Sometimes, a slight adaptation of a recipe yields an entirely new end product.  Today, I wanted to use the now abundant apples and raspberries for a cake, but I also didn’t have a lot of time so would probably do better with cupcakes. I didn’t have exactly what I was looking for in my files,…

Lots of bananas that suddenly turned very ripe in the late, unexpected, September heat. A big box of Grape-Nuts still to be used. Walnuts at a better price than they have been for years. Time for Banana Grape-Nuts bread. This is a recipe I started making years ago, with just a few tweaks here and…

. 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…

Much of what I do in the kitchen depends on seasonal produce or what has been on sale lately. Recently, there were some really good sales on store brand peanut butter and bananas, so of course, I stocked up on both.  While the peanut butter has a nice long shelf life, the bananas have been…

In my continuing quest to find uses for lentils, I couldn’t miss out on a curried main dish. This one is especially fast if you have the lentils pre-cooked. Just chop some vegetables and saute long enough to get them cooked through while you are getting the table set and putting a little fruit together…

As much as possible, I try to post only “original” recipes here, those dishes that I have created from scratch or have changed significantly enough to call them my own. Today, I am bringing you a recipe so simple you can find hundreds of copies in any basic web search. I think I have even…

Cookbooks from a century or so ago usually included “icebox cookies” in their desserts section. These were generally quite rich cookies that could be stirred up in the evening, formed into a roll, and chilled until the next day–probably when the woodstove was being heated up to bake the day’s bread as well. Today of…

When cleaning out my refrigerator recently, I discovered four partially finished jars of homemade jam. There were two jars of cherry jam, one of my own, just barely started, and another with just a little of my daughter-in-law’s incredible spicy recipe–just enough for a breakfast of homemade toast with a peanut butter and jam topping….

According to T.S. Eliot, “April is the cruelest month,” and this year that seemed to ring true, weather-wise. But now in May, the grass is bright green, the birds are singing, and it is time to lighten up our menus at least a little. For me, spring is the time to bring out some lemon…

Some time ago, I saw “whole grain” rye flour at a local grocery store and thought it might be fun to try my hand at rye bread. I have used rye flour in some multi-grain batches, but the flavor never really came through. Maybe this heartier version would be more like the rye bread I…