In honour of Mother’s Day on Sunday, I thought I’d take the opportunity to brag pay tribute to my own mother, particularly as pertains to my food philosophy and thus this blog.
Our childhood was a bit unusual; my sister recently described our Easter celebrations. Think Laura Ingalls Wilder – we were Little House in the Big Woods set the 20th century. Click to continue reading
As the weather turns to spring and gets warmer, I start making more salads.
One of my favourites is this simple salad with cucumber and radish – it’s light, crispy, and ridiculously easy to put together. After I made this yesterday, my girls were asking me to make it again today. Click to continue reading
A few weekends ago (I’m a rather behind), there was a little fair in our village, Vitanie Jari (Welcoming Spring). Children from the local preschools sang and danced in traditional costume, a few farm animals were available to pet, and local crafts people displayed their wares.
I am not naturally inclined to approach strangers and talk to them, but for the interest of my readers and in the interest of promoting Slovak culture I interviewed a few of the artisans. There were a few more tables, but wailing toddlers cut my journalist foray short.
One common element that struck me amoung all the crafts was that of patience. Crafting these works of beauty takes time, focus, and care, rather rare commodities in today’s instantaneous age. My favourite, though, is the last one! Click to continue reading
My youngest sister and her daughter were visiting from Canada for two weeks. It was so lovely to have someone to chat with while cooking, giggle over family stories, and sing harmony with. She washed many sinkfuls of dishes and watched the kids so my husband and I could have a couple dates. Thank you, Miwa!
Having her here brought to mind something I’ve thought to myself in moments of mom-desperation. “We were meant to live in tribes, to have aunts and cousins and grandmothers help with children, and meals, and life in general.” Living close to family has it’s own perils, but so many of us live in relative isolation. Parents spend more hours at work than with children or spouses, extended family often lives far away. Some communities of friends support each other, others have yet to. Click to continue reading
Wild food foraging is somewhere near the top on the list of activities I enjoy. I enjoy being in nature, anything to do with food, the satisfaction of getting free food that I didn’t have to sow/weed/water in a garden; I suppose it satisfies my liking of things and activities that are both beautiful and practical.
I tend to go a little overboard though – pick all the plants! They’re free, nutritious, and delicious! Then I get home, and realize that I have more than I know what to do with. Anybody with me?
Here is a list, then, of 12 ideas of things to make with ramps, in case you have too many sitting in your fridge. The flavour of ramps is best raw, so most of these recipes don’t involve heat.
Last week I wrote about our outing to harvest ramps (or more properly, European bear garlic). There is another wild vegetable available early in the spring: stinging nettle.
I have a different favourite season for every place I’ve lived. In Western Slovakia, it’s spring. Winter here tends towards dreary grey rather than winter wonderland, and spring brings with it positivity and hope.