Passing on traditional skills like foraging, cooking from scratch and living well on less
Garlic scapes are in season at the moment, and they are delicious to use in garlic scape pesto. What are garlic scapes? These are the flower stems found in the center of hardneck and elephant garlic. These will eventually become flowers, but if left on the plant most of the plant’s energy will go […]
We recently had a bounty of rhubarb and I found myself looking for a great way to use it past the usual recipes. When I stumbled across a rhubarb juice recipe, I had to try it. That original recipe was a little bit (okay, a lot!) too sweet for my taste and even my kids […]
This is another recipe I’m putting online because friends ask me for it so often. 🙂 Here’s an easy, delicious way to use extra fruits and veggies you have on hand and create a fabulous gluten free treat at the same time. Every time we make it, it has a different flavor since we […]
This time of year, our family really loves making old-fashioned cookies and treats — especially sugarplums. These fruit-based treats are all natural, gluten free, easy and customizable, plus they’re really fun to make with kids. I’m sure everyone has heard of sugarplums at Christmastime (“While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads” from Clement Moore’s […]
So many homes and parks have crab apple trees and so few people put these tasty, healthy little fruits to use. Here’s a recipe to change all that! It’s easy, packed with vitamins and antioxidants, and delicious. It’s also practically free! I came up with this recipe to use up some crab apples that we […]
A few years ago, we purchased a little sour cherry tree from some big box store because it was on clearance at the end of the garden season. That little cherry tree is now a huge, productive tree that we love! It makes the most beautiful white flowers in the spring. And then around July […]
If you’re lucky enough to have fresh beets in your garden or CSA box right now, don’t use them all in the roasting pan or pickle jar. From flourless chocolate cupcakes to beet pasta, there are oodles of wonderful ways to use beets in delicious new ways. These brightly colored veggies are surprisingly versatile. […]
Life is too short to eat bad gluten-free pizza, and there’s no reason you have to. Gluten free pizza dough is easy to make at home (it’s even quicker and easier than traditional pizza dough!) and it is honestly delicious. We’ve been gluten free in our family for over eight years now, and pizza was […]
(Note: This recipe was originally posted by Daryl in his Cooking with Kids column on Examiner.com in 2012.) Here’s a quick and easy way to make tasty gluten-free, dairy free muffins that doesn’t require any special ingredients or much effort. Since our family went GF last spring, we’ve tried a lot of recipes that have […]
Dock seeds are prolific everywhere you look right now, so this is a great time to gather them and make dock seed flour. If you haven’t ever cooked with dock seeds, they’re an easy and healthy source of wild flour to forage. Dock grows as an invasive weed all over the world. You can often […]
We try to use nettles a lot around here since they’re so healthy, so tasty and grow so plentifully all around us. One of the kids’ favorite ways to enjoy nettles are in smoothies. Yes, really! You probably know how healthy stinging nettles are for you, but most folks don’t realize you can use them […]
Got boat loads of zucchini this time of year? Here’s a delicious and easy way to make use of them. Zucchini fritters are kid-friendly and tasty, and the recipe can easily be converted to gluten free (the way we make them), paleo and/or vegan. The recipe is very simple and adaptable, not even really a […]
Here’s a super simple recipe that the kids like to make for fruit sorbet. I even let them make it for breakfast, because they think they’re getting a treat and I know it’s healthy. Just blend frozen fruit (pineapple is a family favorite and what’s pictured here) with sweetened vanilla non-dairy milk of your choice. […]
We recently found ourselves in the possession of over a dozen bags of prunes (dried plums) and found ourselves wondering what to do with that many prunes. We used some for fresh eating and for homemade granola bars and energy balls, but our favorite way to use them so far is in a spiced prune […]
Here’s one of my favorite ways to use wild ramps, and you can use it to enjoy the wonderful flavor of ramps all year long. Dry the leaves and grind them with coarse sea salt for a simple but delicious wild ramp salt. Simply dry wild ramp leaves until crisp and then put them in […]
We love roasted cauliflower heads in our family but it takes a lot of time and effort to roast them traditionally to cook up tender and bake throughout. I’ve discovered that the Instant Pot can eliminate most of the cooking time and delivers perfect roasted cauliflower heads in much less time. It turns out the […]
This is a fantastic simple and delicious recipe for apple or pear cobbler where the batter makes its own crust. Our fifteen year old son, Jack, made it last week and proclaimed that it was his favorite dish so far that he’s baked (which is saying a lot, as the kid loves to bake). We […]
A new cookbook has the perfect solution for that supper time rut. The Make-Ahead Sauce Solution: Elevate Your Everyday Meals with 61 Freezer-Friendly Sauces by Elisabeth Bailey offers a wonderful variety of sauces to use in all different ways that can help take simple meals to the next level. Anyone who’s ever eaten at a […]
I brought acorn spice cupcakes to my latest acorn presentation last week, and lots of people have asked for the recipe. Here it is, excerpted from my acorn foraging book. This recipe works with either gluten free flour mixes or regular wheat flour. Most of the recipes in my book are gluten free or have […]
Foragers and back yard gardeners often have the happy blessing of buckets of fruit to make use of this time of year. Here’s a wonderful recipe to make use of blueberries, mulberries, black raspberries, mulberries, peaches, strawberries or any other fruit that you have a bounty of. Sometime around mid-July every year, we pick over […]
It’s acorn season, which means one of the best wild foods out there is abundant and free right now. Acorn rice patties are delicious ways to make use of acorns and also happen to be vegetarian and gluten free. We usually have dried acorns and acorn flour on hand for cooking all year long, but […]
It’s zucchini season, meaning that even if you don’t grow zucchini you probably have more than enough giant zucchinis to find something to do with. Here’s a delicious way to make use of it. This zucchini bread recipe is simple and quite versatile. You can use your favorite gluten free flour mix or a blend […]
It’s mulberry season! Whether you have a mulberry tree in your back yard or local park or you have generous friends or neighbors, these sweet treats are all over right now. There are so many reasons to gather mulberries. First of all, they’re incredibly healthy. Mulberries are loaded with nutrients, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals and […]
We were thrilled when Daryl brought home two big bags of chicken of the woods mushrooms yesterday. While we harvest lots of pheasant back (dryad’s saddle) mushrooms and morels, this is our first time finding chicken of the woods and I was so excited as I’ve heard for years how much they taste like chicken […]
Whether you have buckets of wild mulberries or an excess of peaches that you can’t possibly eat in time, fruit leather is a fabulous way to make use of it. Fruit leather is wonderfully simple and you can customize each batch with whatever fruits you have and flavors you’re craving. Not only is fruit […]
If you’ve been following the royal wedding (or even if you haven’t), you’ve probably heard about the spectacular elderflower cake that pastry chef Claire Ptak designed for the much-anticipated wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. The wedding cake is to be served at the Reception. It was designed by Claire Ptak and features elderflower […]
We’re big guacamole lovers here, especially when avocados in season and affordable like this time of year. Guacamole is fantastically healthy and is also a great non-dairy way to cut the heat in Mexican dishes. Our whole family loves Chipotle (it’s a very affordable way to get healthy, tasty food on the go, and it’s […]
Daryl has made dandelion syrup several times with our kids and it’s always a big hit. Not only is it fun, but the syrup tastes delicious and it’s full of vitamins from the dandelions. It’s also a great vegan substitute for honey, with a similar color and taste. Although it’s the dead of winter right […]
If you’re gluten free, you know the bread you buy in the stores tends to be hard, tasteless, overpriced and basically awful. The good news is that you can easily bake gluten free bread that is soft, tasty and easy — and it’s much healthier than the stuff you buy in stores! Here’s one of […]
I have some recipes that are requested so often that I put them online somewhere for when friends or family message me and ask again for them. This is one of the recipes I decided to put up to save me the trouble of emailing it so much. 🙂 There are a lot of hush […]
I thought I’d share another acorn recipe from my acorn book, in case anybody else has a stash of newly foraged acorns waiting to be put to good use. This is an ice cream recipe I developed, and like the acorn drop biscuit recipe it is also vegan. There is a traditional acorn ice cream […]
It’s acorn season, and anybody who follows my Instagram knows that our family has been foraging, processing and cooking with acorns all month. Acorn processing #fallforaging #forageandharvest #wildedibles #foraging #foragingfamily #septemberforaging #fallflavors #acorns A post shared by Alicia Bayer (@magicandmayhem) on Sep 4, 2017 at 11:04am PDT I made up a batch of acorn drop […]
Daryl and I have been faithfully checking our elder patches for the past few weeks and he brought home a bag of our first elderberry bounty for the year this week. This particular clump of elders is bordering a nursing home that has given us permission to pick their pears and elderberries. He harvested them […]
Yes, you can feed your family healthy, organic, non-GMO food and not go bankrupt doing it! Welcome to FYFO-100, where I’ll share how we feed our family of 7 for around $100 a week. Every few days, I’ll share more tips for how we make it work. You can go all-in and learn skills like […]
My elderberry book is now available in a paperback edition! We heard from many people who wanted a physical copy of the book, especially to make use of it while foraging and for the cookbook section. I worked over the past couple of months to create the best possible paperback version, with black and […]
Elderflower season is coming to an end and that means elderberry season is coming soon! Make sure you use some of this year’s elderberry crop to make some elderberry jam and elderberry pie filling, because they’re so wonderful in recipes like elderberry cream cheese cupcakes (and elderberry thumbprint cookies, and elderberry fluff, and elderberry frosting….). […]
It’s starting to get to sunburn season! Wearing hats and staying in the shade isn’t really cutting it the way it does the rest of the year, especially if you spend a day at the beach or out in the hot sun. With that said, there are some pretty scary ingredients in even “natural” sunscreens. […]
Have you heard of elderflower soda? This is a traditional elderflower delicacy that is so popular in Romania that it inspired Coca-Cola to release their own version, Fanta Shokata (though theirs contains no real elderflowers). It is also known as Socată or Suc de Soc. Here’s the recipe to make your own, which is another […]
I have been making homemade birthday cakes and cupcakes for my kids for almost 20 years now, and they’ve been gluten free for the past 6 years. With five kids, that means that I have baked a lot of birthday cakes and cupcakes! I tried recipe after recipe, with none of them giving me the […]
Here’s another easy recipe from my new book, Elderberries: The Beginner’s Guide to Foraging, Preserving and Using Elderberries for Health Remedies, Recipes, Drinks and More (available now on Kindle and in paperback). This is a beautiful, deep purple schnapps that is so simple to make with either fresh or frozen elderberries. See the directions at […]
I was excited to hear about Rosalee De La Foret’s new book, Alchemy of Herbs*, as the author is part of the Learning Herbs site that I have followed for years. I highly enjoy their blog posts and newsletter for kids about the benefits of plants that you can find in the wild. Our family […]
Our 9 year-old, Alex, asked last night if we could make mini donuts together for breakfast for everybody today. I said yes, and dug out this recipe that I came up with a few years ago. This is a really easy but delicious recipe that also includes lots of fruit and/or veggies, since each batch […]
Nothing smells better on a fall day than roasted tomato sauce. With back yards and farmers’ markets brimming with fresh tomatoes right now, this is the perfect time to make up a batch. Once you try, you’ll never want make tomato sauce any other way! If you’ve never made roasted tomato sauce, you don’t know […]
When you stroll through the farmers’ market or pick up your CSA box, you’re likely to find something that you won’t find in area supermarkets — whole plants. Local growers tend to leave the leaves on root vegetables like beets and carrots, keep the flowery fronds on the fennel and otherwise give you […]
Mint is one of those workhorses of the garden. Once you plant it, your hardest job is keeping it from overtaking everything else in the yard and figuring out what to do with it all. It grows easily in most of the country and robustly returns to even the coldest gardens every spring, where it […]
Here’s a wonderful video where famous herbalists such as Rosemary Gladstar, Susun Weed and Matthew Wood teach why they love nettles, how to harvest it and use them, their many health benefits and more. The video begins and ends with herbalists David Hoffmann and Isla Burgess talking about why nettles are their favorite plants. During […]
Every family should keep a jar of elderberry honey syrup in their refrigerator. This simple, natural elixir is fabulous at preventing and treating illnesses and it couldn’t be easier to make or more natural. What’s so great about elderberry syrup? Elderberry syrup is one of the best things on the planet to fight illness. It […]
Spruce tips are wonderful spring edibles that are not only tasty and unique, but also great for us. They are rich in Vitamin C and have been used traditionally for years to soothe coughs and sore throats, as well as to alleviate lung congestion and to treat lung and kidney infections. Best of all, they’re […]
It’s ramp season, and whether you buy ramps at the farmer’s market or forage them yourself in the wild, this is the time to take advantage of this delicious (but short lived) delicacy. What are ramps? The Huffington Post says: Here’s the short answer: ramps are a wild onion that grow during the spring in […]
Pheasant’s back mushrooms can be incredibly easy to find this time of year and incredibly tasty — but you have to know which ones to use and how to prepare them right. Many foragers are told not to bother with pheasant’s back mushrooms, also known as dryad’s saddles. While it’s undisputed that they are edible […]