Joy in the Kitchen!

Hot Chocolate in the summer?  Must be time for CAMPING!!!  We're heading to a family reunion soon and I just found that I'm out of hot chocolate mix.  We love to make our own... we can make it creamier, or more chocolaty, and as we use quite a bit, homemade makes a good amount.   I have never really checked the cost of this against pre-made hot chocolate mix.  This is so handy for mixing up a double sized mug of hot chocolate to sip around the campfire in the summer, or for family to mix up as they want it all winter long. Usually I make a double batch of mix and keep it in a 2 gallon ice cream bucket.  I have to make the mix a couple of times through the winter.  This morning, my younger girls mixed this up in just a few minutes.  Hot Chocolate Mix 11 C.  Instant Milk Powder 3 C. powdered chocolate drink mix (like Nesquik) 3 C. powdered creamer 2 C. powdered sugar 2 tsp. powdered vanilla (optional) Mix all together in a large bowl.  Store in an air-tight container.   T

Here is a fabulous recipe that combines all the yummy goodness of ooey-gooey, sticky, chocolatey S'Mores eaten around the campfire!  The best part of this recipe though, is that you don't have to wait for a campfire to enjoy them!  (and you don't have to worry about people waving flaming marshmallows over your head!) I doubled this today as I need treats to take to Girls Camp with me AND I wanted to leave some treats here for the family.   S'Mores Bars 3/4 C. butter or margarine 2/3 C. sugar 1 egg 1 tsp. vanilla 18 whole graham crackers, crushed (abt. 3 cups) 1/2 C. all-purpose flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1 1/2 - 2 C. chocolate chips 3 1/2 C. mini marshmallows Heat oven to 350 Beat butter and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg and vanilla.  Stir in crushed graham crackers, flour, and salt.  Reserve about one-third of the dough and press remaining dough onto the bottom of a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over

This post is not in the kitchen, nor is it about food.  T he only way it is food related is that these are some of my family that I feed on a regular basis!  Summer time is outdoor time.  Our temperatures this past week have been in the high 80's.  Today was a little cooler and there was a nice breeze.  We spent much of the day outside.  My husband Dave, hung a  rope swing in our trees.  He had to hang a second one, lower, for our little guy to swing on too. The grandkids should have fun if our little guy will share. There are plans to build a tree house in those same trees.  (Hopefully the children will not be all grown by the time we get it built! :) ) So.....  here's what we do when Joy's NOT in the Kitchen! We often find her here contentedly reading. Big brother on the little swing. Trees, swings and big sisters are so much fun! Standing in the "moat". Dave spent the day making swings and repairing things in the yard.

We are blessed to live in an area conducive to gardening.  Our garden is a little behind this year as it was a wet, cold, spring and we had a frost in mid-June that caused a few casualties.  HOWEVER, our garden is coming right along!  I like this stage of the garden.  The plants are looking full and healthy, we are winning the war on weeds, and there's not an overload of produce yet. At the moment we are harvesting lettuce, radishes, chard, green onions, and strawberries. I thought I'd share a bit of our back yard.  :)    Cilantro, onion, radish, lettuce, hot peppers. Cucumbers, cantaloupe, kohlrabi, onion, beets, gladiola. Dave decided to try a few square foot gardens this year.  He got the lumber for 10 4x4 beds and got 6 of them put together this year. Personally I'm not sold on them for us.... yet.  I think I will like them for strawberries and for things like "themed" gardens; a salad garden with lettuce, green onion, pepper, radish, etc....

Oh my goodness!  These cookies are fantastic!  Audra has been making these cookies for several years.  She knows they're one of my favorites.  They're just so chewy, and chocolatey, and DELICIOUS!   In case you're following my blog and don't know my family, Audra is my oldest experiment - ooops - I mean CHILD. LOL  She's married now and has her own family, with 2 of the cutest children *I've* ever seen. (next to my son Brett, who has the other 2 cutest children!)  She is a fabulous cook when she has time, and contribute here on my blog once in a while. Considering she is going to college full time, working part-time, and raising a family, it's surprising she has time to contribute at all right now!  Love you Audra! Today Jaylyn, who is 10, was remembering the yummy chocolate, chocolate chip cookies she's had at Subway.  Particularly, I think she likes that those cookies are HUGE!  I thought I'd try making giant cookies with this recipe and it worke

My Mom let me make Polka Dot Pizza's when I was around 10 or 11 years old.  I felt like such an accomplished cook!  These are easy and fun for kids to make as they learn to navigate the kitchen.  My younger girls are 8 and 10 years old.  They help a lot while I'm cooking but these little pizza's they can make almost by themselves.  I put them in and take them out of the oven.  Younger cooks would enjoy stirring and assembling, and of course kids of ALL ages enjoy eating Polka Dot Pizza!  Polka Dot Pizza Crust: 1 small package of biscuit mix (like Jiffy or even Walmart has a small package of mix) OR - 1 tube of refrigerator biscuits - jumbo would probably work best OR - 1/2 recipe of bisquick or 1/2 recipe of your biscuit dough Mix up the biscuit mix as directed.  Divide into 2-3 pieces.   Flatten each piece onto an ungreased cookie sheet until it's about 1/3 inch thick. Sauce: 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce 1/4 tsp. garlic powder 1/2 tsp. dried basil 1/2 tsp. drie