I’ve been on a quest. For as long as I’ve been cooking, I’ve been in search of the perfect Chicken Cacciatore. I don’t know where that desire came from. I didn’t grow up eating it or anything, it just appealed to me. I’ve tried several recipes from several sources, but […]

Yesterday I succumbed to a purchase I didn’t need. Every year around this time, Better Homes and Gardens puts out their annual Christmas Cookie magazine. This is the only annual Christmas magazine I buy, and I am always thrilled with the results. So I picked it up. Today I woke […]

Last night for Monday Night Football I thought I’d make Andy a pie. Since my apples are very juicy, a plain pie was not to be. So I turned to another favorite from Cooking Light, a Buttermilk Apple Pie. In this pie, you cook the apples over the stove top […]

This bagel recipe is from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion. As I mentioned before- the dough is more stiff than bread dough, and by all means, if you like to use a mixer to knead, go ahead. I followed this recipe to a “T”, and I used brown sugar […]

This week I’ve decided to learn a new baking skill. One of our favorite breakfasts when we travel is bagels and schmear. My personal favorite is Einstein Brother’s Bagels. Every day they have a different assortment of bagels, and a different assortment of schmears. Their sandwiches are also to-die-for, and […]

Tonight for company dinner we had a simple meal of sloppy joes with potatoes au gratin. It was simple to make ahead, and enjoyable by everyone. But the real star is a dessert that I know I’ve posted about before, but it bears repeating. Gooey Apple Sheet Cake is exactly […]

This is a picture posting today. 🙂 Today was the first Saturday in a while that we didn’t have any plans. Nothing required our time or our commitment, so we decided to have a fun family outing. Not far from here, an apple orchard was having a family day, so […]

Bananas are a perfect food. So it’s stands to reason, that any dessert made with banana can’t be as bad for you as you would think. Right? One of my absolute favorite desserts on the planet (and I know, I have many absolute favorites) is Bananas Foster. Caramelized bananas served […]

Last night was dance night. It was a special dance night. We had to go an hour early, Zander was going to be a guest of his cousin Kara in her dance class. Except he wienied out and decided he just wanted Mommy. And as it turned out, Kara’s teacher […]

Today I wanted to make a cake. I have about 3 dozen eggs that expire soon, and I’m trying to find ways to use them up. A perfect excuse for cake. So I turned to my trusty Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook and started flipping. The yellow butter cake caught my […]

He’s close. He’s really close. We’ve had our first success with getting to the potty in time, so hopefully, we’re in the home stretch here. I won’t hold my breath, but hopefully it wasn’t a freak thing. Right now he’s napping, and I really didn’t want to put him in […]

Oh man, do I suck. Today was my self imposed deadline to stick to a grocery budget. I gave myself a limit of $65 for groceries, plus $10 for things like shampoo and laundry detergent. So that was a total of $75, which still seems high to me. Here’s how […]