So, as you know, this past weekend I catered a luncheon at church. It was for the North Texas Junior Bible Quiz coaches (JBQ) and if anyone deserves something special they do.  Then I must have been on a cooking roll because I topped it off by making lime blueberry muffins for the family Sunday morning and beer batter onion rings that afternoon. Whew! A couple of dozen buttermilk biscuits this morning and I am done in.

I was happy with the menu:

Grapes
Chicken Breast with Maple Chipotle Glaze and Savory Cranberry sauce
Chili Lime Corn
Dinner Rolls
Blue Corn Muffins
Double Apple Cake

I am going …read more

Do you cook differently in August than you do for most of the other year? I do. More salads, more likely to have Banana Splits or Shortcake for dinner, more likely to eat lighter. It seems like August forces us to slow down and recognize that the year is passing and we have only a little time left to enjoy summer.
I dislike modern society. We have lost the ability to relax in a hammock in the back yard with a book, because it is too hot to do anything in the house. We don’t relax as all anymore. We have …read more

I had my thyroid biopsy this morning so I don’t feel like talking much. Wow. I was expecting the procedure to hurt but it was a piece of cake. It is afterward, with the swelling and bruising that makes you feel like you were hit by a mack truck carrying Sumo-wrestling elephants.
I wanted to get this recipe up in time for you to consider it for Fourth of July though.  I know, I know, you always have the same potato salad and it is tradition…well yeah! Me too, but you have to try this because it is addictive. Have I …read more

O.k..I said I was going to do this, and I am! I am still working out some kinks but this is my menu for this week. I try to leave one day free, as a cook’s choice sort of day to allow for weirdness in my week. We rarely have leftovers but it is a good time to use them if you have them. There are several recipes I am working on in the mix this week, as well as a new glaze for turkey that I am working on for Thanksgiving.
Monday nights are hectic because the kids have activities …read more

So, I wake up this morning and Nick (9) says, “I am not going to church, mom, I am feeling really sick.”
Marc has had a horrid cold, which he passed to Matthew (17) and Nick was sniffling and sounding stuffed up. I was not going to argue with him. I don’t like taking the kids out when they are sick, even a little. It exposes other people to what they have and, with their immune systems all ready compromised it adds to the likelihood that they will pick up something else.
My kids are a pretty healthy bunch, we get maybe …read more

I always find the day after Christmas a bit of a let down.  It’s funny, this year I was battling the blues going in to Christmas so the Day After thing hasn’t been so bad.  I am not sure if that is good OR bad!
I don’t cook the day after a big food holiday.  I generally just leave the fridge door open (figuratively) and let everyone graze on whatever is left.  That means that Kyrie is probably high on sugar right now, Nick has eaten  nothing but fruit salad, Marc hasn’t eaten at all, and everyone else is somewhere in …read more

 
Fourth of July is coming up and I thought that I would put together a few menus from our past holidays.
When I was growing up we had a pool and my parents did a big July 4th bash every year.  One year that I remember especially well was themed “Christmas in July” and they strung lights around the landscaping bushes that were around the deck.  They wrapped small gifts and had “Santa” deliver them to the guests. It was great fun, wonderful memories, and I think that they may have gotten through that entire day without one arguement.  Amazing.

Once a month cooking (OAMC) is a way to get nutritious, delicious , homemade food on to the table with minimal daily work.Basically, as the name implies, you do the majority of your shopping once a month, and take a couple of days to prepare main courses and put them in the freezer. We call that one day Hell Day at our house but it has been so helpful over the years.Some people do once a month cooking literally once a month, others use the principles to help with organization and to have things made ahead in the …read more