Tomorrow, December 5th, at midnight is the absolute final deadline for entering our giveaway of the great Canal House Cooks Every Day, Christopher Hirscheimer and Melissa Hamilton’s inspiring, user-friendly cookbook. It’s a beaut, a cookbook definitely to have and definitely to give. Read a bit about the book and check out the super easy rules…
Read Moregreat recipes galore from ‘canal house cooks every day’ (enter our giveaway!)
Since we first got our copy of Christopher Hirscheimer and Melissa Hamilton’s Canal House Cooks Every Day, we’ve been inspired by its simple, straightforward, delicious and REAL recipes (we made their dry-brined roast turkey for Thanksgiving.) Right now, their Apple Tart recipe (below) is calling us. We’ll be giving away a free copy of their big red…
Read Moreperfect roast turkey via ‘canal house cooks everyday’ (which we’re giving away!)
With Thanksgiving soon upon us, the debate about whether to brine or not-to-brine the turkey before roasting rages on. We’ve long been a fan of brining, having found it the foolproof method for insuring a moist, well-seasoned bird. Until recently, when two things made us question our belief. Yesterday, on Serious Eats’ Food Lab we…
Read Morebook giveaway: ‘canal house cooks every day’
We’ve long been fans of Canal House Cooking, the groundbreaking cookbook series created and published by Christopher Hirscheimer and Melissa Hamilton. We are totally smitten with their latest effort: Canal House Cooks Every Day, a bright red, 385-page tome documenting a year of cooking from Canal House, based on their popular daily lunch blog. The book offers…
Read Morejust in time for the holidays: canal house cooking vol. 7
We’ve loved Canal House Cooking since it launched in 2009. Created and self-published by two home chefs, each book in this cookbook series is made with care, beautifully presented with unique (and do-able) recipes. We treasure our copies, but we also like to give subscriptions as gifts–new books are released three times a year, but…
Read More4 great downloadable d-i-y’s from canal house cooking
We’ve written many times before about the fantastic Canal House Cookbook series, but this summer Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton took their work to a new level by hosting the first annual Smallholding Festival in Ottsville, Pennsylvania. The festival featured a number of skill-shares and do-it-yourself exhibitions including cheese-making, beekeeping, canning, bread-baking, and spit-roasting. Also on-hand was Margo True, the…
Read Morecanal house cooking vol 6: crax & butter for dinner!!!
One of the reasons that we so look forward to the latest issue of Canal House Cooking, the ongoing cookbook series by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, is that the recipes resonate so deeply with the way we live. In other words, they completely cut the $#*!@, providing us with ideas and recipes that are of…
Read More‘when life arrives at the door unexpectedly’ (+ lots of ideas for the holidays from canal house cooking 5)
There are many wonderful things in the latest issue of Canal House Cooking. The self-published cookbook by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton are like a grown-up’s kids-book, with photos, illustrations, writing and recipes that will take you away from wherever you are, and into a very magic (and attainable) world. There are also treasures you…
Read Morecanal house cooking Vol. 4 for summer’s bumper crop
A bumper crop of summer vegetables, fruits and herbs might well take us into early October this year, and there is no more inspiring guide for enjoying it than Canal House Cooking Volume N°4. The indie cookbook series’ beautiful hardcover ‘Farm Markets & Gardens’ issue delves deeply into tomatoes, potatoes, herbs, the grill and cocktails,…
Read Morecanal house cooking: fast, in-the-pod peas, artichoke-style
It is peak pea season and we can’t think of a better, easier, more delightful way to eat them than this simple recipe from Canal House Cooking Vol. 3 “The idea is to pull the peas out of the pods with your teeth, just as you would eat an artichoke leaf. The charred bits of…
Read Morecanal house cooking: home cooks as indie publisher
The other day, Maria Robledo sent over some cookbooks with a note: “2 women are doing this lovely diary type home cooking book and one is CHRISTOPHER HIRSHEIMER.” Maria and I both worked with Christopher years ago when she was the food editor of Metropolitan Home and then Saveur. Christopher is famous for having become…
Read Moresummer house gift: moderne spoon-straws
Spoon straws are metal straws that have a spoon bowl attached, so you can use them to both stir and sip a cocktail, ice tea or ice cream floats and shakes. Although we’ve collected them over the years at flea markets, we had no idea that we could buy new one a set of 12 spoon straws…
Read MoreTattooed Tablecloths after Sarah Espeute Spark Maps, Guestbooks, Artifacts
When we first saw French artist Sarah Espeute’s embroidered table linens, we thought they were drawn-on with indelible markers, something we might be able to do. Then ideas and memories began to connect and flow.
Read MoreKraft Paper Dispensers That Let Your Write On the Walls, and Elsewhere
Kraft paper is so wildly useful that if I had the room in my city apartment, I’d keep a roll on a wall to have easy access when the mood/need hits.
Read MoreFoolproof Slow-Roasted Salmon: a Food 52 Genius Recipe + 5-Ingredient and Under Wonder
My go-to strategy for salmon, to make or to teach, is to slow-roast it accompanied by a simple sauce that I can make ahead. I’m thriled that Food52 considers it Genius…
Read MoreOur Updated, “Best of” Holiday Recipes + Strategies
In the run-up to Thanksgiving, we often get calls from friends anxious for easy, foolproof strategies for the big meal. Here’s our updated tried-and-true, “best of” recipe traditions that lend themselves to tailoring and improvising.
Read MoreSkillet-Blistered Peas and Grilled Fava Beans (NO Shelling!)
Although we had a lovely time shelling and eating fresh peas recently, we know that some people just don’t have the time or wherewithall to shell. So we offer up two great strategies from Improvised Life’s Archives (they both make great hors d’ouevres):
Read More20+ Last Minute Thanksgiving Food Strategies
For all of you scrambling (as we are) to wrap our heads around Thanksgiving, here’s our tried-and-true food traditions that lend themselves to tailoring and improvising.
Read MoreRecipe: Fast-and-Furious Peas in their Pod (No Shucking!)
It is peak pea season and we can’t think of a better, easier, more delightful way to eat them than this simple recipe from Canal House Cooking Volume No. 3: Winter & Spring. Unshucked peas-in-their-pods are cooked in a hot cast-iron skillet until blistered. Then you just salt and eat: the perfect hors d’oeuvre for a summer…
Read MoreFantasy Kitchen in a Rock Shelter Camp + Others
This c 1900 makeshift kitchen/dining area in the sheltered space of a giant boulder in New South Wales reminded us of the many makeshift kitchens we’ve created over the years, outdoors and in, and simple ones where many a great meal have been forged.
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