January 27th, 2022
We celebrated National Chocolate Cake Day by trying out a new recipe (thanks Rebecca!) for chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream - very chocolate-y and delicious. We used Shawna’s Mom’s cake stand (thanks Shawna!) for it - this is the first time it’s had an actual cake in it!
Recipe Here
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January 24th, 2022
Skippy Natural on a Ritz with homemade pomegranate jelly. Yum!
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January 23rd, 2022
We celebrated National Pie Day with Shepherd’s Pie for lunch while watching the Rams defeat the Buccaneers in a NFL playoff game (what a game!)
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December 4th, 2021
Laura made peanut butter cookies for us to enjoy, using her Aunt Shirley’s recipe from the “Swedes in the Kitchen” family cookbook that her cousin Heather put together several years ago.
The cookies are delicious and have a very delicate crunch. As you can see, this is a well-used cookbook - we also use Aunt Shirley’s Spritz Cookie recipe every Christmas.
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November 25th, 2021
We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal, and then enjoyed leftovers for a full week. The 14 lb turkey barely fit in the oven! Besides the turkey we had the classic green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and homemade cranberry sauce and rolls. The gravy was made in true family tradition while enjoying a glass of wine. We made a batch of dressing when the potatoes were finished. Turkey soup with homemade noodles made its yearly appearance too. We tried out a new way to eat leftover dressing - as an omelette! Our friend Nick turned us on to this idea and it’s very tasty - give it a try.
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October 29th, 2021
It’s International Champagne Day as well as National Chocolate Day. We’re celebrating!
(These chocolates are SOooo good thank you Helen)
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April 24th, 2021
We decided to use our sourdough starter to make dough to celebrate National Pigs in a Blanket Day. Laura mixed it up the day before, and tucked it into the fridge for a slow rise. Making the piggies was super easy with most of the work done ahead. We did a regular allover wrap, as well as a fancier cut and fanned out approach. The top of the dough was sprinkled with a little sea salt.
We used this recipe (cut in half) for the dough and it worked well. We used 5 Hebrew National hot dogs this time, but next time we’ll roll the dough thinner and make 7 or 8 with the same amount of dough.
https://keviniscooking.com/sourdough-hot-dog-wraps/
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April 4th, 2021
We tried out a new recipe for Easter Dinner - Lamb Stew. It starred a piece of boneless leg of lamb from Trader Joe’s, and after a little bit of chopping/sautéing of onions and potatoes it went into the oven for two hours of hands-off simmering. Very tasty, and the meat was super tender. Next time, we’ll add carrots.
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April 2nd, 2021
We pulled out all the stops to celebrate National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day - fresh loaf of bread, new jar of Skippy (creamy please), and a new jar of jelly (the classic grape). We enjoyed our sandwiches in classic school lunchbox style, with chips and fruit.
There’s nothing like the first scoop of peanut butter from the jar!
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March 14th, 2021
We celebrated Pi Day with homemade sourdough crust Pi themed pizza pie with garden fresh tomatoes and rings of onion and sliced olives. The toppings were all round to celebrate Pi. Unfortunately when the cheese melted, the Pi related handiwork also melted… it was still delicious though.
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March 3rd, 2021
We enjoyed a lazy rainy day breakfast with lots of goodies from the garden. Eggs and hash browns - both with bell peppers and onions (not from the garden), and from the garden… Potatoes and sugar snap peas, red jalapeños, and tomatoes (in the eggs). Very tasty!
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February 25th, 2021
We celebrated National Chili Day with a big bowl topped with cheese and corn chips. We took the easy road and opened a can of Hormel, but the toppings make it celebratory!
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February 24th, 2021
We recently saw an episode of “Visiting with Huell Howser” where he visited the Krüegermann Sauerkraut operation, a 5-generations-old family run business. This sauerkraut is truly fermented, with just cabbage, water, and salt in the ingredient list - no vinegar. A friend picked some up for us at Alpine Village (thanks Alan!) and we tried it out on hot dogs. It’s really tasty - a new favorite! Now we’re anxious to try their pickles too.
It also happened to be National Tortilla Chip Day, so we enjoyed our hot dogs and sauerkraut with a side of tortilla chips.
https://www.kcet.org/shows/visiting-huell-howser/episodes/sauerkraut
https://kruegermann.com/
https://alpinevillagecenter.com/german-market-2/
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January 3rd, 2021
When was the last time you enjoyed Chex Mix? We’ve been snacking on this treat - with Cheerios added - throughout the holidays. Yum!
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December 10th, 2020
We’re lucky to have fresh tomatoes still growing in the garden this December…..
…We enjoyed some of the latest ones in BLTs for lunch. Yum!
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December 9th, 2020
Winter Dendrobiums
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December 8th, 2020
Mother Nature was having fun with the last two bell peppers we bought….
…Each had a tiny bell pepper growing inside, complete with seeds inside the tiny ones.
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November 21st, 2020
It’s hard to believe that the garden has been going for over six months now. We’ve enjoyed all sorts of homegrown goodies, and have been able to share some of the bounty too. A couple of tomato plants are still producing, and the radishes and daikon are just finishing up.
Garlic and potatoes have grown from kitchen scraps
Now that it’s cooler, sugar snap peas (front) and sweet potato have been started. Hopefully we’ll have garden fresh veggies all year ‘round!
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November 21st, 2020
It must be root veggie season… our daikon is ripe, and Helen gave us some beautiful carrots from her garden. We enjoyed a tasty lunch of swordfish, rice pilaf, carrots, and daikon greens. Lunch always tastes better with homegrown veggies!
Here’s a closeup if our awesome meal.
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November 17th, 2020
Denny and Olivia brought back real Texas beef brisket (smoked by their son-in-law) to share. We enjoyed ours with rice pilaf and a side of sautéed daikon from the garden.
Thanks Denny & Olivia!
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