Baked Fire Roasted Tomato Pasta

Making meals from a new cookbook is always fun, but one problem is making them an appropriate size for just two people. Sometimes the leftovers can be frozen for a meal another time, but most of the time we just eat it until it is gone over the next few days. No matter how good …

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Sunday Chat

The azaleas came into bloom this week with about half of the shrubs well into their spring show, just lovely! We have a lot of bushes inside the driveway island and down the edge of the meadow along the driveway. My favorite ones are the white ones. Luckily, the cold nights do not seem to …

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Sewing and Decluttering

This week, I had a couple of days where I could spend the whole day in my she-cave. It was a good time to load up the embroidery machine and let it stitch while I was working around the room, pulling things out and working on the decluttering. Here are two of the kitchen towels …

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Finishing the Kaleidoscope Project

I was able to get back to the Kaleidoscope block this past week. Here's where I left off after doing the paper piecing. I put it aside for quite a while, as I thought about what to do with it. All I knew is that one of these blocks was enough, and I wasn't going …

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Sunday Chat – Garden, Sewing, and Cookbook Winner

Spring is arriving when the ajugas bloom, although this week has been a full-on Blackberry Winter with lows near freezing, and that will continue into next week. It may damage the plants that have already begun to bloom, like the azaleas, but these ajugas can take it. We have lots of clumps all over the …

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Spring Ideas with Rabbits and Eggs

Now that spring is here, lightening up the home decor with fresh flowers and garden themes suits me. Today, I have a roundup of ideas for tablescapes along with some delicious ideas for meals. So, let's start with setting a table. I did this one for Easter dinner in 2017. It has the fun Easter …

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Cooking from Backroads Italy

One of the great benefits of my collaboration with Milk Street is sometimes getting a new cookbook before it publishes. One came last week, and I have been devouring the recipes and stories it contains. It is Milk Street Backroads Italy: Finding Italy's Forgotten Recipes by Christopher Kimball and J.M. Hirsch. It was apparent that …

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Sunday Chat

It has been an up and down week. The beginning of the week we still had wildfires out of control, with the air full of smoke for a couple of days. Rain brought some relief, thank goodness. The clear blue sky with a few clouds was a welcome sight after a night of rain. At …

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Stashbusters April Check In

It's time to report our monthly progress on our fabric in and out. The idea is awareness, and no judgement when the sale table calls, an adorable print shows up in the quilt shop, or retail therapy is needed. For new readers this is easy to do, just report what you have brought in and …

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Asian Influence for Spring

Warmer weather brings out the desire for lighter dishes and interesting flavors for meals. I love Asian influences in food and tablescapes, and today I'll share a new table along with some of my original recipes for the food. This would be so fun to share with friends! A few years ago, I did an …

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