Joy in the Kitchen!

Early this spring, my friend called asking for help!  A swarm of bees had landed in her yard and were collecting on the base of her lilac bush.  I called my niece, whose husband (Andrew) is a beekeeper and he was here in an hour or so.   He brought all of the equipment needed for capturing a swarm.  He was excited when he saw how large this swarm was!  A prime swarm!  HUGE!   I wish I'd videoed him scooping the bees up by handfuls and shaking them into their new beehive home.  Pretty cool from a distance! We have sev eral apple tr ees, pea r, plum trees and a fairly large garden.  Alfalfa fields are nearby as well so our little hive of bees have plenty of blossoms to stay busy all summer.  Andrew told me bees gather nectar in a 5 mile radius of their hive.   When the hive was fully capped off (the bees had filled all their little honey holes and sealed them), Andrew and his wife Cassie brought their honey separat...

This blog is usually my place to share my favorite recipes, to share food memories of my childhood, share my food experiments!  I've been a bit rattled by this COVID-19 emergency as I know many of  you have.  It has brought clarity to what is most important in my life.    Once, years ago, I had a personal crisis.  I was heartbroken and wondered why it had happened.  I read this scripture and in my mind I heard God say to me "Joy, settle down.  I've got this."  I felt peace.    I love going to the mountains.  In them, I see God's strength and power.  I feel close to Him there.  Combining a favorite place with a favorite scripture was a therapeutic exercise for me today. God bless you as you turn to Him and find therapeutic activities that bring you peace! 

Hi there!  Thanks for dropping by. I am currently working on eating healthier and moving more to help with some of those health issues that sneak up as you age.  Fatigue, weight, stiff joints.  I know some of you totally understand about that!  I complain to my Dad once in a while (he will be 94 in a few months) and he always says "Well Joy, you ain't seen nothin' yet!"  Bwahaha!  Nothing like things getting put in perspective! So, I am creating a new little section on my blog for my Adventures in Healthy Eating.  This is my first attempt at creating a recipe in that genre - this year.  There are other healthy recipes on my blog but many of them are my childhood comfort foods or ones that were used as we raised a large family on a little budget.  Those are special occasion foods! I kept seeing these lovely Baked Avocado Egg recipes.  They look delicious.  But I am a tad lazy  and impatient and heating the w...

It is nearing the end of tomato season here.  A few days ago we had our first hard frost.  This year we've had a bumper crop of tomatoes!  I think I've picked about 2-3 bushel so far and there's at least another bushel on the plants we covered to protect a little longer from frost. I love to eat tomatoes fresh, and one of my most favorite garden treats is a tomato sandwich!  Tender slices of homemade bread spread with mayo, and thick slices of ripened garden tomato sprinkled with salt.  YUMMMMY! My next favorite use of fresh tomatoes is Aunt Lois's Marinated Tomatoes... so tangy!  A perfect accompaniment for a summer meal. What we don't eat fresh I bottle.  My family loves salsa and I love Best Ever Canned Salsa as it can be as mild or hot as you like (we prefer mild) and makes several pints.  We also like homemade Chili Sauce and can some of that to put on meats and potatoes.... an old fashioned treat.   This delici...

When I was growing up, most of the time Mom fixed meals using foods we grew in the garden and meat we had raised.  Most meals were meat and potato meals.  Usually four items on our plates at dinner:  Meat, potatoes, vegetable, and some sort of salad. Most always a dessert accompanied that, often though it was a bowl of home canned fruit.  Once in a great while, Mom would make a casserole or dinner using ingredients we had to buy such as cheese, pasta, or rice.  It was such a treat to have a meal out of the norm.  One of the dishes Mom would occasionally make for Sunday dinner was Chicken and Rice.  So easy to put together and throw in the oven to cook while you do other things.  This dish is such a comfort food for me!  Creamy, warm, delicious!  I'm not sure where she got the recipe, but the original name was Busy Day Chicken.   I buy whole chickens and cut them up into 10 pieces for this, or sometimes I buy chicken l...

ECLIPSE EGGS! It is August 21, 2017 and here in South Eastern Idaho we are ready for the eclipse!  My home is not dead center for totality, but we'll have 99% totality and that's good enough for me.   Our kids started school last week, but we are out today to enjoy the eclipse and avoid the anticipated traffic (that is non-existent!).   We have picked out the best viewing spot in our back yard and are looking forward to enjoying a few hours of family time! Here a great suggestion for breakfast if you haven't enjoyed that yet, or any other meal to celebrate Eclipse Day! The recipe for Eclipse Eggs can be found disguised as Peek-a-boo Eggs on THIS page of my blog! Happy viewing!!

Our son was married a few weeks ago!   We held an Open House at our home in their honor and had a great time figuring out what all we would serve for refreshments.  There was no doubt that we would serve these lovely little Cream Cheese Mints.   My Mother-in-Law made these so often for weddings and Quinceanera's.  We needed to have these in her honor as we've been missing her since she passed away last December.   These little mints are so easy to make.  We use a soft plastic candy mold but you could just as easily roll into a ball and press flat with a glass or fork.  Give these a try on your next fun occasion! Old Fashioned Cream Cheese Mints 1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese, softened to room temperature 2 lbs. of powdered sugar (7-8 cups) mint flavoring In a mixer, blend cream cheese and powdered sugar until it is a soft crumble.  Add a few drops of mint oil or about 1/2 tsp. of mint flavoring and mix again until well blended.  ...