I'm just starting out honestly, with "breakfast cake." I know there's a fine line between bread and cake - (banana bread and carrot cake?) and this is a non-dessert cake. It's not a bread. It's also not super sweet. It's breakfast cake, but you can have it for dessert if you want. I was looking to make applesauce cake for two reasons: 1. I had too many apples, and am not interested in things like crisps, crumbles, pies, tarts; and 2. When I was a teenager, there was this orchard/farm market by the mall and they made amazing applesauce cake. So working off the idea that cake can be made of applesauce - and not just in the swap-the-oil-for-applesauce-in-the-Duncan-Hines-mix-way - and that I needed to use some apples, I went to work. Except, it's hard for me with desserts. I don't like really sweet things. Also, I have no idea how that applesauce cake I grew up with was made. But it worked. A very lightly sweet cake (dust it with powdered sugar and you get a bit more sweet in every bite) that's not really CAKE in the plan-your-other-meals-to-account-for-it way.Step one: Applesauce I used to make applesauce by simmering apples and pushing them through a fine sieve. It was tedious, but fairly direct. Apples, heat, sauce. I am now the proud owner of a food processor, so it was much less time consuming, but I made applesauce all the time when I didn't have a food processor, so don't let that get in your way. This is what food mills are for, if you have one of those. I had four apples to start with. These were Fujis from Bird in Hand, PA. If I had five apples, that would be ok too. I wanted a cup and a half of sauce and came up just short. Apples were quartered, cored, and the skins were scored. Then dropped in near-boiling water (disregard the temperature in the photo). Simmer until soft, 20-30 minutes. Run under cool water and drain. Peel skins. Puree (or mill, or push through a sieve). I came up just shy of a cup and a half (that's a cup-and-a-half measuring cup). Apple size is going to vary. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease and flour a pan. Or just flour, you know your own pans. I went with a brownie pan. I took a stick of butter, a quarter cup sugar and a half cup brown sugar and creamed them together. I beat an egg into the mix, and added the applesauce. Since I was a bit short on sauce, I added some cider too. I sifted some flour (half whole wheat, half AP) with baking soda and spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves). And slowly incorporated it into the wet ingredients, stirring gently. Once your dry goods are wet, it's go time. Spread the batter into your pan, and pop it in the oven. Set a timer for 30 minutes, but expect it'll take 45. After 30 minutes, do a toothpick test. You want it moist, but not raw. Let it cool, then turn it out and maybe very liberally apply powdered sugar, since it's really not a sweet cake on its own. With tea I'd call it breakfast, with milk I'd call it dessert. If I was all alone on the couch I might call it dinner. This recipe is cross-posted at SaturdaysMouse.com where I’m working on making food out of food. Spiced Applesauce Breakfast Cake Ingredients

• 4-5 apples
• 1 stick (1/2 cup, 4 oz) butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups flour (I mixed AP and whole wheat)
• 1.5 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg
• 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' or powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup (use to fill in for missing applesauce) apple cider (optional)

Instructions

• Core and quarter apples, and simmer until soft (20-30 mins). Peel and puree - either in a food processor, food mill, or through a fine mesh sieve. Or start with some applesauce and go right to step 2.
• Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in egg. Mix in applesauce and optional apple cider.
• Sift dry ingredients (except the confectioners'/powdered sugar) together. Sift again into wet ingredients. Fold in, stirring gently.
• Spread mixture into a buttered and floured brownie pan. Bake at 350 for 30 min to 45, testing with a toothpick.
•  Let cool, turn out the cake and dust with confectioners' or powdered sugar.

Details Prep time: 40 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Yield: 10-20 servings

Sure, I try to write about using the fresh, seasonal, local produce bounty to create dinner. But sometimes, it's about upcycling. I don't make white rice, but I do sometimes acquire white rice. Sometimes it comes along with General Tso's Tofu. And it sits in the fridge. Sometimes I have the common sense to freeze it and make fried rice with it later, other times it sits until we have to give it the old sniff-n-toss. Let's face it, not every meal is a home-cooked treasure. But just like I add spinach or chard to my leftover Chicken Tikka Masala to stretch my takeout into a three day experience, cooked takeout white rice can be turned into a creamy dessert that pretty much comes free with your delivery meal. Recycled rice = instant dessert. So we start with one "pint" white rice. The quotes are intentional. It looked like a pint. It had a pink "16" on the bottom. It weighed 14 ounces and measured into about two and a third cups. Sure, fluid ounces and rice ounces don't take up the same amount of space, and how packed your pint is will vary from restaurant to restaurant and meal to meal. Let's say you're starting with two cups of rice. Scale as needed. Add that rice and an equal amount of milk to a pot. That can be cow milk or vegan milk, whole, skim, whatever. It's your dessert. If you want to go all out, do some milk and some cream. I used whole cow milk. Add two thirds of a cup of sugar. That's a lot of sugar! If you're avoiding sugar, use less. It can be more breakfasty than desserty. Add a tablespoon of butter. And a third- to a half-cup of dried cranberries. The cranberries will rehydrate a bit as they cook. And vanilla extract. A tablespoon or so. More if you're like that. Stir it all together, and bring it just to a boil. Dial it down to a low simmer and stir occasionally for 10-20 minutes, depending on how dry your rice was to start with. This batch took 12 minutes. When your milk is all absorbed and the pudding is creamy, you're almost done. If absorbs all the milk and still isn't creamy, add a splash (1/4 cup?) of milk and give it five minutes, stirring over low heat. If you're into it, and I'm into it, stir in some cinnamon. A teaspoon is a good start. And grate in some nutmeg. I used a half. Bust out your pretty ramekins or martini glasses or a cereal bowl and chill. This makes six small (reasonable) servings. Or, you could serve it hot and call it breakfast. This is cross-posted at SaturdaysMouse.com where I'm working on making food out of food.   Cranberry Rice Pudding Leftover rice turns into a creamy dessert with a balance of sweet and tart. Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked white rice
• 2 cups (more if needed) milk (cow, soy, almond, whatever)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup (more to taste) dried cranberries
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

Instructions

• Add everything to a pot except the spices. Stir and bring to a boil.
• Dial back to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until milk is absorbed and rice is tender and pudding-like. 10-20 minutes.
• If milk is absorbed before rice is tender, add a bit more milk and give it five minutes on low.
• Add cinnamon and nutmeg, stir and chill, or serve warm.

 Details Cook time: 20 mins Yield: 6 servings

Sure, I try to write about using the fresh, seasonal, local produce bounty to create dinner. But sometimes, it's about upcycling.

I don't make white rice, but I do sometimes acquire white rice. Sometimes it comes along with General Tso's Tofu. And it sits in the fridge. Sometimes I have the common sense to freeze it and make fried rice with it later, other times it sits until we have to give it the old sniff-n-toss.

Let's face it, not every meal is a home-cooked treasure. But just like I add spinach or chard to my leftover Chicken Tikka Masala to stretch my takeout into a three day experience, cooked takeout white rice can be turned into a creamy dessert that pretty much comes free with your delivery meal. Recycled rice = instant dessert.

So we start with one "pint" white rice. The quotes are intentional. It looked like a pint. It had a pink "16" on the bottom. It weighed 14 ounces and measured into about two and a third cups. Sure, fluid ounces and rice ounces don't take up the same amount of space, and how packed your pint is will vary from restaurant to restaurant and meal to meal.

Let's say you're starting with two cups of rice. Scale as needed. Add that rice and an equal amount of milk to a pot. That can be cow milk or vegan milk, whole, skim, whatever. It's your dessert. If you want to go all out, do some milk and some cream. I used whole cow milk.

Add two thirds of a cup of sugar. That's a lot of sugar! If you're avoiding sugar, use less. It can be more breakfasty than desserty.

Add a tablespoon of butter.

And a third- to a half-cup of dried cranberries. The cranberries will rehydrate a bit as they cook.

And vanilla extract. A tablespoon or so. More if you're like that.

Stir it all together, and bring it just to a boil. Dial it down to a low simmer and stir occasionally for 10-20 minutes, depending on how dry your rice was to start with. This batch took 12 minutes.

When your milk is all absorbed and the pudding is creamy, you're almost done. If absorbs all the milk and still isn't creamy, add a splash (1/4 cup?) of milk and give it five minutes, stirring over low heat.

If you're into it, and I'm into it, stir in some cinnamon. A teaspoon is a good start.

And grate in some nutmeg. I used a half.

Bust out your pretty ramekins or martini glasses or a cereal bowl and chill. This makes six small (reasonable) servings. Or, you could serve it hot and call it breakfast.

This is cross-posted at SaturdaysMouse.com where I'm working on making food out of food.

 

Cranberry Rice Pudding

Leftover rice turns into a creamy dessert with a balance of sweet and tart.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked white rice


• 2 cups (more if needed) milk (cow, soy, almond, whatever)


• 2/3 cup sugar


• 1 tablespoon butter


• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract


• 1/3 cup (more to taste) dried cranberries


• 1 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg

Instructions

• Add everything to a pot except the spices. Stir and bring to a boil.


• Dial back to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until milk is absorbed and rice is tender and pudding-like. 10-20 minutes.


• If milk is absorbed before rice is tender, add a bit more milk and give it five minutes on low.


• Add cinnamon and nutmeg, stir and chill, or serve warm.

 Details

Cook time: 20 mins Yield: 6 servings

I make a lot of "quick breads." I try to always have banana bread or blueberry bread in the freezer for a quick breakfast. Blueberry bread is just blueberry muffins without the worry about whether they'll come out of the tins properly. I buy extra berries in the summer and keep them in the freezer for as long as I can stand it. I keep whole bananas with their skin on in the freezer (stash them just when they're too brown to eat raw). But sometimes, the season catches up with you and you're out of nanners and blueberries and you're *so over* things like pumpkin and apple. What then? Cranberry bread. Cranberry orange bread. Seasonal, but not squash. I started with two cups of fresh cranberries. Cut in half. I melted 3 oz of butter, which is about a third of a cup. Oh, and preheated the oven to 350. I swished the butter around my unphotographed loaf pans to grease them, then put it in a bowl with 3/4 cup orange juice and 3/4 cup milk. This was whisked together with three eggs and somehow, none of this is photographed, but in the end it looked like this and I set it aside. Then 3 cups flour - 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup AP. 1 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. You could do all white, but I like what brown adds. Plus a teaspoon of baking soda. Tablespoon of baking powder. And mix the dry goods together. Then I zested my orange (from the juice) into the bowl - I might have gotten a tablespoon of zest. More is better. This didn't photograph. Stir the eggs/milk/oj/butter mix in. At this point it might be a little curdly looking with the oj and milk, but that's ok. Mix well. Add the cranberries. Pour it into two loaf pans and smooth it with a spatula. Into the oven for 50-60 minutes. I make one loaf to freeze and one loaf to eat, and then quick and homemade breakfast is always just a defrost away. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food. Cranberry Orange Bread Tart and a little bit sweet (just a little) this quick bread means happy breakfasts in the cold months. Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 cups cranberries, cut in half
• 1-2 tablespoons orange zest
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup orange juice
• 1/3 cup melted butter

Instructions

• Mix wet goods and dry goods separately, then together. Add cranberries and mix well.
• Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cool, then slice and serve or freeze.

Details Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Yield: 2 loaves

I make a lot of "quick breads." I try to always have banana bread or blueberry bread in the freezer for a quick breakfast. Blueberry bread is just blueberry muffins without the worry about whether they'll come out of the tins properly. I buy extra berries in the summer and keep them in the freezer for as long as I can stand it. I keep whole bananas with their skin on in the freezer (stash them just when they're too brown to eat raw). But sometimes, the season catches up with you and you're out of nanners and blueberries and you're *so over* things like pumpkin and apple. What then?

Cranberry bread. Cranberry orange bread. Seasonal, but not squash.

I started with two cups of fresh cranberries.

Cut in half.

I melted 3 oz of butter, which is about a third of a cup. Oh, and preheated the oven to 350.

I swished the butter around my unphotographed loaf pans to grease them, then put it in a bowl with 3/4 cup orange juice and 3/4 cup milk. This was whisked together with three eggs and somehow, none of this is photographed, but in the end it looked like this and I set it aside.

Then 3 cups flour - 2 cups whole wheat and 1 cup AP.

1 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar. You could do all white, but I like what brown adds. Plus a teaspoon of baking soda.

Tablespoon of baking powder.

And mix the dry goods together.

Then I zested my orange (from the juice) into the bowl - I might have gotten a tablespoon of zest. More is better. This didn't photograph.

Stir the eggs/milk/oj/butter mix in. At this point it might be a little curdly looking with the oj and milk, but that's ok. Mix well.

Add the cranberries.

Pour it into two loaf pans and smooth it with a spatula. Into the oven for 50-60 minutes.

I make one loaf to freeze and one loaf to eat, and then quick and homemade breakfast is always just a defrost away.

This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

Cranberry Orange Bread

Tart and a little bit sweet (just a little) this quick bread means happy breakfasts in the cold months.

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour


• 1 cup all purpose flour


• 1 cup sugar


• 1/4 cup brown sugar


• 2 cups cranberries, cut in half


• 1-2 tablespoons orange zest


• 3 eggs


• 3/4 cup skim milk


• 3/4 cup orange juice


• 1/3 cup melted butter

Instructions

• Mix wet goods and dry goods separately, then together. Add cranberries and mix well.


• Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cool, then slice and serve or freeze.

Details

Prep time: 20 mins Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 1 hour 20 mins Yield: 2 loaves

I've been traveling for work, and staring at hotel carpeting. I don't do a ton of traveling but this past month or so has been exhausting. I spent more time elsewhere than I did here. So I've seen an array of conference center rugs*, but I haven't seen my kitchen.

Which means I haven't been cooking, because you know, I've been elsewhere, and that I came home and had no idea what was in the fridge or freezer. So I had to do a serious overhaul/cleanout/accounting for what's what like I did a while back.

The magical part of doing that was finding soup in my freezer. Chicken soup and butternut squash soup and potato cauliflower soup. Finding soup in the freezer isn't like finding frozen tofu or leftover pasta sauce. With soup, you're already there. It's dinner.

Before I left, I had made up a lot of potato cauliflower soup. I don't find a lot of use for potatoes, and potato soup has a guilt-laden heaviness to it that stems from the clear association between potatoes and saddlebags--an association often forgiven in the face of french fries.

Still, somehow soup sounds like I'm pretending. "Oh, it's healthy, it's soup." "No, it's potatoes." But when I found myself with these potatoes, I also found myself with a head of cauliflower. And if there's one thing cauliflower does well**, it's pretending to be a potato.

I started with five medium-smallish potatoes, but use what you have. This is so flexible, just adjust your liquid and your spices to accomodate what you have on hand. My potatoes are whatever thin-skinned varieties are grown locally. You could peel them in advance, but I just took the skins off by hand after they had boiled. This requires either patience or asbestos-fingers like I have. I can touch hot things and get away with it.

I also had two medium-ish heads of cauliflower, so this is as much cauliflower as potato. I set my quartered potatoes in a pot of water to soften (imagine you're making mashed potatoes) and laid out my cauliflower florets with some garlic (4 cloves) and onion (half a medium white one) on a baking sheet.

I hit the veggies with a spritz of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, and set them in a 400 degree oven to soften for 30 minutes.

Once my potatoes were fork-tender (25 minutes?) I took them out and peeled them by hand.

Taters, cauliflower, onions and garlic all went into a pot with enough vegetable stock to just about cover them, and simmered for just a couple of minutes - you want your cauliflower to be tender enough to blend.

I used my emulsion blender (but you can use a standard blender, carefully) to blend it until it was soup, adding more stock as needed. I got up to three cups of stock, but this is going to vary based on what you start with and the texture you're after.

Season to taste. I added more salt and pepper at this point. And then it's all about customization. Right now, I have a lovely vegan soup.

Add chives if you have them, or scallions.

If you're doing dairy, add some shredded cheddar.

And/or maybe some sour cream.

Or go all out and add some bacon. Either way, it's rich and creamy and satisfying.

 This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

*See this post on SaturdaysMouse.com for full analysis of conference center carpets.

**Cauliflower does plenty of things well.

 

Potato Cauliflower Soup

The rich goodness of potato soup with fewer calories and some extra vitamins. Ignore all of that and it's still warm and creamy and comforting.

 Ingredients

• 3 cups potatoes, quartered


• 3 cups cauliflower, in florets


• 3 cups vegetable stock (unsalted)


• 1 tablespoon oil (something mild)


• 1/2 medium onion


• 3 cloves garlic


• 1 tablespoon (or less, to taste) salt


• 1/2 tablespoon (to taste) black pepper

Instructions

Boil potatoes (peel first if that's easier for you) until fork tender.Roast cauliflower, onion and garlic for half an hour or so at 400 until tender, with some oil and salt and pepper. Add potatoes, cauliflower, onion and garlic to a large pot and add vegetable stock until just about covered. Simmer until soft enough to blend. Blend. Add stock as needed. Season to taste and serve. OPTIONAL: Top with chives or scallions, cheese, sour cream or bacon.

 Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 8-10 servings

I've been traveling for work, and staring at hotel carpeting. I don't do a ton of traveling but this past month or so has been exhausting. I spent more time elsewhere than I did here. So I've seen an array of conference center rugs*, but I haven't seen my kitchen. Which means I haven't been cooking, because you know, I've been elsewhere, and that I came home and had no idea what was in the fridge or freezer. So I had to do a serious overhaul/cleanout/accounting for what's what like I did a while back. The magical part of doing that was finding soup in my freezer. Chicken soup and butternut squash soup and potato cauliflower soup. Finding soup in the freezer isn't like finding frozen tofu or leftover pasta sauce. With soup, you're already there. It's dinner. Before I left, I had made up a lot of potato cauliflower soup. I don't find a lot of use for potatoes, and potato soup has a guilt-laden heaviness to it that stems from the clear association between potatoes and saddlebags--an association often forgiven in the face of french fries. Still, somehow soup sounds like I'm pretending. "Oh, it's healthy, it's soup." "No, it's potatoes." But when I found myself with these potatoes, I also found myself with a head of cauliflower. And if there's one thing cauliflower does well**, it's pretending to be a potato. I started with five medium-smallish potatoes, but use what you have. This is so flexible, just adjust your liquid and your spices to accomodate what you have on hand. My potatoes are whatever thin-skinned varieties are grown locally. You could peel them in advance, but I just took the skins off by hand after they had boiled. This requires either patience or asbestos-fingers like I have. I can touch hot things and get away with it. I also had two medium-ish heads of cauliflower, so this is as much cauliflower as potato. I set my quartered potatoes in a pot of water to soften (imagine you're making mashed potatoes) and laid out my cauliflower florets with some garlic (4 cloves) and onion (half a medium white one) on a baking sheet. I hit the veggies with a spritz of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper, and set them in a 400 degree oven to soften for 30 minutes. Once my potatoes were fork-tender (25 minutes?) I took them out and peeled them by hand. Taters, cauliflower, onions and garlic all went into a pot with enough vegetable stock to just about cover them, and simmered for just a couple of minutes - you want your cauliflower to be tender enough to blend. I used my emulsion blender (but you can use a standard blender, carefully) to blend it until it was soup, adding more stock as needed. I got up to three cups of stock, but this is going to vary based on what you start with and the texture you're after. Season to taste. I added more salt and pepper at this point. And then it's all about customization. Right now, I have a lovely vegan soup. Add chives if you have them, or scallions. If you're doing dairy, add some shredded cheddar. And/or maybe some sour cream. Or go all out and add some bacon. Either way, it's rich and creamy and satisfying.

 This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

*See this post on SaturdaysMouse.com for full analysis of conference center carpets. **Cauliflower does plenty of things well.   Potato Cauliflower Soup The rich goodness of potato soup with fewer calories and some extra vitamins. Ignore all of that and it's still warm and creamy and comforting.  Ingredients

• 3 cups potatoes, quartered
• 3 cups cauliflower, in florets
• 3 cups vegetable stock (unsalted)
• 1 tablespoon oil (something mild)
• 1/2 medium onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon (or less, to taste) salt
• 1/2 tablespoon (to taste) black pepper

Instructions Boil potatoes (peel first if that's easier for you) until fork tender.Roast cauliflower, onion and garlic for half an hour or so at 400 until tender, with some oil and salt and pepper. Add potatoes, cauliflower, onion and garlic to a large pot and add vegetable stock until just about covered. Simmer until soft enough to blend. Blend. Add stock as needed. Season to taste and serve. OPTIONAL: Top with chives or scallions, cheese, sour cream or bacon.  Details Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 40 mins Total time: 45 mins Yield: 8-10 servings

I'm not a perfect locavore in any way. I try to buy local, in-season produce, but then sometimes I find myself with a pineapple, or a banana, or a mid-winter red pepper. But I try pretty hard. In the warmer part of the year, I get the majority of my food from a CSA and a farm market, and in the cooler part of the year, I rely on a buying club and can get almost everything I need from local folks. Don't look too hard in my fridge at the pickles or the worcestershire. There are huge advantages to eating this way. You can get to know the producers. You understand what you're eating. You help the local economy. Your food is fresher. You get more variety, year round. One of the tiny drawbacks, however, faces me every time I go to use an egg. I get my eggs from my CSA right now, and when that's over I'll get them from another fairly local farm. That means that my eggs aren't always sold in new cartons that are clearly labeled with the date. So sometimes, eggs are a gamble. Did we get those eggs two weeks ago, or was it the week before that? Which of the two cartons in the fridge is newer This is a big deal because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spoiled food, and I really don't want to open up a bad egg. REALLY don't want to. I'm the kind of girl who cuts my apples with a knife to get an advance peek and avoid surprises. So eggs can get me all anxious and sweaty, especially when I lose track of the date. But even with a date, eggs can last way longer than what's stamped on the side of the carton. And we throw out way too much food, both as a society and in my own kitchen. It was many months ago - really, it was early spring - when I was cooking with a friend and asked her to crack the eggs and told her why. She's not nearly as easily rattled as I am, so I thought she could handle it better. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "Don't you know how to test an egg?" Nope. I had no idea how to test an egg. She pulled a drinking glass out of my cabinet, filled it with water and slowly dropped an egg in. It sunk to the bottom and she declared it safe to eat. Eggs that float, apparently, have begun to create gas inside the shell and are spoiling. I wasn't sure I should believe her - especially since all my eggs sunk - so I Googled. And this is a known trick. So I'm not sharing anything new here, just new to me. I planned to write about it and tell you all - but I had one big problem... all my eggs sat at the bottom of my drinking glasses, fresh and gas-less. I had no example of the other outcome to share. My eggs were lasting forever in the fridge. Two seasons later, I have good news: one of my eggs spoiled! Yay, a rotten egg!

 This tip is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

I'm not a perfect locavore in any way. I try to buy local, in-season produce, but then sometimes I find myself with a pineapple, or a banana, or a mid-winter red pepper. But I try pretty hard. In the warmer part of the year, I get the majority of my food from a CSA and a farm market, and in the cooler part of the year, I rely on a buying club and can get almost everything I need from local folks. Don't look too hard in my fridge at the pickles or the worcestershire.

There are huge advantages to eating this way. You can get to know the producers. You understand what you're eating. You help the local economy. Your food is fresher. You get more variety, year round.

One of the tiny drawbacks, however, faces me every time I go to use an egg. I get my eggs from my CSA right now, and when that's over I'll get them from another fairly local farm. That means that my eggs aren't always sold in new cartons that are clearly labeled with the date. So sometimes, eggs are a gamble. Did we get those eggs two weeks ago, or was it the week before that? Which of the two cartons in the fridge is newer

This is a big deal because I'm a bit of a wimp when it comes to spoiled food, and I really don't want to open up a bad egg. REALLY don't want to. I'm the kind of girl who cuts my apples with a knife to get an advance peek and avoid surprises. So eggs can get me all anxious and sweaty, especially when I lose track of the date.

But even with a date, eggs can last way longer than what's stamped on the side of the carton. And we throw out way too much food, both as a society and in my own kitchen.

It was many months ago - really, it was early spring - when I was cooking with a friend and asked her to crack the eggs and told her why. She's not nearly as easily rattled as I am, so I thought she could handle it better. She looked at me, surprised, and said, "Don't you know how to test an egg?"

Nope. I had no idea how to test an egg. She pulled a drinking glass out of my cabinet, filled it with water and slowly dropped an egg in. It sunk to the bottom and she declared it safe to eat. Eggs that float, apparently, have begun to create gas inside the shell and are spoiling. I wasn't sure I should believe her - especially since all my eggs sunk - so I Googled. And this is a known trick. So I'm not sharing anything new here, just new to me.

I planned to write about it and tell you all - but I had one big problem... all my eggs sat at the bottom of my drinking glasses, fresh and gas-less. I had no example of the other outcome to share. My eggs were lasting forever in the fridge. Two seasons later, I have good news: one of my eggs spoiled! Yay, a rotten egg!

 This tip is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.

It's pasta salad, without the pasta. You could call it Low Carb Pasta Salad, if you were a carb-driven sort of person or you could call it All Vegetable Pasta Salad, if you were a vegetable-driven person, or you could stop lying to yourself about the pasta and just call it salad. You're in charge here. First, do up a spaghetti squash. Slice it in half longways, then into the oven at 400 for about 40 minutes. Then leave the kitchen because it's warm in there and you don't want to spend this time cooking. Take the squash out, let it cool until you can handle it (5 mins?) and scoop out the seeds. I use my melon baller for this, because I like to make sure my melon baller keeps busy and isn't just waiting around for melon. That'd be a waste of space. Then with a fork, shred the squash. It falls apart into "spaghetti" pretty easily. Put the spaghetti in a bowl. Next, I just chopped up some veg and called it a salad. A bell pepper. I had little sweet peppers but either way. Some pickled jalepeño. Fresh is great too, but I pickled all of mine. Some unphotographed onion and some tomatoes. I had cherries, so I cut them in half, but chopped tomato would be great too. All into a bowl. Plus black beans, which should be pre-cooked, defrosted or canned. I used two cups. The cheese is optional and honestly, didn't really change much about the dish so don't feel like you'll be missing some key flavor if you skip the cheese and call this dish vegan. I used some cheese curds we got from Greensgrow, but queso fresco would be great here, or cotija. Crumble that cheese on top, if you so choose. Toss it together and all you need is a dressing. I went with honey lime vinaigrette. I started with a good jar that sealed well, added a quarter cup each of red wine vinegar and safflower oil, a tablespoon each of honey and lime juice (use real lime if you have it), a pinch (1/8 teaspoon?) salt, and a bit (1/4 teaspoon?) of both cumin and ground chile pepper. I used these Aleppo peppers - they're not quite as hot as cayenne, but cayenne works too. Drizzle overtop and toss. Chill and serve cold. This recipe is cross-posted at Saturday’s Mouse, where I’m working on making food out of food.   Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Salad Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash
• 2 cups black beans, cooked or canned
• 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1-2 tablespoons jalepenos, diced
• 3 ounces mild cheese, crumbled (optional)
• 1 cup tomatoes, chopped
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup safflower oil (or other mild oil)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon lime juice (fresh is best)
• pinch salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon chile pepper

Instructions Bake the squash, let it cool and string it with a fork. Toss squash with other veg.Add dressing ingredients to a jar and shake until well combined. Drizzle over salad and toss. Chill and serve cold.

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 40 minutes
• Total time: 50 minutes

Yield: 4 servings