Column Alison Steele Archives - Page 2 of 4

Buckwheat Griddle Cakes

April 8, 2023June 13, 2023 slvpost.compancakes0 comment

By Alison Steele Last summer, I met Harry and Millie Hornbeck while taking a banjo workshop in Elkins, West Virginia. They tap trees for sap, grow and mill fresh buckwheat and corn flours, and sell them at the local farmers’ market beside the train depot. After talking to them, I couldn’t resist stocking up on all three. Stored in the… Read More

pastured eggs wilted greens and sourdough

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Pastured Egg & Wilted Sorrel atop Toasted Sourdough

March 13, 2023June 13, 2023 slvpost.comeggs, sourdough0 comment

By Alison Steele Eggs on toast with wilted greens is a combination older than the hills enjoyed by folks and farmers everywhere. I heard KBCZ’s Tina Davey raving about toast on the radio stacked with eggs and avocado as a quick nutritious meal while stocking the camper with goodies for our spring campout. Erin Valdivia, bread baker extraordinaire and cohost… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Winter Pot Pie with Drop Biscuit Blanket

January 21, 2023June 13, 2023 slvpost.com1 Comment

By Alison Steele We find ourselves in our dark cozy homes even as the sun slowly returns. Garden greens thrive in the morning frost and root vegetables are protected below ground. The pantry is stocked with pickled vegetables and fruits from the summer. Good meat is readily available at our local markets, and friends share their fishing and hunting abundance.… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Chanterelles with Roasted Garlic & Fig

December 23, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

By Alison Steele Barter is big amongst the gardeners, foragers, beekeepers, artisans, and musicians here. We’ve already embraced the fact that we need each other, especially in the wintertime when pockets of sunlight are few and far between. In order to vibrate on a higher level and keep our hives warm we must rely on winter bearing fruit trees like… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Three Sisters Cornbread

November 12, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.comcornbread, three sisters0 comment

By Alison Steele Winter squash, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes abound in November along with deep garnet Bloody Butcher heirloom and stout yellow popping corn. Drying beans corkscrew around the sunflower stalks that now serve as drying racks for herbs and flowers. Kept in the proper places throughout the house these native foods will keep for quite some time into the… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Appalachian Soup Beans

October 21, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

By Alison Steele We have a few kindred spirits on the West Coast that understand the call to a hearty bowl of beans and cornbread or a hot and muggy hike atop rolling blue hills. A sweet email from a friend back in Boulder Creek got me thinking about the iconic dish that’s been served up in the mountains here… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Roasted Merlot Grape & Chevre Crostini

October 15, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

by Alison Steele Crisp fall evenings remind us to fire up our ovens and warm our homes with the sultry scents of roasted fall fruits and vegetables. Here it’s figs, red peppers, kabocha squash, pumpkins and this year, mountains of merlot grapes. The country wine making begins. We bring a few bottles up from the root cellar from seasons past… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns

Peach Elderberry Syrup with California Poppy

September 15, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

By Alison Steele American Black Elderberry is hands down my favorite plant growing in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It wasn’t enough for me to tag and forage these native berries. I had to cultivate them in the back corners of the garden lining our chicken fence. Turns out, it couldn’t have been a more perfect place to put down some… Read More

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Berry Fools: The Flavors of Summer

July 21, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

By Alison Steele By the time our July summer vacation rolls around we are firmly rooted in southern water culture. Aunt Ro’s pool becomes the daily bathing ritual for the kids trying to dodge the summer heat, along with the local spring-fed lake hidden at the base of the mountains. Weekend trips to the grandparents promise kayaking, river walking, and… Read More

black elderberry flower fritters alison steele

Column Alison Steele Columns Food & Drink

Black Elderflower Fritters

June 11, 2022June 13, 2023 slvpost.com0 comment

By Alison Steele The first flower I ever tasted was a honeysuckle blossom. Honeysuckle grows all over the hot rainy south in the summertime. It crawls along split rail fences, creeps up in the trees, and across old barns. My brother and I would spend hours following rivers over pasture and along railroad tracks, across bridges and through the mountains.… Read More