Istanbul & Tehran have their Grand Bazaars, Jerusalem has the Shuk, and Barcelona has la Boqueria. It is a feast for the eyes! I couldn’t believe all the varieties of mushrooms. Or salt You could easily tell it was Halloween when we were there. If the chocoalte and painted pumkins didn’t give it away, the vendors in…
Category: General
Liebster Award
LIEBSTER AWARD–THANK YOU!! I’m very excited to receive this honor. I want to thank Tyler at ./KitchenLab! for the nomination! Tyler has a really neat blog about fermenting and other forms of food preservation. I will definitely be spending more time on his blog as my courage to try fermenting grows! And his photos are beautiful! The…
Weekend in Sonoma
Sonoma County, California… wine…food…sunshine…and good company. A perfect place to spend a long weekend. The grape vines were heavily laden with beautiful ripening grapes. The setting was perfect for some wine tasting. My friend, Debby, joined us as we headed off to Iron Horse Vineyards to taste their Russian Cuvee – which was served at…
So many ingredients, which to use first?
While visiting my daughter, who has been doing graduate studies in ecology in the Negev Desert, we traveled around the country visiting other family members in the north and generally exploring. After 7 months of Arielle being away, it was great to have my oldest and youngest children together again. We hiked in the desert,…
Amsterdam Half Marathon
The day finally came: 7 months in planning, 6 months and another half marathon in training, the decision to do the half instead of the full, a plane trip, a visit to the 1928 Olympic stadium, a day to adjust to the time, and here it was…the Amsterdam Half Marathon! The weather forecast was for…
Preparing for Amsterdam
My half marathon in Amsterdam is less than 2 weeks away and, unlike my trepidation before the Chicago run in July, I am feeling very ready for this run. For this training, I didn’t just focus on building my mileage, I included at least one speed-work workout each week and interspersed 5K races periodically. The…
I tried, the ingredients were beautiful, but I failed
I had beautiful ingredients: Swiss chard, garlic and jalapeno from my garden, tomatillos and yukon gold potatoes from Farmer Kim, and corn from Highland Orchards. I wanted to make a vegetarian enchilada with salsa verde. It looked good, tasted OK, but something was off. When we added pico de gallo, things improved. The filling…
The Green Bean Revolution
Ok, so my green beans (or purple beans, to more accurately describe my Trionfo Violetto) have gotten the best of me. Even with giving away harvest after harvest, I STILL have more than I can use! I have tried blanching the beans and freezing them in the past, but I don’t like what that does…
Rock n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon
I have always hated running. I hated it as a kid; I would get side stitches and I was slow. I hated it as a teen; I would get side stitches and I was slow. I hated it as an adult; no side stitches, but my knee injuries always flared up and I would get…
The First 60 Hours in Iran
The first 60 hours of our visit to Iran are always the most interesting. Since we take so many naps, it always feels like a week in those first two and a half days. This trip was no exception. In the first 60 hours we traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles, visited 3 different cities, slept…
Andrea's Garden Cooking 