Some food, some drink.

Quick show of hands - Who here eats Swiss chard? I grew up eating Swiss Chard; my grandmother always grew it in her garden (often for the unintended benefit of those rabbits that always seemed to take Grandma's language past PG-13). Now that I'm tending my own garden (and feeding my own feral rodents), it goes without saying that Swiss chard's got a home in my patch of dirt; and one of my favorite ways to prepare chard is in my cast iron skillet. By treating the stalks and leaves as two different vegetables and cooking them each a bit differently, this skillet method for Swiss chard offers a variety of textures held up with big flavors courtesy of rendered pork fat, a do-it-yourself seasoning blend and a splash of white Balsamic vinegar.

I live on a patch of prairie where generations have been raised on meat and potatoes. It's a stigma that's still quite apparent in this culture where many folks are still of Volga German descendantry (those of you who've been to one of those more traditional wedding dinners know exactly what I'm talking about). Quite often, proper vegetables are given second-class status; and if you've opened a couple of tins of corn and green beans, well, then I suppose you've covered your bases.

Not so in this casa; no siree. I make it a point to serve a variety of vegetables with most every meal, and I think when you do that, you wanna make sure that you keep it different…

I never turn down the opportunity to try out a new gadget (kitchen or otherwise), so when a friend of mine offered to bring his White Mountain Ice Cream Maker to work on a Friday, politely declining really wasn't an option. For our in-office ice cream experiment, we incorporated fresh Colorado peaches, real vanilla bean, and a strong pour of straight Bourbon whiskey into the mix. This frozen dessert got everyone at the office to happy hour just a little earlier on that particular day.

If you're like me, It's gotta be for someone pretty special that I'd want to light up the oven and heat up the house to bake cookies in the heat of late summer. Truth be told however, you don't need an oven to bake an outstanding cookie. With the right recipe in hand, cookies can be had from a waffle iron; and not a better excuse exists to procure one if you haven't already (My waffler is vintage; but I reckon a carefully-selected newer model will work too).

This particular recipe is one that I horked from a free Kindle-based cookbook chock full of Pensylvania Dutch recipes.…

When you get a hold of peaches that are really fresh, the last thing you wanna do is mess around with a bunch of jars and sully them up with a boatload of sugar; simple is best. This recipe for Tangy Cardamom-spiced Grilled Peaches is only six ingredients easy (well, OK seven if you count a scoop of ice cream), and does plenty of justice to a firm, juicy and sweet Flame Crest Peach brought my way from the scenic plateaus of Palisade, Colorado.

As tasty as grilled Mexican street corn is, it's not really something you'd want to eat every day. It's no secret that mayonnaise and/or dairy do nothing for the nutritional value of an ear of corn. Well, sometimes it pays to be lazy; and on a day that I really didn't feel like fussing over my grilled corn but was craving me some elotes all the same, I threw together a chile lime grill seasoning that lends a spicy, tangy, kick to my maize. And unlike the more traditional recipes that can sometimes use fat as a crutch, we're using only enough extra virgin sunflower oil to move those big flavors and help that seasoning stick into every nook and cranny of that perfectly-charred…

Just what the hell is "Southwest Ranch Sauce?" It shows up on the menus of so many fast food and casual dining restaurants, that sometimes I reckon you could call it the "special sauce" of the 21st century. Well, whatever title you wanna bestow on it, I reckon it's popularity stems from that blend of cool, creamy, and seasoned just spicy enough that seems to go with just about anything that you can lay out in a taco night spread. My take on Southwest-style ranch eschews a good portion of the fat that typically comprises a ranch dip or dressing by using strained or Greek yogurt. In this video, You'll not only see how quickly and easily this Southwest ranch dip and dressing comes together,…

If you're throwing out your bacon grease after Sunday breakfast, you're doing yourself a disservice. About forty percent of bacon is fat, and if you think about it, it's just downright silly that you'd spend all that time rendering out most of what you bought just so you can toss it in the trash. Bacon wants to be sensible; after all, curing and smoking are simply means to keep our streaky friend from prematurely going bad. In a world of over-the-top bacon-themed recipes (and in the spirit of sensibility), I'd like to submit this recipe call to reason: Popcorn prepared in bacon grease dosed with real maple syrup and finished with hickory smoked salt. Nothing ridiculous here; just plain old-fashioned good snacking that'll fire on every one of your taste buds.