Lamb chops are one of my favorite entrees. Years ago I was at a work event and a group of us went out to dinner. It was a fancy restaurant and I ordered a rack of lamb. I was polite and ate them with a knife and fork. When I was done eating the person sitting next to me asked if he could chew on the bones from my lamb. I told him to have at it, but a little of me was envious that he could get all the delicious bits off the bones. At home, pick those bones up and chew away! I recently picked up some lamb chops at Costco that were thick and meaty and delicious. (Of course they were large, it’s ..read more

March 14th was Pi Day. My daughter texted me and asked if I had a piece of pie to celebrate Pi Day. I had not. She said she brought home a piece of strawberry rhubarb (one of my dad’s and my favorites), a piece of banana crème, and a piece of key lime. I also realized that I hadn’t had a paczki on Fat Tuesday either. To make up for those two dessert opportunity fails, I made a key lime pie for St. Patty’s day. Other recipes I’ve used for key lime pie have sweetened condensed milk, sour cream, and eggs and require baking. This recipe is super simple and requires no baking. And it comes togethe ..read more

I’m kind’a embarrassed to blog this recipe because everyone is familiar with this salad. But every time I plan to make a 7-Layer Salad I start counting ingredients on my fingers, and am always missing an ingredient (fingers are all still there). Since I just made this salad for our Saturday night group I decided to save my version of the recipe so the next time I can skip the finger counting. This is a salad I like to make for potlucks because it comes together quickly, and is best when it sits overnight and is tossed just before serving. As with most recipes this can be modified based on per ..read more

I grew up in a family that loved to fish so we ate fish often…freshwater fish like coho, lake trout, perch, bluegill. Most often fish was pan fried, deep fried, or occasionally baked or broiled. Fish soup (kalamojakka) and fish boils were also enjoyed regularly. In this house we love fish, and we love all things tomato, so this poached cod is the perfect combination of the two. I’ve been making this dish for a long time and used to serve it over rice, but the last few times I’ve served it with grits instead. Kind of reminiscent of shrimp and grits. Poached fish is very moist and the broth add ..read more

It’s hard to even call this a recipe, but everyone loves them, so here goes. My dear friend Jane shared this with me after she had them prepared by her daughter’s mother-in-law. The original recipe called for two ingredients. I expanded it to include three ingredients. My iteration included pesto for the twist. I’ve never been able to grow plants, but a few years ago my daughter gifted me an Aerogarden for Christmas. It grows basil like nobody’s business.  Not wanting to waste that delicious basil, in addition to adding it to salads and pasta dishes, I make a lot of pesto and freeze it in ic ..read more

It’s been way too long since I’ve attended to my blog, and not because I haven’t been cooking. I’ve come to the realization that part of the reason I blog, in addition to wanting to share food with friends, is because I often have to search through my archives to find recipes that I’ve made, and want to make again. Like this recipe for Cowboy Caviar. This works great as a dip with corn chips or just on it’s own as a side salad. The fresh squeezed citrus gives it a bright, fresh taste. And it is SO colorful. I brought this to our Saturday Nighters group as my passing dish last weekend. As snac ..read more

It’s tomato season in Michigan. The time of year when, instead of being an ornamental addition to a salad or sandwich, tomatoes actually have flavor. Even better when eaten right out of the garden. Unfortunately we live in a heavily wooded area with inadequate sun for gardening so I have to rely on friends and farmers markets for fresh tomatoes. My friend Jane has a small raised garden, and she shared some of her bounty with me. It’s what I used to make this delicious roasted tomato soup. I had also visited a local farm the morning I made the soup, and I bought Roma tomatoes for canning, some ..read more

I know I’ve mentioned my addiction to Instagram reels. Some of you reading this have to relate. I’ve been intrigued enough by several reels to experiment. I had two recent fails completely unrelated to ice cream, which I will share in another post, but this one was a success. If it passes the husband who loves sweets and ice cream test, it must be good. Right? My grocery just had a special on avocados, 7 for $7 or $1.99 each. So, of course, I bought seven. We had Navajo tacos the other night with guacamole. I’ve had avocado toast. And now we have avocado ice cream. I modified the recipe a bit ..read more

I haven’t blogged in awhile, but I MUST share my new guilty pleasure. Cocktail Slush! I do love my cocktails. These are so delicious, so beautiful, and easy to rationalize. You’re actually getting your daily servings of fruits and vegetables. I’ve made three varieties so far, but I’m thinking the possibilities are nearly endless. The slushes are simple to make. The hardest part will be waiting until they are sufficiently frozen to make yourself a cocktail! Tools required include a paring knife, measuring utensils, a blender (I used my NutriBullet), and an ice cream scoop for serving. This rec ..read more

This is a recipe I learned about from Amber, one of my daughter’s dear friends, and my surrogate daughter. Amber posted this pie on FB, and said she was never going back to “chunky lumpy apple pie.” So I asked her for the recipe which leads to another brief story. She got the recipe from this post on Post Secret. My first introduction to Post Secret was a dozen or so years ago when we were visiting our daughter in Chicago. She had been gifted a Post Secret book which I read cover to cover. Post Secret was the brainchild of Frank Warren who was working on a community art project. He asked peo ..read more