We love this recipe!  It has been a favorite for years.  I found it online https://www.food.com/recipe/lebanese-lamb-kefta-lamb-kabobs-437869  by Sommer Clary.  I have changed a few things, but most of it is the same as her recipe.  I won’t post the recipe here but please click the link.  It is really great. One of the few changes I made is from grating the onion to finely chopping.  It’s easier for me, but grating is probably better.  I also use plain breadcrumbs instead of seasoned.  I make my own breadcrumbs from ends of bread or stale buns.  ..read more

I’m so excited to talk about my comfort foods!  I put 3 of my favorite dishes together and it was delicious! I have had them with other side or main meals, but not together!!! Ok, so the pictures may not look very appetizing, but it tastes so good! The first dish is the Kidney Beans in Cardamom Sauce that I found in the Minneapolis Star Tribune paper years ago. I’ve been making it for myself for a long time.  It comes together really fast and it is so good- low fat too. The base of the dish is polenta.  I got attached to polenta from the “Start Simple” cookbook last summer.  ..read more

I’m still in the soup mode and made an easy lentil soup.  This recipe was in a January 2014 Better Homes and Garden magazine.  My very kind and caring Mother in Law used to give me a subscription to the magazine for Christmas.  She knew how much I liked cooking and dabbling in the garden.  She was a remarkable person and is truly missed. I used to tear out recipes from the magazine that sounded good and kept them in a binder.  Obviously, I don’t look in the binder that often since the recipe is from 2014!  This was an easy one to follow and I really liked all of t ..read more

Another recipe from the Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Guide, but with variety of changes.  This is a remake of the “Italian White Bean and Tuna Salad” recipe.  I wanted a bean salad that was a whole meal so I replaced the tuna with pasta.  I also used the Royal Corona bean instead of a smaller white bean.  It turned out good, but with a few additions the recipe would be elevated to great! If I make it again, I would add more colorful vegetables like broccoli or arugula.  I used a shallot instead of a red onion, but it was way overpowering.  I would use much less shal ..read more

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been trying different recipes.  Last summer I made some wonderful meals using veggies from my garden and the Farmer’s Market.  When the gardening started to wind down, something happened to my cooking abilities.  Everything I made seemed to flop so I went through a period of not cooking much at all. Finally, I had a renewed cooking bug from a gift for Christmas- a box of Rancho Gordo beans which included the cookbook “The Rancho Gordo Heirloom Bean Guide”.   This book has a lot of inform ..read more

I have been cooking from the Start Simple cookbook by Lukas Volger.  It was another Library book.  I really enjoyed it.  When it was time to bring the book back, I wanted to copy the recipes that I had made and the ones that I wanted to make.  While I was making the copies, my husband said “how many copies are you making? It would be cheaper to just buy the book instead of using up the ink!”  He then ordered the cookbook for me on Amazon.  What a nice guy, because he will eat very little of the dishes from this cookbook! This recipe is adapted from the Honey-Bake ..read more

I’m not sure who Erlin is or how this hot dish came to be called by this name, but it was my absolute favorite hot dish growing up.  This is another hot dish that came from the McKinley School cookbook.  Here is the recipe in the cookbook: My meat lover Mom increased the meat by a 1/2 pound and I still make it that way.  I think it’s funny how vague the amounts and directions are given in this old cookbook.  Maybe being inexact in a recipe could be a good thing because the cook can always make it their own by adding additional ingredients or with the preparation. I changed ..read more

Ok, so this dish may not look very appetizing, but it is very special to me. My Mom was the queen of the “Hot Dish” and we grew up on them. This particular hot dish was written out for me by my Mom. Another cherished recipe because it is in her handwriting. Her handwriting is very unique. Wouldn’t you agree? My Mom adapted this recipe from a cookbook that was probably a fundraiser for my grade school, McKinley.  The school is long gone, but before it was knocked down, three generations of my family went to school there.  It is a fascinating book to page through.  I especially ..read more

I made this recipe a couple of times with different adjustments each time.  They were really good whatever way I made them.  The recipe is adapted from a Taste of Home Magazine, but I did not include which issue it was in when I cut out the recipe.  The original can probably be found on the website www.tasteofhome.com The first time I made this recipe, I used melted butter instead of the applesauce and strawberries instead of blueberries.  The second time I made them using the applesauce and blueberries.  Both of the results were great.  This seems to be a recipe ..read more

I took a break from cooking much over the summer and thru October.  I love being outside in the warm weather and tinkering in the garden!  I miss it. We finally got to visit a couple of times this summer with one of my sisters who lives in Canada.  She and her husband are fabulous cooks. My sister made the potato salad for us when we visited and lucky for me shared the recipe.  It is actually called “Ore-ganic Potato Salad” adapted from the More Recipes from Minnesota with Love by Laurie Gluesing and Debra Gluesing. This is an exceptional recipe, but plan ahead because the ..read more