Cooking Food In The Dishwasher: Challenge Accepted!

Italian author Lisa Casali demonstrates her dishwasher cooking method.

Are we all aware that dishwasher-cooked food is a thing?

I just learned about this via the NPR food blog, The Salt. When describing it to my husband, he called it (this is why I love him) "a poor man's sous-vide." Which obviously means I want to try it.

The NPR article linked to an Italian cookbook called "Cucinare in lavastoviglie: Gusto, sostenibilità e risparmio con un metodo rivoluzionario" (Cooking in the Dishwasher: A revolutionary method that's tasty, sustainable and thrifty). The author, Lisa Casali, is an Italian environmentalist and blogger -- click here to check out her blog (also available in English).

I studied some Italian in college, so I just might be able to read, translate, and recreate those recipes! (That opera performance degree just keeps on being useful in the most interesting ways!) Provided I can snag a copy of the book, I'll be posting those recipes along with my attempts, Julie & Julia-style.

Bye bye blueberries! Some last berry projects before they leave the farmers' market

I made some blueberry jam this weekend (2 pints turned into 6 small jars) & didn't even think to take any pictures. Too bad, too, 'cause the color of the jam was awesome. Very Violet-you're-turning-violet-Violet!

I did have enough extra to make whole wheat blueberry pancakes, though. (We use King Arthur whole wheat flour at home. Deelish!) I've never eaten fresh blueberry pancakes before, much less made them, but these got the stamp of approval from my Mainer (husband and) breakfast partner.  We slathered them in maple syrup (only the real stuff in our house) and served with chicken sausage.

Oh yeah. We do this stuff right.

How to make idiot-proof baked french fries

Matt and I have people over for a "rare beer night" about once a month. (He and some of his friends are craft beer nuts, and they all bring over their beers to share.)

Over the past few years, it's become a tradition to order Paxti's pizza. Their pizza is great! ... and usually not delivered on time. This time was no exception, and in a pinch, I decided to make some french fries to stave the party's drunken munchies.

Operation: watermelon pickles = great success

Somehow I turned into the perfect 19th century housewife today and spent all day washing dishes, canning watermelon pickles, and making chicken stock. (And, by the way, 19th century housewives always used serial commas. So that whole sentence was in character. I commit.) The chicken stock is now in plastic bags in the freezer (shout-out to Dana for the idea), and the watermelon pickles are in 26 jars.

My dad caught me on the phone and freaked out when he heard I was pickling watermelon rind -- apparently, this is a long-lost favorite of his. Despite his Fresno upbringing, I swear my dad proves himself to be southern day in and day out. He claims that one can buy watermelon pickles at Knott's Berry Farm and that I probably had some as a small child. Pshaw, I say.

Guys, these things are frickin' out of this WORLD delicious. They're like sweet bread and butter pickles, but with a more pungent spice flavor. They remind me of the Branson pickles in a Ploughman's.