Several of us were asked to bring a Chicken Enchilada Casserole for a large gathering recently, so I volunteered to make a vegetarian version. The organizers wanted all the casseroles to have the same appearance so they had provided a recipe to follow and asked that I make my vegetarian contribution to look as much…

  Sometimes there are times when you get home late from work or kids’ after school events or meetings, and the refrigerator just doesn’t have a lot of ingredients for a “real meal.” Before you reach for the phone to order take out, what if you could put together some home-cooked food in less than…

Have you ever wondered how to use those jack-o-lantern pumpkins after they have served their purpose as decorations? Do you want to avoid having THIS happen to your perfectly good pumpkins?  (Thanks, friends, for allowing me to share this.) Even though the “jack-o-lantern pumpkins” may not be as sweet as “pie pumpkins,” they still can…

Many years ago, muffins were pretty straight forward, basic quick breads with relatively small amount of fat and sugars, good while warm but quick to dry out after the first day. In these “olden days” before cake mixes were widely available, there were also a lot of basic cake recipes (often categorized as “one egg…

  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…