Joy in the Kitchen!

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...

  The weather is cooling down here. Today was overcast with some drizzling rain.  Finally some beautiful FALL baking weather!  With daytime temperatures in the mid 60's and night-time lows in the low 40's, having the oven on for a bit takes the chill off in here.  Ahhh. There are so many flavors and scents that celebrate fall.  Today I've had a simmer pot going with apple slices, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Oh! and one clove. A perfect scent to enjoy as I looked out the window at the trees changing color and the fields around in various stages of grain and potato harvest.  I almost baked Cinnamon Streusel Apple Muffins , but I had one cup of pureed pumpkin in the freezer leftover from last weeks batch of Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins  (one of our family favorites!), so I decided I'd better use that before I forget it's in there.  Sometimes I just delay throwing food away by putting it in the freezer to age first.  Not particularly thrifty or effic...

  Summer is winding down here and one of the best parts is that it is time to enjoy the fruits (or vegetables!) of our earlier summer labor planting a garden!  I love garden harvest season!  We are harvesting cucumbers right now.  So far I've canned several pints of Sweet Sticks and several quarts of my Mom's old recipe for Dill Pickles. The recipe I'm sharing today should really be named Linda's Fresh Dill Pickles.   I got the recipe from my Mom and her neighbor Linda gave it to her.  I have no idea why it is called a dill pickle as there is no dill in the recipe and there is sugar in it.  However, it does not have the usual turmeric, mustard seed, and cider vinegar that is often in sweet pickles.   The mystery may continue as neither Linda nor my Mom are around to ask.  If you prefer a traditional sweet pickle taste check out my mother-in-law's recipe Shirley's Sweet Refrigerator Pickles . Today I only mixed up a half batch so I c...

  Our little garden is producing!  We didn't plant most of it until Father's Day weekend due to weather and crazy schedules but it is on now!   When we moved to this home, we left a large garden plot and a slightly warmer climate.  Gardening really helped us feed our large family on a budget.  I remember several years canning close to 100 quarts of green beans, freezing 50-75 3 cup packages of corn, canning several quarts of tomatoes and up to 30 quarts of salsa in a year.  Whew!  I had several children at home so along with many mouths to feed, we had many hands to help!   The garden at our current home has a small garden plot with several raised beds on the side.  This is enough for just a few of us and I don't miss the busy days of canning until the wee hours of the morning when the house was cooler.   We had a fabulous red raspberry crop this year.  I have no idea how many we ate fresh (as we picked), but we weigh...

  Christmas Candy!   Just the thought brings the buttery sweet scent vividly to my mind. Can you almost smell that?  My growing up years, my Dad often made fudge and Mom made caramels.  Together they made peanut brittle and sometimes divinity and cheat Marzipan.  Sooo good!   I mainly watched and licked spoons that were meant to be washed.   As Dave and I created our own candy traditions, we had a lot to combine!  His Grandma Evelyn was a big candy maker.  She made candy and cookies and shipped them to all of her children.  We inherited Grandpa's marble slab and large pan that he used to make caramels.  I remember him talking me through making caramels several times the first years we were married.  It took many tries to get them to turn out as well as his and Grandma's, but finally I can do them justice!  Grandma used some of the caramels as well as fondant she made and dipped chocolates, she made so many kinds ...

  We've just finished with our latest snowstorm.  I really wanted to say that was our LAST of the season snowstorm, but it's still March and we had a snowstorm in May last year!   The BEST part of winter for me, is that it's Soup Season!  I LOVE soup! (… and chowder! Soup and Chowder will be used interchangeably in this post!)  I could eat it several times a week.   A delicious bowl of steaming soup just soothes all of the rough, cold, places in your soul.    Lately I've needed a generous portion of soul soothing!  Corn Chowder is one of my childhood favorites.  My Mom had a recipe I've never seen anywhere else. The only thickener used is saltine crackers crushed and soaked in milk.  Perhaps it was a depression era recipe as it is very basic and thrifty!  Recently, I wanted a soup that also used chicken (more protein) and I've had a bunch of veggies on hand that need used.  This Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder was ...

  Easter is nearly upon us!  One of our favorite traditions is dying and decorating eggs.  Finding a way to use up those eggs in a timely manner is a challenge for me!  Years ago I came across a similar recipe in a magazine and though I've lost that recipe, I still make up my own version of it nearly every year.   The addition of cottage cheese helps mellow out the heaviness of the eggs, and shredded cheddar cheese adds some fun flavor.   Often we just spread the mixture on slices of bread, but I love a good crusty roll for mine. Enjoy! Humpty Dumpty Egg Salad Sandwiches 4 hard boiled eggs , peeled and diced 1/3  cup celery , finely chopped 1/2 cup cottage cheese 2-3 teaspoons Dijon mustard 1/4 cup mayonnaise  1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese salt and pepper to taste Bread of your choice lettuce leaves, optional Gently mix all of the ingredients except the bread.  Spread the bread with butter if you'd like and spread with a th...