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KARACOOKS

KARACOOKS

Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions

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KARACOOKS
KARACOOKS
Good Food · Honest History · Strong Opinions
  • a bowl of fresh guacamole made for National Avocado Day

    Friday Roundup #34

    ByKara July 31July 31 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Friday Roundup #34: National Avocado Day, a jumbotron birthday for Zach, Joro spiders in the garden, Olmsted’s Southern journeys, and a meh on The Odyssey.

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  • Coastal Maine. The pink granite shoreline of Acadia National Park under a bright blue sky with scattered clouds.

    Maine: A Love Story, in Pictures

    ByKara July 30July 24 Travel, Personal, Writing

    Photos from nine days on the coast of Maine: Boston oysters, a fogged-in lighthouse in Lubec, Acadia at dusk, and the deck where we did nothing.

    Read More Maine: A Love Story, in PicturesContinue

  • A white-tailed doe stands at the edge of a shallow creek, looking toward the camera, with an eroded root-tangled bank behind her.

    Friday Roundup #33

    ByKara July 24July 24 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Friday Roundup #33: a curious creek-walk doe, our tattoo consults, a great dinner at Noosh, brussels sprouts sprouting, and a Duma Key reread.

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  • Macro close-up of a deep magenta and purple dinner-plate dahlia, its petals spiraling inward to a tightly coiled, pale-tipped center.

    Friday Roundup #32 (First Concert Since March Edition)

    ByKara July 17July 18 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Friday Roundup #32: our first concert since March, the great email reckoning, Wicked parts one and two, and the dinner-plate dahlias gone wild in the rain.

    Read More Friday Roundup #32 (First Concert Since March Edition)Continue

  • A big metal bowl of crunchy cucumber salad with cherry tomatoes and red onion in a chili crunch dressing

    Zach’s Favorite Cucumber Salad

    ByKara July 14July 13 Recipes

    A crunchy, make-ahead cucumber salad with a soy, rice vinegar, and chili crunch dressing. It stays crisp for a full week and beats potato salad at any cookout.

    Read More Zach’s Favorite Cucumber SaladContinue

  • A bee on an orange cosmos bloom in the back garden, hero image for Friday Roundup #31

    Friday Roundup #31

    ByKara July 10July 12 Friday Roundup, Writing

    Friday Roundup #31: a July 4 thunderstorm, a macro session with the garden bees, a big salad craving after too much bo ssam, and re-reading Killers of the Flower Moon.

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  • Dramatic clouds and breaking light over the Downeast Maine coast at Acadia

    Maine: A Love Story – Part 2

    ByKara June 21June 20 Travel, Personal

    The gothic half of a Maine trip: a Boston Spenser pilgrimage, a tropical storm, the easternmost point, a Bar Harbor ghost tour, and Stephen King’s gate.

    Read More Maine: A Love Story – Part 2Continue

  • Grilled flat iron steak sliced over a blue cheese salad with tomatoes and a champagne vinaigrette

    How to Grill a Flat Iron Steak (and What to Do With It After)

    ByKara June 16June 14 Recipes

    The flat iron is a shoulder cut nobody writes poems about, and I’ll take a good one over a filet most nights. Dry-brine it, sear it hot and fast (550–600°, 2–3 minutes a side), rest it, then pile it on a crunchy blue cheese salad. Full method plus the leftover steak sandwich on the blog (link in bio). The amount of blue cheese is between you and your conscience. More is better.

    Read More How to Grill a Flat Iron Steak (and What to Do With It After)Continue

  • Deck of a coastal Maine cottage with rocking chairs overlooking the bay

    Maine: A Love Story – Part 1

    ByKara June 14June 14 Travel, Personal

    Every fall, Zach and I take a week and go somewhere. Late September, early October, right before the holiday season turns into a demolition derby. We started it in 2019 and it has become the most protected week on our calendar. Tucson one year. Jekyll and Cumberland Island another. A big loop through Las Vegas…

    Read More Maine: A Love Story – Part 1Continue

  • Antoine’s, New Orleans: How the Mighty Have Fallen

    ByKara January 6May 16 Restaurant Reviews

    I never in a million years thought I’d be giving Antoine’s one star. That’s how the Yelp review I wrote in early 2020 opens, and I’m starting this post the same way because I want to be honest about how reluctantly I got here. Antoine’s is one of the iconic restaurants in New Orleans. It…

    Read More Antoine’s, New Orleans: How the Mighty Have FallenContinue

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