Time for Nettle Pie!
Yes it’s Time! This early spring day with it’s cloud canopy, rain and wind is not getting me down. And do you know why? The nettles have sprung, and I love to cook with nettles! Yes, I’m talking about those omnipresent spiky weeds you never notice in the woods until you brush by them accidentally. First you feel a tingle which quickly elevates into a blistering sting followed by a rash that will last for a few days. Yep, those are the ones. Who would know how good they taste? They have a lovely hearty herb-y flavor that is as...
read moreQuaker Soup Day
I have to feed the Quakers from time to time…like tomorrow. Now Quakers, as a rule, are a hard to define bunch. There is a reason they are called ‘united anarchists’, you know. But one thing about them is this: as flexible as they can be, they do tend to live at the cutting edge of health food trends. I was once handed a bottle of stevia after making a dessert too sweet. ‘Vegetarian options’ were offered at their gatherings well before Diet for a Small Planet was published. So, it comes as no surprise that when I...
read moreLemon-Rose Meringue Pie — His February Favorite
Every February, I make a lemon meringue pie for my husband’s birthday. It is his favorite food in the whole world, not mine. But since he is my favorite person in the whole world, I make it anyway. And I’ll fill you in on a little secret which even he doesn’t know–I have serious issues with that meringue. I’ll talk about that later, but first I want to touch on a new twist I tried this year, steeping rose petals into the lemon curd. It’s a perfect Valentine’s Day touch if you want a relief from...
read moreThe perfect afternoon tea cake!
I have a confession to make. There is a friend I talk to on the phone sometimes; and we have, well, the culinary equivalent of phone sex. Dreamily we talk about something we ate, or a recipe we made recently, or a recipe we made once then lost and still dream about, or a dish we’ll make one day… and all the while we are on the phone we look stuff up on the internet, or run to our own cookbook collections, then we send things to each other online…this sometimes goes late into the night! It happened again last night. My friend...
read moreTacos–an old standard that changes with the seasons
I have a few all-time favorite dishes. They are kid-friendly, and so fast and yummy they are close to being counted as junk food (dangerously close, I would say). Among them are macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, and the dish I made tonight, tacos. Tacos are fast and never fussy (meaning that if you don’t have a particular ingredient, just skip it or substitute). I brown some ground beef or beans, onions, jalapeño, and garlic in olive oil. Next I throw some tomato paste into the hot oil and let it caramelize, which adds layers of...
read moreCooking with Teens and Young Adults
Last weekend I had some kids over from the local high school to cook dinner with each other, and with me here at Ezekiel’s Table. They are helping me with my recipe and menu testing while I await the decision from Princeton Township about my re-opening. Being with them reminds me of the importance that cooking has in the lives of kids anxious to go out into the world. Kids are full of excitement and trepidation at the thought of leaving the nest. They try to jump the gun in too many ways, getting involved in things they think are adult...
read moreHello Again!
Hello, Friends! Well, many of you have been asking. But so much has happened since Ezekiel's Table Cooking Classes had to close its doors a couple of years ago! As many of you know, the zoning board thought I might be 'too busy' to be able to operate from my home. But before I could defend that, the health board determined that a commercial kitchen would be necessary for me to operate (as though I were an actual restaurant serving tons of people off the street all night.) A commercial kitchen meant some very painful modifications for me and my kitchen, among which would be the installation of some very expensive and ugly fire suppression devices. More painfully, I would be forbidden from using my kitchen as a family space.
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Hi, I'm Marcia Willsie, owner of Ezekiel's Table and a shameless food-adventuress. Join me here, as I talk about my latest kitchen experiments and culinary wanderings.