Author Archives: Linda Ziedrich

About Linda Ziedrich

I grow, cook, preserve, and write about food in Oregon's Willamette Valley.

Bamboo for Dinner

Posted on May 16, 2013

Sometimes the best strategy for managing pests is to eat them. Cajuns savor stewed nutria.  Mexicans crunch fried grasshoppers. The French swallow butter-soaked snails. And I have started eating bamboo. After beautifully screening my bee and compost yard for fifteen … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Mixed Pickle of Mixed Parentage

Posted on April 25, 2013

When Jennifer Burns Levin wrote about her encounter with atjar tjampoer in Amsterdam, I realized that this Indonesian-Dutch cousin of chow-chow was missing from my collection of recipes for the mixed pickles that originated in the East Indies and traveled … Continue reading →

Posted in Pickles, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

One Fine Mixer: Fermented Lemon Brine

Posted on April 15, 2013

  While making space in my overstuffed refrigerator last week, I chopped a last slice of brined lemon, tossed it into the bean soup bubbling on the stove, and began to tip the jar of brine into the sink. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Fermented foods, Fruits | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Experiments with Tibicos (Water Kefir)

Posted on April 5, 2013

When my friend Rose Marie first asked me what I knew about water kefir, I was baffled. Water kefir, she explained, was a culture for a bubbly beverage made from water, not milk, in the form of “grains” that resemble … Continue reading →

Posted in Books and blogs, Fermented foods, Fruits, Preserving science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Homegrown Belgian Endive

Posted on March 9, 2013

My California sweetheart farmer, Rich Collins, came through once again this year with a Valentine’s bouquet of Belgian endive. So I put off harvesting any of my own chicons until yesterday.       This is how my chicory plants … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Eating and Drinking in New Orleans

Posted on March 5, 2013

Robert and I flew to New Orleans the week before last to spend time with our youngest, who was finishing an internship in southern Louisiana, and to see the city for the first time. I hope you don’t mind my … Continue reading →

Posted in Pickles, Vegetables | Tagged | 8 Comments

A Quick Wintertime Refrigerator Relish

Posted on February 19, 2013

What can you do with a few beets, some slowly shriveling apples from last fall’s harvest, and an ever-expanding patch of horseradish? Inspired by a traditional beet-horseradish relish from Russia and a canned beet-apple pickle that I read about somewhere … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruits, Pickles, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Citron Melon Again, for Dessert

Posted on February 11, 2013

Every day this winter I’ve eyed my citron melons in the entry hall, admiring their summery beauty and wondering how long they would keep. Some people say they store well for a whole year, but I’m guessing that’s true only … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruits, Wild foods | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Bean Worth Drying: The Scarlet Runner

Posted on January 30, 2013

I was filling baskets with French beans and Spanish magic beans last summer when I noticed that some of my Scarlet Runner Beans were ready to eat. Why in the world had I planted so many beans? I was growing … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

A Tart Little Tuber from the Andes

Posted on January 18, 2013

A couple of weeks ago I noticed the motley assortment of pots in the middle of my greenhouse floor, dragged there for minimal protection from the winter cold and now adorned with the limp, frozen foliage of various tender plants. … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments