I needed a really quick dinner, and in the fridge I had some boneless chicken thighs and breast meat, thawed and ready to go. So I grabbed my house seasoned salt mix and a bit of flour, dredged the chicken, and dropped into my cast iron pan. A mix of olive oil and butter (and … Continue reading Incredibly Quick Chicken Dinner
Recently my two old male Ragdoll cats are showing their age. They are brothers, about 15 years old now, the two kittens I kept from my last litter years ago. Call them seniors, geriatrics, or just old, but as elderly cats they have special needs now. What changes as a cat ages, and what are those … Continue reading What to do When You Have an Elderly Cat
It's April - and we are still getting snow. More is even predicted for this coming week. However, many of my flowers are coming up, the wild Goldfinches are getting yellow, maple syrup season arrived, and my mind is nudging me to neaten up and spring clean. I am not a super neat house cleaner. … Continue reading Almost Spring…And Time for Spring Cleaning
I can't say we ate any crab cakes on the farm. Back then, grocery stores were a bit limited in the seafood department and even frozen seafood was pretty much limited to fish sticks (we did eat those). I don't remember ever having crab cakes or clam strips and certainly never lobster. Deep fried clam … Continue reading How to make Crab Cakes
I decided to use up some apples today before they turned toward spoiling. Pie sounded good. In a spelt crust - I mean spelt is whole grain and apples are healthy, so maybe it's a "good for you" dessert? LOL, I convinced myself. And I didn't want to do my Caramel apple pie. While I … Continue reading Apple Pie with Almond butter sauce
Growing up, one of the first things I learned to bake, and baked a lot of, was white bread. I know, bread is not usually one of the things a child bakes at age 11 or 12, but I did, along with other things like cookies. But I had this bread recipe my family really … Continue reading Farmhouse White Bread, with a Cinnamon Twist
Growing up, we all loved my Mom's Barbecue chicken. It seems to be a bit of an odd recipe - a lot of vinegar, and little oil, a raw egg.  The chicken would become very tender after a long soak in the marinade, then would turn golden when grilled and basted with the sauce several … Continue reading Mom’s Barbecue Chicken is really Cornell Chicken!
My mom used to make this chocolate cake, with the secret ingredient of salad dressing, quite often. In fact, I also have versions of it as a Spice cake . I've updated a little, and my 8.5 x 10.5" pan is perfect. You can make it into 2 round layers, or a 9 x 12 … Continue reading Mom’s Salad Dressing Chocolate Cake
I found a recipe for a meatball dinner many years ago, and have modified it over time to meet the preferences of my family. It's comfort food for sure, and makes the house smell terrific. It's a good weekend night meal, which you can make in advance and either refrigerate or freeze. It's almost a … Continue reading Easy Weeknight Meatball Casserole
Beef stew was a favorite thing in our family growing up. It took a little meat, usually something that needed a long cooking time to make it tender, a cheap cut of beef. Or whatever my mother had left int the freezer from a slaughtered cow. Daddy had a specific way to eat it - … Continue reading How to Make The Great Fox Pines Beef Stew