I decided to make a nice dinner for my husband and stepfather on Father’s Day.  It was just going to be a casual, outdoor meal on the grill, but since it was a special occasion I felt I needed to include a dessert.  Dessert is my least favorite course to prepare so I usually opt for something simple.  We still have a huge amount of strawberries leftover from strawberry picking so I decided to make the American...

Inspired by the homemade mayonnaise I made yesterday I decided to create a primal dressing for one of the many salads I will be eating over the next several days (see my post on my CSA farm share). I got the idea for the flavors in this salad one especially frantic afternoon a few weeks ago. I rushed into Whole Foods hoping to find a quick bite before my night class. I ended up with a delicious curry tofu...

Homemade mayonnaise A true representative of my generation, I have spent most of my life without a clear mental distinction between ‘food’ and ‘food product’.  Mayonnaise is a perfect example of this modern phenomenon.  I grew up with the vague notion that mayonnaise could only exist as something that came from a jar that you bought at a store.   How could you possibly make mayonnaise? ...

Compare and contrast. Left: Hungry townspeople closing in on the lonely produce stall at my town's farmer's market. Right: One of many gorgeous, overflowing produce stalls at the farmer's market in Portland's south park blocks. I know that some parts of the country have really great farmer’s markets.  I know this because I used to live in Portland, Oregon.  The farmer’s market...

I will venture to say that erythritol is not a strictly primal sort of food.   Although it is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in some plants such as pears and various fermented foods, you have to do some chemistry in order to get the little crystals that you can pour into your tea or coffee.  Grok encountered fermented fruit now and again, but he did not don a white coat and prepare erythritol from...

Last weekend Dave and I took the kids to pick strawberries.  I love doing this type of thing with the kids because it reinforces the idea that eating plants is interesting and fun.  They will be four years old in September, so they are old enough to legitimately help pick… or at least not stop us from picking once they get tired. Luckily for us, we live close to a lot of u-pick farms.  Last year we...

Those who are familiar with The Primal Blueprint eating style already know what is and is not a part of a primal diet.  However, from what I have read at the forum on Mark’s Daily Apple and elsewhere on the Internet, I think most of us vary in how strictly we adhere to the dietary recommendations.  Some people eat more dairy or incorporate more natural sweeteners into their diet.  Others stick to the guidelines...

I am so excited to finally get started on this blog! Ideas have been swarming around in my head for weeks about things I’d like to write about.  I even started making a list until Dave could get this site up and running for me.  Unfortunately, when it came time to actually sit myself down and write this first post, I experienced what I can only imagine is some bizarre form of blogger’s stage fright –...