I love food and cooking, but I’m a mom … a wife … an educator … a geek … a history buff. I wear many hats and like to write about each just as much as I like to write about food and cooking. Below you’ll find a variety of posts about my life from dogs to kids to travel and beyond.
I have a rather large cookbook collection, especially if you include all the digital cookbooks I have amassed for pennies in the last few years. While I have many that I love, there are few modern cookbooks that sit at the top of my favorites list. My top 5 (okay, 6) modern cookbooks are below…
I survived hosting my first holiday cookie swap! Whew … it was a whirlwind of getting the house cleaned up, decorations put up, and cookies baked. Oh, who am I kidding … I barely got the Christmas tree decorated in time! Such is the life of busy women eherywhere, which is why coming together for…
Over the years, I’ve tried many kitchen gadgets and tools looking for ways to make dinner prep easier or quicker. Some have been awesome while others fell short. Here is a list of my favorites – in no particular order. Some, admittedly, are on the pricier side. But I think they’re totally worth the splurge….
When I first launched Rooted in Foods in 2013, it was my way of combining my passions for genealogy and food history. Over the years I’ve shared family stories, details about my ancestry finds, recipes, and sometimes the reasons that drive my love for these two things. Albeit somewhat irregularly. As my stage in life…
This post is inspired by the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge by Amy Johnson Crow. The week 5 challenge is “In the Census”. When I was a kid, it was hard for me to think of my grandparents as anything other than grandparents. My grandpa was 55 years old when I was born, my grandma was…
I have been off work for a couple weeks recovering from carpal tunnel surgery, and have had more time than usual to watch my favorite morning TV shows. This week in particular, I noticed more food TV personalities sharing memories of the food they ate during their childhood. The Chew aired an entire show about…
Good Morning America is a morning ritual for me. Sometimes I watch 15 minutes, sometimes I watch all two hours (if I’m home for the day!) This morning, they aired a segment titled “Secrets to a Better Marriage: Splitting Chores Can Help” that described how changing the traditional roles of who does what in a…
Food and history are my passions … and I love reading food blogs from around the world. The following four blogs are ones I go to over and over. Each, in some way, reflects my interest in my own heritage and the foods that have impacted it and inspired me to keep learning. Food Blog…
My friends ask me all the time what my favorite kitchen gadgets are. Gadgets have to really make sense and make my life easier for me to buy them. Sometimes, it’s easier to just pick up a good knife and do things the old fashioned way! However, I’ve found these 5 kitchen gadgets and tools…
Ever since I started using a computer, I started using recipe management software. That was a long time ago … and that first software is long gone! When I began blogging, I started looking for a recipe manager that would fit my needs to organize recipes I create for my blog as well as recipes I…
I’ve been teaching dinner and business etiquette for nearly two decades to high school and college students, and one of the things that surprises them them most is what you do and don’t do with your dinner napkin. In many ways, our napkin is a way for us to send signals to our servers ……
I love oatmeal. I eat oatmeal nearly every morning … with butter, brown sugar and raisins. Sweet. But, just like we don’t all eat grits the same ways … we don’t all have to eat sweet oatmeal in the morning. Oats can be used in cooking just like rice … it’s very versatile and doesn’t…
On December 20, 1815, the Kings Mountain Herald newspaper in Kings Mountain, North Carolina published the following story from the New York Press about the first Christmas day. It is a reminder that Christmas isn’t about getting … or even giving … gifts, but celebrating the life of a man many consider their Savior. It…
Every year at Christmas time, I try to give something homemade to my “mirror”, Steph. Steph and I exchange yummy goodies all year long, so it’s becoming a tad difficult to find new treats. This year, however, I decided to make granola from scratch. I’ve never made it, but this recipe is definitely going on the annual treat…
Christmas morning is a madhouse … it certainly was when I was a kid and it still is now that I have a kid … and dogs! The last thing a mom wants to deal with is breakfast. Okay, at least this mom. Try this easy Christmas tree made from cinnamon rolls to make the…
Between 2006 and 2011, we lost my mom’s parents and my dad. It seemed just as we were moving forward from the loss of one, we would lose another. I was 36 when Daddy died. Noodle was 4. I have vivid memories of the last conversation I had with each of them. Grandma, who had…
One of my character flaws as a hobby genealogists is my desire to learn everything I can about certain eras in history and the people who lived during them. I’m fascinated by the Jacobite uprising in Scotland, 16th century English royalty, Colonial America, flappers of the 1920s, and anything from the 1950s and early 60s….
When I was a junior in high school, my French teacher had us create a family tree. It was a fun assignment for someone like me … I was already a history nerd, but had never really thought about tracing my own family history to any great extent. My dad was ecstatic because he was…
I wanted to share a few photos from the Memorial Day ceremony at Woodlawn Cemetery in Carbondale, Illinois. Woodlawn is our oldest cemetery and is where all of the founding fathers were laid to rest. Our ceremony includes laying wreathes on their graves, along with other veterans. Next year will mark the 150th anniversary of…
Week 20 of the 52 ancestors challenge is themed “black sheep”. I come from a family of doctors, politicians, preachers, and a lot of farmers. I’ve not found a black sheep among them. Okay, the politicians might be questionable. So, instead of writing about skeletons in closets or general bad behavior of black sheep ancestors,…
The week 11 theme for the 2015 52 Ancestors Challenge is “Luck of the Irish”. I don’t really have an ancestor that fits the theme … we’re of Scottish and German heritage and, while the Celtic route would still sort of fit, I decided to focus in on family tradition this week in light of…
Stormy Weather is an apropos theme for the Week 10 52 Ancestors Challenge. It’s March and, in southern Illinois, we would normally be headed into spring and well on our way to “tornado season”. Not this year … our only two snow storms of the winter have happened in the last two weeks. They’ve been…
Amy Johnson Crow at No Story Too Small gave us a new 52 Ancestors challenge for 2015. Each week, we have a different theme about which to write. It’s quite the challenge, but I love meeting it and reading how everyone interprets each week. Week five is “plowing through”. My 3rd great grandmother, Veronique Voirol, was born in…
Yikes! I just noticed the new 52 Ancestors challenge that Amy Johnson Crow gave us on her blog No Story Too Small … and I’m behind already! I love how she has added weekly themes. Week 1 was a fresh start … and that’s where I’m starting even though I’m a teeny bit late. I have…