Baked Feta with Tomatoes

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We've just returned from a glorious family get together with all my brothers at my parents cabin in Bear Lake UT.  Awesome is the best word to describe it!  We had the entire beach to ourselves for 2 days, and Bear Lake was perfectly calm for us the entire 2 days.  A family reunion miracle:)  We even had 23 people in the middle of the lake for the "Family Swim" as we like to call it.  Everyone jumps into the Blue Raspberry Gatorade colored water, ... ...continue reading

Summer Salsa

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So this doesn't have to be just a summer salsa.  It's actually really tasty any time of the year, but it just happens to be Summer and I used fresh corn on the cob so I'm callin' it Summer Salsa.  I am struggling to cook lately.  We have eaten waffles, pancakes, egg on toast, and cereal way to many nights since school got out.  I loose the cooking bug this time of year.  If I can't just throw it together I don't want to make it.  I don't want to ... ...continue reading

Hum Hum Hum Hummus! Yum!

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It didn't even make it to a serving bowl.  We ate it straight from the buzzer!My first introduction to hummus was a few years ago when our family won the Cooking With Your Kids Contest with the Food Network.  One of the nights we were in NYC we were able to prepare dinner with all 4 of the  families who won, and Emeril.  Each family had a station in the Food Network kitchen and made a different component of the dinner.  Our family made a dessert ... ...continue reading

Cranberry Pepper Jelly

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This was a beautiful appetizer my fabulous niece Ashley made for the holidays this year.  I love Pepper Jelly in general, and I have many a neighbor who make a beautiful batch every summer.  It's delicious draped over a block of cream cheese and then dipped into with a Wheat Thin.  This recipe had something a little different about it.  It was the prettiest pepper jelly I've ever seen.  Beautiful!  Most pepper jelly's rely on food coloring to ... ...continue reading

Should I Call Them Spring or Winter Wraps?

They're actually called Vietnamese Salad Rolls, Thai Spring Wraps, or Summer Rolls but maybe I'll just call them Winter Wraps since it seems to be winter around here. I think we've received close to a foot of new snow. What an April Fools. A few weeks ago James and I attended a convention for Great Harvest in Napa Valley. It is a beautiful place even if you don't drink, but a favorite part of the trip was being able to take a cooking class ... ...continue reading

New Year

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So what do you do on New Years? I love staying home with the kids, the same New Years dinner, cold shrimp, and roast beast, Speed (the card game, not the drugs), bacon wrapped water chestnuts, drinking nasty apple juice at midnight, kissing James and all my children at midnight, a cold winter walk in the morning after my long winter's nap, and finally taking pictures of everyone as they sled down the 1.1 mile hill. Traditions! Really- the ... ...continue reading

Balls! Cheeseball’s That Is

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I am so sorry. I just couldn't help myself on that title. I just had to do it and I know you all got a little chuckle, no matter how dainty and refined you may act. Deep down inside we all like a little sassy talk. I think it's healthy. Maybe I'm just justifying my vulgar side, but if I died tomorrow you would miss that about me. I'm sure of it! (I have to tell J that all the time so he remembers I'm a one of a kind, kind of gal!)I love ... ...continue reading

These Are Some Hot Buff Chicks, Dip

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Running/canning gals.Beef ready for the steam table. Look at that equipment. It's old and I'm amazed it still works.Cappuccino girl. (Just teasing Jill!)The second annual running girls Sat. outing at the Preston Cannery is always such a treat. Ok, maybe not a lovely treat, but after you get home with all your goods the time is always well spent. Our adventure started at 4:20am a few Sat's. ago as we loaded our 300 lbs. of raw chicken into the ... ...continue reading