It’s Wednesday, and I’m having a hard time grasping the concept that I have two full days of work ahead of me before the weekend. Two. Full. Days. Granted, I work from this very seat I’m sitting in now and much of it is done before I shower or change out of my pajamas. With Kola Nut having his last day of preschool Tuesday, the list of possible reasons for showering before 2:00 pm was just slashed in half. Still, I work. What do you do when Hump Day’s “hump”... more

It’s going to be a long week waiting for the holiday weekend that’s coming. Like waiting for water to boil, watching it will make it seem longer, and I don’t know that I can help myself from counting the seconds. This weekend went by altogether too quickly, and I’m anxious to get a new one underway, even before today is over. Yep. I’m doomed. I’ve been spending a lot of time in my gardens (and showcasing random flowers here), and Ole’s been working on... more

I’m on a mission to fulfill a Birthday Cake Quest. Niki is looking for a birthday cake for a special little girl, who happens to be turning one towards the end of the month. There is a large spot carved out in each of the hearts of the kids here at our house for her. In fact, Kidney Bean’s first night of babysitting happened at her house. Looking to avoid the usual food-dye-laden birthday cakes, she is in search of something more on the natural side of things. My mission is to construct... more

I’ve been wanting to buy fingerling potatoes for a while, and they have finally appeared on my local supermarket’s shelves. I am a big fan of the thin-skinned new potatoes, and fingerlings have a similar skin. However, these potatoes are fully mature when harvested and have a different flavor than new potatoes. These made their appearance served alongside the bacon-wrapped tenderloin and grilled asparagus. It was an easy meal to put together, and I spent the downtime in the grass... more

Seeing as how my prior post about bacon wrapped tenderloin medallions glazed over a few steps, I will attempt to fill in these gaps for you.    Tenderloin went on sale again and this time for $4.99/lb – what a steal!  So, even though I had some of these goodies already prepared and waiting in the freezer, I decided to make some more.  The deal was just too good to pass up.  So this time around I was able to take more pictures to better illustrate the process of preparing these carnivorous... more

Have you tried to buy salt lately? The aisle has been overrun by grinders, Mediterranean sea salt, Celtic salt, pink Himalayan salt, kosher salt, the familiar iodized and many others. Cooking shows and recipe books specify “kosher salt” and “sea salt,” and there are even restaurants focused around one specific type of salt. How do you know which salt to use when in your everyday cooking? We typically have three varieties of salt in our house for cooking purposes: iodized... more

I’m looking to get back into a routine with meals this week. Last week was anything but routine; therefore, the “menu” was revised slightly drastically. It resulted in an impromptu trip to a restaurant where someone other than me did the dishes. That alone was worth it that day, and we made it through the meal without a single grimace or hint of a whine from the kids. We also haven’t been to the grocery store, leaving the supermarket aisles free of the chaos that ensues... more