making life delicious blog
Michael has delicious memories of his mother’s pies, and this is a favorite of hers, not just because it tastes good, but because it’s easy. There is only one crust to roll out, and she used to make them in assembly line fashion during apple season, then tightly wrap and freeze them to pull out [...]
How often do you find a cookbook that is so chock full of good recipes that you want to make every single one of them? That day? That’s how I felt when The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy arrived in my mailbox. I grabbed the package and took it along in the car [...]
Weekday morning breakfast is usually a quick affair for us with leftovers from the weekend or perhaps cereal with fruit. But today we woke up to ice on the roads and an announcement that schools were closed, so I decided to do something fun and make muffins. The recipe comes from Michael’s mother, a variation [...]
Homemade applesauce and apple butter are wonderful treats for any age, and my boys particularly love them. I grew up enjoying my grandparent’s homemade apple butter, which they faithfully canned for many years. They are both gone now, and I never did get the recipe from them, but I keep hoping that a relative will [...]
Nothing says fall like a fresh apple crisp made from apples you picked yourself, so last weekend we drove to Tarara Winery and hit the orchards. Fujis and Staybrites were ripe for picking, but the Granny Smiths were all gone, as were the Honey Crisps and Empires (my personal favorite). The boys had a great [...]
They Go Really Well Together is a monthly food blogging event that celebrates flavors paired at the molecular level. For this month’s round, Inge of African Vanielje chose apple and lavender as the magical combination to work with. I’ll be the first to confess that I have never cooked with lavender before, so I had [...]
It was December 12, I was finalizing our plans for Christmas dinner, and I asked Michael, “What kind of pie would you like for Christmas day? Anything special?” Michael raised his eyebrows and gazed at the ceiling as he racked his brain. “Mincemeat pie,” he finally said. Normally I would have responded politely with something [...]
A holiday celebration without hot mulled drinks is just incomplete to me. The fragrance is almost irresistible and just seems to make the holidays even more special. I like this version with a splash of spiced rum, but you can leave out the alcohol and still have a tasty mug of holiday cheer. [Updated December [...]
And now for the last in the Southern Country Breakfast series. We enjoy fried apples for breakfast, but they also make a great side dish for a holiday ham, or even a dessert—just add a scoop of french vanilla ice cream on top of warm apples. They are very simple to make—you just need apples, [...]
I first made these a few years ago and they were a breakfast hit. Michael thought that they were perfect and didn’t need a single change to the recipe. The boys devoured them and my oldest asks for pumpkin muffins every day now. The combination of the pumpkin and apple makes a perfect fall breakfast [...]
It's spring in the U.S. and the following foods may be in season in your area:
artichokes, fennel, fiddleheads, radishes, broccoli, rhubarb, kale, cresses, spinach, spring lettuces, chard, cabbages, chives, cilantro, collards, tatsoi, mustard greens, spring onions, asparagus, rosemary, wild garlic, ramps, strawberries, blueberries, cherries
Eat fresh seasonal produce to stay healthy and help your food budget.Learn more about seasonal and sustainable cooking at Sustainable Table - In the Kitchen.
