Victoria Wesseler
Ban the Tan
Today I’m taking a bit of a departure from my healthy eating focus to write about something I am very passionate about—preventing skin cancer. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the U.S. with...
Honey In The Kitchen
With varieties like the delicate, subtle tea-like notes of fireweed to the dark, full bodied punch of buckwheat, honey offers plenty of options for bringing a little sweetness to your recipes. Honey comes...
Oh, Honey!
Did you eat today? Thank a honey bee. The American Beekeeping Federation notes that every third bite of food in our diet is dependent upon a honey bee to pollinate plant flowers. Zooming around at a wing...
Edible Landscaping Part Two: Should You Really Be Eating Those Flowers?
Edible flowers have become so common that I can now buy them in little plastic clamshell containers at the local grocery store. Many restaurants feature them on their menus and bakeries adorn cakes with...
Edible Landscaping Part One: You Can Have Your Landscaping and Eat It Too
Ornamental landscaping helps define an outdoor space and enhance it for human use. When you think of a residential landscape you usually think of a green lawn, some trees, a couple of shrubs, and a border...
My Secret For a Perfect Fruit Crumble
Around this time of the year, I start to clean out the two freezers in my garage. I usually have a moratorium on buying things at the grocery store as I try to use up all the produce I have from last year’s...
Peeling the Onion
Often bridesmaids, but hardly ever the bride, onions play a significant, and sometimes unrecognized, supporting role in the kitchen. While their contribution to our cooking may be taken for granted, many...
Mama's Frittata
As Mother’s Day approaches I often find myself reminiscing about the time my mother and I spent together in the kitchen. Her busy work schedule rarely permitted long leisurely afternoons at the stove...
Patio Produce: Herbs
What would sliced tomatoes be without basil… roasted potatoes without rosemary…Greek salad without oregano…sausage without sage…or, in the case of the unthinkable, a julep without the mint?
Nothing...
Vinegar, Vincotto, and Verjus: Part Three, Verjus
Verjus, sometimes called verjuice, has been around since medieval times. The word means “green juice.” It is the unfermented juice of semi-ripe grapes. Some say verjus got its start when vineyard owners...
Vinegar, Vincotto, and Verjus: Part Two, Vincotto
Sweeter and thicker than traditional vinegars, vincotto is a condiment that no foodie's pantry should be without. The word vincotto is translated as "cooked wine." Vincotto is made from Negroamaro and...
Vinegar, Vincotto, and Verjus: Part One, Vinegar
When I was growing up, vinegar came in one flavor. Red. My Italian mother always kept a bottle of red wine vinegar on the kitchen counter. That was all she ever needed. Today, she would be overwhelmed...
Tongue In PEEP
The signs of spring are all around us. Robins are nesting in the trees, tulips and daffodils are blooming in the garden, and those adorable, tiny, bright yellow marshmallow chicks are sitting on the grocery...
The Whole Truth About Whole Grains
It’s no news to anyone that whole grains are part of a healthy diet. Nutrient dense and full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals; countless research studies have provided evidence that whole...
What's New For The 2007 Garden
For the past several weeks, I have been pouring over the pages of seed catalogues trying to decide what to plant in our garden this year. The varieties and options are overwhelming. While we always plant...
Eating of the Green
On Saturday I’ll participate in the tradition of the “wearing of the green” in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day. I don’t have a trace of Irish in my ancestry. But, the warm and welcoming Irish-Americans...