A Proverbs 31 Kind of Day

I'm all about seasons, but Summer has worn on my last nerve. As the temperatures seemed to be showing signs of lowering, I begin thinking about soup.   It kind of drives me crazy to hear, "Soup is just so hot." Well -- I kind of laugh because I'm thinking most  meals are hot and it doesn't keep me from eating them during the Summer months.   For me, though, soup is a comfort food. Usually not heavy, but certainly filling. I get a ton of daily emails with recipes and so many of them I just ignore. But a few weeks ago I received an email with a subject line of "Five Easy Soups." Of course, I took a peak and I liked what I saw! Not only were there five easy soups, but I believe all of the soups had only five ingredients. Sometimes, that can leave you with a bland recipe, but I have high hopes for these soups listed! One of the recipes was for this curry soup. Now!  Before you say, "I don't like curry," I sa...

The other day, while visiting with friends over dinner, I noticed my dish had delicious tomatoes tossed in. When I read the menu, it said, "Roasted tomatoes." I've done roasted tomatoes before, but they never turned out like what was having that evening. When my girl cherub and I were working on dinner the other night, I thought I would try for the roasted tomatoes again. The difference between the restaurant and what I had done in the past was simple. I always tossed the tomatoes, whole, with seasoning and roasted. While I do like them this way, what it causes the tomato to do is burst open. Which is fine. Except that affects the texture of the tomato. This time, we made one simple change. We cut the tomatoes in half. Yes, it was a lot of cutting, because all I had where cute little cherub tomatoes. But with two of us cutting, we did the entire pint lickety-split! We loved the end product! Matter of fact, we wished we had done more. ...

I have about two weeks were everyone is home at the same time! My girl cherub is in school, finishing up her finals. My boy cherub is back home from college, before going to his next assignment. Of course, my Mr. is here.  With everyone around the table, our dinners are a little more balanced. By that, I mean we typically have a protein and two vegetables. I must admit, it is kind of nice to have meal balance! Our entire family loves roasted asparagus. When I buy it, I always have the thought of, "will this be enough." It always is, but there is never any leftovers. The other night, I took a few ingredients I had on hand and made a new asparagus recipe. For those of you who are ultra observant, you'll see it is chopped mixed nuts on the asparagus. Even though the recipe title says walnuts. I thought I had walnuts. But I didn't. However, I did have mixed nuts. So that's what I used. Remember, baking is a science but cooking ...

There are so many good thoughts running through my mind. Pasta! Fresh pasta! Gluten free pasta! YES!!  Five years of being gluten free and having marginal pasta, this was a win! Thank you, Aldi! While shopping at Aldi, I found a FRESH, GLUTEN FREE pasta! Can you even believe it? Me either! I almost didn't care what it tasted like, I was just thrilled to be able to buy fresh pasta. OK -- so I did care what it tasted like.  I kind of over-exaggerated that point. The day Mr. and I were shopping, and I spied this -- I grabbed a few and texted my friend, Sheila. Sheila is a great hostess.  It was during a soirees that my girl cherub had Ms. Sheila's Alfredo sauce. That was several years ago, but I remember my girl cherub raving about it. As you know, I do not really care for pasta. I mean, it's ok. But the Mr. and two cherubs -- they L.O.V.E pasta. The kind of love that never gets tired of having pasta as a meal option. But as for ...

I really do love to decorate. Nope!  That's not true! I love my house to look cute, but I do not like what it takes to get it to that level. I do not have "the eye" to decorate. I know what I like, and I certainly know what I do not like. But I do not have the knack of decorating. My mom does. She didn't pass that gene to me. There are certainly other genes she shared that I'd gladly trade for the decorating gene! My mom has this great eye -- can take a little of this, and a little of that, and put this here, and put that there, and poof!  Everything looks great! I either have to ask her for help or take pictures at stores of things I like. Which means I then need the stuff they're showing! On a trip to Waco, my boy cherub took us to a fun new store, where I took lots of pics! Imagine my delight when I opened a package from him that had just what I needed! 13 little birds to "nest" on my dining room table...

When I was growing up, we called it a "meat and cheese tray."  Heck, even know, that's what it's typically called! You know, where you order a meat and cheese tray and there is a variety of meats, cheeses, and condiments, garnished with fruit? Where I live, there is a local store that does a beautiful job at making these trays. But what is growing in popularity are "Charcuterie Boards." Charcuterie; a French word, pronounced, "shar - coot - a- re"   I mean . . . sort of! What I love about a Charcuterie Board is the simplicity. I mean . . .sort of! So, if you have been to a Brazilian steakhouse, chances are you have enjoyed a very large Charcuterie Board. It's like a dissembled salad bar. Lovely cheeses. Cooked meats, served cold. Condiments. Spreads. Roasted or grilled vegetables, served cold. All the while, everything looks delightful and artisanal. After having dinner one night at this sort of steakhouse, ...

I grew up with my mom making meatloaf. I'd call it "homemade" meatloaf. What I have learned as I have grown up, everyone has "their" favorite meatloaf and nobody really eats meatloaf made by other people. It's kind of a weird thing to me, but at the same time, I totally understand it. Think about it . . . when you're having company over, do you ever think, "I'll make meatloaf." Nope. I don't! When you're taking a meal to someone recovering from an illness or surgery, do you ever think, "I bet they'll love to have a pan of my meatloaf." Nope. Me either! Meatloaf is incredibly individual, and even familial. My mom's recipe that she gave me is "hers." But truthfully, it's really the recipe from the back of the seasoning packet. Being gluten free has caused some changes in my cooking. One is meatloaf. While I have found gluten free packages of meatloaf sea...

My sweet girl cherub. Her birthday was a month ago. But we finally had time to celebrate with friends this month. Well, one month from the day, exactly! She's been a great sport about the delay. She created a plan and we were ready  . . . but then I broke my foot. Which changed the plan. Being her sweet self, she was happy with the change of plans. The girls learned to use almond bark to make different treats. Actually, I keep almond bark and simple ingredients on hand. It's super easy if you need to make something for kids coming over to the house. Or if you're having a quick gathering, and you want "a little something sweet." What about saying, "thank you" to someone who's been helpful to you? A treat bag of bark is an easy homemade gift that people love! The girls picked a partner and each "team" made a different bark. They all turned out great! The one I really wanted someone to try, didn't get ...

Lately, the Mr. and my girl cherub are having to pick up a little more of the chores around the house. OK -- so maybe all of the chores! Cooking, cleaning, laundry, packing lunches. Everything! Over the weekend, I fell and broke my foot. It didn't sound like it was any big deal with the doctor at the ER, but my Monday follow up visit shed a wee little different light on the situation. So I'm still cooking . . .from the living room. The Mr. says, "ok, what's next?" and I tell him what to do with the recipe. It's been kind of interesting, but everything, so far, has turned out just great! After dinner the other night, he kept asking if there was something he could make. I couldn't think of anything simple, but I dreamed up this little treat that I knew would be easy. This little gem of a treat has me thinking about all the things that can be created with almond bark! The girl cherub made brownie bites for a school project tom...