I recently took a cooking class at 137 Pillars in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The chef took us to the local markets and we wandered through the colorful stalls and tried various delights, things I hadn’t seen or tasted before, flavor combinations that were completely new to me in my years working as a professional chef. It was a feast for the eyes and the senses, and after we made this […]
As many of you know, I just returned from exploring several countries in Southeast Asia and one of my favorite areas was the north of Thailand in the city of Chiang Mai. The experience was made particularly special by my stay at 137 Pillars Chiang Mai, which many of you have asked me about since I chronicled the experience so thoroughly on my Instagram and Instagram stories. If you missed it, […]
This is the juicy peach time of year. Every market is overflowing with them and sometimes I wish I could bottle up that deep earthy sweetness that tastes like the height of summer. I think I have come pretty close with this recipe for peach butter. A few wise people in my life have taught me a lot about fruit. The late Jon Rowley, who I wrote about in my […]
As a child I used to love to collect summer flowers, green clover, and fall leaves for my flower press. I would then paste them onto homemade cards or drop them into letters before sending them off so that the reader had a little piece of where I was writing from. Today I’m going to show you how to make a flower press and dry flowers so that you can […]
One of my favorite things is to get what my dad calls “volunteers” in the garden. Thess are plants that spring up from having their seeds tossed in the compost pile, and later getting transplanted when the compost is added to the soil. This has happened with squash, zucchini and zinnia flowers this year. But this is something you can do intentionally as well. For example, did you know that […]
It’s people, relationship, and experiences that I hold closely. It’s about making memories and you’re not going to make memories with things. With that in mind I’m excited to announce my next Adventure Getaway will be in TEXAS. It is an epic hog hunting adventure! Join me on an exclusive adventure with other wonderful women, learn some new outdoor skills no matter your experience level, and lean-in to a weekend that […]
Toward the end of the season, when you have had your fill of garden squash, pick the blossoms that form on the vines before they bear fruit. They are less likely to mature into full fruit anyway as the weather gets colder, and the flowers themselves have a delicate squash flavor, so they are wonderful tossed in salads or deep fried and stuffed with delicious things. And if you aren’t […]
Most people think that you need a lot of land around you to grow watermelon because their vines need to spread out. But watermelon varieties are available in dwarf sizes and don’t require the land you might think you would need to grow them. There are also an amazing range of things you can do with all of the watermelon that’s in season right now–both sweet like this watermelon agua […]
We have 5 new chicks that have just hatched at Tulipwood. We didn’t intend to have 5 new chicks, but the hens got broody and they just wouldn’t get off of their eggs and so we gave in and let them sit on them and here we are months later with 5 new chicks. We are really hoping there aren’t any roosters since we already have two, which is one too many, […]
Last night, I harvested the kale I’m growing in the planter box I tried out this year. Since I didn’t have a lot of growing space this summer, I went with all sorts of containers, and I have to say it’s been rather fun to harvest jalapeños and tomatoes and radishes and herbs and now my second round of kale. I had nothing green to eat in the refrigerator last […]
