spice

Dash enjoyed his first dinner party on Saturday night. An asian-themed event with friends, Charlie made his delicious banh mi sandwiches. I love a man who makes his own baguettes.

Another day, another refrigerator full of bottles. Yes, this will only last a day.

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How to impress people when you have very little cohesive time to do anything: make your own mustard! If you think it makes you look a little like Martha Stewart, it's because it is actually one of her recipes. I've made all but the pink peppercorn mustard types from this set of recipes. The red wine has been the least favorite, but I really think it's because I used a so-so bottle of red wine vinegar. Like many foods, the quality of your end result is only as good as the ingredients. I order all of my mustard seeds and peppercorns from Penzey's and do make one substitution: whenever the recipe calls for black mustard seeds, I substitute brown. At first this was because I misread the recipe, but the end result was so tasty I'm going to keep going with the error.

I started green and pink peppercorn today

The english mustard is spicy and delicious. The green peppercorn is pretty much divine. We regularly roast simple chickens and just eat them with this mustard on the side. This week I'm making the pink peppercorn for the first time and can't wait to try it.

Liam supervised

Making mustard is super easy, and I mean that. You just need a few large-ish mason jars. You add some of the ingredients, sit for 48 hours, add the rest, and beat the tar out of it in your food processor. Total time is maybe 10 minutes the first day, 20 the next because it can take a while to get it good and creamy. Then separate into tiny jars, give some away, and eat the rest of it.