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KARACOOKS
KARACOOKS
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions
  • A cast iron skillet on a granite countertop filled with quartered Roma and cherry tomatoes, whole peeled garlic cloves, two bay leaves, and a generous sprinkle of dried oregano, ready to go into the oven.

    Friday Roundup #22

    ByKara February 21May 12 Friday Roundup

    The weather has been beautiful the last couple of days. I’m hoping it holds through the weekend because I have plans. What are you reading/watching/cooking/dealing with this week? Let me know in the comments. P.S. The tomato-garlic sauce is embarrassingly simple. You’re going to wonder why you ever bought jarred sauce. P.P.S. Alysa Liu. That’s…

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  • An open Dunkin' donut box on a wooden table holding a dozen Valentine's themed donuts: a mix of heart-shaped chocolate-frosted donuts with pink sprinkles, classic round donuts with pink and white icing, and one pink-striped heart, all decorated with pink, white, and red sprinkles.

    Friday Roundup #21 (On Sunday, Because February)

    ByKara February 15May 14 Friday Roundup

    The blog has been quiet this past week. Work has not been.Next week should be better, and tomorrow is Presidents’ Day, which in our house means a long weekend and a chance to get some end-of-winter things taken care of. Today it’s rainy and cold and I have big batch cooking plans for this afternoon…

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  • Michael Twitty's Cooking Gene - the hardback version.

    Black History Month: Essential Reading, Viewing, and Voices

    ByKara February 12May 16 Food & Politics

    This month on the blog, we’re honoring Black History Month by talking about African American foodways and the history of Southern food. If you want to learn more – and you should – here’s where to start. Essential Reading and Viewing Books: Television/Streaming: Writers and Food Historians to Follow: This is not an exhaustive list….

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  • A bean and corn tostada sitting on a dark gray plate. Topped with cilantro and sour cream.

    Bean and Corn Tostadas: A One-Person Meal Hack

    ByKara February 10May 16 Recipes

    Zach travels for work 6-7 times a year. Cooking for one is hard. Most recipes make too much. You end up with leftovers for days, or you waste food. It’s easier to just make something simple and quick. But I still want it to be nutritious. Balanced. Something that actually feels like a meal and…

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  • A grove of tall pine trees, with a few fallen over, brown leaf and needle-strewn ground, and a scattering of small green undergrowth plants.

    Being Authentic

    ByKara February 8May 16 Food & Politics, Personal

    This is the forested area behind our house. It’s the part of our property that the creek runs through. It’s where I go when I need peace and calm and to escape from the world for a little bit. If you’ve been reading this blog since I restarted it this month, you’ve noticed something: this…

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  • A black and white image of the full moon rising at night behind the bare winter branches of trees.

    Friday Roundup #20

    ByKara February 6May 12 Friday Roundup

    Y’all, it’s Friday and I’m ready for the weekend. This has been one of those weeks where the weather can’t make up its mind, work has been relentless, and I’ve been coming home too tired to do much of anything except exist on the sofa. Here’s what’s been happening around here this week, plus what…

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  • A raised garden bed, lightly dusted with snow. A couple of brown leaves and some sweetgum balls are nested in the snow.

    My Last Seed Order of the Season

    ByKara February 5May 16 Garden

    The garden is currently covered in a rare Georgia snow. But I’m dreaming of spring and summer already. 31 Packs of Seeds and a $79 Discount Burpee’s BOGO seed pack sale ended this past weekend, and I took full advantage. 31 packs of seeds. A whopping $79 discount on my order. Overly ambitious? Probably yes,…

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  • a bacon wrapped chicken breast on a plate, sliced open to show a filling of cream cheese and jalapeno bits. In the background is a green salad with citrus.

    Jalapeño Popper Chicken

    ByKara February 3May 16 Recipes

    Who doesn’t love a jalapeño popper? (For the uninitiated: jalapeño poppers are jalapeños stuffed with cream cheese, then wrapped in bacon and baked or grilled until the bacon is crispy and the cheese is melted. They’re addictive, rich, and the perfect combination of creamy, spicy, and smoky.) Now imagine that flavor stuffed into a juicy…

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  • Michael Twitty at an historical cooking reenactment at Smith Farm in Atlanta. Michael is sitting behind a wooden table loaded with food and ingredients. He's in front of a blazing cooking fire. There is a man to his left who is ready to enact his directions as the head cook in the room.

    What We Owe: Black Southern Foodways and the History We Need to Know

    ByKara February 2May 16 Food & Politics

    This is the first in what will be an ongoing series called Food is Political. I thought it was appropriate that this first post come during Black History Month and gives me a chance to talk about attribution, appropriation, and giving credit where it’s due It’s Black History Month. And on this blog, that’s going…

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  • A triptych of images from our dinner at the optimist. From left to right: whole shrimp in butter sauce over grilled bread, a seafood platter with oysters, salmon crudo, crab salad, and shrimp cocktail, and a plate with 2 butter drenched rolls sprinkled with flaky salt.

    The Optimist: The Best Seafood in Atlanta

    ByKara February 1May 16 Personal, Restaurant Reviews

    In July 2019, I took Zach to The Optimist for his birthday. It was our first time there, and I’m just going to say it up front: it’s the best seafood we’ve had anywhere. Better than St. Simons. Better than the coast. Better than a lot of places we’ve eaten on our travels. The Optimist…

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  • Friday Roundup #19 (On Saturday, Because This Month)

    Friday Roundup #19 (On Saturday, Because This Month)

    ByKara January 31May 12 Friday Roundup

    It’s the end of January and already this month has been a heck of a year, hasn’t it? I completely forgot the Friday Roundup yesterday. So we’re doing it on Saturday instead. That feels about right for how January 2026 has gone. That’s It. That’s the roundup for this week. Or last week. Whatever. Time…

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  • a pile of chocolate chip cookies on a white plate with a blue design on it. The plate is sitting on a red tablecloth.

    The Cookies I Bake When Everything Is Too Much

    ByKara January 27May 16 Food & Politics, Recipes

    I baked these cookies on Saturday. The day Alex Pretti was shot and killed by ICE thugs in Minneapolis. These are my comfort cookies. The ones I make when I need the repetitiveness. The rhythm. When I need to not think about anything past the next 8 to 12 minutes. I don’t actually make cookies…

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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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