I love breakfast, but only on the weekend when I have time to really cook. I married a bacon and fried egg man, but I prefer breakfast that’s a little less … well … bacon and eggy! Here’s a round-up of some of my favorite weekend breakfast ideas. They’re kid tested … Mama approved! Morning Baked…
Waste not, want not. I learned this lesson well! Every time I make Italian beef, I use the leftover broth to make vegetable beef soup. It’s a great way to add rich flavor to this classic soup … and not waste savory broth. When I make soup, I make enough to last several days. I…
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…
My grandma’s 1963 Good Housekeeping Cookbook is my cooking bible … it has been since I received it as a wedding present. I have adapted my favorite banana bread recipe into a moist banana cake. Nearly every woman in my family has received a copy of this cookbook … not all got the 1963…
So … I jumped on the bacon jam bandwagon … finally … and at the request of one of my best friends. He loves bacon. I mean really loves bacon. He kept sending me text messages with recipes of bacon jam. Many text messages that said things like “I just ran across this again,” and…
Chili has been a staple in my life for as long as I can remember. Every September, as soon as the temperature hit the mid 60s, my dad would whip up a big batch. We’d eat chili all autumn and winter long. We’d feed it to the Pumpkin Patrol and our town’s police officers on…
This is a simple chili recipe that will feed a crowd, or family with some leftover!
My mom frequently talks about rum pots that the old German women made in the summer months when she was growing up. The traditional German Rumtopf (rum pot) is a concoction of fruit – berries work great – soaked in sugar and rum. The fruit is then used to top ice cream or cakes and…
A simple combination of vegetables, sugar and cider vinegar, this colorful salad recipe is the perfect addition to potluck or picnics. The recipe was given to me by a close family friend about 10 years ago and it’s been a favorite ever since. It’s also healthy … baring the sugar, I suppose … but an…
I love old cookbooks, especially from the 1950s and 1960s … the decades just before I was born … the decades devoted to Leave it to Beaver, Bewitched, and I Dream of Jeannie … the decades of economic prosperity and back-yard BBQs … the decades of Tupperware parties and very awesome Pyrex designs. Party food…
I love when our orchard markets open up in late spring because it means I can make strawberry pie! Almost every weekend finds us on a trek to Flamm Orchards to retrieve strawberries, then peaches, then apples as the summer gives way to autumn. Strawberries are in season now, and we’ve been eating them by…
If you were to ask me what my favorite pie is, I’d say raisin … or strawberry-rhubarb … or raisin. It’s a toss-up between the two! Raisin was also my grandpa’s favorite pie. I don’t recall my grandma ever making it, but I certainly remember my mom baking one at least once a year so…
This was the view at Flamm Orchards in Cobden, Illinois last weekend! The Flamm family has owned this orchard for over 120 years… six generations! It’s one of two of our “go-to” spots for fresh fruit and vegetables during the summer and fall seasons. Mom, Noodle and I stopped at the fruit stand on our Saturday…
It was HOT yesterday … a typical hot and humid sunny Southern Illinois summer day … ewe. Summer time usually means I migrate from oven cooking to grill cooking to keep the kitchen cool, except for the days I get hungry for something like oven roasted meat! Yesterday was one of those day. It…
White chocolate macadamia nut cookies are one of my favorite. I decided to try my hand at making pancakes that mimic the sweet nuttiness of the cookie. They were so good topped with strawberries, hazelnut spread and more white chocolate … almost like eating dessert for breakfast! Okay, it WAS like eating dessert for…
One of our first adventures this summer was to Blueberry Hill Farm this past weekend where Noodle was able to pick strawberries for the first time! She also took advantage of my camera to begin her summer photo project. This was a girls-only outing and Grandma Debbie and Aunt Steph went along. We picked strawberries,…
It’s been raining here for seemingly weeks! I shouldn’t complain, I’d rather have rain than snow, but it definitely puts me in comfort food mode. Beef Stroganoff is one of those meals I fix a little differently every time. It’s one of my favorites, too! In a pinch, I even use ground beef. I’ve also…
I love my Crock-pot. I suppose I could live without it if I had to, but it makes life so much easier on busy week days. Unlike a lot of folks I know, I use mine all year long. It’s great for soup and chili in the winter, but also great for sandwich meat and desserts…
I’m always trying new recipes in my pressure cooker. Some turn out really great, while others just barely pass … but I’m slightly picky about food quality. My shredded Chipotle chicken idea worked beautifully, but I forgot to take photos along the way! This is the end result … so good. I used about two pounds of…
I only remember Mom making sauerkraut a few times when I was growing up. We loved to eat it, but we didn’t love to smell it every time we walked through the kitchen! Mom used to talk about the “old German women” on her street when she was a kid (old was probably my age…
This has been a bit of a rough week for Noodle … and Mom, here, always runs toward comfort food for dinner on those really bad days. Enter, tuna casserole. We all define comfort food differently. For me, it’s food that I remember from childhood. It’s not fancy. It’s not even always pretty. It is,…
In honor of my Scotch-Irish roots … and, of course, St. Patrick’s Day, I popped out of bed this morning and made oatmeal scones for breakfast. Okay, I didn’t exactly pop out of anywhere. It was more like a slow drag. I’m not a morning person! I am, however, an oat person … love them…
Sometimes the smallest of things turn out to be the most remembered traditions. When I was growing up, one of the things my dad and I shared a love for was movies. We liked the same kinds … or maybe he just pretended to like my movies! We’d stay up to the wee hours…