Written by Kate Tietje Mozzarella is a yummy, fun cheese to make and eat!  Buying (good mozzarella) at the store …

Written by Kate Tietje Traditional minestrone recipes contain pasta.  I was limiting grain when I created this recipe, so I …

Written by Kate Tietje Before focusing on eating real food, we loved going to Wendy’s and getting spicy chicken sandwiches. …

Written by Kate Tietje I love scalloped potatoes.  I grew up eating them from a box, and they were “okay.” …

  Today’s post is super awesome.  I’ve asked my farmer (yes, “my” farmer!), Gary Luginbill, to share a bit with …

Image Credit If you’ve been around for awhile, you know that I sprout my grains.  Doing so increases their nutritional …

Written by Kate Tietje What says “fall” better than pumpkin bread?  Okay, maybe pumpkin spice or apple cinnamon, but that’s …

Chocolate.

Is it good or bad?  There’s quite a debate out there about this right now.  Some are saying chocolate is good, because is contains so many antioxidants and flavonols and other “beneficial” chemicals.  Others say it’s bad, because of its caffeine content and some of the chemicals it contains….  So, clearly, there’s disagreement here! 

About six weeks ago, we went to a restaurant to celebrate my father’s birthday.  They had “shrimp and crab au gratin” on the menu, and I had to try it.  It was so good!  I decided that I would need to make it at home.  I looked up various recipes and none looked quite right, so I set out on my own.  I omitted the crab, even though I love it, because it is very expensive! This is what I came up with.

Do you use vanilla extract in baking?  I know I use mine a lot for baking, homemade ice cream, and other things.  There are a lot of reasons why I choose to make my own extract for these purposes, which I will share with you.  And then I’ll get to the good part: how to do it!