This delicious tahini dressing is a great accompaniment to so many dishes. It is perfect served on salads, falafels, grilled vegetables, with raw crudité vegetables, mixed into hummus or baba ghanoush, served with warm sourdough pita, and so much more. Sesame Seed Tahini Sesame seeds are about 50% oil by weight. The oil is rich …

Using calendula is very simple and straightforward. This beautiful flowering plant has been widely used throughout history for health, beauty, and as a seasoning or edible decoration in culinary applications. Medicinally, it has been used to aid digestion, calm aching teeth and joints, speed healing of bruises, burns, and wounds, soothe cramps, and reduce fever. …

Traditional Japanese okonomiyaki pancakes get a sourdough makeover. Okonomiyaki is a griddle-cooked pancake made with a savory, egg-based, wheat flour and cabbage batter. Okonomiyaki can be customized with endless seafood, meat, vegetable, and traditional Japanese toppings.  Here’s a little-known fact about me — I’ve visited the tradition-rich Kansai region of Japan and eaten real okonomiyaki from …

This skin-protecting salve base recipe can do it all. Need an extra gentle salve for baby? A bug balm for hiking and camping? An “ouchie salve” for scrapes, bumps, rashes, and cuts? A lip balm for chapped winter lips? A fragrant solid perfume?  This one salve base recipe can be fully customizable to make any …

Brining your own corned beef is easy to do at home. A brine is a simple infusion of water, salt, spices, and sometimes sugar. When making corned beef, fresh beef brisket is soaked in this brine until it has absorbed the flavors from the spices. The salt in the brine is essential — it pulls …

You can bake amazing, gluten-free, allergen-friendly, potassium-rich banana bread with buckwheat flour! Buckwheat is not actually wheat at all, it is the potassium-rich inner kernel of a plant in the rhubarb and sorrel family, therefore it is naturally gluten free and a perfect grain substitute for wheat-sensitive populations.  Buckwheat flour has a nice fibrous texture …

This recipe is a brilliant and easy mashup of some of my favorite rye bread styles. It is shaped like a classic Danish rye (Rugbrød), but has the sweetness of traditional pumpernickel and the warm spiciness of caraway seed often found in Norwegian, German, and American rye bread variants. Caraway seeds have a sweet and …

Sourdough batter crackers are one of the easiest and healthiest snacks you can make with your sourdough starter. In this version I’ve increased the nutrition and flavor by adding tons of sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds to the fermented batter. The seeds give the crackers a wonderful light and crispy crunch with an extra toasty …

This vibrant, cozy braided sourdough wreath bread is here to welcome back the sun as the days grow longer yet again. Here in the Northern hemisphere it’s the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, and that which marks the true beginning of winter.  I’m always moved by how our natural world works. Even …

This peppermint pinwheel recipe is an old family favorite introduced to us by my maternal grandmother, who we lovingly called Ponana. About 20 years ago my mom compiled a binder of the treat recipes we loved when we were growing up, some of our favorite “sweeties and fatties.” Written above the recipe for peppermint pinwheels …

The color of this cranberry sauce is simply stunning. But it’s the flavors that will have your guests asking for the recipe! I take a few of the best ingredients of the season and combine them in an organic and thoughtful way to create a sauce that has a bright, zippy, herbaceous flavor that will …

These soft sourdough pumpkin dinner rolls are the perfect way to dress up your holiday table! Made with all-natural ingredients like puréed pumpkin or winter squash, eggs, milk, cream, and low-glycemic coconut sugar, this recipe uses my classic overnight fermentation technique for the best flavor, texture, and digestibility.  I don’t think you will find a …

This recipe for soft, chewy, sourdough focaccia is sure to inspire many delicious creations.  The recipe has been adapted from a traditional focaccia recipe I used back in my culinary school days. It is a large recipe, making an 18 by 13-inch half sheet pan or two 8 by 10-inch skillets of thick, pillowy focaccia …

Growing up in the Monterey Bay region of California means I had never ever eaten chicken and dumplings! I’m not ashamed of this fact as the recipe is regional to the South, and California cuisine rarely takes its cues from traditional North American cooking. But now that I’ve tried it, I do know what I …

Popcorn balls need to make a dramatic comeback. This is their chance! For this recipe I took freshly popped crispy popcorn, coated it in honey-butter caramel sauce, then added some salt, cinnamon, and diced dried apples to make a popcorn treat that tastes like popcorn apple pie.  Popcorn Balls With the Flavors of Fall When …

It’s hard to believe that during my 18-year sourdough journey I had never made a real boiled and baked sourdough bagel.   I’ll be the first to admit I was always a little intimidated, knowing that the bagels needed special shaping, boiling, and baking. My intimidation was unfounded. The process is so much easier than …