For many people, “pea soup” means a soup made with dried split peas, perhaps pureed into a thick creamy soup (like the kind in the old fashioned red and white can). However, Grandma Laack welcomed the early summer season with a fresh pea soup that is a lot lighter and a good dish for spring….

A close member of my family (who shall remain nameless for now!) says she always loved having spaghetti and (vegetarian) meat balls for dinner because that meant they would also have garlic bread, one of her favorite dishes. If your family enjoys garlic bread as much as this, you may have been tempted to pick…

Though it may be hard for some to believe, I ended up with an “extra” cake this week. Some changed plans for a dessert potluck meant that I had an unfrosted, plain from the box mix white cake, with no immediate purpose for it. Thinking it would make a good basis for a trifle, I…

Sometimes balancing budgets and time may seem to make really healthy family meals an impossible dream. However, here is a meal that used fresh foods on special and took hardly more time than waiting for a prepackaged microwave meal. I’ll give you the method used for this menu and then provide some alternatives that can…

That ham bone is starting to make you feel guilty every time you open the refrigerator. Look at all the meat that is still clinging to the bone; but it’s mostly in little pieces that are hard to think of ways to use it. And boiled eggs! Nobody in the family even wants to hear…

Rhubarb season has started early this year, so I had enough for some kind of coffeecake to take to Easter breakfast along with the hot cross buns. I was looking for something easy and quick and wanted to try a recipe without the support of strawberries or other fruit. Scrolling across the web, I found…

Perhaps you are looking for ways to use up all those boiled eggs. Or maybe you have been asked to bring an egg dish to an Easter brunch. First, some egg dishes you can still make for this year’s Easter breakfast or brunch: Vegetarian StrataBasic Frittatas, and MoreRaspberry French Toast and Savory Breakfast Eggs with…

Because we have long attended churches with Easter breakfasts, our family tradition has not really included a large Easter dinner. On the day before Easter, however, the house is almost always full of the fragrance of Hot Cross Buns. This is also the time for lots of egg dishes and early spring desserts. This year,…

When I freeze things like applesauce, pumpkin, etc., I put measured amounts in small sandwich bags, labeled with the contents, and then put like bags together in a larger, heavy freezer bag. Keeps things organized and easy to find….if you read the labels carefully. But reading labels doesn’t always seem necessary, especially when I am…