I just love crunchy stuff to snack on…popcorn, potato chips, sunflower seeds, nuts, nuts and more nuts.  I guess that I am a nut for nuts.

Walnuts are very tasty and delicious and can be used in a great variety of recipes.

This delectable walnut recipe is not only great for snacking, but it’ll make a great gift at any time of year.  All you need are food safe glassine bags and a bit of pretty ribbon to adorn the neck of the bag. 

And even better, this recipe is super easy to make.  Flickr Photo courtesy of Anikarenina.       (more…)

There’s nothing tastier than homemade clam or oyster chowder that has been prepared using fresh fish stock as a foundation.  You can use it for sauces and many other recipes.

What’s great about making it is that you can freeze it in ice cube trays and transfer the cubes to Ziploc’s, or other containers with the measurement written on the label.  Then it’s a snap to just drop it into your recipe. (more…)

“Banish the onion from the kitchen and the pleasure flies with it.  Its presence lends color and enchantment to the most modest dish; its absence reduces the rarest delicacy to hopeless insipidity, and dinner to despair.”   Elizabeth Robbins Pennell,  American columnist

As I was chopping up a million onions yesterday, I remembered how I used to be overwhelmed with tears streaming down my cheeks each and every time I did little more than peel the darn things.

Onions provide a great deal of flavor, texture and color to a wide range of dishes.  I thought you could use some tips on how to take their little paper clothes off without breaking into a crying jag.  I’ll also include a few other interesting facts. (more…)

I must admit, I don’t make the greatest pie crust.  On a scale of 1-10, I’m at a negative 56.

Recently, my friend Stanley made a few blueberry pies and the crust was so flaky and delicious, that I threatened to add regular dish detergent to his dishwasher and set it to the loooooonnnnnngggggggggg washing cycle if he didn’t divulge the recipe for the crust. (more…)

Hmm…just imagine…

…it’s a cold, wintry evening.  Soft twilight is peeking through your windows and you watch the gently falling snowflakes as they begin to rest on the beautiful evergreen you planted two years ago.

Your snuggle bunny is upstairs, curled up with a book on the luxuriously squishy chaise lounge that was just delivered a week ago.  You’d rather they curl up with you, but you have no idea what to do. (more…)