Author Archives: Linda Ziedrich

About Linda Ziedrich

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

Shopping in the Garden for Spring Salad Makings

Posted on May 19, 2020

While we are all avoiding trips to the grocery store, it’s good to remember that the garden may offer much more interesting things to eat, anyway. Here I’ve combined the last of the arugula with shaved fennel and johnny jump-ups, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruits, Herbs, Wild foods | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Naked Barley: Lovely and Local

Posted on May 8, 2020

The food shortages that accompanied the outbreak of the coronavirus and continue to this day have made local food—food produced for the local population rather than for shipping across the country and overseas—a suddenly more urgent cause. I have struggled … Continue reading →

Posted in Grain, Herbs, Vegetables, Wild foods | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

ChouAmi: A New Jar-Top Fermentation Device

Posted on May 7, 2020

I am so mechanically inept that I have never been able to figure out the Kraut Source fermentation device—an expensive thing ($30!) made up of several stainless-steel parts that somehow fit together on top of a standard American mason jar. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fermented foods, Pickles, Preserving science, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Lavender Mashed Potatoes

Posted on May 6, 2020

How is this for a garish plate? The mashed potatoes are made with Purple Peruvians, an old fingerling variety with the most intensely purple flesh I’ve ever seen in a potato (though not all of the tubers are solid purple; … Continue reading →

Posted in Vegetables | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Chard for the Freezer

Posted on May 4, 2020

Thanks to the mild winter, Robert and I have been eating so much greens that I keep checking my skin for a greenish tinge. It’s hard to keep up with the spring onrush of asparagus, artichokes, and Asian brassicas while … Continue reading →

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Barely Candied Nuts

Posted on December 28, 2019

True wealth, I believe, is a mature Persian walnut tree, to feed you, your family, and your friends through the winter with tasty kernels rich in fat and protein, and to provide green nuts in early summer for liqueurs, preserves, … Continue reading →

Posted in Nuts, Sweet preserves | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tasting Local Chestnuts—American, Chinese, and European

Posted on November 20, 2019

I am lucky to have Carol Porter’s chestnut farm nearby. After all, the whole United States has fewer than a thousand chestnut farms, totaling a little over 3,700 acres. Americans grow only 1 percent of the world’s chestnuts, while importing … Continue reading →

Posted in Food history, Nuts | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

One Amazing Apple Press

Posted on October 16, 2019

After many years of wanting to visit Joe Brocard and his famous apple press, I finally made it to his annual public pressing last weekend. Joe and his wife, Catherine, brought the press to Oregon from the East Coast, where … Continue reading →

Posted in Fruits | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Lemon-Soured Cucumber Pickles

Posted on September 30, 2019

While I was promoting the first edition of The Joy of Pickling at the Oregon State Fair, in 1998, a woman asked me if I’d make lemon pickles. Certainly I’d pickled lemons; I started to show her the various pickled-lemon … Continue reading →

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Salad in a Jar: A Quick, Light Sliced Cucumber Pickle

Posted on September 18, 2019

As the sky turned grey and the rains commenced, I knew what I wanted to do with what might be the last of my suyo cucumbers. I wanted to fill a quart jar with thin crosswise slices, adorned with sliced … Continue reading →

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