Ahhhh… a relaxing day at home with the house to myself. Doesn’t happen very often. I’m watching movies, doing a little knitting, a little illustrating, and a little reading. I’m making my mom’s go-to comfort food dinner tonight…a Minnesota favorite called “Hurry Up Dinner,” aka…the humble hamburger casserole. Do you have a favorite, easy, frugal…
I love waking up in the morning to the wonderful scent of something amazing cooking in the kitchen. Sometimes on the weekends Jeff will make pancakes, bacon and French press coffee. There’s something so cozy about being greeted with these smells as soon as you awake. We’ve always said that our house reminds us of…
Hello Friends! Happy Friday! I have been working on my tea book like crazy this week. Just finished deciding, once and for all, exactly which recipes to include. I had a BIG breakthrough concerning this little book yesterday. Actually this one isn’t going to be so little…it will be my biggest book yet, over 400…
Such lovely weather we’ve been having in the Mississippi River Valley these past few days. Close to 40 degrees (which I realize is cold to some of you who live in more tropical/desert climates) but it’s like Spring to a Midwesterner. I walked up to a few of my favorite antiquing/thrifting haunts yesterday and didn’t…
The crock pot has been getting a workout these last couple weeks. I love the ease of this little appliance. I have a couple slow cooker books that I just love, but mostly I just wing it and everything usually turns out great. I dreamed this up a couple days ago, and it really did…
Hello Friends! Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve written a “real” blog post. I’ve mostly just been passing recipes on to you without really saying much else. I’ve been so busy with so many things in my professional life…and then last week, I started my Spring cleaning. For some reason. I can’t seem to…
The Awakening of Adonis ~ John William Waterhouse A Week of Valentine Treats ~ Day SEVEN Are you ready for some romance in the form of food? Below you will find a romantic recipe collection that I’ve compiled from my blog. These are just suggestions for serving each of the aphrodisiac foods. You will be…
Here’s a hearty, healthy soup that tastes just like stuffed green peppers! ~Stuffed Green Pepper Soup~ Brown in 2 Tablespoons olive oil, and drain: 2 lb. lean ground beef 1 large onion, chopped 2 large green peppers, coarse chopped Add: 2 (15 oz) cans organic tomato sauce 1 (15 oz) can beef broth or stock,…
There’s a little whole foods grocery store/co-op in Minneapolis called The Wedge. They have an awesome bakery, juice bar and lunch counter in the back of the store, and when we’re in the area we like to go there to enjoy a quick lunch before we do our shopping. They serve an amazing butternut squash…
It’s been a really cold week. Can you say 16 below zero? That’s like Antarctica cold. How do we Minnesotans survive, you may ask? Just remember “Melissa’s Three C rule.” Do you have a pen and paper ready? You’ll want to write this down. C is for Clothing : Dress in many layers. Whatever you…