Homemade Margarine-Style Spread
This simple homemade spread combines coconut oil with a neutral vegetable oil to produce a creamy, spreadable alternative to butter.
Latest Recipes
Homemade Butter
I first shared this recipe with my Grandma’s Kitchen story, where I wrote about watching my grandma make butter from the milk of her two Jersey cows. I’m including it again here because it seems a fitting companion to the story of butter and margarine.
Prison Tamales
Prison cooking is largely a matter of making do with what you can get your hands on. My son remembers these tamales as one of the best examples.
Tunaritos
My son developed what he jokingly called “tunaritos” during his years in federal prison—a tuna mixture rolled in flour tortillas like a burrito.
Traditional Haudenosaunee Corn Soup
Built around hulled white corn and beans—two of the Three Sisters—the soup is traditionally enriched with meat such as venison or turkey, producing a simple but hearty and nourishing meal.
Wabanaki-Style Steamed Mussels
While traditional accounts describe shellfish being cooked over fire beneath seaweed. This modern stovetop preparation uses the same fundamental technique—steam and little else—allowing the mussels themselves to provide most of the flavor.
Succotash
This modern version of Succotash includes tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and garlic while retaining the corn-and-bean foundation of its Indigenous predecessor.
Sasumuneash — Cranberries with Butternut Squash
This Sasumuneash recipe has been adapted for the modern kitchen, but its flavors reflect ingredients that were available to Indigenous peoples of the Northeast long before European settlement.
Nasaump
Long before oatmeal and other hot cereals became commonplace on American breakfast tables, preparations such as nasaump provided a simple, hearty meal from foods native to the region.
Catawba Sweet Potato Cakes
Sweet potato cakes remain among the foods associated with Catawba cooking, combining mashed sweet potatoes with a few simple ingredients before being browned on a hot griddle.
