This is an old-fashioned cake that is just right for a chilly autumn evening or weekend dessert. It goes together pretty quickly, all in one saucepan, and the fragrance it will bring to your house–amazing! As I’ve noted before, I like to keep orange juice concentrate in the freezer for recipes like this. The…

Many years ago I found a recipe for some simple applesauce bars that were pretty basic. Adding dried apricots and almonds adds a special burst of flavor.  The topping is a little messy, but that never seems to keep these cookies from being perenially popular. Cornflakes are an inexpensive way to stretch the crunch of…

There has been a lot of well-deserved attention lately to the amount of food wasted in the US, from the farm fields all the way to grocery stores, restaurants, and our own homes. With this in mind, I started considering some of the ways that I have found uses for relatively common leftovers. When I…

I have fought a losing battle with the squirrels in my yard this year. I planted two (sour) cherry and two plum trees a few years ago, and this year was the first that I had a really nice amount of fruit growing and prospering. Until, that is, the fruit began to ripen. Then, in…

While I had the oven heating for an Apple Raspberry Crisp, I thought it would be a good time to use up some bananas browning a little too rapidly on the counter. Since I also had some mayonnaise in the refrigerator, it was a good time to do some more experimenting with that interesting ingredient….

Two reasons for posting this recipe today:  the berries and the cereal. First, the Grapenuts.  Having gotten a very good price on a  humongous box of Grapenuts (typical Costco sizing!), I have been finding new uses for this old-fashioned cereal. One of the things that has always drawn me to Grapenuts is the fact that…

Some time ago, I posted a recipe for a carrot salad that is a refreshingly different side, perfect for summer potlucks and picnics. You can find it here:  https://frugalfastfun.blogspot.com/2012/03/piquant-carrot-salad.html One thing I didn’t note in that earlier post is an extra benefit of the salad. When I have served it for the last time, there…

After the past several years, more and more grocery stores and bakeries have been selling “artisan bread.” Do a search for “artisan bread cookbook” and you will get over 300,000 Google entries. Do the same at Amazon, and you’ll get more than 3,000 books available with artisan bread in the title. So what exactly is…

Is there anything better for dessert than a tray of fresh fruits of the season? Especially now, when we have berries and melons of many colors to spread out on the table. Still,  there are times when just a little something is nice to serve with the fruit tray, and the cookies I made today…

This is an old, old recipe from my kids’ Great Grandma, passed down and modified to slightly more modern measurements and instructions. “Put in a buttered coffee cake pan?” What size is that? And was a “cup” really a measuring cup, or just the closest coffee cup you could find? I’ve tested this a few…