After being quite chilly and overcast all day, this evening turned warm enough that a salad seemed enough for dinner, but I had no tomatoes in the house. (That has been the hard part of giving over my garden this year to all the other things in my life. How can it be late summer…

Sometimes, it seems you can never do enough research! Yesterday’s post on bean cookery included the kinds of information that I have found to work best when preparing all kinds of beans. I knew of course that there were some differences of opinion on this whole topic. Yes, I knew that there are times when…

As we move into cooler weather, beans will become more and more a basis of soups, chili, etc. Keeping a supply of canned beans of all kinds is a nice last minute/emergency kind of thing to have in the cupboard, but preparing dried beans “from scratch” can be economical, healthier (much more control over sodium)…

One of the things I have not done as often as I’d like is to add photos to my blog entries. Sometimes I just haven’t remembered to take pictures of the dishes before they are eaten, but there is also the problem of taking shots that really show the food in its best light. An…

This is perfect for potlucks or a large family gathering, serving 8 to 10 (or more, at a potluck). It also reheats well so is a good recipe to make for a smaller family, providing lots of leftovers to tuck into the microwave. Remember that a slow cooker can be plugged in outside the kitchen…

My “ever-bearing” raspberries are well into their second crop, and I can barely keep up with the harvest this year. If you have access to a similar supply, this cake will make a wonderful dessert. Sorry, but those who have to buy raspberries will hardly find this a “frugal” recipe. When strawberries are next in…

For many years after our family developed a taste for all things Mexican, I was still buying canned refried beans, thinking this is one of those things that would be just too hard to make at home. What a mistake. These are among the easiest of all foods to make “from scratch,” especially if you…

Our Labor Day weekend weather was perfect for early autumn, with blue skies, a bit of crisp coolness in the air and breezes (that have been strengthening into full force winds this afternoon). Perfect weather both for eating out on the new deck and firing up the oven for the first home-baked bread in awhile….

Peaches and nectarines were on sale at Aldi for 19 cents each, averaging out to about 55 cents a pound, so it was time to try another jam without commercial pectin. Sekapps, a local orchard, had half bushel windfalls of the first of the season apples so I had a good supply of slightly underripe…