Joy in the Kitchen!

This is one of the easiest and most delicious ways to cook bone in chicken that I've come across in all my years of cooking!  Though the price of chicken has gone up a fair bit in the past few years, it is still an economical main dish.  Even more-so if you watch for chicken to come on sale, or I can sometimes find 10 pound bags of chicken leg quarters at the grocery store for quite a bit less per pound.  If you don't mind separating the thigh and the drumstick yourself, you can save quite a bit more.  If you prefer, you could leave the leg quarter intact and it will bake up just as well.   I love recipes like this that come from trusted friends and family.  A year ago or so, I was asked to help bake some of this chicken for a fundraiser to help restore an old two-room schoolhouse that is near my home.  The school house is so fun to see and contemplate all the children who learned together in that one room with one teacher for all ages.  The ...

Several years ago at a family reunion auction, we bought a cookbook put together from my husbands grandmother's recipes.  Not all of them, but some she'd collected over the years.  The cousin who made this cookbook made copies of the recipe cards in grandma's own handwriting and assembled them into a cute binder.  Seeing these hand written cards brings back sweet memories of when I joined the family and grandma helped me feel so welcome!   Thank you Jeana! Grandma Evelyn would be 118 years old now if she were still here on earth, and I'm sure this recipe was from the years she was raising her children.  Definitely fits that vintage era!  I would guess the 1940's or 1950's.  There were some delicious recipes then that were very basic homemade food. I already use some of Grandma's recipes on a regular basis but I decided to try some of the others out of this cookbook.  Since we have a few apples on our tree that could be used, I decided to try ...

Mmmm!!!   Fresh!   This week the weather has cooled off.  We've had rain and the leaves are turning to a beautiful yellow and orange celebration of fall!  Most of my garden is finishing up but the tomatoes and cucumbers are still producing well!  We live in a cooler climate so we are thrilled with any tomatoes that have time to ripen!  I have had a terrific crop of cucumbers this year, but not fresh dill to can dill pickles at this point.  That's ok as I love the crisp texture of a fresh cucumber from the garden! This little salad is easy to fix for just one, or for a crowd.  It is quick to arrange and if covered with plastic wrap, will hold a few hours until time to serve.  If desired you could add mozzarella balls or some type of olives to your plate.  Lately I love Kalamata and Castelvetrano olives.  I've had a struggling basil plant in the garden that is finally starting to thrive and I'm happy to have fresh basil to use ri...