David and I are invited to attend a wedding reception of mutual friends this evening at Cousin Cyndi’s house. I always chip in for the festivities by bringing a dish. While shopping at our local market for the veggie and fruit trays I promised to bring, I noticed that there were strawberry cake mixes displayed throughout the store. I suppose the displays were set up for Memorial Day and didn’t sell out, or maybe just a bit early for the July 4th holiday. Either way, it reminded me that not long ago Cousin Jennifer mentioned making strawberry brownies for a dinner she was hosting. I had never heard of strawberry brownies, but they sounded delicious. Yesterday I made the...
For some reason, when I woke up this morning, I began thinking about spring and summer and the wonderful weather ahead. It is not cold here today, but it isn’t warm either and there is a soft rain falling with a few rumbles of thunder that let us know that soon the temperatures will remain warm and sunny. The buttercups, tulips, and irises are in glorious full-bloom with the daylilies and daisies soon to follow. It is a magical time of renewal with the promise of better days ahead. When I was a kid, springtime was the time of year when everyone got their yards in shape. There was also excitement in the air for the spring and summer...
Fruit flavored popsicles were a treat for us as kids. They were always bright red or orange and later blue and had two sticks. If you wanted to share one, you could easily break it down the middle because each side had its own stick. Occasionally, Mom would let me ride my bike to the little quick stop store down the street to buy one for me and one for her. The trick was getting back home before they melted. One day Mom came across a recipe to make these glorious popsicles at home. She bought a set of molds a few days later and we were on our way to having popsicles on demand. The recipe called for...
Today is day two of complete snow coverage. David and I are again housebound. Since we have leftovers from yesterday’s lunch for lunch today, I think it’s time to make a dessert. Nothing calls for chocolate more than temps in the teens and snow everywhere. Usually, I go for hot chocolate on days like this, but today I am thinking more about cookies. Still armed with my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I searched for something that fit with my dwindling pantry ingredients. Sugar cookies fit the bill. Not regular sugar cookies, we need chocolate sugar cookies, so I adapted the recipe to suit our chocolate cravings. This new recipe was great because I could roll out the dough...
Snow is a big deal here in the Memphis area. When snow is in the forecast, practically everything comes to a halt. Schools and many businesses close, some churches cancel services, and there is no bread or milk left on grocery store shelves. This all happens before the first flake falls. Once the snow hits, the local news takes over programming to bring us the latest in weather, traffic accidents, and road closings. We got about an inch of snow overnight, so today we are housebound and enjoying being lazy. It’s days like this that I love to get in the kitchen to whip up hearty meals that warm us through. My day got started with a photo...
