CHEESESLAVE

All my life, I have loved shortbread cookies. I usually buy Walker brand, from Scotland, which are, thankfully, still made with real butter. I love the sandy texture, the sweet taste.

But most of all, I love the butter. Butter is not only delicious, it’s also very good for you.

Someone once told me I should change the name of this blog from CHEESESLAVE to BUTTERSLAVE. It’s a tough call. I love them both.

This Christmas, I’m going home to Texas. First to Dallas to visit my parents, and then we’re all going on a road trip, 3 kids in tow, down to Austin. We’ll be getting our fill of Texas comfort food from my childhood: migas and Texas BBQ, pecan prailines, chili, quesadillas, and chicken fried chicken with fried okra, mashed potatoes and cornbread.

Nothing says Texas like pecan pie. Okay, that’s not exactly true. There are many things that evoke the spirit of Texas: armadillos, longhorns, Willie Nelson, chili, pickup trucks and gun racks, two-stepping, and nachos (invented in Texas). But pecan pie has got to be one of the very best things in all of Texas.

While on vacation a few months ago, we made our bi-annual trip to the outlet mall. While there, my mother-in-law officially decreed that every time we go to the outlet mall, I get a piece from Le Creuset. God bless her.

This time I chose a tagine. A tagine is a traditional cooking vessel from Morocco. It turned out to be a very wise purchase. This thing rocks! I’ve made tagine chicken three times now, and every time it has come out great. I didn’t have to marinate the chicken at all, and yet it was flavorful and moist. My whole family loves my tagines — even my toddler who is a bit picky.

I’m so excited to finally announce the winners of the giveaway for my new menu mailer, CHEESESLAVE Menus By Mail. Sorry for the delay — I’ve been ridiculously busy ever since the WAPF conference last week. And it took a bit more effort to set this up than I anticipated.

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. Including entries I got at the conference, we had nearly 400 entries!

There is nothing like gazpacho in summertime. Gazpacho is a cold, spicy, raw tomato soup which originated in southern Spain, made with peppers, onion, garlic and cucumbers which are either diced and/or blended.

It is so nice on a hot day to not have to turn on the oven. Besides that, it’s a great way to use up all those tomatoes in your garden. And it’s gluten-free, casein-free, and GAPS-legal.

It may seem like I’m doing a lot of fried food these days, and I suppose that’s true. But I just (a) got a new deep fryer, (b) rendered a whole lot of beef tallow, and (c) ordered a gallon of palm oil and five gallons of expeller-pressed coconut oil. So I’m having fun playing.

Plus, it’s tough when you’ve got a toddler on your hands who’s addicted to French fries. So addicted, that anytime we go to a restaurant and anyone at the table orders fries, she refuses to eat anything else.

Speaking of said toddler, see my post about the fact that she is slightly anemic. I think it was “milk anemia”, which is fairly common for this age group. Which is why I whipped up this dish of fried clams for her. Did you know that clams are really high in iron? Who knew? Popeye should have been noshing on fried clams, not spinach.

French fries have been around since the Middle Ages. They are said to have originated in Belgium in the 1600s. Known as pommes frites in France and chips in Great Britain, French fries are immensely popular all over Europe, as well as in America. Did you know French fries can actually be good for you? If cooked in the right kind of fat, French fries are nourishing, healthy and full of vitamins.

Who knew that eating French fries could help us prevent cavities and osteoporosis? Now you can tell your children they they can skip the salad, but they must finish all their French fries — so they can grow big and strong.

Early summer is cherry season. My favorite way to eat cherries is in a pie. Many people have negative associations with cherry pies — but that’s because they’ve only eaten storebought cherry pies. There is nothing like a homemade cherry pie. Especially with a crust made from scratch with lard and real butter and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. I made this pie for my extended family tonight in Ohio and everyone loved it. They ooohed and aaahed. Which is what you want when people are eating your pies.

Japanese food is one of my favorite cuisines. Growing up in Texas, I also cultivated an appreciation for BBQ sauce. Today we’re doing a fusion dish. Call it New American meets Japanese: BBQ Natto with Shrimp.

BBQ sauce is kind of like bacon. Everything tastes better when you add it. But have you looked at the ingredients on a bottle of storebought BBQ sauce lately? High fructose corn syrup is usually the first or second ingredient listed.

Turns out it’s really easy to make barbecue sauce at home. It only takes a few minutes to whip up a batch. You can use it for all kinds of things — from BBQ ribs, BBQ shrimp or sausage, pulled pork sandwiches to BBQ chicken pizza.