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KARACOOKS

KARACOOKS

Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions

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KARACOOKS
KARACOOKS
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions
  • Two white trays of oysters on ice on a mosaic table, raw oysters on the half shell beside a ramekin of cocktail sauce, with a card reading Pemaquid, Damariscotta River, Maine.

    Friday Roundup #40

    ByKara September 27September 28 Friday Roundup, Writing

    A late roundup: WordPress gremlins, the first real fall mornings, a seafood feast where all sixty oysters vanished, saffron crocus in the ground, and the first pot roast of the season.

    Read More Friday Roundup #40Continue

  • A cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, and red onion on a toasted bun, served with sweet potato fries and cole slaw on a white plate.

    How We Do Burger Night

    ByKara September 24September 28 Recipes

    Burger night at our house isn’t a recipe, it’s a routine: Zach lights the kamado, I press the patties, and everybody builds their own at the counter.

    Read More How We Do Burger NightContinue

  • A 14-quart nonstick stockpot full of clear golden broth with a roasted whole chicken, halved onions, and celery, the glass lid resting beside it on the stove.

    Overnight Chicken Stock

    ByKara September 22September 27 Recipes, Cooking, Writing

    My overnight oven chicken stock: one big pot, a 210°F oven, and a night’s sleep. Eight to ten quarts of clear, gelled stock to see you through the holidays.

    Read More Overnight Chicken StockContinue

  • A downy woodpecker and a Carolina chickadee feeding together on a mesh suet-nugget feeder at the Creek House

    Creek House Wildlife #2: Everyone Else Who Showed Up

    ByKara September 20August 30 Our Creek House, Writing

    The owl wouldn’t be photographed. Everyone else did. A field guide to the loud, feathered, ridiculous cast at our feeders: three woodpeckers, two hawks, a catbird that sounds like a cat, one ghost-white finch, and the geese who own the place.

    Read More Creek House Wildlife #2: Everyone Else Who Showed UpContinue

  • A burger-night build station: cheddar-topped patties and toasted buns on a wooden board with lettuce, tomato, red onion, A1, Dijon, Grillo's pickles, a bowl of cole slaw, and sweet potato fries.

    Friday Roundup #39

    ByKara September 18September 28 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Cheeseburger Day on the kamado, build-your-own style, fall creeping in, the collards finally in the ground, and what’s coming next week.

    Read More Friday Roundup #39Continue

  • A white hobnail bowl heaping with Tex-Mex taco meat with cabbage cooked in, a spoon tucked in, avocado and taco shells behind.

    The Taco Meat That Hides a Whole Vegetable

    ByKara September 15July 24 Recipes

    My all-purpose Tex-Mex taco meat hides four cups of purple cabbage in a pound of beef. It disappears as it cooks, adds a veg, and stretches dinner for a crowd

    Read More The Taco Meat That Hides a Whole VegetableContinue

  • A neat stack of thin carrot cake layers with cream cheese frosting oozing down the sides on a white plate.

    The Carrot Cake I Knew Was Wrong (And Photographed Anyway)

    ByKara September 13September 13 Kitchen Disasters, Writing

    I had a carrot cake that never failed me, then chased a fancier one. It baked flat, dense, and rubbery. I frosted it and shot it like a magazine anyway.

    Read More The Carrot Cake I Knew Was Wrong (And Photographed Anyway)Continue

  • Friday Roundup #38

    Friday Roundup #38

    ByKara September 12September 13 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Sunflowers on the counter, half the office bolting ahead of a Friday storm, the collards still sitting on my desk, and a gluten-free honey cake in the oven.

    Read More Friday Roundup #38Continue

  • Two photographs of a large American flag hanging across the columned facade of the New York Stock Exchange, taken minutes apart in June 2005.

    Put Down the Camera

    ByKara September 11September 12 Personal, Writing

    The 9/11 Memorial Museum has a room where they ask you to put the camera down. Seven trips to Ground Zero, and the photograph I did not know I still had.

    Read More Put Down the CameraContinue

  • How to roast Hatch chile: left, a tall view of blackened, blistered green chiles on the grate of a red kamado; right, the same chiles charring over glowing coals.

    How to Roast and Freeze Hatch Chile (25 Pounds at a Time)

    ByKara September 8September 28 Recipes, Cooking, Writing

    Twenty-five pounds of fresh Hatch, one afternoon on the Kamado, and a year of green chile in the freezer. Plus the queso you have earned by the end of it.

    Read More How to Roast and Freeze Hatch Chile (25 Pounds at a Time)Continue

  • Somebody Picked These Chiles

    Somebody Picked These Chiles

    ByKara September 6September 7 Personal, Food & Politics, Writing

    Hatch chile farmworkers pick by hand through a sixteen-hour day for under $6,000 a year. A Labor Day essay about what my twenty-five pound box actually costs.

    Read More Somebody Picked These ChilesContinue

  • A dirt footpath curves through a hardwood forest where the entire ground layer is one unbroken mat of low, bright green Japanese stiltgrass. Long Indian Creek runs along the right edge of the frame past a large oak, and a figure stands in the distance near fallen deadfall.

    Friday Roundup #37

    ByKara September 4September 7 Friday Roundup, Writing

    An invasive grass has taken the back of the property, the collards are still not in the ground, and minor-league September is winding down at Gwinnett Field.

    Read More Friday Roundup #37Continue

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KaraCooks
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions

KaraCooks is written, cooked, photographed, and gardened by one person in Johns Creek, Georgia.

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  • Home
  • Recipes
  • Garden
  • Writing
    • Friday Roundup
    • What Got Lost
    • Cooking
    • Food & Politics
    • Personal
    • Our Creek House
    • Travel
    • Restaurant Reviews
    • Kitchen Disasters
    • Behind The Blog
    • Holiday Menus
  • What I Use
    • The Pantry
    • The Grill & Smoke
    • The Garden
    • The Everyday Kitchen
    • The Bookshelf
    • Keeping It Out of The Landfill
    • For the Animals
    • Coffee & The Bar
    • Behind the Camera
  • About
    • About & FAQ
    • Disclosure
    • Where I Stand
    • Recommendations