Flavors of Fall: A delicious guide to cooking Alabama pumpkins for fall
We have an odd relationship with pumpkins. For many, the annual pumpkin harvest is reserved for carving or stacking as fall decorations. But eating them? Everyone knows pumpkin pie comes from a can. Pumpkins, which are native to the Americas, have been cultivated as food for some 9,000 years. [...]
Agua Fresca: How to make the perfect summer drink from local fresh fruits
Agua fresca may be the ultimate summertime drink. Made mostly with fruit, it takes full advantage of Alabama’s bounty of berries, stone fruit, and melons. Fully refreshing, it has a fraction of the sugar found in soft drinks and sweet tea. Agua fresca translates as “fresh water.” The drink [...]
Sweet Grown Alabama’s ultimate spring and summer produce buying guide
Spring is in the air and the excitement is building around incorporating fresh produce into our seasonal recipes. There is one key element necessary in ensuring that produce is bought at its best: timing. It is important to consider the season and what is currently being harvested when deciding [...]
Alabama-made Golden Eagle Syrup nears 100 years in business
(Golden Eagle Syrup/Contributed) As Alabamians and as Southerners, tradition is a huge part of our culture. And no one knows that better than Temple Bowling, part-owner of one of the state’s oldest companies, Golden Eagle. Golden Eagle Syrup has been a staple in Alabama pantries since 1928 [...]
Batter Together: Recipe for Raspberry Almond Thumbprint Cookies
Baking cookies is an integral part of the holiday season, don’t you think? Cookies for Santa, cookie swap parties, cookie boxes for neighbors and friends; the list of reasons to bake cookies during the holidays goes on and on. I, personally, reach for cookie recipes no matter what season it is, simply because I love to bake cookies. Like most human beings, I too have swooned, drooled, and marveled over the chewy, sometimes gooey, flavorful bliss of a cookie fresh from the oven, but in all honesty, it’s the simple, familiar, and comforting process of baking cookies that really does it for me. Baking cookies, particularly during the holiday season, is comfort in its purest form; and I believe it’s a comfort we should share.
Batter Together: Recipe for Cookie Butter Layer Cake
Does everyone know what cookie butter is? I have to ask because I, too, at one point in my life was unaware of the heavenly spread that is cookie butter. I remember trying cookie butter for the first time when my husband and I, newlyweds at the time, lived in Nashville, Tennessee. I picked up a jar at Trader Joe’s after reading a label that essentially said “here’s some delicious, creamy peanut-butter-esque spread, but we swapped the peanuts for cookies. Try it!” So I did. And do you know what I found? Bliss. For those of you who don’t know, cookie butter is a sweet, creamy spread made from pulverized spiced cookies—think those Biscoff cookies you get on an airplane. Its flavor is reminiscent of gingerbread, which makes it perfect for holiday baking.
