? Me, too !To say that this Christmas celebration has been a bit out of the ordinary is definitely an understatement. Making the traditional Christmas dishes that feed the thousands has not been a high priority, since don't know about you, but Silent Bob and I have been hangin' together - as in by ourselves. ZOOM and social media have subbed in Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-89624481505717051872020-10-13T11:30:00.000-04:002020-10-13T11:30:21.042-04:00Zucchini Fritters Fall lighting is here and dinners look pretty cozy when captured in that golden light of the evening kitchen lamps ! These fritters were made with the last of the garden zucchini - grated and mixed up with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, some egg, some spices, and 'oven fried' to crispy bites. They were perfect dipped in creamy rich aioli !They are ridiculously easy to make, folks ! The Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7000684849043929603.post-64459040254292289672020-06-11T16:18:00.000-04:002020-06-11T16:20:53.124-04:00Moussaka for Two
Moussaka ! Ground lamb, eggplant, onions, oregano, mint, tomato sauce, and a Bechamel sauce and cheese topping. Oh my ! This is a bit labor intensive during prep, but the payoff is oh, so good. It's prepared in three separate steps and then assembled and finished in the oven to a gooey, bubbling finish. Enjoy !
Moussaka
Serves: 4 for dinner or 2 with lunch leftovers
Susan Lindquisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04039551683129884367noreply@blogger.com2