Cranberry Ginger Relish ~ Addictively Tasty!

by Cynthe on December 25, 2011

canning jars of cranberry ginger relish

Preserve the tart healthful goodness of cranberries & ginger in this gorgeous tasty relish.

Blythe, my youngest son David’s, sweetheart made this addictively tasty cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving. I was hooked on first taste: tart – sweet – gingery – a GORGEOUS ruby hue – and easy-to-make….what more could one desire?!!

Blythe McCurdy and David Brownlow

This simple Cranberry Ginger Relish recipe from Ms. Martha’s collection of Thanksgiving fare uses [read more…]

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Creamy Onion Veggie Soup for a Rainy Day

by Cynthe on November 6, 2011

onion vegetable soup garnished with yogurt and grated cheddar cheese

Creamy Onion Veggie Soup warms the tum on a rainy winter day.

Winter arrived in northern California this week. Two mornings ago the temps dropped to 33F, prompting me to move my tender potted plants to more sheltered areas for the next few months.

gray and white cat sitting under a wet umbrella by the woodstove

Jaeci, our quirky kitty, always has to inspect my umbrella when I return from rainy day errands.

And then our gloomy Saturday melted into rain this afternoon, making me feel like going into full hibernation mode: snuggling up to our cozy woodstove (which we’ve been burning fires in for over a week now), resisting sleepiness all afternoon, and craving comfort foods like homemade biscuits, cookies, and soup.

I know you folks from hardier climes: Colorado, the midWest, the northeast, and  Canada think I’m whining… After all, [read more…]

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Halloween Jack~Apple Faces
Win raves from Kids, Young and Old!

October 30, 2011
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Halloween’s tomorrow! And though we can’t give home baked goodies to the cute trick-and-treaters who come to our door, the following recipe for ‘Jack~Apple Faces’ (fruit & nut filled mini pies) is one of my favorite baking projects for this time of year. It’s an old recipe, cut from a newspaper or magazine 45 years ago, [...]

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Three Years and a Day…

October 28, 2011
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Briana Brownlow Memorial Slideshow This video captures SO much of what we loved about Bri: her joyousness, love of life, lilting voice, great smile, mischievousness, beauty, and courageous optimism in the face of daunting challenges. Brizy – we miss you!

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How to Decorate Cookies with A Simple Butter Frosting

July 30, 2011
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Many cookie decorators use Royal Icing and for good reason, it’s versatile and has excellent keeping qualities. But one of the ingredients of Royal Icing is egg whites…my hubby and I don’t eat eggs (and haven’t for decades). So, I use an old-fashioned Butter Frosting. Plus Butter Frosting tastes MUCH better! (I’ve been told by [...]

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Diamond Ring Cookies…. What’s the Celebration?

July 30, 2011
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Probably NOT what you think! Certainly not any logical event like an engagement party (though we attended one for our niece Saturday before last). OR a wedding anniversary (though these cookies ARE for an anniversary…so you’re getting close). I’ve entered the 2011 Sonoma County Fair Theme Cookie Decorating Contest. It’s the 75th ‘Diamond’ Anniversary of [...]

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Amaretto Applesauce…Nice!

July 11, 2011
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Now almost mid-July, it’s the middle of summer. We’ve been having some hot weather fairly regularly for a month in the San Francisco north bay region, making it “officially” ice cream season…(though we’ve been known to crave ice cream even on cold winter days). We brought home a quart of Baskin-Robbins vanilla ice cream (gasp!) [...]

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Rhubarb Raisin & Citrus Conserve
with a touch of Ginger

June 4, 2011
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Today was a surprise. Though there was only a 20% chance of rain, we got a good spritz this afternoon. ‘Felt’ it coming this morning as we were getting ready to go to the farmers market for fruit and fresh salad mixings. Got that done along with a trip to our Community Co-op Market to [...]

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