Archive

Often referred to as 7-layer dip, this popular, casual appetizer is always a party favorite and easy to assemble with no cooking is required–unless you make your own refried beans.  That’s usually the most tasty way, but I go for convenience and use canned refried beans that come in many varieties.  Take your pick.  I […]

Homemade vanilla pudding paired with Nilla Wafers and banana slices has been around as long as I can remember.  It screams down-home goodness and when you add individual mason jars to the mix, you’re bound to get irresistible reviews of portable, bottled up happiness.  July 2017 has been the month of all things in a […]

There’s no shame as a baker in using boxed brownies, in my opinion.  I love the taste and have baked plenty of batches and made every kind of variation with the mixes.  In fact, when I bake brownies from scratch, I usually compare them to boxed mixes when deciding how well I like the recipe. […]

Country Chicken Casserole is something I have been making for many years, but the version I originally used is made with canned Campbell’s soup. While I like the convenience of pouring a can of cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup into recipes to put a meal together fast, I prefer to use ingredients that […]

We love bananas, but not ripe ones. I end up baking banana bread often when the banana stash is no longer edible as is. That’s when bananas are perfect for banana bread, and like a butterfly, they make their transformation from mushy and mealy to county fair prize-winning banana bread. I  have determined that this […]

My first job besides babysitting, barely out of elementary school, was in a cherry orchard picking fruit from trees and filling woven baskets. We were paid by how many cherries we picked–it took a lot of work to fill one basket. There were several young kids like me who worked there as well as professional […]

My good friend and neighbor doesn’t cook, not even something that I would consider as a no brainer. For her birthday this week, in lieu of sweets, she asked me to make her some Greek orzo salad, which I happily did.  She provided me with a possible recipe, which needed a lot of adjustments, so […]

Six years ago today on July 11, we adopted the most wonderful 8-year-old girl, whom we named Hannah. In Taiwan, children who are 7 or older have a say in their adoption. As the judge in a small courtroom in Hsinchu, Taiwan, repeatedly and directly asked our incredibly brave little girl if she realized she […]

Mushroom gravy over pork chops? Yes, please! My family really likes pork chops, and since they are fast and easy to cook, I make them fairly often.  To prepare this dish, start off by cooking the mushrooms, pork chops, then gravy, in that order.  It’s all cooked in the same skillet at different intervals.  I […]