Food & Wine. Art & Food History at Abi's Farmhouse Kitchen
Use a potato ricer to remove skins from fresh tomatoes!! If you’re like me, you have little necessary tasks when cooking that you just HATE to do. For me, one of them is peeling the skins from fresh tomatoes. In fact, I’ll secretly use diced or crushed San Marzano tomatoes sometimes rather than just go […]
Did you know Tonic Water began as an anti-MALARIAL treatment? Yep. Originally called Indian Tonic Water, it was made by 19th century British colonialists from bitter quinine extracted from the bark of the Cinchona or “fever” tree. Quinine is an natural crystalline alkaloid with anti-inflammatory, fever-reducing antimalarial properties. Cinchona or Quina trees were “found” […]
Happy Election Day! No matter which “Good Egg” you vote for today, I thought this was fun food for thought. Egg Equivalents: 1 ostrich egg = 18-24 chicken eggs 1 emu egg = 10-12 chicken eggs 1 goose egg = 4 chicken eggs 1 turkey egg = 2 chicken eggs 1 duck egg = 2 […]
Just wrapped up a week of travel with my Anni and Dean. Fitting in the family before I get too big! We visited my grandparents in Pasadena, saw my Mom, and ‘Trick or Treated’ with dear friends on zany Balboa Island. But the most fun culinary adventures I’ve had in a long while happened in […]
Over-roasted Spaghetti Squash = A Heavenly Dish of Citrines! Dean made us Spaghetti Squash last night. One of my absolute favorites. But, as luck would have it, our housekeeper was running a bit behind and Dean didn’t get a chance to remove the Squash from the oven after 50-55 minutes like we normally do. Instead, […]
Took the night off! Celery Root and Apple soup with Heirloom Tomato PIzza called our names. If you live in Sonoma, pop over to the Fig Cafe in Glen Ellen for the best of Fall.
Did you know that if you use distilled water for homemade ice cubes, your ice will last twice as long in your evening cocktails? And drinks taste better. Restaurants and bars use professional filtration systems to create clear, long lasting ice — freezing water quickly to prevent bubbles. Clear ice “isn’t just for show: Its […]
I may have made one of the worst meals of my entire life last night. And that’s saying something — considering my dabbling in cinder-brick Asian noodles ca. 2008. But this dish looked so good (and easy!) in the magazine. Nothing is worse than seeing a fetching dish photographed in a food magazine — Only […]
Beets are one of the few vegetables you can buy, stick ’em in your fridge drawer and legitimately come back to them a week or so later and say, “I forgot you were there! Huh… what can I make with you today?” I came up with this dish mostly out of laziness this past summer…as […]
“How are you so thin??” I heard this today from a very lovely woman visiting our winery. She expressed shock and horror that a.) I eat bread and pasta and cheese regularly and b.) that I am 5 months pregnant. How to answer? I’ve been mulling it over since and decided to inflict you good […]