KaraCooks

KaraCooks Good food, honest history, strong opinions. A food blog about cooking, gardening, and Southern foodways. By Kara in Johns Creek, GA.

The Kitchen Disasters section on the blog has been sitting empty for a while, mostly because I’ve been suppressing the e...
09/13/2026

The Kitchen Disasters section on the blog has been sitting empty for a while, mostly because I’ve been suppressing the evidence. Not anymore.

Back in 2010, I had a carrot cake I trusted (Sharon’s; it has never once failed me). Then I let a baking challenge talk me into a fancier version, and I walked away from the sure thing to chase it. It baked flat and dense and rubbery. And instead of admitting defeat, I frosted it and photographed it like I was interviewing for a job at a food magazine.

The photos look incredible. The cake was a rubber impression of a cake. Here’s the whole story, and the lesson I actually took from it: karacooks.com/carrot-cake-fail

I had a carrot cake that never failed me, then chased a fancier one. It baked flat, dense, and rubbery. I frosted it and shot it like a magazine anyway.

Friday Roundup #38Sunflowers on the counter, half the office bolting ahead of a Friday storm, the collards still sittin...
09/13/2026

Friday Roundup #38

Sunflowers on the counter, half the office bolting ahead of a Friday storm, the collards still sitting on my desk, and a gluten-free honey cake in the oven....

Sunflowers on the counter, half the office bolting ahead of a Friday storm, the collards still sitting on my desk, and a gluten-free honey cake in the oven.

Put Down the CameraThe 9/11 Memorial Museum has a room where they ask you to put the camera down. Seven trips to Ground ...
09/11/2026

Put Down the Camera

The 9/11 Memorial Museum has a room where they ask you to put the camera down. Seven trips to Ground Zero, and the photograph I did not know I still had....

The 9/11 Memorial Museum has a room where they ask you to put the camera down. Seven trips to Ground Zero, and the photograph I did not know I still had.

How to Roast and Freeze Hatch Chile (25 Pounds at a Time)Twenty-five pounds of fresh Hatch, one afternoon on the Kamado,...
09/08/2026

How to Roast and Freeze Hatch Chile (25 Pounds at a Time)

Twenty-five pounds of fresh Hatch, one afternoon on the Kamado, and a year of green chile in the freezer. Plus the queso you have earned by the end of it....

How to roast Hatch chile on a kamado and freeze a year of it: char, steam, peel, label, freeze flat. Plus the green chile queso you have earned by then.

Friday Roundup #37An invasive grass has taken the back of the property, the collards are still not in the ground, and m...
09/07/2026

Friday Roundup #37

An invasive grass has taken the back of the property, the collards are still not in the ground, and minor-league September is winding down at Gwinnett Field....

An invasive grass has taken the back of the property, the collards are still not in the ground, and minor-league September is winding down at Gwinnett Field.

Somebody Picked These ChilesHatch chile farmworkers pick by hand through a sixteen-hour day for under $6,000 a year. A L...
09/06/2026

Somebody Picked These Chiles

Hatch chile farmworkers pick by hand through a sixteen-hour day for under $6,000 a year. A Labor Day essay about what my twenty-five pound box actually costs....

Hatch chile farmworkers pick by hand through a sixteen-hour day for under $6,000 a year. A Labor Day essay about what my twenty-five pound box actually costs.

The Hinge I Was Afraid Of (and the Grill Table That Actually Beat Me)Kamado Joe spring hinge swap, start to finish: two ...
09/02/2026

The Hinge I Was Afraid Of (and the Grill Table That Actually Beat Me)

Kamado Joe spring hinge swap, start to finish: two hours, two tools, and you never touch the springs. The surprise was the new base not fitting the grill table....

Kamado Joe spring hinge swap, start to finish: two hours, two tools, and you never touch the springs. The surprise was the new base not fitting the grill table.

Carol’s Pineapple Carrot CakeA sixty-year-old recipe that bakes at 360°F, sifted through a tin Androck nobody is allowed...
09/01/2026

Carol’s Pineapple Carrot Cake

A sixty-year-old recipe that bakes at 360°F, sifted through a tin Androck nobody is allowed to wash. Carol's cake, heavy with carrot, pineapple and pecan, and better on day two....

A sixty-year-old recipe that bakes at 360°F, sifted through a tin Androck nobody is allowed to wash. Carol's cake, heavy with carrot, pineapple and pecan, and better on day two.

The Barred Owl Didn’t Show Up to Be PhotographedA barred owl sat twenty yards off our deck for ten minutes and I had the...
08/30/2026

The Barred Owl Didn’t Show Up to Be Photographed

A barred owl sat twenty yards off our deck for ten minutes and I had the wrong camera. Phone shots, a call I couldn't place, and why this isn't a yard, it's habitat....

A barred owl sat twenty yards off our deck for ten minutes and I had the wrong camera. Phone shots, a call I couldn't place, and why this isn't a yard, it's habitat.

Friday Roundup #36Remy takes National Dog Day personally, the collard seeds arrive, Hatch chiles are inbound, and I fal...
08/28/2026

Friday Roundup #36

Remy takes National Dog Day personally, the collard seeds arrive, Hatch chiles are inbound, and I fall down a Scottish hoof-trimming YouTube hole....

This week’s Friday Roundup: a curious creek-walk doe, our first tattoo consults, a great dinner at Noosh, brussels sprouts sprouting, and a Duma Key reread.

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