Category Archives: cooking

a week from today

Open House is getting closer. We’re counting down. Just a week left. Today our older son and his family came to help with decorating and cleaning. Along with our two daughters, DH, and my sister Genny, a lot was accomplished! The downstairs is almost entirely ready. Besides the kitchen, of course. Cleaning it for company […]

cherry fudge truffles

I have a board on Pinterest that is just for truffle recipes. I pin other recipes there, too, that I think might work for truffles. This recipe for Cherry Fudge is one of those recipes. The picture on the web site ShugarySweets.com was so inviting. They looked delicious. Here’s what I ended up with. Cherry […]

macadamia nut shortbread cookies 2014

Yesterday, I made the delicious Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies that I like so much. They are already packed and put away in the freezer for the Christmas Open House. I used to roll them into logs, refrigerate, then slice to bake. Last year, I scooped and then rolled each portion into a ball and rolled […]

apple sauce, apple slices, apple jam

Our house smells like apple pie. I can smell it in every room. What a wonderful candle scent it would be, though I’m not sure a candle company could really do justice to the spicy undertones in the air. If only we had smell-a-vision… It smells like apple pie around here because we canned about […]

cookies for the marching band

Our daughter takes part in the marching band at school. They have a competition coming up and I volunteered to make cookies for the band to take along on their trip. Last year, I got a lot of positive feedback on the Triple Chocolate Cookies I made, so I decided to make them again. I […]

peaches, peaches, and peaches

We canned peaches Saturday and made spiced peach jam. Then we made peach ice cream. Dee-licious! I did the slicing. DH manned the stove. We made 28 quarts of sliced peaches in light syrup and 28 8-oz. jars and 2 pint jars of spiced peach jam. Then we made ice cream. A yummy end to […]

things i’ve learned in the kitchen

Not in any particular order… Cooking from scratch is cheaper, tastier, and healthier than processed ready-made food. Cookies taste better when made with butter. Guests always want to stand around in the kitchen, even if you are busy. Accept and enjoy it. And give them something to do. Guests, given a kitchen job, may do […]

macadamia nut shortbread cookies

I love shortbread and these cookies are no exception. I found the original recipe, Hazelnut Shortbread Cookies, on dianasdesserts.com in 2006 and have been making them ever since, though I use macadamia nuts. Also, I like to add white chocolate, which the original recipe did not call for. Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies Ingredients: 1 c. […]

sour cream sugar cookies are headed to the freezer

The almond flavored sour cream sugar cookies are a favorite at our Christmas Open House each year. I made the cookie dough Saturday (I think…), popped it in the fridge, and baked the cookies today. If you can’t tell, those are wreath cookie cutters. The day before the Christmas Open House, the cookies will be […]

more Christmas goodies

Recipes 6 and 7 are done and ready to put in the freezer. I made the centers for the Chocolate Creams. I’ll wait to dip them in white chocolate until after they are thawed for the Open House in December. The recipe makes about 100 – 110…depending on how large the centers are made. The […]