A recipe to change Brussels into breakfast: Brussels sprouts with bacon, chopped as a hash and topped with eggs. Pin It 2012: The Year of the Egg. I like the idea of a one-skillet meal, but we don’t often have leftover potatoes. In a year, I’m going to guess that we average a good 20 pounds of potatoes for the six of us, which isn’t really much at all. That breaks down into something like one large batch of potato leek soup, colcannon twice, and some baked variety two to three... more

Mini berry hand pies are popped right on a stick for a fun baby shower treat and the secrets of kettle corn that rivals what you find at the fair. Pin It “What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice And everything nice, That’s what little girls are made of.” Sugar and plenty of spice, in my case. My husband says it’s my own spice that causes our girls to be so spicy, but regardless, every time I hear that song I wonder if the person writing it did not have much behind-closed-doors... more

A recipe on how to make easy creamy-style biscuits and sausage gravy for a quick and easy breakfast or breakfast for dinner. Pin It Let me begin by telling you that there is nothing remotely light about this recipe. This is stick-to-your-ribs food. It’s the type of meal you eat when the last possible day in February starts with an ice and snow storm. It is destined for lazy Saturdays when you actually feel like cooking just a bit or evening meals when you’re short on time but ravenous... more

A Mediterranean-style rice bake with marinated artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomato and goat cheese is just the thing for those end-of-winter days. Pin It We live in meat-and-potatoes country. My husband grew up on it, and my family is guilty of it as well. Still, despite our upbringing, my husband and I don’t often fall back on the food of our childhood dinner tables. Instead, we choose to round out meals in a more eclectic fashion, often opting for alternative carbohydrates. More often than... more

How to make crisp and evenly cooked bacon in the oven without all the grease splatters and mess of frying it on the stove. Pin It Bacon. Have you ever noticed that bacon has the ability to instantly trigger a response in your brain? Its salty goodness reaches to the recesses of your mind, and you are transported to a time other than the one you’re in. My personal bacon memory sends me back to six years old. I’m sitting in my grandma’s kitchen at the breakfast bar, knees tucked... more

Cinnamon meringue is piped into a tart-shaped pavlova shell, baked and filled with a dark chocolate mousse and then topped with cinnamon whipped cream. An elegant Valentine’s Day dessert or special treat. Pin It Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. I’m not planning anything. My husband and I have been together for nine years. We’ve laughed, cried, yelled, and made up more times than I care to remember. We have held hands, worried and stood silently in hospitals together. Dreams have... more

These tiny buffalo chicken dip bites have just the right amount cream cheese, blue cheese, chicken and hot sauce all in a little phyllo pocket and ready to pop in your mouth, fuss free, on Super Bowl Sunday. My mind has felt a bit cluttered lately. I suppose it is because there are plenty of things I should be doing and many more that I have yet to do. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but my mind seems to be focused on the other things that I rather *want* to do instead. Confession: I have... more