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Peggy Lampman's Friday dinnerFeed: Planked Fish with Caper-Tarragon Sauce

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

The BLT: Perfection in the form of a sandwich

The “Not Just a BLT” sandwich from The Jolly Pumpkin features house-made mozzarella and salsa verde to complement the traditional BLT ingredients.

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

Mom would fry up the bacon in a cast-iron skillet, and then set the bacon on some paper towels to soak up the grease. I grew up in a small town in upstate New York where artisanal bread was unheard of, so Mom’s BLTs were on lightly toasted supermarket white or whole wheat bread. Add some Hellmann’s, freshly washed and torn lettuce and a couple of slices of juicy, in-season tomatoes and you’ve got perfection in the form of a sandwich.

Salem Township's Karl’s Cabin walks the line

Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern once occupied the Karl's Cabin space.

Photo courtesy of Karl's Cabin

In the far eastern reaches of Washtenaw County is a log cabin. Karl’s Cabin, Salem Township’s only full-service restaurant on the corner of Gotfredson and North Territorial roads, is, however, much more than stacks of pine and mortar.

It began as Rusceak’s Rustic Tavern in 1945, surrounded by butter-thick corn fields and apple orchards. "Bonanza" with Midwest moxie, the tavern was manned by the formidable Katie Rusceak and the shotgun she perched precariously above the bar. Farmers and small town folk from nearby Plymouth came here looking for beer, brotherhood and plaintive country music.

All the Brews Fit to Pint

The Week in Beer: The dog days of summer brew

Some of the approximately 9,000 beer lovers at Ypsilanti's Riverside Park July 25 eager to try nearly 400 beers from 54 Michigan craft breweries... in 90 degree weather.

David Bardallis | Contributor

In any case, there’s only one scientifically proven way to strike back at those dogs and their heat, and that is to drink some nice, cold beer and — wouldn’t you know it? — our area is fairly bursting with great seasonal ales and lagers that fit the bill nicely. Behold your Week in Beer, below. Woof!

restaurant review

Dan's Downtown Tavern a fine stop for pub fare in Saline

Outside of Dan's Downtown Tavern in Saline.

Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com

Dan's Downtown Tavern, in Saline, is the kind of neighborhood bar that every neighborhood should have — a watering hole serving cold beer and good pub grub in a no-nonsense, friendly manner.

We were looking forward to a visit to Dan’s, having remembered a stellar burger there some years back while passing through Saline.

Peggy Lampman's Thursday dinnerFeed: Pomegranate Lamb and Grape Kebobs over Fruit-Spiked Couscous

Pomegranate-Glazed Lamb and Grape Kebobs

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

Wildcrafting: the humble plant called lamb’s quarters and goosefoot

Lamb's quarters are a great nutritional weed and taste good, too.

Linda Diane Feldt | Contributor

• easy to find and identify
• packed with calcium - a vital nutrient, removed by many gardeners who then plant an inferior plant nutritionally speaking (lettuce)
• great tasting
• can be used in many ways (raw as a salad base, a green in sandwiches, cooked in casseroles and soups, as a pot green alone or with other greens
• easy to encourage to grow

Corinna Borden's Backyard Chickens

Backyard Chickens: Preserving Eggs: pickle or pack

The yolk color remained intact after pickling quail eggs and chicken eggs for a month.

Corinna Borden | Contributor

I like her idea of “pack in sawdust, small end down.” I found more references to that method, many of them recommend rubbing the outside of the egg with salted butter to prevent the air entering the egg and packing in anything from salt to sawdust. I am going to collect fresh eggs, rub them in butter, pack them in flour, and see what happens in 6 months as an experiment.

Fannie Farmer’s second recommendation, “lime water,” was made from pouring boiling water over “unslacked lime” - now known as pickling lime.

food & drink: A new recipe every day for an entire year: celebrating Peggy Lampman

Peggy Lampman

July marks the one year birthday of AnnArbor.com. While we take a moment to look back at what we have learned in the past year, we would be remiss if we didn't also take some time to celebrate our most steadfast and reliable contributor. For an entire year, Peggy Lampman has imagined, created, photographed and blogged about a new recipe every single day.

Think about it. Not once in the past year has Lampman had the luxury of just ordering a pizza or picking up some take-out Chinese. Instead, she taught us how to make our own, with detailed - and sometimes humorous - instructions. Along the way, we've gotten to know Lampman through her stories and recipes. We've made pizza with her grandkids, celebrated holidays with her friends and focused on healthy living with her husband Richard.

Beginning this week, Lampman is going to take a little more time for her family and friends. We'll still get a new dinnerFeed post every weekday, with tips on getting meals on the table during the busy work week, but she's giving herself a break on the weekends.

To mark the occasion of the anniversary of a full year of daily AnnArbor.com posts, Peggy is sharing some of her most frequently asked questions from readers with us, to give us a little more insight into what makes her tick.

Peggy Lampman's Wednesday dinnerFeed: Fried Green Tomato BLT

Fried Green Tomato, BLT

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

food in the news

How to avoid food spoilage during power outages; Ford Field cited for health risks

The Washington Post: Keeping food safe when the power goes out. Power outages have been a common problem during this summer of severe weather. Washington Post food blogger Jennifer LaRue Huget has a list of helpful hints on how to keep your food safe, and when to throw it out.

Detroit Free Press: Report: Ford Field vendors cited frequently for health risks Detroit's Ford Field is among the least safe places to eat among sports venues, according to a report by ESPN. Seventy percent of the food vendors at the football stadium were cited for critical or major food violations in 2009. Some of the violations included problems with employees neglecting to wash their hands, or leaving half-eaten food in warming units.

Detroiters can take pride in knowing that while 70 percent is bad, it doesn't even begin to approach the score received by the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., where the Washington Wizards play. At the Verizon Center, 100 percent of the vendors have been cited for critical violations, with mouse droppings among the most frequently cited complaints.

Peggy Lampman's Tuesday dinnerFeed: Grilled Chicken with Pasta and Pesto

Grilled Chicken Tenders with Pasta and Basil Pesto

Peggy Lampman | Contributor

A CAKE A WEEK

WEEK 28: Paula Deen's Grandgirl's Fresh Apple Cake from Georgia: That's the way the cake crumbles

Erin Mann is baking a new cake every week for a year from the "All Cakes Considered" cookbook and shares her adventures here on AnnArbor.com. Read past columns here.

I used a combination of Gala, Braeburn and Granny Smith apples in this cake.

Erin Mann | Contributor

Lunasa: Online local food market brings together producers and consumers

Peggy Lampman's Monday dinnerFeed: Grilled Flatbread with Artichoke Hearts, Goat Cheese and Tomatoes

Grilled Flatbread with Artichokes, Tomatoes and Feta

Peggy Lampman | Contributor