When I look at my bookshelf of cookbooks, I often think of a lady I never got the opportunity to meet in person but whom I feel connected to through a very sweet gift: Merna Snay. Merna, a former resident of the Mount Hope and Haven area, was a prolific cook—and by all reports, a …
Continue reading “Vintage crunch recipe gets two ‘plums’ up”
One of my favorite forums or “sub-reddits” on the social media site Reddit is called “Breadit.” Anyone who has read this column for any length of time probably assumes I like it for the pun (and, yeah, I totally do), but I also adore seeing all the amazing baked goods people create and share with …
Continue reading “Flake’ it ’til you make it with easy crescent roll bread”
The National Pecan Shellers Association has a wealth of knowledge about pecans on its website. One of the items that interested me the most is that the pecan tree is the only major nut tree native to North America. I thought that was strange, because I know quite a few nuts who were born here, …
Continue reading “Raise the bar with a dangerously easy pecan dessert”
One of my duties as a speech and debate coach over the years was hosting weekend tournaments. And part of that duty was organizing a concession stand to feed all of the students who came. That meant buying what felt like a heinous amount of hot dogs, chips and candy, along with tons of pop …
Continue reading “Make a pie that feels like it’s payday every day”
I find that the toughest time of year to make desserts is summer. If it’s a particularly good recipe, I’m willing to heat up my kitchen by using my oven, but my problem is how the dessert will travel with the heat. And if the event I’m taking my dessert to happens to be outdoors, …
Continue reading “In July, heat-proof desserts are a ‘pine’ of the times”
I’ve struggled over the years with the definition of coffeecake. Generally speaking, it’s cake that is meant to be enjoyed with coffee and doesn’t actually contain any. But then I run into a recipe like I made for this week, which is a coffee cake—a cake that includes coffee. We hosted an event at the …
Continue reading “Every night is date night with this great coffee cake”
When I was a teacher, I often said that I wished I could have a day or so to audit my colleagues’ classes, just to get a feel for their style and methods. I had a bucket list of people I would have loved to sit in on to learn some tricks of the trade. …
Continue reading “This is a really ‘yammy’ way to eat sweet potatoes”
There is a museum in Key West, Florida, that claims to house a haunted doll named Robert. According to the museum’s website, thousands of people take the trip to see this supposedly haunted toy every year. Part of the local legend is that being disrespectful to the doll can lead to bad luck, which is …
Continue reading “The devil’s in the details for this addictive snack mix”
A few weeks ago, when the county fair carnival was in town, Joey and I decided to host our 6-year-old niece for a sleepover. Well, I should say I decided to host her, and Joey was allowed to participate as the fun uncle who was then relegated to sleeping in the guest room with the …
Continue reading “Let a youngster chip in on making these yummy bars”
If you’ve been following my raspberry series the last few weeks, you know that I went on a mission to see if I could make raspberry dishes that my husband, Joey, (a known raspberry hater) would enjoy. The other two recipes I tried received a thumbs up from him, but I wanted to see if …
Continue reading “Guests will pound the table for more of this cake”
