I don’t know who in the line of history turned cake into a breakfast food, but I applaud them. With no mind for health or social standards, the woman (for it must have been a woman) who made cake for breakfast a thing and turned our childhood dream into reality should be considered a hero. By merely putting the word “coffee” in front of “cake” dessert was transformed into an ...
fruit
Upside Down Pear Cake
I’ve been on a pear kick lately. This is a strange thing for me because, well, I don’t really like pears. I mean they are kind of like an apple but not an apple. They are juicier which is good, but they sometimes have a weird grainy texture that makes me cringe a little. I don’t mind cooked pears but this fat bottomed fruit is not the first thing I reach for in the produce ...
Fresh Strawberry and Peach Oatmeal Crisp
The first week of Summer Break has been an eventful one for the kids. Their nights have been full of sleepovers, rodeos and drive-in movies, while their days have been filled with building projects of their own design (more or less). The most ambitious of the building projects so far has been the construction of one backyard fort. The original plan, which was completely ...
Summer Granita
I don't know about where you live, but where I live it is stupid hot. Not "so hot it makes you stupid" ( although it will do that), it's more like temperatures are so incredibly high that it's ridiculous. Or, as they say, stupid. I mean 112 degrees?! Really! Did I accidentally wake up in Death Valley? Thank goodness I have an extra well just for the garden, because my poor ...
Strawberry Peach Limeade
Strawberry Peach Limeade is an easy summer beverage to whip up for a warm Summer day! Add an ounce of vodka to your glass to make it a delicious adult beverage! I have spent the entire day moving my parents out of their old house and into their new one. The house that they built themselves 30 years ago will now be solely dedicated to being a winery and my parents will now ...
Fruit Smoothies
Amazingly enough, I have managed to stick to my goal of getting healthy for a whole month now. Not that I haven't cheated. I have. More than I would probably like to admit. That whole 30th birthday week was pretty much a fattening food and quite a bit of wine free-for-all. But two weeks of guilt and lots of exercise and I am finally back on track. That being said I am ...
Quick Chocolate Donuts with a Fresh Strawberry Glaze
I love donuts. I consider the donut to be the 8th wonder of the world. Yeast donuts or cake donuts will make any morning infinitely better. Either simply glazed or stuffed with jam, donuts are a wonderful morning treat. There are two problems with donuts. 1 - The light, fluffy yeast type ( a la Krispy Kreme) take a while to make. You can't just wake up in the morning and throw ...
Phyllo Wrapped Pork with Apple-Thyme Chutney
Valentine's Day is just around the corner and right now we are up to our eyeballs in Valentine's cards for 14 preschoolers. We have been cutting, gluing, sticking stickers, and writing our names for a couple of days now. The end result is eventually going to be 24 handmade butterfly Valentine's. Aren't they cute?! (I found the print out for them here if you are interested ...
Handmade Southern Fried Peach Pies
So, there is a little piece of news I would like to share with all of you. It's big. It's life changing. No, I am NOT pregnant. We are moving. And I don't mean across town. We are moving back to Tennessee. Back to the country. Back to a town without a Kroger. Back to the land of free babysitting. We are pretty excited. This is going to be a whole new chapter for us. A ...
A Fancy Schmancy Brunch
Well, I guess you have all figured out by now that I didn't make it to the third round of Project Food Blog. It's okay. I'm not too devastated. I am learning to cope with my devastation. Okay, it's not quite that bad. I did do round 3 just in case I did actually make it. Round 3 was for a fancy dinner party. Let me just tell you that "fancy" and "dinner party" don't ...
Watermelon Strawberry Granita AND a Cocktail
As Summer reaches it's highest peak, Mother Nature offers man a slight reprieve in the form of watermelon. Is there anything better than cold watermelon on a hot summer day? Watermelon is really hitting it's stride right now. They are everywhere and it's hard for me to resist. I bought this fantastic Sugar Baby Watermelon at the farmer's market the other day. It's the best ...
Strawberry Muffins…no, Cupcakes…no, Muffins…okay, Bread
I'm not very girl-y. I never have been. As a child I refused to wear anything even remotely pink and a dress was the equivalent to being put in the stockade, but I have always loved strawberries. My great-grandmother used to have a strawberry patch behind her house ( wait...have I told you this before?) and it was our job to pick them all so she could make jam. I'm not sure how ...
A little piece of Americana – Blackberry Cobbler
Our nation's Independence Day is coming up this weekend and Americans around the country will be headed to backyard barbeque's, pool parties, and fireworks displays. It's a time for all of us to remember the past and the present and to look forward to the future of our nation. It's a time for us to swell with pride at the great things this country has to offer. Because even ...
Giveaway Winner and Roasted Garlic Lemon Pepper Chicken
Wow. What a crazy month this has been! I finally got back into town on Sunday after almost an entire month away from home. I have driven about 2000 miles in the last 28 days which is a feat that I never thought could be accomplished with two 3 year olds in the back seat. Thanks to the DVD player and copious amounts of ring pops, juice boxes, and crayons, we made it there and ...
How to Make Homemade Strawberry Jam
I have a lot of childhood memories related to strawberry jam. My parents owned a business that involved suppling lots of factories with nuts and bolts and stuff. For Christmas, my mother and I would give all the workers a basket full of cookies, candies and strawberry preserves. They had lots of customers and during the summer, we made LOTS of preserves. 20-30 cases I think. We ...