Sentimental favorites are definitely related to people and foods we loved in childhood! Molasses cookies aren’t something I grew up on. My former mother-in-law was raised in The Depression, and lived with rationing due to World War 2. Having lived on a farm in the early days, she learned thrift from her mom, and shared a particular memory about molasses cookies. Her mom saved chicken fat and rendered it to use in place of “oleo” or butter when baking molasses cookies. Only one egg and one cup of sugar, and less butter make this frugal recipe delicious! Sorghum can also be substituted for molasses, but it’s sweeter, so use less sugar.

It’s summer, so zucchini is everywhere! I’ve shared plenty of recipes and can’t get enough of it. Every year, our garden is the exception to the rule of overabundance of zucchini. I love the kidding around about leaving zucchini on a neighbor’s porch… I sure wish someone would! If the garden disappoints, I run the roads for free and cheap zucchini. Sometimes, I get a monster for 30 cents!

Watermelon is the ultimate summer fruit. Not only is it refreshing, watermelon has an abundance of healthy electrolytes to replenish hydration lost in the summer heat. Because watermelon has such a high water content, a serving is considerably low for fruit yet high in nutrients like potassium, lycopene, and citrulline, helping with blood pressure, muscle soreness, and even insulin sensitivity. This inventive take on watermelon will elevate any summer gathering.

I wanted a simple but fancy looking kind of strudel-ish, sorta Danish-ish coffee cake for a Mother’s Day treat, and I started looking quite a bit ahead for things I might “practice” on before the big day. I am that annoying cook/baker who usually has puff pastry in the freezer, ricotta in the fridge, and Demerara sugar in the cupboard. I will have frozen fruit, if not fresh, waiting for a recipe, as well.

When I saw this recipe on https://cookingwithayeh.com/lemon-garlic-pasta/, I knew I’d make it my own. And I did! It had elements of things I already loved, like Artichokes French, or my family’s standard fare, Macaroni with Garlic.

The recipe is easy, and with my changes, remains simple and quick. You can have it on the table in 15 minutes from start to finish. I didn’t find this to have a “lovely creamy silky sauce,” as the recipe promised. It was delicious, and worth making. I like mine soupy, Honey likes his more dry. I put the extra pasta water on my own dish.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day. A delicious fudge brownie! If you like coconut and nuts, add the optional ingredients to make this dessert even more decadent.

I defrosted boneless skinless chicken thighs on a day when we had a full house and a scheduled evening. Searching the fridge for inspiration and “must-goes” led to pulling out a green pepper, some Romaine lettuce, the two started containers of sour cream, a tomato, an avocado, a lime, and some not-yet-hard flour tortillas. From the pantry, I grabbed an onion, and with a clove of garlic, I was off.

My family will mostly be together for Christmas at my house this year! In honor of the vegans, I will use plant-based ingredients to replace dairy in this recipe, shared by my daughter.

Honey and I often enjoy cinnamon rolls on weekends, but we try to keep the batches small. Not this time! I will double this, because I want at least a 13x9” pan of them. I usually use yeast, so this is a bit out of my comfort zone!

I’m used to rolling, then cutting, not the other way around, too. Either way, yum! We’re going to have these on Christmas morning, I may make ahead!

My beloved former Mother-in-Love used to make a cranberry relish I loved, with apples, celery, walnuts, cranberries, oranges and gelatin. I adored it. Over time, I dropped out the gelatin because of the vegans in my family. Then, other things fell out.

Now it’s morphed into something unrecognizable as the original recipe. I make it over and over during the season and nearly eat it all up before it gets to the table!

This delightful brunch dish is perfect for a holiday weekend. It is easy to blend up the batter while the oven and cooking dish are heating up. Adding the batter to the hot dish starts the cooking quickly and helps it rise. While sometimes called a German or Dutch (after a German word “Deutsch”) pancake, this dish is similar to a Yorkshire pudding. Here in America it is served as a breakfast dish with powdered sugar, syrup and maybe berries or other fruit. In England, Yorkshire pudding is a similar dish with the same core ingredients: egg, flour, milk. Yorkshire pudding was often served with thick gravy as a first course, as the meat drippings were used to grease the pan. This is my BRUNCH version of this dish which has sliced cinnamon apples, provolone cheese and crumbled sausage. Of course add any variety of ingredients you have on hand (banana slices and peanut butter) or flavors your family loves (green chili and cheddar cheese), to make this a holiday brunch favorite for your bunch.

Honey and I wanted a nice dinner, so we asked Siri to direct us to a Chinese restaurant we hadn’t been to before. We plugged it into the GPS and off we went, discussing our hopes for good Rangoons and hot and sour soup. After a 25 minute drive, we arrived, practically salivating; hoping for ginger and garlic flavors!

You guessed it! “Please call ahead, take-out only.”

What a blessing to discover a Mexican restaurant right next door!

The best revelation was Potato Flautas! I already dream of flautas, but now they have joined the ranks of OMG foods! Enjoy!

A "Paleo" diet is supposed to resemble what our human ancestors ate thousands of years ago during the paleolithic period, also known as the Stone Age. There are many versions of the paleo diet. Still, the foods are generally less processed, avoiding sugars, sugary empty calorie drinks, all grains, most dairy cow products, artificial sweeteners and colors, legumes, industrial seed oils including canola, margarine, shortening like Crisco, etc.

For thousands of years, traditional eating patterns in many cultures have featured a plethora of ingredients that give people a variety of colorful food, nutrients, vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants. The phrase “eat the rainbow” is a statement to encourage people to embrace and diversify their diet. Some vegetables yield the most nutrition when eaten raw; however, some vegetables, like carrots, apples, and cabbage, release nutrients with cooked. Cooked apples are a good source of vitamin C, cooked carrots vitamin A, and cooked red cabbage vitamin K, folate, potassium, and magnesium. Plus, all these plant foods are excellent sources of digestible fiber. With that being said, the “red cabbage” in this dish will give it a beautiful purple color.

I found a Frito Skillet Taco recipe online. As you know by now, a recipe is merely a suggestion. I’ve been ruminating.

This recipe called for salsa, but I omitted it. It called for water—I substituted tomato sauce. It said to put half the Fritos in with the meat. I was repulsed at the thought of soggy Fritos! The black beans were my addition, and I expect the meat could be replaced by refried beans, don’t you think? I used True Lime with Garlic. It shakes right into the recipe like it belongs there… like Adobo might, or a dash of hot sauce. I’d put cilantro in the pan while it’s cooking.

Who doesn’t love grilled meats and veggies? We love to move the cooking outside during summer’s heat. I am a big fan of cold salads, but even more I love a great marinade for steak, pork, or chicken.

I’m a failed vegetarian, but that’s a subject for another time. Lately, amongst all the things I’m supposed to be “giving up” I’m happy to say cider vinegar is not on the list.

When Laurie and John Copeland visited us at the end of June, I made stuffed artichokes, Coleslaw, and marinated steaks. Laurie asked me if I had shared these recipes with Joyopolis. I thought to myself, “They’re so everyday, I never think about it.”

My husband and I are veterans of Farmers Markets and craft shows. We have been vending for over 12 years now. In that time, we’ve seen our share of home-crafted jellies and jams. After my husband fell in love with jalapeño jelly, I had to add it to my repertoire. One of our good friends kept us supplied until she quit vending. So I learned…and then we forgot about it for a while.

June 2022 marks some milestone dates. I will be turning 60, and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of England will celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. The Platinum Jubilee marks the 70th anniversary of The Queen's accession to the throne, way back in 1952, before I was even born. This is the first time any British monarch has reached this historic milestone. When she was merely 25 years old, Princess Elizabeth became queen and just turned 95 on April 21st.

In a family of vegans, I sometimes like to see if I can veganize a recipe without losing something I’m used to tasting. Since portobellos are so meaty, it’s not usually a problem. The original recipe for this was a TikTok and made with shaved beef; not a particular favorite. I used Italian sausage, but it’s not mandatory. There are several plant-based sausages out there if you want the flavor without the meat.

Oh, heavens, it’s after the holidays and we’re probably cookie’d out! I’m trying to be…but I’m not sure if that’s possible. I had two of my childcare guys (they graduated, but we had a special gathering for them) over to celebrate their December and January birthdays. They are cookie monsters for sure, and not as big fans of frosting as their little sisters!

In the morning before Joyopolis Hostess Laurie Copeland and her beloved, John, came to visit, I was out in the yard picking raspberries. We had an abundance, so I went into the kitchen and threw this together. Once Laurie and John were here, I threw together the frosting, and let Laurie and my husband Ray (aka Honey) do the honors of frosting the cake. They laid it on thickly, and it was wonderful.