the cook & the garden — Recipes & Stories

All about Berries!

Cathy ClearyJune 7, 2018

Summer Squash Pickles

The Garden, VEGETABLESCathy ClearyMay 17, 2018pickles, summer squash, tailgate market, zucchini, yellow squash, refrigerator pickles

Rhubarb for Generations!!

My latest Mountain Xpress Story with lots of rhubarb recipes and rhubarb history.

Appetizers & Snacks, DinnerCathy ClearyApril 27, 2018rhubarb, app, appetizers, dinners, gardening, goat cheese, mostarda

WILDLY Prolific

Wildly Prolific out this week in the Mountain Xpress tells you what to munch on as you stroll in the forest! Also find my springtime recipe for Greens and Eggs!

Deviled Egg Salad

I sent out a newsletter recently and was pleasantly surprised at how many folks said they were planning to make the recipe I sent out. I event had facebook friends tag me with photos of their deviled egg salads.

Dinner, Lunch, Gluten-Free, Salads, Spring, The Garden, VegetablesCathy ClearyApril 3, 2018eggs, beets, asparagus, salad, Deviled eggs, Easter, Brunch, lunch

Totally Nuts!

Learn how to go nuts in my first COVER STORY in the Mountain Xpress!

Adventures, Desserts, Autumn, DrinksCathy ClearyFebruary 26, 2018nuts, acorns, hickory nuts, black walnuts, chai, brownies, Acornucopia Project, local food, nut milk

Spiked Chocolate Fondue S'mores

In winter, when the outside world can be less than inviting, I take the opportunity to snuggle up to the stove and cook comfort food. Stocks, soups and stews gently simmer, infusing the house with savory scents.

Greens in the Bank

What if you really could ensure a prosperous future by eating plenty of leafy green vegetables? I am beginning to think this concept may have come from common-sense reasoning as opposed to superstition.

Wholegrain Pancake Mix

Need a quick homemade gift? This mix is super quick to make, bag, label, and the very best thing... it requires no artistic ability!!

Cathy ClearyDecember 18, 2017

Jam Cookies for Holiday Parties

Why Fingerprint Instead of Thumbprint?
If you use your thumb to make
indentions in cookies, you end up
with a lopsided indention that jam
can leak out from. Using a finger
(or mini bottle top) perpendicular
to the baking sheet means you
have a uniform hole to place your
jam. My neighbor Greta tried these
using peanut butter and Nutella.
PB&J cookies anyone?

No Waste, DessertsCathy ClearyDecember 18, 2017berries, cookies, jam, kitchen tips, butter, desserts, dessert, party food

The Sweet Potato Underground...

Check out the link to my Mountain Xpress article all about sweet potatoes!

Black Bean Paw Paw Salad

In our neck of the woods we can get a little taste of tropical flavor with the miraculous Paw paw. These strange looking fruits, native to the eastern United States, grow on trees and are the largest edible fruit indigenous to this area. Not only do they survive, but they thrive without much care, growing just as well in the shade as the sun

Autumn, Lunch, Salads, DinnerCathy ClearyOctober 25, 2017paw paw, cathy cleary, thecookandgarden.com, black beans, peppers, salad, local food

Amy’s Birthday Brunch

Birthdays don’t always arrive when you feel like celebrating. Life can be hectic, stressful, chaotic, and downright tragic. But I contend birthdays should always be celebrated, even in the midst of life’s roar. Taking time to be with dear ones to appreciate their birth, is good for the soul.

Off the Grid - Pedal to Plate

It takes just the right kind of person to enjoy spending an entire Sunday riding up and down steep mountain inclines with bicycle pedal power in order to see small farms in action. I guess I fall into that “right person” category because I had a ridiculously good time at Pedal to Plate in Madison County.

Better than Butter

I have recently experienced a bumper crop of corn on the cob, which is lucky for me because I have had a bumper crop of house guests. I get them to pick it and shuck it while I get to hang out in the kitchen mixing things into butter.

Cathy ClearyAugust 18, 2017

Polenta Tomato Pie

I have a friend (identity not revealed) who hides the leftovers in the back of the fridge when she makes this pie. It’s so easy to make that I don’t bother hiding the leftovers I just make more. It’s a great entrée to serve if you have a gluten-free friend, because it’s gluten-free without trying too hard.

Dinner, Gluten-Free, SummerCathy ClearyAugust 8, 2017tomato, tomatoes, pie, gluten free, cornmeal, cheese

Blueberry Waterfall Birthday Cake

It wasn't my idea to run 14 miles through the woods scaling ridges and fording slippery rocked streams to celebrate our birthdays. We can blame that one on Elizabeth. Luckily I am a glutton for punishment and I can't think of a better way to spend a day.

Goats and Rhubarb

Rhubarb Ginger Mostarda with Goat Cheese inspired by our new arrivals out on the farm! Welcome Buckwheat and Snowflake!

Appetizers & Snacks, AdventuresCathy ClearyJune 14, 2017goat cheese, snacks, appetizers, rhubarb, ginger, mostarda, relish, pickle, cheese

FEAST in the Sunny Point Garden! Plus pig and pickles

I'm so excited to help organize this event with such generous businesses! On August 7th, 2017 Riverbend Malt is donating a pig (fattened on their spent grain) and Sunny Point Cafe is preparing a FEAST to benefit FEAST!

More Mussels

I always want more muscles and mussels. I go about getting them in different ways but always want more of both. I like to ride my bike, run, and do hard core garden workouts for the first kind of muscle. The second kind of mussel is much much easier to enjoy. They look like elongated clams or small smooth oysters, but the mussel is not something you see on menus in this country all that often.