Peak Autumn Color and Thanksgiving 101 Winner

Fall color peaked this week in the NC mountains.  I took several new pictures at sunrise. The fog in the valley shows some of the layers of mountains and valley, lovely!  If you read the posts on email, pop by the blog and see the fall header, it is full of autumn color. A storm …

Continue reading Peak Autumn Color and Thanksgiving 101 Winner

Thanksgiving 101

Ah, Thanksgiving, a day devoted to a great meal shared with family and friends.   It is by far my favorite holiday, with the gorgeous color leaves outside, crisp autumn air, parades and football, a wonderful meal shared with people I love and the anticipation of the holiday season ahead.  Well, that is what it is …

Continue reading Thanksgiving 101

Baked Black and Great Northern Beans

Wow, it is finally fall and a perfect time for stick to the ribs comfort food.  How about a different take on baked beans?  I had black beans and Great Northern beans in the cupboard and I thought a mixture would be interesting.  And it goes great with the Butterflied Baked Chicken from the last …

Continue reading Baked Black and Great Northern Beans

Butterflied Baked Chicken

I like baked chicken a lot, and I fix chicken in a lot of different ways.  One thing I don't like about baking a whole chicken is the juices that collect inside the chicken that take so long to be cooked.  At times most of the chicken is done, but there are still just barely …

Continue reading Butterflied Baked Chicken

Apple Cake Donuts

Other than pumpkin, it is apples that have the taste of autumn.  So, here are apple donuts on a pumpkin plate.  These apple cake donuts are lightly spiced with cinnamon, and have a fresh apple flavor in a really moist donut, perfect for a weekend treat. I have been trying to get this recipe right …

Continue reading Apple Cake Donuts

Fresh Strawberry Bread

With the harvest season in full swing, and summer winding down, the strawberries are abundant. I wanted to preserve this last taste of summer in a breakfast bread, but the only recipes I could find used frozen strawberries. I wanted to use the fresh ones, so I had to develop my own recipe. This one …

Continue reading Fresh Strawberry Bread

Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

These cream scones are wonderful plain, but I wanted to make them a little more special for He Who Loves Cinnamon.  With autumn on the way, a little more spice and flavor is in order and cranberries fit the mood.   I've made the plain cream scones from a Southern Living recipe many times, so  …

Continue reading Cranberry Cinnamon Scones

Mastering Knife Skills

You gotta love a man who is secure enough to give you a wicked sharp knife as a gift along with a book on how to use it.   I have long known by watching the Food Network and lots of PBS cooking shows that I don’t chop an onion ‘properly’, and maybe I never will. …

Continue reading Mastering Knife Skills

Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookies

Recently I had a pot luck lunch to attend, and I wanted to make something special. I learned how to make chocolate covered Oreo cookies last year through some trial and error. I think I have it down now, and can share it with you.  So here is how to make Chocolate Covered Oreo cookies! …

Continue reading Chocolate Covered Oreo Cookies

Pan Roasted Chicken with Asparagus Dinner

Fast and easy recipes for a weeknight dinner for one or two are on my mind lately.  I shared the Fish with Spinach Dinner recently, and it got me thinking about using chicken.  Then, on Pinterest, I saw a pin for pan roasted asparagus.  Well, I knew that, but haven't done it in a long …

Continue reading Pan Roasted Chicken with Asparagus Dinner