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In: In The Kitchen

Warm summer days are finally here bringing the bounty of your garden with them.  Here is a delicious alternative to the usual green salad.  Colorful, tasty and easy to make, they also add a stunning presentation to your buffet table. Stuffed Tomatoes Take fresh, firm tomatoes and cut the pulp from them with a sharp knife, scoop it out with a spoon.  Mix together chopped cucumber, cabbage, bell pepper, celery, onion to taste, some of the tomato pulp and salt (I like to use pink Himalayan or sea salt).  Fill the tomatoes with this mixture and garnish with a small dollop of mayonnaise.  Served on aRead More →

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In: In The Kitchen

Before Brad and I moved to Idaho we lived in a small community outside of Yakima.  There is a little community church there and the Pastor’s wife was just the sweetest lady.  Kaye was kind enough to share this recipe, I think you’ll like them as much as we do. Kaye’s Macaroon Cookie Bars Crust: 1 box Devil’s Food cake mix or the dry ingredients of your favorite recipe 1/2 c. butter, softened 1 egg Pre-heat oven to 350°, grease and flour a 9 x 13 pan.  In a large bowl combine crust ingredients on low speed until well combined, mixture will be crumbly.  PressRead More →

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In: In The Garden

Our unusually wet spring and mild temperatures have created the perfect environment for many garden pests.  My biggest battle is with big holes eaten in my rose buds and the leaves of my hollyhocks are riddled with holes.  I always have some kind of bug hanging around but usually a blast with the water hose takes care of most of them.  My preferred method of treatment is dousing my plants with soapy water.  This usually takes care of the majority of pests but as much as I hate to, I’m thinking it may be time to resort to some insecticide.  The problem I encounter with insecticidesRead More →

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In: In The Kitchen

Poppy Seed Bread is a family favorite and has been a holiday tradition for as long as I remember.   We have it every Christmas morning, or when the mood strikes.  I like it warm with butter, oh my gosh it’s good.  It’s so good my sister is even having it made into her wedding cake!  The recipe calls for chopped nuts, I think pecans are best however, my son doesn’t like nuts so for the last 17 years I’ve been leaving them out.  This recipe came from my Grandma Sarah, she was a wonderful cook. Poppy Seed Bread 1 box yellow cake mix 1 small box instantRead More →

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In: In The Garden, Reflections, Thoughts and Ideas

The calendar may say June, but Mother Nature still has Northern Idaho stuck in spring.  Or, maybe it’s fall already, I hope not!  It’s a toasty 56° and cloudy right now.  We have a short growing season up here anyway, I’m worried if we’ll get much to harvest.  One weather forecast shows back to normal temperatures in the 80’s for next week, but then right back in to the 60’s and 70’s the following week.  On the good side, it’s keeping my water bill down! By the calendar, time to prune the lilacs is quickly coming to an end, but they are still flowering so hopefully I won’t miss theRead More →

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In: In The Kitchen

I am a huge fan of anything lemon; lemon chicken, lemon cookies, lemon cake, lemon meringue pie, lemonade, lemon drops and especially lemon bars.  There’s just something about them that reminds me of summer.  Boxed lemon bar mixes are great…but…homemade is so much better and is just as quick to make plus there are no artificial colors.  I like to switch it up sometimes and use lime instead of lemon, they are so yummy too. Lemon Bars 1 c. softened butter 1/2 c. powdered sugar 2 c. flour Mix together, a pastry cutter or clean hands work great for this.  Press into a greased 9Read More →