Pistachio House

I’m still here and still working on my semi-paleo pursuit.  I successfully navigated a trip last week to PDX to see Francine and remained a faithful GF.  I tend to gravitate toward Vani Hari’s FoodBabe blog for all things natural, so I knew she’d have some gluten-free desserts.  It’s hard when you want a nibble [...]

When last we talked, I had embarked upon a Paleo-pursuit, attempting to slim down from a gusty 150lbs and 16% body fat.  I fell off the wagon a bit in September, having allowed wheat, potatoes, and rice back into my diet. Then I finally manned up and had my sinus surgery and during my recovery [...]

So, lately, I’ve been traveling a lot and eating…and eating.  I’ve gained a lot of weight and in my attempt to detox, cleanse, and slim down, I’ve started a bit of a modified paleo diet.  True primals eschew grains of any kind, legumes, and dairy.  Oh no, not me – give up beans, and cheese? [...]

Back at Christmas, Francine’s husband Thom had a marvelously devilish idea–a fiftieth birthday bash for her, seven weeks early and in another state.  Yes, it was that wacky and weird.  It was a fabulous almost-birthday, as we called it.  Mr. Pre-planner had checklists and things written on clipboards, and yes, I was enlisted to draw [...]

There’s no story behind this one – I needed a dessert for a holiday get together and while tearing through the Cooking Light from November, I saw a Chocolate-Orange Layer Cake.  I’m not a fan of that combination, and having seen a dessert with brown sugar buttercream on a restaurant menu recently, I decided to [...]

The creaming method is the one we most often undertake when making baked goods. The other method brothers and sisters are biscuit and muffin. How much do we really understand what we’re doing and how to do it right so that our cakes and cookies turn out right? The typical recipe calls for creaming fat [...]

Okay, it was Christmas, and my dad showed up at my door for our first big holiday without mom – what was the point in making the journey to his house where the trappings and decorations of the holidays aren’t?  I had the tree, the fireplace, the food, the gifts–he had nothing.  When he arrived, [...]

I’m not the sugo maker, that’s Francine.  But sometimes I try.  The late fall and few days of winter we’ve had in the south have been warm.  A few days ago it was flip-flops and shorts as the high crested 75.  Then, we’re scheduled to have a few days of 50s with overnight lows in [...]

Well, I took a vacation because I’d not done anything for myself since my mom died.  My dad had a bit of a hesitance when I said “I’m going to Seattle for a week!” because he doesn’t understand planes and hasn’t been on one.  He said he’d be praying that the plane would be fine [...]

Inspired by the ease in which Francine seems to make bread, I’m venturing into the world of bread baking, guided by Peter Reinhart and his Bread Baker’s Apprentice book.  I originally made these loaves in late July for a relative’s visit from Europe and they languished in the queue until we had our little attack [...]

What an incredible month and a half it’s been!  In mid August, we suffered a worm attack from a hacker in Russia who found a way to exploit a bit of PHP code in a file that makes the cute little thumbnails in most WordPress themes.  Why did we fall victim to a well published [...]

Zucchini’s not something I normally eat a lot of.  You see it piled high on plates with broccoli, squash, and carrots at restaurants under the name “seasonal vegetables.”  Why are those same vegetables always in season at restaurants?  Do they have some sort of time machine that lets them have these when it’s clearly not [...]

This week we talk about cherries as our main feature including some discussion on how to make cherry soda. We also talk about making Whole Wheat Bread with the Bread Baker’s Apprentice book by Peter Reinhart, a little about plane spotting, Vashon Island adventures and a little bit of dehydrating. This week’s essay touches on serendipity and sagacity.

Life is a Bowl of Cherries [ 56:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

It’s like a scene from an old movie about the south – a grandfather and a little boy walking out of a gas station with an RC Cola and a MoonPie, getting into a 57 Chevy and taking to the road.  It happened like that for me, but with different vittles.  Yes, I said vittles, [...]

When I hear “Fried Green Tomatoes” I immediately think of the eponymous book by Fannie Flagg and the movie it was made into.  It wasn’t something we had growing up, because we raised our tomato flock (yes, flock) to be eaten red or canned.  It wasn’t until I branched away from home that I actually [...]

Butter on bread or butterbrot is a simple sandwich base.

✩ Here’s the third installment of the Cooking 101 series – Water Bath Canning.  This method is the traditional way of preserving high-acid foods such as fruits, jams, jellies, pickles, butters and acidified tomatoes, which is what we’re doing today.  I won’t go near pressure canners, because I enjoy how pretty my face is and [...]

After Jason spent the weekend with Big Boys and Francine with a large machine and 12 pounds of tri-tip, we got together to talk about tomatoes eating them fresh and home canning, thrift store shopping, vacuum packing, the Big Scrape 2011 (landscaping), the BEST gloves for everything ever, bar-b-que, salt, and Jason’s cats. There’s an essay by Francine, too.

Episode 2.5 Attack of the Tomatoes [ 58:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

July is halfway over, and that means Prunus Persica are everywhere. I live in the Palmetto State, which is a total misnomer. Yes, we have lots of Palmetto trees–and don’t you dare call them palm trees–you find those tall things out in California or on a beach in Hawaii. A more proper name might be the Peach State. Yes, I know Georgia has that dubious distinction, however, South Carolina produces waaaayyyyyy more peaches than our neighbor to the south. The best the state peach council could come up with was “The Tastier Peach State.” I’ll buy that.

On my trip home this weekend to take my dad for his doctor visits, we chose a visit to the local farm – Sheep Island Farms, run by the McKenzie family for some tomato picking in preparation for our annual canning tradition.  Here’s a quick peek at next week’s audio podcast which will be Episode [...]

Pistachio House Podcast - Episode 2 - Pickin' Tow-Maters! [ 3:37 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Our first podcast! This one’s called Dueling Rice Bowls where we talk about Lowcountry Red Rice and Spanish Rice and share our recipes. We, that is, Francine (the sniffly one) and Jason (with the charming drawl) also talk a little about the origins of the Lowcountry recipe and the indigenous people, the Gullah, of the [...]

The dog days of summer continue to bake broil us to death here in the south.  In addition to corn, strawberries, boiled peanuts and colorful squash and zucchini, the staple of the summer here in the south is the almighty tomato.  We grow plump, juicy ones that have a sweet acidity–unlike those round red things [...]

From the time you walk in to sitting at table you’re ready in less than thirty minutes. Nothing fancy but who needs fancy? Beats the heck out of ordering a pizza.

Ah, the butter bean.  Strange blue creature from my neck of the woods.  Wait, blue?  Yes.  What we in the south call “butter beans” (phaseolus lunatus) are actually a variant of the lima bean (phaseolus limensis).  Francine did a lovely cassoulet with lima beans last winter and it reminded me of the chest freezer full [...]

  Wanna know why I didn’t call this German Potato Salad?  I’ve been to Germany, and I didn’t have any potato salad there.  Although, I do know that they have it there–it’s vinegar-based and doesn’t have any mayonnaise in it, unless you’re in Berlin.  I was in Frankfurt, which is in the southern part of [...]

Easy Gumbo with White Rice I know this isn’t a summer dish.  It’s hot outside.  Who in their right mind would want this on a hot summer night?  Well, I did.  See, I’m very ADHD and sometimes when I’m watching one of the talking heads on TV cooking something, I have the urge to immediately [...]