For my spring project I’m trying to kick my expensive store-bought kombucha habit by making it at home. Last week I gathered all the necessary supplies and this week was all about making the kombucha and waiting for the magic to happen.
It was surprisingly easy to make, but I think something might be terribly wrong with my SCOBY. Did I already mess things up?
Who gardens here: Aimée Wimbush-Bourque of the blog Simple Bites. Danny, her husband, their children: Noah (8), Mateo (6), and Clara (2)
Where: Outside Montreal, Quebec
I have long admired Aimée, the blogger and voice behind Simple Bites. I love her writing and her warm photography, and the way that she talks about life in the kitchen with her family. I got the opportunity to visit her when I was in Montreal last fall, and I discovered that she’s just as warm and generous in person. She also makes gardening and homesteading look very, very easy.
Here’s a peek at her garden and chicken coop, and the brunch she made from the bounty of her family’s garden. We talked about what it really takes to garden (less time than you might think!) and why Aimée values it so much for her children’s sake.
I am all for getting creative in the kitchen. But sometimes, you just don’t want to mess around with a classic. Take chicken soup. Whether you call it “goldene yoich” (golden broth in Yiddish), “Jewish Penicillin,” or just plain old soup, not much can top the basic, soul-satisfying combination of tender chicken, carrots, celery, and onions swimming in soothing broth.
Besides, people tend to get a little particular about what foods they expect to see on the Passover table. So when the holiday rolls around, I make sure to give my friends and family what they want: pure, unadulterated, intoxicatingly fragrant chicken soup. When it comes to the matzo balls, however, I feel much more comfortable experimenting. Made from little more than eggs, matzo meal, and a little seltzer for lift, they make the perfect blank canvas for adding flavor.
A tall open shelf in the kitchen is great for storing pantry essentials, but without a solid way to organize things, it can end up looking untidy and uninspiring. “The whole arrangement looked kind of sad,” Katrin of the blog Taking Notes writes of her pantry shelf above. “But! There’s nothing paint couldn’t make better.” See how she transformed this shelf into a beautiful and super organized pantry setup:
We’ve all been there. We buy a gallon of milk for a recipe or a weekend brunch, and then it lingers in the fridge, half-used, with the expiration date barreling down upon our guilty heads. It’s a sad waste to pour sour milk down the drain, and we’re here to tell you that you never need to do that again.
Here are 10 simple ways to use up leftover milk, from quick and practical projects like homemade mozzarella and yogurt, to treats like homemade strawberry milk and a sweet, smooth liqueur (yes, booze!). And if all that fails, we have one simple tip that will make sure you never waste milk again.
This time of year slays me; in New York City, the snow is pretty much finished, the ear muffs have been packed up and early daffodils and crocus blossoms are poking their way through the packed city soil. And yet, there is no food growing yet.
It’s the season when my dreams are populated with ramps, fiddlehead ferns and asparagus. A few weeks ago I was visiting my family in Los Angeles and had plenty of springy food, including some of the most beautiful asparagus spears I’d ever seen. So in anticipation of my own northeastern asparagus season, I’m thinking about a dish I’ve made for years with barely cooked asparagus and boiled eggs.
It’s not Passover yet, and it won’t be for about a week. But while Passover gives us an reason to make this candy-like dessert, really there’s no need to wait.
Matzo (or matzoh or matzah), the Jewish unleavened cracker-like bread, is the perfect crunchy, flaky base for a thin coating of buttery caramel and melted chocolate, along with whatever toppings your heart desires. Crispy, flaky matzo covered with brown sugar caramel and bittersweet chocolate — this stuff is so addictive you won’t want to wait for Passover.
English breakfast, Irish breakfast, Scottish breakfast … why are they served at breakfast, and is there really any difference between them?
