Running late today…But I wanted to get blogsurfing Saturday in before Sunday!

You all know that I believe strongly in buying local, buying fresh, buying organic, buying fair trade whenever possible. I don’t see this as a new thing, it was the way I was raised.  Yep, way back in the 1960s my parents who lived through the Depression drilled into my head that the only way one could be truly free was to be as self-sustainable as possible. Rather than dependence on people you don’t know, my dad said, have relationship with neighbors and those that you will see each day.

Dad felt this was the strength of a country, neighbors taking care of neighbors not government babysitters.  My parents were middle aged when I came along and I was an only child.  They poured into me a love for the environment and a strong sense of responsibility for those around me. I have always felt very driven to protect, to do the right thing, to care for.

It is hard, these days to juggle ethics and need. Groceries are outrageous and I can’t always buy organics. But doing what I can is better than doing nothing at all.

Today’s Blogsurfing is a bit different than usual. I have come across several sites that make it easy to shop locally, shop organically and shop fairly.  Read more

I love Presto Pasta nights, don’t you?  Ruth Daniels, Once Upon a Feast, has done an amazing job keeping it going and keeping pasta on everyone’s dinner table on a regular basis.  Besides, I have come to really like and respect her as a blogging friend.

Anyway I get to host PPN 108..Can you believe it? ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT!  One hundred eight weeks of yummy pasta.  So, put your pasta thinking caps on, and please make me look good here.  Daring Bakers, you DO have a pasta dish for PPN 108, as I recall!

I have been working on a star shaped ravioli recipe, and I am hoping to share it for PPN 108.  We’ll see what happens this weekend.

How to enter? Simple!

Just create your pasta dish.  Blog it and send me a link, your name, blog, and image (no bigger than 400px, please) to maudet8816ATaolDOTcom.  CC a copy to RuthAT4everykitchenDOTcom.  That’s it!  Easy!

So, let’s recap.

• Pasta
• Next Friday, April 10
• Be here or be uncool

Now…today Ruth is hosting Presto Pasta so you better head over there for your carb fix.  Three different mac and cheeses? Wow.

image:Presto Pasta

Yes folks, it’s what you have been waiting for all month…the incredible..the colossal…the stupendous..the amazing…The Potato Ho Down.  Now, put a little starch in your life and check out these great recipes from the most notorious Potato Hos in the known world.

If the titillation is too much and you feel you simply must join in the frolic next month check out the official Potato Ho Rules.

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Get your paring knives ready because this month Baking Delights is hosting the Potato Ho Down..the brilliant, if somewhat starchy, brain child of Cathy over at Noble Pig.  The round up will be posted next Wednesday so you have an entire week to come up with the recipes, make them, post them and send me the links.

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Here it is!  The Second Annual BOOBIE BAKE OFF!!! Read more

Serious potato chips for the serious potato ho.

As usual, just like with all of the recipe roundups and challenged I am involved in,  I am getting in just under the wire…but when you taste these you will forgive me..oh yes you will.

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It is back..

I don;t know if you remember but last year we did the Boobie Bake Off to raise money for the Susan G. Komen foundation.  It was FUN FUN FUN!  We raised well over 100.00.  I want to quadruple that this year!

So, get your cookbooks out and your pink food coloring ready…

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Mmm..Smoky Smashed Potatoes. Sounds like a perfect dish for the infamous monthly event, Potato Ho Down. Leave it to Cathy to come up with something …errr…unusual for an event name.

we had these the other night with grilled pork chops and tomato vinaigrette with frise lettuce. I promise you it was so good that I can’t remember whether or not I had dessert! Read more

Wow. DO I feel challenged? Yes! Do I feel daring? I am not sure..I kinda feel in over my head!

The first thing was that my cookie sheet was bigger than the cookie sheet in the recipe and I only had one..So I ended up with thinner layers..but hey, I made up for that by making it six layers instead of four. Or..that;s what I was going to do..

But I ran out of buttercream and I rushed with my second batch of buttercream and ended up with glop.. Read more

Here it is, the round up for , What to do with Leftover……

This month it is eggs. Whether you make a pound cake, or an angel food cake or even a fritter batter you can end up with leftover egg whites or leftover egg yolks. If you have chickens, like we do, sometimes leftover eggs means that the chickens laid more than usual and there are 5 or 6 dozen in the fridge!

Being eco-friendly, taking care of the environment also means not being wasteful. Frugality is cool! Besides, those chickens work HARD to give you those eggs, trust me.

Here are some ideas to help with using them up! Read more