Joyce Middleton's Blog, page 15

Apple Pandowdy

The other night I was watching an old movie on Netflix, “The Girl From Manhattan,” 1948 with Dorothy Lamour. In one scene, the bishop’s cook admonishes him for eating too many slices of the Apple Pandowdy she plated for the guest, who was late in arriving. Of course, this piqued my interest as I had never heard of this before. What the heck could a “pandowdy” be?! A quick Internet search provided an array of images, all different. As you {Read More}

Garlic Roasted Asparagus

I love fresh asparagus! It’s a perennial and one of the first crops to harvest in the spring. When I was a girl, it wasn’t one of the vegetables we served in our house, but looked forward to having with dinner at a fine restaurant. Back then it was usually served with Hollandaise Sauce. When I ordered my first box of organic produce, I received a bundle of large asparagus. These were not the skinny ones you find in the {Read More}

Cornstarch May Contain GMO

Cornstarch is a light powdery starch made from corn and is gluten-free. Although it’s gluten-free, that doesn’t mean it’s safe for people with with gluten sensitivity. There could be cross-contamination during production. Research the product before buying to verify your needs. Cornstarch is very fine and can be added to cold liquids and easily incorporated, unlike flour which clumps very easily. For this reason, I prefer to use flour to make a gravy with hot drippings from the pan. {Read Mo...

Buying Organic Food on a Budget

Let me reveal a secret about myself; I have an auto-immune disease that I have been managing for ten years. It spiked in 2005 and to control it I invested in a lot of supplements. These supplements were costing over $300 a month, but they were helping to reduce the problem where medical prescriptions did not. Recently, it’s been flaring up again. I know from experience that environmental issues affect my condition. And that’s where buying organic food on a {Read More}

Bok Choy Swiss Gratin

You’ve seen it in the grocery store, but you may not know what it is, unless you do a lot of Asian cooking. One day at my supermarket it was placed close to the fresh herbs; I wondered what it was and did a quick aroma check and decided it had been placed in the wrong section of the produce department. As you can see, I don’t do much Asian or stir-fry; not because I don’t like it, but because {Read More}

Farmer’s Market Produce – 100% Organic

I had the most interesting thing happen last week after writing about GMO foods. The very next day the door bell rang and a representative from Farm Fresh to You was on the doorstep. This is a local farm that supplies 80% of the produce from their farm and 20% from other organic farms in the area. In less than five minutes, she took my name, address, and phone number and asked me when I would like my first box {Read More}

Homemade Crackers

I have been making this recipe for years and years; they’re one of my favorite recipes for a quick snack or sweet. So simple to make with ingredients you have in your pantry. I can still hear my Mother’s gasp when I told her I was making crackers. Honestly… she never considered making crackers herself – she actually sounded as if she thought you could only get them in a box. Stop and think how much you pay for a {Read More}

Top 10 Things About iPhone Cases

I just had to share this with you because it’s just so cool… Tiny Prints iPhone Case Infographic

Food and Kitchen Safety

Each year, millions of people are affected by some form of food bacteria. The symptoms are similar to the flu and can be mild or to the extreme. A few years ago, my son had to go to the hospital after eating at a restaurant. With so many of us now cooking at home to save money or to escape from prepared foods, it’s time to review food and kitchen safety. The people who are at a higher risk of {Read More}

Savory Quick Breads

It’s been a long wait, but the last volume in the quick bread series is finally completed. I had quite a few interruptions while writing this book that caused me to be away from my kitchen. Some of the baking I was able to complete with my Mother over the extended holidays we had. I had so much inspiration for this book, one of them being, using up leftovers. While I was at my Mother’s, I was preparing the meals {Read More}