This Easter we drove to Aberdeen, SD, so we could see my extended family. We had lots of fun hanging out, going swimming in the hotel pool, and hunting for easter eggs. My favorite time though, was hanging out with my Grandma Eva. Towards the end of the visit, we got to take some pictures of her with most of her great-grandchildren. (All but the youngest, Hazel, were there. I can't wait till I get to cuddle Hazel too!)
Read morePeeps and Art.
She liked the yellow peeps, mostly, because yellow didn't seem as garish a color to put in your body as magenta or electric blue. Violet had cut a slit in the thin plastic wrapping around their box and let them sit on the counter for a few weeks. She stared at them now, willing herself to wait. They were her Easter morning tradition, having just one before church, after her usual breakfast of eggs and toast. Violet couldn't stand them fresh, all spongy and odd textured, but once they had sat open, aged a bit, their texture became like nougat and that, that she loved.
Read moreThe Best Oatmeal.
I have around 30ish recipes for oatmeal on this site. For someone who isn't a huge fan of a lot of breakfast foods, I like oatmeal. Most of those recipes are based off of a formula of one part oatmeal to one part water to one part milk. Guys, its wrong. As much as I can dress up a bowl of oatmeal with just about anything, (Lime wedges? Sure! PB&J? Delicious! Mascarpone cheese? Mercy.), the underlying bowl of oats should taste good on its own. Unfortunately, the one to one to one ratio just ends up with goop. Thick, rib-sticking, hearty, but goop, nonetheless.
Read moreFamily Dinner.
She was exhausted. Madeline had just gotten off a 12 hour shift, and she had another one starting at 8 am the next day, and all she wanted to do was kick off her shoes, grab some popcorn, and veg on the couch and watch a movie. Instead, she started chopping tomatoes for a salad. Her parents were coming for dinner tonight, staying the night on the way to her mother’s work conference another days drive further on.
Read moreSpring!
Spring is finally here (I think). I'm itching to put flowers in the ground, but we've still got a few nights ahead where it could freeze, so I'm holding off a bit longer. I decided to take Jonathan to the greenhouse down the street the other day though.
Read moreYogurt Biscuits.
I have a thing about buying ingredients I don't regularly use. When I'm reading through a new recipe, if it calls for an ingredient I don't normally have on hand, or regularly buy, I usually skip it. It has to sound really, really good for me to buy something I may not be able to use up. For some reason, one ingredient I've held off on buying for a long time was whole wheat pastry flour. A recipe that called for it was immediately glossed over. I bookmarked a few, just in case, but mostly I just moved on.
Read moreStories.
"Everybody has a story. What's yours?" Paul shook himself out of his reverie and looked at the young woman in the chair next to his. She had tubes running to one of her arms, and a bright yellow blanket across her lap. She smiled at him, waiting.
Read moreThe Promise of Flowers.
Gertie sat beside the window and gazed out at the crocuses pushing up through the snow. Every year she was grateful she had a front window, that she could watch her flowers. Her granddaughter Kate used to bring her flowers every Tuesday, on her walk home from school, but this year Kate was in high school, across town, and her visits had been less frequent. Still, Kate had planted the crocuses for her, a few years back, without Mr. Wallace's, the manager of the home, knowledge. He probably wouldn't have minded, but she loved that Kate was going to do it no matter what, because she knew how much Gertie missed her crocuses from home.
Read moreKitchen Basics: How to make stock.
Making stock always seemed to me to be one of those things that people did when they had an abundance of time, a greater abundance of skill, and a certain touch of fussiness to their cooking preferences. The first time I made it myself, I was shocked how easy making stock really was. It came out watery and a bit weaker than I expected, but I had made it all by myself, using things I would normally have thrown away. I've learned, since that time, how to make the stock rich and full of flavor.
Read moreMorning Notes.
She wandered down to the kitchen in her white fluffy slippers that he had given her ages ago. She couldn't stand them, not really, but she tolerated them for him. There was a cup of coffee there waiting for her, with a small scrap of paper just slightly underneath.
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