In honor of Halloween, I thought it would be fun to make a dinner that was festive, and yet still tasty. When we were little, our Halloween dinner was usually a slapped together sandwich as we all raced out the…
Free Halloween Patterns!
Halloween is here! I’m getting myself in the spirit and pulling out all my old decorations, so I thought I’d have some fun and give away some patterns that were only available for sale before. Here’s the catch: I have…
Sloppy Joe
This was one of the first meals I ever made, back when Bear and I were brand newly married and we had no idea how to make our eating habits gel. He ate like a Western teenage boy – loads…
New Table Refinishing
Long term obsessive readers or midcentury wonks might remember this great little table I picked up off of Craigslist. I’ve been meaning to refinish it for years and I finally got around to doing it with family coming in to…
Homemade Marinara Sauce – and Pesto!
I canned up 30 qts of marinara sauce, and I’m worried it won’t be enough to get us through to next summer. This stuff is good, you guys. We’ve already used it on top of noodles, in a baked ziti…
Green T-Shirt and Cardigan
This is Simplicity 0493. I normally avoid sewing knits, I have never gotten my serger to love me back and Tim Gunn would totally bust me on my wavy hems, but this green jersey was so soft and such an…
Fried Green Tomatoes with Parsley Ranch Dressing
When I bought all those tomatoes to do my canning, they came straight from the farmers selling them to grocery stores, which means they came to me green. I put them out on the back porch in the sunshine to…
Calendar Corkboard
Remember those pushpins I got a couple weeks ago, just because they were cheap and I loved them? Since I’m such a clutter-phobe, I had to come up with a place to use them, so I made myself a corkboard…
End of Summer Salad with Spicy Basil Cucumber Vinaigrette
We are in one of the most glorious times of year here in Modesto. The heat is slowly starting to fade enough to be enjoyable again, hints of fall are in the air, and every single thing is ripe to…
More in my canning adventures
My feet and back have still not recovered, and my floor may never be clean again, but gosh I love canning. I just find the whole thing so dang satisfying, all those gorgeous gleaming jars stuffed with great things I…