Some food, some drink.

Just as important in our household as the evening ritual of family taco night is pancake night (the "family" part should be implied at this point, right?). Even the dog looks forward to pancake night, and while plain pancakes are fine, in our house pancakes from a box are not. Nobody's being presumptuous here; we just happen to think that quality time with loved ones deserves proper pancakes, and for us, this recipe for whole wheat and honey buttermilk pancakes is a shoo-in.

Whole white wheat keeps these pancakes tender, and surprisingly light and fluffy for a whole grain griddlecake, but there's a trick here: Part of the secret is mixing up the batter right before…

For the theme cake diy-types out there, the Interwebs is and absolute god-send; and in the age of Pinterest, you'd think it'd be super-friggin' easy to find a proper pattern to use to magically transform a couple of nine-inch rounds into a dolphin. Well, apparently that isn't the case; and the one blog post that kept popping up on everyone's pinboards didn't have a pattern. Well, one thing that I can do after 8+ years of a science degree is document; and so y'all don't have to go thru what I did, I've outlined exactly what we did to assemble a dolphin-themed birthday cake, including a pattern(!) you can download and print. 

My kids are suckers for peanut butter (it's likely genetic on their mom's side). Problem is in this day and age is that peanut butter is verboten in many a school lunch room. I've got some conspiracy theories about the whole deal, but the fact remains that my kids are gonna have to come home for a PB fix. My son begged and nagged me to make this recipe ever since he found the original recipe in one of his favorite wildlife periodicals. The recipe as wrote is vague as to what kind of nuts and dried fruit should be added to the mix. As I was feeling a bit nostalgic the first time I made this recipe, I decided to run with the time-honored mix of peanuts, raisins…

Ok, when was the last time you had a brimming, hot bowl of split pea soup? Alright, now everyone that gets their split pea soup from a can please put your hand down. Wow, not many left huh? Well, that's a shame because homemade split pea soup is a real treat. It's not at all difficult to prepare; but cooking the right ingredients the right way swaps out "just ok" for descriptors like "hearty," satisfying," and "fantastic". The way I do split pea soup means starting with a slow cooker stock based on smoky pork hocks originating from locally-raised pork. Fresh veggies sweat in butter and herbs make for the kind of savory foundation where a half pound of dry legumes can't help but end up being tasty.

Packaged food doesn't always mean processed food; and in this video recipe, we've got three great examples. Firstly, you can't go wrong with dry pasta; and if you wanted to go with the whole grain stuff (love it in salads) you'd probably be ok as anymore the stuff doesn't taste like the box it came in. Second, frozen vegetables are fantastic for so many things; adding a bit of color, flavor, and nutrition to main and side dish alike. Lastly, boneless skinless chicken breasts catch alottla flak for generally being pretty bad; but y'know you really gotta blame…

Beta recipes are my own experiments that I've only tried once. Usually palatable, they often could be better with a little tweaking - So please do, and let me know what works!

I don't know about you, but if I'm having company over, I feel compelled to bake. And when your ninety-year-old Grandma comes to visit? Well, you wanna do it up right; and you can't get much more right than a pie. I'm also a bit impatient; and when I want pie with less fuss, I turn to the "rustic tart" interpretation of said baked good. This particular tart begins with a whole wheat and all-butter crust that's filled with fresh Colorado peaches seasoned with notes of cinnamon and nutmeg. A fitting celebration of my Grandmother's weekend stay!

I get a little crazy when it comes to peach season. The plateaus of Palisade, Colorado are an easy daytime drive due west from here in Hays, USA; and as long as there are folks entrepreneurial enough to truck them back East down I-70, there will always be suckers like me who will buy them.

Half of the fifty pounds(!) of peaches purchased this time around are of the "Angelus" variety: A large, juicy, just sweet enough peach with a barely-noticable skin that's perfect for eating (you can't make ice cream out of everything, y'know). Another fantastic application for this particular peach is a fresh…

The best made plans for an easy weeknight dinner shouldn't need to always involve opening a few boxes or passing the contents of bags straight from the freezer to the toaster oven. Case in point: These hamburger steaks are always a winner at our house. A study in decidedly un-snobby simplicity; this take on burger-sans bun begins with responsibly-sourced lean ground steer seasoned with the kinds of things that add even more umami to a surface that's been crusted with a whole lotta seasoned sear. An inexpensive alternative to a strip or ribeye to be sure; but just because you're eating cheap beef doesn't mean you have to eat mediocre beef.