It's Spring and I think I'll Renew My Vows
My prickly pear cactus has gone insane with growth and I'm eating nopales like crazy. I just can't get over how borderline negligent I am with this plant and all...
The Rancho Gordo Blog
Rancho Gordo Store Update
What a nightmare! Wouldn't you think that in this economic climate that if a small company wanted to expand and grow (and pay more taxes), that the powers that be...
Cooking With Clay, No. 7
It's been awhile since I've shown you any clay pots. Don't think it's because I've learned self control. I just forgot! My current favorite pot is from Colombia. It didn't...
Were Beans Used In an Ancient Form of Writing?
I love reading about ancient pre-Colombian life from the buildings to the culture and of course the food. Early Spanish religious zealots decided to burn most of the written history...
A Great Moment in Bean Cinema
Great Moments in Bean Cinema I haven't seen Lust in the Dust with Divine and Tab Hunter in 25 years, but this still makes me laugh. I know just...
Breakfast Club
Straight from the cactus, a breakfast of sauteed nopales with onion, garlic and Fatted Calf chorizo, mixed with scrambled eggs, straight from the hen-house. Bring it on!
Gracias, Amigos
David Lida has a wonderful blog and wrote a fascinating book on Mexico City called First Stop in the New World: Mexico City, the Capital of the 21st Century ....
Learning to Make Sherbet
So my cold rolls into its third week and I realize I'm going to have to see my doctor. He's not a bad guy and in fact I like his...
Quick Salad with Romaine, Beans and Crispy Prosciutto
I think one of the better food magazines is Everyday Food from the Martha Stewart empire. It makes cooking simple and efficient and there's a strong, no-compromise aesthetic running through...
Book Reports
A lot of good books have been coming my way and I feel compelled to pass on the information! The most exciting thing has been Diana Kennedy's long awaited tribute...
Another Year, Another Great Batch of Tamales
This last Sunday, Susan, our lovely head of operations here at Rancho Gordo, and I drove to Fort Mason in San Francisco for the Benchmark Institute's third annual Taste of...
More Enchiladas
Slowly the flu leaves me and rapidly I realize I am hungry. I'd made some purple tortillas over the weekend and then later made them into enchiladas. First a dip...