Hello, It's Me!

Back in February I think I said something to the effect that I was back. Now, it appears that I wasn't, but I have some reasons for that and I would like to share a few thoughts with you.

First I would like to thank those of you who routinely check in to see if I've posted anything new. I appreciate your loyalty and your interest.

It is hard to believe I started this blog over seven years ago, July 21, 2007 to be exact. I started it because I felt a need to write and I wanted to write about what I do best: cook. I wanted to share with family and friends old recipes I've collected over the years and the excitement of developing, copying and trying new ones.

As I have followed and unfollowed other blogs, I've watched the trends change dramatically to include other social media. Blogger conferences focus on marketing, monetizing and use of different ways to promote a blogger's brand on social media with innumerable tools: Instagram, Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, just to name a few. That is not the direction I ever wanted to go. Sure, I have a Facebook page. I like it because I can post short pieces and photos of more casual food settings without having to commit to producing a long involved blog post with staged and edited photographs. I feel more connected to my readers on Facebook because it's a little more interactive.

I started out enjoying the process of composing a blog post. I love telling the stories related to the food that comes out of my kitchen. I love writing the specific instructions for recipe preparation, particularly for those of you who are not very confident in your skills or are afraid to try something new or challenging. I love taking photos of my food and sought out tips to take better photographs. I started out with a point-and-shoot camera and now work with a Nikon DSLR.....well, when I work nowadays. Anyway, I asked for and received a tripod one Christmas. Although my kitchen is well lit, it doesn't have tons of natural light, so I purchased two professional lights and set them up in our guest bedroom. Then something happened.

I started looking at all those other blogs that were evolving into bigger, more professional websites. Recipe content is confined to easily printable boxes. There are buttons to links to the social media site of your choice. They started promoting giveaways sponsored by great companies that provided awesome products. I started comparing my blog to all the others, my favorites, and I was falling short.....very short. And I lost my enthusiasm.

This is starting to sound negative and that's not my intention. I don't want to be a "Debbie Downer."

I'm still cooking, although there are more days than there used to be when I don't feel like it at all. But mostly I cook everyday. If I don't cook, Tom does. There's usually something going on in my kitchen. It's just getting it to my blog that's the problem.

Once I do start posting again, here's what you can expect from me. I won't be doing giveaways or promotions. I won't ever promote products or websites that I personally don't fully support and enjoy myself. I will give you recipes, instructions and, hopefully, nice photos. The photos of my food will not contain any tricks to make the food look more appetizing, although I may use garnishes, herbs and other ingredients to balance out the photo. It will be photos of the food that I have prepared to serve as or with a meal, not something I prepared to merely photograph and post on the blog.

I hope to start posting again. I don't know when that will be. In the meantime, if you'd like to check in to see what I'm doing, you can follow me on FACEBOOK. Stop by and say hello.

Happy New Year!

It's New Years Eve. Tomorrow we begin 2013. It has whizzed by.

I've been mentally going through this past year and smiling as I recall our visits to Florida, California and Nevada, as well as family house guests from Nevada and South Carolina. It was a busy ~ and wonderful ~ year.

But, although I spent countless hours in the kitchen, my blog ended up with a measly 29 posts for the entire year. I struggled with direction and blogger burnout and my blog suffered for it.

Thank you all for sticking with me.

I am hoping that this coming year I am able to shake this fog and share more of the wonderful food and fun from my kitchen.

Anyway, the last couple of weeks I've been on a wonderful Christmas vacation, first to South Carolina where I visited my niece and nephew and their families, then to Florida for Christmas with my son Chris and his family.

Christmas Eve day, we did a little last minute shopping and stopped for lunch at our favorite place, Star Fish Company, a fish market and restaurant just off Anna Maria Island, where we were staying.

This was our table...

And this was our entertainment...


...as we dined on Shrimp Po' Boy with Spicy Remoulade Sauce...


and Fried Calamari...


That evening, after dinner, we enjoyed a Christmas Eve walk taking in this view:




And after our walk on the beach, as we settled in for the evening, our neighbor emailed us this photo of what was transpiring at home:


The first EVER blizzard warning in central Arkansas! The next day, he sent us two more photos:




We're home now. There's still a little snow on the ground, but it's melting slowly but surely.

We won't be going out for dinner. I'm making this Roast Lemon Chicken and we'll have a nice salad with it. I can guarantee I'll be in bed before midnight and ready to begin 2013 first thing in the morning.

I simply want to wish everyone a very happy and safe New Year's Eve and a wonderful, prosperous, healthy New Year.

AWOL

It's been awhile. But I have a good excuse. I've had a houseful of guests for the last couple of weeks.

First, my favorite niece and her three adorable kiddos stayed with us for a week. What fun!

Then we were fortunate to have our oldest son, Mike, his wife, Kathy, and my two granddaughters, Lily (age 9) and Zoey (age 8) visit for a week. Great times! Sadly, toward the end of their visit a came down with a summer chest cold, which I have not been able to shake since they left last Tuesday.

But we've still been cooking. Hey, we gotta eat!

I'll be back soon. Stay tuned....

An Honor

I'm so excited!

My post for Goat Tagine with Chickpeas and Apricots....

...is featured in the "What People Are Cooking" column at BonAppetit.com

I read my Bon Appetit magazine from cover to cover every month and have tried many dishes. I am so honored to be singled out for this particular one.

Will I Need A Note for My Absence??

I know I've been absent for a while now.

First, on vacation in Florida and now I'm working on a cookbook. Not my own, mind you. I am putting together a cookbook of my late mother-in-law's voluminous collection of family recipes. Because of this huge distraction, my posts here on my blog will be somewhat sporadic.

The good news is she is inspiring me to cook. Every recipe, with all of the handwritten side notes and instructions, makes me want to cook and bake every single one just to see if they taste as good as I remember.

I love going through all of them, reading her words written in her distinctive, precise cursive. It is like having a conversation with her and I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

Be back soon.....I promise.

Not AWOL,,,Merely On Vacation

I finally had the time and funds to take a trip to visit my sons and their families.

Currently, I am in Bradenton, Florida visiting my youngest son and his family. I'm having a great time!

I'll leave Florida early next week, head home to Arkansas for a few days, then I'll be off to San Francisco, California to visit my oldest son and his family.

Opposite ends of the country. Opposite lifestyles. How lucky can a mom/grandma get?

When I finally return home near the end of the month, Tom and I will be off to Fayetteville, Arkansas where my nephew is getting married over the Memorial Day weekend.

Whew! That's a lot to pack into a month.

See you when I get back!

Holy Cow!

I've been gone awhile. Not AWOL for no reason or laziness, but because my life has been upside down and backwards for a month or so.

First, we moved my sister from Arizona to live with us. She has health issues and she lived alone. In the last few months she's been in the hospital twice, once with angina and the second time with a mini-stroke.

Then my beloved mother-in-law passed away suddenly. I am glad we were here to give my father-in-law and sister-in-law some support.

As things started to settle down, I received a comment yesterday from fellow blogger, Debbie @ Dining with Debbie and who also hosts Arkansas Bloggers, congratulating me for being mentioned in a post titled "Blogs to Watch" in the Eat Arkansas section of the Arkansas Times.

Huh?? was my first reaction. Then What?? Me?? Are you serious??

Of course, I had to go look and sure enough, there I was...plain as day...mentioned in Kat Robinson's article. Completely unexpected!

I'd like to give a big thank you to Kat Robinson for including my blog. I hope you will visit Kat's blog at the Arkansas Times. She also writes Tie Dye Travels, a syndicated column and blog which chronicles her travels within and outside of Arkansas.

As for me, well, in the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator: "I'll be back."

I'm Sort of Back... Tentatively, Intermittently and Probably Rather Sporadically

I won't write a lengthy comment on my mood except to say I think it is transitioning into one of "acceptance," whatever that means. Things are still very, very sparse financially and my emotions are right at the surface, ready to spill over on to the first poor unsuspecting person who may inadvertently say just the right word at just the wrong time, but I'm getting used to it even though all those poor unsuspecting people still find it very disconcerting.

Many deep and sincere thanks to those of you who wrote such kind and comforting words in your comments and emails. I cannot express how deeply you have touched me. Thank you for your support.

So, for my first post since my last post I'm not going to share a photo or recipe, I will merely share that when I am done writing this, I am going to go make Bacon Jam. You heard right. Bacon Jam. For the Herbed Cheddar Cheese Biscuits I am going to make to go with it.

To be continued....

Taking a Break

I'm going to stop posting for a while.

I don't know why today was the last straw, but it was. I'm going to stop posting on my personal blog and Facebook and Twitter as well.

I've been in quite a mood for quite some time and things don't look like they are getting any better. I've nearly lost my sense of humor. I don't find humor in much of anything.

I feel stuck. I'm not near my kids and grandkids. I live in a town I don't like. Finances are bleak at best. And the holidays are coming. There won't be any for us. Things are too tight to go anywhere; it's even too tight too shop. I've tried finding work, but employers are not looking for a retired professional woman to re-enter the job force and they are skeptical of my willingness to accept a clerical or secretarial position. I understand. I've been in the same position they are, thinking over qualified.

That is really all I have to write. There is nothing else. I feel consumed and overwhelmed by it all and quite frankly I feel like a complete downer, stick-in-the-mud, nasty, negative curmudgeon. A simply unpleasant person.

I'll start writing again when I feel like I have something more to offer. For now, I think I need to take a walk and come home and take a shower. Talk to you in a few....

Computer Problems

I haven't posted in over a week because of computer problems. But, I have a new computer and I'm busy getting everything moved over.

Be back soon!

Why I Cook

Why do I cook? Michael Ruhlman, chef and food writer, posted his answers to this question and posed the same question to his readers. Here are my answers:

1. I love to eat...not just complex or seemingly exotic dishes, but I find even the simplest tastes and textures bring me immense comfort and pleasure.

2. I want to control what's in my food. I want to know what I'm putting in my body and I don't want it to be junk. It may be calorie and/or cholesterol laden, but it won't be junk. That's not so say that I don't occasionally use a boxed cake or pudding mix or can of soup or the like, but I get to choose what I use.

3. If I didn't, Tom would eat almost nothing but sandwiches.

4. I cook because I always have. I started cooking as a young teen and the oldest of five girls. Both of my parents worked outside the home and my family was a hungry bunch. I started preparing the dinner meal while my mom was at work, then later for myself, then for my husband and sons.

5. I cook for the challenge and creativity. Little is more exciting to me than to order a dish at a restaurant and then try to duplicate at home...and maybe even make it better.

6. I cook because it is a way to give of myself and to share myself with others. It was also another way to connect with my sons when they were growing up and I was teaching them how to find their way around the kitchen. They are both excellent cooks and I feel like I have given them a part of me that will remain with them forever.

So, what is on the menu tonight? Well, I took a small tray of Marinated Ham and Swiss Buns from the freezer and I'll pop those in the oven while I turn about a pound of fresh asparagus into a hot pot of Cream of Asparagus Soup. Add a glass of cold white wine and I'm in heaven.

I'm already hungry.

I'm Back....Sort of

I know it's been a while. It's not that I haven't cooking. I have. I just haven't been sharing much of it because my life is just kicking my butt. I'm swamped and over committed (yes, I know it's my own fault), but I am finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Today is sort of the last day of an over committed schedule. I volunteered Tom and I to organize and cook for a church picnic. In about 45 minutes, we will be heading out to the park.

What else have I been doing? You mean besides my Strong Woman class, a Photoshop class, the church newsletter, shopping and planning the picnic and about a week's worth of the flu....well, as you can see, absolutely nothing. On top of it all, I'm planning, God help me, a new blog, but the new one will be completely separate from this blog, my personal diary blog and my food blog for our local online newspaper. I finally got mad enough and I'm going to start a blog that focuses on all those people out there whose health insurance has been denied or canceled (yes, I'm a bleeding heart Democrat, she's says proudly). Luckily, I'll have a little help now and then from some like-minded people.

So, wish me luck. It won't be long until I'm back in the food saddle again. I've still been cooking and taking photos. Until my next post....

Shredded Beef Tacos...Mmmmmm, they were delicious!

What's Outside My Kitchen Window?

I decided to do something fun today and play along with Debbie at The Friday Friends.

Like Debbie, I love looking out my kitchen window. Even though we live in a typical neighborhood now, we have frequent critter visitors...squirrels, rabbits and lots of birds. Of course, it helps that we hang corn cobs for the squirrels and rabbits and seeds for the birds. And I love all the wind chimes I've hung along the edge of the patio roof. Unfortunately, today it is raining. But, for Arkansas, that's just spring. So, here's what is outside my kitchen window in Conway, Arkansas...

"How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young? "

I would add "Fast Food" to Paul Sweeney's quote. But, that's not the real point of this post. Laziness is my point.

I've been lazy, neglectful, uninspired and even considered deleting my food blog altogether. I haven't posted much recently although I really have been cooking a lot and taking lots of photos. I have stacks of recipes that I've created, adapted or just copied from cookbooks and other blogs, but I haven't posted them. Why? I don't know really. Priorities change, life gets more complicated, time passes so quickly I hardly know what day it is, laziness...or maybe just a combination of all of the above.

Whatever it is, I need to wait until the weekend to get organized and catch my breath. Tomorrow is a long 10-hour work day for me and Friday I work in the morning and Tom and I have a couple of commitments in the afternoon. So, the weekend it must be.

Bottom line, I have decided to make the commitment continue my food blog regularly, even though my readership has declined because of sheer boredom. For that, I am very sorry. But, thank you to those of you who have hung in there waiting for the yummy post that never came. I promise I will do my best to make it more interesting and more yummy.

See you in a couple of days!

Depression Cooking with Clara

I am an Endless Simmer reader and this afternoon I received a post in my Google reader about Clara's Depression Cooking on You-Tube.

After you watch this video, I hope you will go to her You-Tube channel and view the others. I love her stories. They are priceless!

A New Website and A Contest...

Okay, I know. I completely flaked out on the Thanksgiving posts. I just got too busy to take pictures, let alone post and write about them. But I am about to make it up to you.

Thanks to a heads up from Kim at My Plate, My World, I have entered a contest to win a collection of fine finishing salts: Truffle & Salt, Fiori & Salt, Fennel & Salt, Sweet & Salt, Saffron & Salt, Sea & Salt and Limited Edition Cervia Salt.

You can enter, too...



After entering the contest, I looked around the Marx Foods website and drooled over their products. They have a lot of really great products that we just can't get here. I might just have to make a purchase or two.

Just Another Short Break

I know I haven't posted a thing since making the sourdough starter and the sourdough bread, but I have been swamped with other stuff.

This morning, I am leaving for Las Vegas to pick up my sister and bring her back here to live with us for a while. We will be back home on Sunday.

However, I have been cooking and made the most delicious Mushroom Soup that I will share with you when I return.

Please keep me in your thoughts as we make this long 6-day trip.

I'm Off Again...

This time we are traveling to Georgia to see my son, Chris, and his family. My nephew, Jon, will be meeting us there and we will have the opportunity to reconnect and meet his wife and daughter. We haven't seen Jon since his high school graduation in 1991. Much too long.

We are leaving tomorrow and will drive back next Tuesday after Labor Day and I will post some new recipes then.

Until then, I hope everyone has a safe and fun Labor Day weekend.

Taking Vacation

As of this afternoon, I am on vacation until after the 4th of July weekend. I'll have lots of yummy recipes to share when I get back.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun July 4th !!

“The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger.” ~ Chris O'Brien

We rarely eat fast food. Honestly. Maybe about two or three times a year. But the other night, Tom and I were both soooo hungry and soooo tired and neither of us wanted to cook.

And, there are times when only a burger and fries will do. Thank you, Baby Jesus, for Shorty Smalls.