Tag: recipe

Give Me Some Sugar

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That’s what my Grandma always said when she wanted a kiss from one of us grandkids, “Give me some sugar.” Well, in this case, we’re going to be giving you some real sugar – and serious amounts of it. So who’s ready for some dessert from North Carolina?!

While Mike was at his conference in Charlotte, I treated myself to a relaxing day all for me. I went running, shopping, enjoyed a fantastic lunch al fresco and then had a mani/pedi. It was during my mani/pedi that I got a wealth of information about things to do and see in Charlotte. My salon rep was a fantastic conversationalist and an absolute joy to spend the afternoon with. She, in fact, reminded me of my Grandma.

The one thing that she strongly recommended was a visit to the Moravian settlement near Winston-Salem. She talked about the Moravian sugar cake and how absolutely delicious it was and practically a necessity for the holidays. You can imagine my blog wheels were instantly turning. Mike and I tried to configure our route home through the Winston-Salem area, but we didn’t quite make it that direction. And while we did manage to find some Moravian sugar cookies, no cakes… Continue reading →

Back to Business

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The business of food of course! Now that we’ve settled back into our daily routines and rolled through the mountains of laundry (Well, it’s almost all folded anyway!),  we’re back in the kitchen working our way around the world. For the next few weeks we’ll be sampling various recipes from the country of Armenia.

A former republic of the Soviet Union, Armenia is a mountainous country and lies in both Western Asia and Eastern Europe. The cuisine in Armenia is really rather varied, but almost always includes an extensive amount of fresh ingredients. For our first recipe we went with an Armenian side dish that we thought had a chance of winning over Mr. N and Miss A, an Armenian Chickpea Salad. Continue reading →

Always be Prepared

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While this is the motto of the Boy Scouts, it’s also something my parents instilled in me as I was growing up. For instance, my mom always had everything you could possibly need in her purse from band aids and tissues to breath mints and stain remover. No matter what the need, you could be sure an answer was in her purse.

We also had a “safety” plan for every possible emergency from fires to strangers, and as I got older we had an escape plan for parties should they get “out of hand” or make me “uncomfortable.”  Then when I went away to college mom gave me a stash of what she called, “mad money,” to be reserved for emergencies. Of course we disagreed on what constituted an emergency – I thought bar money and a train ticket to see Mike were certainly valid situations.

My dad also imparted his preparedness wisdom too – make sure to get regular oil changes, keep a safety kit in the car, remember teenage boys have hormones (My response to dad – “So do teenage girls.” I’m amazed he ever let me out of the house after that.), never walk alone at night…the list goes on. Continue reading →

Taking the Quest for the Best Banana Bread to New Elevations

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The countdown is on folks! Only a few more recipes before we’re opening up the freezer, thawing the banana bread slices and having ourselves a banana bread feast all the while we determine which is our favorite recipe. Perhaps it will be this one? Only time will tell.

This next recipe wasn’t originally going to be in the mix, but we ran across it while surfing around one day, and it was enough different than all the others that we had to give it a try. We found it over at a blog called Inside the Kaganoff Kitchen and it’s called Mountain Sky Banana Bread. So what was so special about this bread that it was calling our name? Cream cheese. Yum! Continue reading →

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

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I have to say this has been one of the cloudiest springs in recent memory. That’s not to say it actually is the cloudiest – it could be in fact that my memory has selective recall. That’s been known to happen on occasion. Nevertheless it’s cloudy again. We made these quick, healthy breakfast treats earlier this week, but they would be the perfect way to brighten up a cloudy morning. The recipe is adapted from one we came across in the Taste of Home Comfort Food, Diet Cookbook. It’s also a great way to use up some of the leftover phyllo from the baklawa. (I bought several packages just-in-case my attempt at the recipe went horribly array.)

We began by cutting three phyllo sheets into sixths. We then separated the squares out and placed them in muffin tins – 3 per tin.

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Third Time’s the Charm? Quest for the Best Banana Bread.

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Tonight the kids and I whipped up the third banana bread recipe for our quest. This particular version is adapted from Martha Stewart’s banana bread and was sent to me by an old high school friend. Thanks Liz! The major differences in this recipe compared to the first two are that it uses only white sugar and replaces the oil with sour cream. Until now, I had never seen a banana bread recipe with sour cream, so I was intrigued.

We started by mashing the bananas – Miss A was on hand to help in what has become her new favorite outfit (a princess nightgown), worn both day and night.

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