When Tom was growing up his family enjoyed a traditional Sunday dinner of Roast Beef and Gravy. His mother would start the roast before they left for church, and when they returned home, she prepared side dishes, made the gravy and dinner was ready. Tom loved this dinner. He even misunderstood the words of the …
Green beans, as is the case with most vegetables, can be eaten raw. But they are most commonly served after cooking. Thankfully, there are many ways to cook vegetables. Just because you don’t care for how a vegetable is cooked, doesn’t mean you won’t like it prepared another way. Exploring different ways to prepare and …
This is the time of year when kitchens all across the country will be the busiest with cookie baking. Whether for the family, cookie exchanges, bake sales or gift giving there’s plenty of treats to be baked. There are holiday favorites, must haves, to be baked each year. Some recipes are handed down for generations, …
It’s that time of year again…Pumpkin everything! Pumpkin decor, pumpkin candles, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin lattes…pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin. People go wild for pumpkin flavor…or do they? Perhaps it’s more about the warming spices that accompany the rather mild pumpkin flavor?! Cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves and ginger all take their turns showing up in recipes. Maybe …
Did you know there are about 2,500 varieties of apples grown in the United States? Flavorful and full of fiber and other nutrients, apples are good for you. It has been said that “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, and while that’s not always the case, we know eating fresh foods contributes to …
Making bread is both a science and an art. Once you are used to the process you can experience deliciously rewarding results. I’ve been baking bread, especially whole wheat bread, for over 30 years. Several years back I wanted to explore making artisan breads. One of my sons did too. We picked up a book, …
Cookies. Cookies. Cookies. We all have our favorite version of this hold-in-your hand bit of goodness. Some like them more than others. I come from a family of homemade cooky afficionados. Not only do I like to eat them; I like to bake them. There is something that is “all right with the world” when …
This recipe for Smoked Pork Steaks came about somewhat accidentally when my plans for dinner one night went awry. Here’s the story: Menu planning for the week doesn’t work for me. It’s not my style. I find that keeping a well-stocked pantry, a good supply of fresh fruits and vegetables, regular dairy items and a …
It can be fun to go to a garage sale because you never know what you’re going to find. When you host your own garage sale, you know what you’re going to sell, so there’s no surprises there. But in hosting our own garage sale a few years ago, we ended up with a real …
Spanish explorers sailed to the New World in search of great riches, especially gold. While much gold was found, but not as much as they wished, something else of great importance was found and transported back to Europe. The Potato. As a novelty, the potato took some time to gain popularity. Once people were convinced …
My dad’s birthday was in March. When I was really young, my mom would often make him a peanut butter cake. Just for fun, one year she put a big red, twisted taper candle right smack dab in the center of the cake. That was impressive! After I took a cake decorating class as a …
One of my favorite forms of chocolate is a fudgy brownie. And here’s a funny story. My mom taught me to make cookies from “scratch”, which means gathering ingredients from the refrigerator and cupboards to make a cooky dough to bake into cookies. But making a cake or baking brownies always started with a boxed …
