Give Caesar His Due (Caesar Salad)

As a lifelong iconoclast, I'm usually looking for unusual recipes (or looking for ways to make recipes unusual), so picking something as ubiquitous as Caesar salad may seem a tad incongruous. Sometimes making your own riff on an old standard can be a fun learning experience, and this certainly was. While a relatively new entry into the culinary milieux, Caesar salad has exploded in popularity with copious variations. This one is inspired by favorite fast-food salad place, substituting crunchy bits of crisp-baked parmesan cheese for the standard croutons (which means it can be advertised as both low-carb and gluten free).

Hail, Caesar!

Mysterious Origins (Fried Green Tomatoes)

Vacation is over! About a month ago, Aaron and I were conversing with our friend Kristin over our shared love of fried green tomatoes and, wonder of wonders, she recently presented us with some gorgeous specimens, just waiting to hit the bacon grease. Alas, much like honey is the tether that keeps me from veganism, bacon makes any contemplation of full vegetarianism impossible for me. Extra virgin olive oil has its own rich, fruity store of flavors to contribute for those who are less meat enthused, but I'm fairly certain rendered duck fat would taste amazing, too.

Guilty pleasures

Our Daily Bread (Gruyere and Green Apple Grilled Cheese)

Hello, ladies and gents!

We woke up this morning and I suspect our heat may not be working. Maybe it's that it was icy cold and I had to keep nursing a fire all day, maybe its the silent, unmoving HVAC, but something is rotten in Denmark. Or at least our furnace/heater-type thingy. Technical term.

Either way, it was a day that seemed to call out, in particular, to hot food. After Aaron surprised me with pumpkin waffles for breakfast and, after we completed a run to gather additional firewood, I was ready to make something good.

Bazinga