As a child growing up in a family that loved to cook and bake, giving cookies at Christmas was something I always looked forward to.  We gave cookies to neighbors and delivery people as a way to show our appreciation for them throughout the year. As I grew up and moved away, I continued the tradition of the Christmas cookies every year.  I would mail cookies home, and hand some to my neighbors.  In the beginning, it was usually just one type of cookie, on a plate, with some saran wrap and my awful attempt at a bow.  Looking back, it was probably an awful attempt at cookies as well…

Prunus virginiana, Latin for “plum of Virginia”, is better known as, the Choke Cherry!  This tart little berry, with the pit in the center, is considered to be one of the superfruits like blueberries and the acai berry.  They are rich in antioxidants, high in vitamin C, and while bitter if you eat them straight off the tree, they are wonderful and tasty to cook with. They grow on trees and shrubs that are usually found alongside roads, near rivers and streams.  August and September are the best times to pick Choke Cherries, even though they will sometimes appear to be ripe as early as July…wait until at least August,…

When life gives you lemons… It is probably best to NOT try to turn your favorite Lemon Bar recipe into something healthy… I am here to tell you, that living in the time of a pandemic, does NOT make everyone a baker.  I mean, I was baking long before quarantine, and I like to think that I am actually not that bad at it.  I have even made a few of my own recipes 🙂  But, every time I scroll through my news feed or through You Tube videos, I see all of these people posting about how being stuck at home has turned them into an overnight baking sensation. …

I can’t believe we are already a couple of weeks into the New Year!  Hopefully, everyone is off to a great start!  This year, I decided to set several “goals” for myself, instead of the dreaded resolutions, which I only end up breaking anyway.  One of my goals, is to get back on track with all of my healthy eating.  Normally, I eat pretty healthy, but it seems like at Christmastime, healthy eating takes a backseat to Christmas cookies and Lattes!  With all of that behind us now, it is time to get back on track! I thought it would be fun to cook my way through a cookbook. Last year, for…

It is that time of year!  The weeks and days leading up to Christmas are one of my favorite times of the year.  For as long as I can remember, I have always baked goodies to share with family and friends.  As a little girl, I would spend hours in the kitchen with my mother and grandmother, and they would always let me bake my own batch of cookies – all by myself!  I would then wrap the cookies up, and give them to my mom and grandma, like they had no idea what they were getting! 🙂 As years went by, and I grew older, I continued to bake…

Fall is not only full of color, it is full of flavor!  Some of my favorite things about this time of year, are all of the yummy things we get to bake and cook.  After visiting the apple orchard and coming home with a couple of bags of apples, the next step was to figure out what to make with those apples. Of course, I made a couple of batches of applesauce, because applesauce is best when it is homemade – especially when you leave chunks of apple in it 🙂 We also ate a lot of apples, just sliced and dipped in caramel – but you can only eat…

Sadly, I think summer is on its way out ?.  But that doesn’t mean it is gone – yet!  There are still some pretty good looking “summer” fruits available in the grocery stores! A large part of my grocery shopping is spent in the produce section of a store.  Today, as I looked around trying to figure out what I was wanting to make with supper tonight, I saw a nice little stack of watermelon that looked pretty good.  At first I thought watermelon sounded pretty good for a dessert, but, then I thought, it might also make a pretty good side dish as well 🙂  Rather than just cut…

Are you superstitious?  Maybe you are just a little-stitious.  No matter which one you are, all you need is this tasty little brain bleed in a shot glass to chase away any bad luck that may be lurking around :).  Easy to make, and fun to drink – you just have to get past the “chunks of brain matter” as you drink it!  Just limit yourself, too many of these and that bad luck may find its way back come morning…. The Bleeding Brain 2 parts Peach Schnapps 1 part Irish Cream Splash of Grenadine Splash of Blue Curaçao  (optional) Fill a shot glass 2/3 full with Peach Schnapps.  Add…

How incredibly excited (and sad) are we that the FINAL season of Game of Thrones has started?!  It is going to be a quick season, but hopefully, also one of the best! Every good show needs good food to go with it.  When that food is inspired by a favorite character (Daenerys and her Dragons), even better! I made this recipe during Season 7, and decided I would only make it during the actual GoT season, but with the show wrapping up, I decided I will have to make it whenever I feel like it…I guess I will just have to re-watch all eight seasons 🙂 Anyway, last season, I…

              “A good friend is like a four-leaf clover, hard to find and lucky to have.” – Irish Proverb Happy St. Paddy’s Day!!  I think the same can be said about a really good recipe sometimes, and Char’s Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe is definitely one of them! Today is the day!  The brisket has been sitting in the fridge all week, brining nicely.  Hopefully you have remembered to flip it every day so that it saturated nice and even.  Today we are cooking up what, hopefully, will also become your favorite version of corned beef, just as it has mine! Like I said…