I love cooking and wouldn’t trade my modern conveniences for anything, but I’ve always been fascinated at how we have cooked throughout history. This is rather obvious when you look at my cookbook collection … I have as many heritage cookbooks as modern; I think reading about historic cooking methods serves as a great way…
I love pork! I really don’t have to say much more than that! One of my favorite weekend dinners is roasted pork loin. It is easy and can stretch it into several weeknight meals … unless you have your cousin, daughter and 4 other men at the dinner table like I did! Two of them…
My German grandmother made them … and my mom made them … and I can’t even remember when I first ate these German Inspired French green beans. Yep, you read that right! They’re multi-cultural! Honestly, I’m not entirely sure if a can of “French Green Beans” is really the long thin variety or our American…
I have greatly enjoyed watching Ree Drummond’s The Pioneer Woman show over the years. I ran across her blog several years ago not realizing she had a new TV show at the time. She is one of my favorite Food Network “chefs” … she’s family oriented and down to Earth, and she fixes simple and…
Biscuits and gravy was a staple breakfast item when I was growing up. It’s food that sticks with you during long work days. My daddy loved these, my grandpa loved these! I remember my mom and my grandma getting up early in the morning on the weekends to pull together breakfast of big fluffy…
When I was a little girl, portraits of my dad’s grandparents and great grandparents hung on the wall outside my bedroom. These are from the early 20th century and earlier … a time when it wasn’t appropriate to smile in photographs like it is today. These portraits scared the crap out of me! Especially the…
For as long as I can remember, Mom would make batches of snow ice cream in the winter … weather permitting. I don’t really remember exactly how she made it, but I do remember being sent out into the snow to retrieve the main ingredient. There’s just something about making ice cream out of fluffy…
Are you tired of eating Thanksgiving leftovers? Most of mine went into the freezer … which is great because I’ll be hungry for it all again in about … next year! Seriously, I love having food in the freezer for weeknight dinners in a pinch. I also love recreating leftovers because MPG and Noodle hate…
I am going to admit something. I strongly disliked cranberry sauce when I was a kid. I always pressured Mom into buying jellied cranberry “sauce” in a can to put on the Thanksgiving table. I can still vividly hear the “swoosh thump” sound it makes as it slides slowly out of the can and lands…
I grew up on potato leek soup; a traditional Scottish dish. My family recipe has been passed down from traditional Scottish grandmas … and grandpas … for at least 4 generations that I know of. I had “create” this recipe, because it’s one of those meals I just make … no book, no recipe card, nada. So, I…
[wpurp-searchable-recipe]Spaetzle with Onion and Mushroom Sauce – – butter, onion (sliced), mushrooms (sliced), Marsala wine, cornstarch (optional), chicken stock (optional), spaetzle, Melt butter in skillet, add onions and cook until they begin to brown. Add the the mushrooms and Marsala and continue cooking until the wine begins to thicken – this only takes a few…
By some grace of a higher power, I was able to catch The Pioneer Woman while the show was actually airing on the Food Network over the weekend … I usually have to catch the DVR version because cartoons and football take precedence in my house! The episode title was Old Friends, New Friends and Ree…
I’m continuing with my spaetzle (spätzle) adventure! After a bit of research on how this dish is typically served in Germany, I decided to mix the variations and … well … do my own thing! Cheesy Spaetzle After you make your spaetzle, melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet and add your…
I remember the first time I saw my mom make spaetzle … I wasn’t quite a teenager … and I wondered what I had done to deserve such punishment! Spaetzle wasn’t something I was overly fond of as a kid, I much preferred spaghetti and meatballs as my pasta of choice. I wasn’t old enough…
When I think of all the food my daddy loved best, “one-potters” and steak, specifically prime rib, are at the top. Daddy first introduced me to prime rib when I was about 8 years old. This wasn’t something we had very often because of the expense, so it was a true treat when we’d have…
Every year when MPG goes deer hunting, he manages to bring back more than just a freezer full of venison. Usually the bounty includes feed sacks full of turnips that I end up sharing with everyone I know … seriously, nobody can eat that many turnips! Last year, he brought home a turkey breast that…
About three weeks ago, my mom left a very large box of sweet potatoes on my front porch. It was definitely a surprise and treat! I love these red-orange beauties … any way I can get them. I wasn’t sure, however, how I was going to fix them all and not have Noodle and MPG…
I’ve been doing a lot of reading about historic food preparation in the US … you know, colonial and pioneer days. I love books that explain cooking methods used by early settlers and talk about all the foods they had at their disposal. The First Pumpkin Pie When we first learn about Thanksgiving, we learn how…
I love fresh-baked bread, but I am not very good at baking much of anything let alone bread. However, beer bread is simple because it does not require yeast. The yeast in the beer is all you need. One day when Chili and I were sitting in a doctor’s waiting room (of all places), I…
German wurst (or wurste) can be loosely translated as sausage … and sometimes cold cuts. There are many different varieties of wursts, but only a few are readily available to us in the US. That’s too bad, because they’re all pretty amazing. My grandpa used to eat blood sausage (blutwurst), and there was pretty much…
I loved spending the night with my grandparents when I was a kid. Actually, I was well into my 20s on the last occasion I spent the night in their house! They lived in a small house that Grandpa built a few years after they were married in 1940. Other than adding a bathroom and…