Category Archives: DIY

DIY All-Purpose Red Chili Sauce, Posole, and a Little Appreciation

A couple of months ago I was gifted a lovely chile ristra by Annabelle Lenderink of La Tercera Farm. That same day, my friend Ellen came by and I shared some chiles with her. The next thing you know we’re scheming up dishes to make with dried chiles. It’s funny how one really special ingredient [...]
Also posted in Food and Drink, Latin American, from the market, hearty | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Crazy for Curtido

My life and my kitchen have both been overtaken by fermenting cabbage lately. (Is there a support group for that?) Partially, it’s the season. I always want to make hearty, fattier foods when the weather turns cold and sauerkraut and curtido are the perfect accompaniments. Plus cabbage turns sweeter as the weather gets chillier, making [...]
Also posted in Books, Latin American, book events, classes, from the market, healthy, hearty, pantry staples | Tagged , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Home-brewed Sodas Live at 18 Reasons

Though it took place last month (how is that possible?) I wanted to take a moment to blog about the home-brewed soda class my pal Nishanga taught at 18 Reasons.  Nishanga showed class participants how to use ginger bug and whey to naturally ferment sodas. She discussed other starters and I brought along some homemade [...]
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DIY Delicious at Jimtown—ajvar, crackers, cheese, yogurt cake, sauerkraut canapés and more!

The inaugural DIY Delicious book event was held recently at Jimtown Store in Healdsburg, CA. Since working on the recipes for the Jimtown Store cookbook was my first foray into cookbookery, it only seems fitting. Plus it’s a warm, welcoming space that feels like home and Carrie Brown and her staff know how to make [...]
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DIY Delicious Book Giveaway with FarmCurious

What: Win a signed copy of my book, DIY Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch. All you have to do to qualify for a random drawing is to submit a story about your catalyst for canning, preserving, or creating your own food from scratch. Your story can inspire others! Who: This contest [...]
Also posted in Books, community | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

DIY Delicious Promo Video

Check out this super fun DIY Delicious Video. Shot and conceived by the talented folks at 4SP films. I love it! And it was so much fun to shoot! Thanks to Chronicle Books for making it possible and Peter Perez, Marketing Manager at Chronicle, for loaning his kitchen, community garden and slightly goofy (yet totally [...]
Also posted in Books, Film, gardening, healthy, hearty | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Really Underground Restaurant

The term “underground” as it relates to food had come to sound ridiculous. These days it’s code for places where droves of in-the-know people in a certain age range and from certain segments of the population gather to wait hours in line for homemade, DIY, fermented, foraged, bartered, guerilla gardened, dumpster plucked, or street vended [...]
Also posted in Food and Drink, entertaining | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

DIY Delicious is Here!

I got the email yesterday. It said, "I'm holding advance copies of your book in my hand, it looks beautiful. Which address should I send them to?" I was excited but a little numb I guess. Or maybe nothing can really prepare a person for the feeling of opening a package and pulling out a [...]
Also posted in Books, food news | 19 Comments

DIY Cheese and Fresh Pasta with Asparagus

Homemade fresh cheese recipe to celebrate the release of DIY Delicious: Recipes and Ideas for Simple Food from Scratch from Chronicle Books.
Also posted in from the market | 3 Comments

Turning Sunburned Persimmons into Persimmon Butter

Blackened organic persimmons for 75 cents a pound vs. around $3 a pound? Sign me up because I’m making persimmon butter. Bought these from Kaki at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market. They told me the alarming-looking sooty skin wouldn’t affect the fruit and they were right. This and the galette I’m using it for are the [...]
Also posted in dessert, entertaining, from the market, fruit, holidays, pantry staples | 5 Comments
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    The recipes and images on this site belong to Vanessa Barrington. Feel free to link here and if you’d like to use a recipe or image, please ask permission first. Thank you.