It's Just Dinner......

It's not often that  a first-time cookbook author has a video done by a real documentary  filmmaker but that's what precisely what happened in my kitchen last October.....although next time I do a video, I think I'll clean the kitchen a little more thoroughly and put a little make-up on!

I met Doug Pray a few years ago when he did a series of videos for Farms Not Factories, the group I co-founded in response to a proposal to open a factory farm with 26,000 hogs in Bayfield County, and given that he a) lives in Los Angeles and b) is a seriously busy guy, I was surprised when he agreed to come for dinner and do a little filming. 

My philosophy about food has remained relatively unchanged since I started cooking -- the table and the folks seated around it are the reason I cook, not some desire to make earth-shattering gnocchi (although that can be an perfectly acceptable, ancillary goal). I love having people in my kitchen (on the 'other' side of the kitchen island) , dogs underfoot, a few glasses of wine, and some good things cooking on the stove.

And that's why we've decided to open a cookery school in June 2019 -- to welcome people into our home, share a meal, and take a beat from a world that seems to be moving at an increasingly rapid speed. Stay tuned in next few months -- I'll share our inspiration, photos of our progress, and what's on the docket for classes. It's going to involve a fair bit of fire -- from saunas to start the class to a wood-fired pizza oven....I can't wait to start planning!

Enjoy this sneak peek into the Dougherty kitchen -- we're looking forward to sharing our kitchen with you next summer!

Mary Dougherty, the Cookery Maven, makes dog treats for her pups while she shares her thoughts on gnocchi, using food as the conduit to the table, and why she loves living in her northern town.

Peanut Butter & Pumpkin Dog Treats

4 cups whole wheat flour
3 eggs
1 (15-ounce) can of pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix) 
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup flax or chia seeds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp chopped ginger
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the flour, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, flax seeds, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Add water as needed to make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff. Roll the dough out to about a 1/2 inch thickness and cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 40 minutes, or until hard.