Taking requests

This will serve as an "ask me anything" post. I want to springboard from your suggestions so that we can really interact and engage here. I want my content to be relevant and of interest to those of you reading it. Edit: I added the water image because otherwise it looked like the little cartoon …

Cooking the Bible: Cooking Genesis: The Book of Beginnings

Welcome to the first installment of Cooking the Bible. Today is day 50 of this year which means one day per chapter of Scripture. I hope to pick up the pace when life gets less crazy (which will probably be never, right?), but this way we are reading every day. It would take a little …

Honoring the food of my readers: Nepali dal-bhat-tarkari

I know very little about the country of Nepal. Its flag is not rectangular. It's a landlocked and mountainous Asian country. That is about the extent of my knowledge. The national dish which I chose to attempt is traditionally really spicy by Western tastes, especially for toddlers. I toned it down a lot, while still …

Advent 2017: Hogmanay: In the spirit of change

Happy New Year from the Alsum family. We have some sort of sore throat and cough thing happening over here. Recently, it seems that whenever we have fun plans... or any plans at all actually... we end up with some kind of sickness. Grandma and Grandpa Alsum braved our house of a thousand minor plagues, …

Cherrywood-smoked pork chops with garlic pomegranate glaze and smoky veggies

Daddy Alsum found a charcoal water smoker for less than $20 when we were buying a couple things for home improvements. After he twisted my arm decently, we went home with our new cooking setup. After curing it and preseasoning it, we fired up our smoker as we began a new adventure in homemade deep …

Curried Saffron Rice

This is a relatively easy side dish that doesn't take much time, but provides a nutritious part of a meal. For a family of four (with enough leftovers for Daddy Alsum to take to work for lunch): What you will need: A handful of rice per adult Half a handful of rice per child A …

Pork chops with Apple and Quince sauce

If meat were to be considered seasonal, I would vote for pork as a great autumnal option. Of course, wild boar would be the "purer" version of that swiney meat, but I'll settle for a good ol' fashioned regular pig pork chop. We've been indulging ourselves with roast dinners most evenings lately. It has been …