Buttermilk Ranch Dressing with Home-made Mayonnaise

As much as I prefer cooking from scratch, there are a few things that require so many ingredients that I'll give in and just buy it. Worcestercire sauce is one of those. (But I'll be fixing that soon. Stay tuned.) Ranch dressing used to be another thing that I'd just buy. Not any more. Now that I've got my technique for fresh mayonnaise down, I don't expect to ever have to buy ranch dressing again. … [Read more...]

Home-made basil pesto year-round

Tell people that you've got an herb garden and you'll get some funny looks. Most of them think herbs are those dried flakes you get in little plastic bottles in the grocery store. They seem to add more color than flavor half the time. Why on earth would you go to all the trouble to grow your own? Now that grocery stores are starting to carry fresh herbs more people are getting turned on to the huge flavor you can get from fresh. But even the best handling puts at least a couple of days … [Read more...]