Meet n Greet
My great grandma’s pickled beets are legendary in my family.
All my aunts and uncles talk about how good they were. Each of them has sampled modern versions of pickled beets and nothing ever compares.
There was something special about her beets that can’t be duplicated.
No one remembers exactly how she made them. As far as we know she never wrote the recipe down and when my great grandma passed away, the recipe went with her.
My uncle Tim remembers them being small crinkle cut beets. They’ve got to be crinkle cut. Amy remembers her using a sachet of cloves to flavor the pickling brine. (was that the secret ingredient?)
I have a suspicion about the real secret ingredient.
It’s not about the beets. It’s about grandma.
Food isn’t just food. It tells a story about a place and a time and the people it brought together.
Being in the kitchen with grandma while she made pickled beets and watching her make something delicious out of plain ingredients.
That’s what was special. That’s why my family still talks about her pickled beets. (Though I’m sure they were exceptionally delicious).
Food is the tangible expression of our heritage and culture.
In her book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver posited that maybe America’s food system is so messed up because we had barely started developing a food tradition before the age of convenience gave us an easy out.
That may very well be true. But it doesn’t have to stay that way. We don’t have accept a food tradition given to us by media and corporations. We don’t have to accept a culture where sugar is king, vegetables are stigmatized, and family dinner involves each person eating separate, microwaved meals.
We can create our own food tradition at home!
For me, that tradition is pickled beets.
That’s the tradition I want to keep and pass on. It’s the tradition of cooking at home, using real ingredients, eating food when it’s in season, and preserving it for later.
That’s why I set about to create The Casual Veggie cookbook!
I’m pretty sure that all those commercials that told me broccoli is the worst thing on earth were lying. I don’t understand how an entire food group has become so completely demonized in the american diet.
How ever it happened, it’s my personal mission to show people how delicious, versatile, and diverse vegetables can be!
You guys - this cookbook! It even has dessert recipes! I can’t even explain how excited I am to show you this thing.
If you have ever wondered what to make with a vegetable...
If you have ever wondered how to store it...
If you have ever been that person in the grocery store looking at the broccoli, the broccolini, and the broccoli rabe wondering if someone is playing a joke on you…
This cookbook is for you!
It’s only $18 and will be for sale starting October 19th
We’re throwing a virtual party to celebrate the launch!
Our virtual party will kick off on October 19th with drink and appetizer recipes then wind down on October 24th a veggie potluck recipe party.
48 amazing bloggers helped to bring this cookbook to life and I’m honored to introduce you to them.
Without further ado - Meet the amazing hosts of The Casual Veggie launch party!!
I teach people how to cook and eat real food with confidence so that you can have less stress, better health, and WAY more fun in the kitchen and in life.
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