The Radical Homemaker

Warning: Blending authenticity with joy may arouse contempt.

Kabobs: Full flavored, Juicy, and Righteously NOT TENDER

The heat of summer inspires meat lovers everywhere to cast aside their pots and pans for the sake of connecting more primitively with their food.  Grills light up across the nation, and flames lick at burgers and tender cuts of rib eye steaks, sirloins, porterhouses, t-bones, and filet mignon, liberated from the tempering effects of […]

Truth & Dreams

My graduate school advisors would not clear me to begin my research on Schoharie County agriculture before I could proficiently discuss the nature of truth.  Was I a positivist, one who believes that truth can be known, most often through quantification, and therefore predicted and controlled?  Or was I more of a naturalist, who believed […]

The Learning Curtain

“I’m just sick of learning.  I’ve learned enough.  There’s no way I’m going to college.” “Or would you rather be a mule?”  I sing the refrain to the old song quietly as I wipe down the kitchen counters and move some dishes over to the sink where Bob stands washing. I’m a big believer in […]

What Democracy Looks Like

Photo courtesy of Reggie Harris I’m leafing through a stack of protest signs in the corner of the mudroom, reading the markered letters, looking to see what can be recycled for tonight.  The subjects we’ve collected thus far are about human rights and the environment.  It looks like we’ll need to draft something fresh and […]

Chicken and Rice with a Sherry Cream Sauce

Chicken (or Turkey) and Wild Rice with a Sherry Cream Sauce Taken from: Long Way on a Little: An Earth Lovers’ Companion for Enjoying Meat, Pinching Pennies and Living Deliciously, by Shannon Hayes This recipe is an easy-to-make treat in our household, giving us something to look forward to the day after we’ve enjoyed a […]

Hostas

I’ve always wondered why so many old farm wives surrounded their houses with hostas.  Why, with all that lawn available, with all those spaces around a farm house to tuck in bleeding hearts or sunflowers, or to trail petunias over the porch ledge, or to hang fuscias, would they leave their porches bare, and then […]

Slow. (Not stupid.)

Bob and I are on our morning walk, our ears tuned in to the new warblers that have come into the area this week, our eyes honed to catch glimpses of them along the side of the dirt road.  This has become a deeply pleasurable ritual for us:  the girls get their own breakfasts and […]

Perfectly Grilled Grassfed Burgers

For years I frittered around trying to make the perfect burger. I added garlic, Worcestershire sauce, any number of ingredients. Over time I discovered that, because ground beef is made from the most flavorful meat on the animal, less is more. A tiny bit of salt and a dash of pepper is all you need. […]