Any time you see the term “bonne femme” in a dish it will be something very comforting, thrifty, and wonderful. Loosely translated it means “good wife”.
Poulet au Bonne Femme was a recipe long before Julia Child wrote her amazing version. I think that we can get stuck in a recipe rut, afraid to deviate from what someone else has done. I hear from women all the time who feel that there is some insurmountable difference between a “foodie” and themselves.
I used to tell people that the only real difference between a chocolate pudding and a chocolate mousse is that you …read more

You know, there are some recipes that you just can’t make look good.O.k…so there are some recipes that OTHER people can make look good but I can’t. This is one of them.

Sigh, no matter how many images I take …it still..looks like…ABC food. You know, A-lready B-een  C-hewed? Yeah. So, if you are big enough to NOT judge a book by it’s cover then you will probably be treated to one of your new favorite comfort foods.

While it is no where near time for fall recipes yet, it is getting close and what is more autumnesque than the ultimate comfort food, macaroni and cheese?

You are drooling aren’t you?
Yeah…I am not talking about the stuff in a box.

Noodles, bacon, cheese….what’s not to love?
This freezes well, kidls love it, so do husbands and hormonal women…Perfect for a cold day, a bad day, a busy day…or just because.  Vary the cheese for flavor changes, use ham instead of bacon…Use a different type of pasta if you want. Yum.
This is my entry for Presto Pasta.   For more great pasta dishes head over to Presto Pasta Nights

 
Back in the day Mrs. Cleaver and her contemporaries were very likely to serve dinner with a plate of rolls hot from the oven.  And those rolls were likely to be cloverleafs.
These are an easy roll to make and most people really like them because the shape is so…home. There is just something about these light, buttery rolls that makes you think of chilly days,  pot roast, and apple pie.

I used to be an avid okra hater.
After all, I grew up nestled in the historic bosom of eastern Pa. Daintily eating pot pie (wet), Italian hoagies (wet), and Shoofly pie (wet). I nibbled on apple fritters and noshed on pretzels with yellow mustard served from the cart by a guy with a half smoked cigarette hanging out of his mouth and dirty hands.
Gastronomic heaven.

I usually think of this casserole in the fall when the weather is cooling down but it is one of those that the family loves any time of the year, and so when I found ham on clearance at the grocers the other day this was an immediate thought. You can add buttered, toasted crumbs to the top just before baking if you like, but just plain like this is fine too. It is creamy and filling and you can use less ham to stretch the budget a bit more if you like. Vary the types …read more

Do you hate when your schedule gets out of whack? I do…I am just not real flexible..it is a time thing. I get up at 4:30 and try to write my blogs before barn chores and breakfast. This morning I got up..grabbed my coffee and sat at the computer only to hear a high pitched sound..like the sound the machines make on the medical t.v. shows when the patient flatlines. And it was true. The computer had flatlined. I didn’t have the web addresses to what I needed even though I tried to punch them in 40 different ways. Sigh.
Well …read more

I am getting in the mood for Autumn, and the holidays, not because the weather has been cool and rainy..because it hasn’t! We are hovering around 100 today again with high humidity that makes you want to suck the air into your body through a straw.
But the color of the light is starting to change. Autumn light has a golden cast to it..and it is beginning. I can feel in myself the changes that I grew up with in Pennsylvania/New Jersey..the turning of the leaves..the first gentle fall breezes..the smell of leaves burning, and the sound of …read more

Well, tonight is home group at our house again. If anything I am more unprepared than I was last week…I am starting to think that this is the way my life is now-chaotic and unorganized. What a kick in the pride!
One of the things I am learning from the chaos is that everything does not have to be an event to be pleasant and good. The people that come to our home group enjoy simplicity as much (and maybe more) as the stellar concoctions I have come up with in the past. There is a reason that sheet …read more