Every year, I do the same thing. We haven't seen a trick or treater in these parts since the girls were small - we live out in the middle of nowhere, we have a rather long driveway, none of the neighbors have little kids anymore, and we don't turn on the porch light. I leave the porch light off mostly because of Riley, who is not fond of strangers. I can only imagine his reaction to seeing a person dressed up in a costume, with some kind of scary mask on. It would not be good. Still - I like to ... Read More about Peanut Butter Cup Brownies
Baking
Macadamia Lime Blondies
I am still pretty caught up in fall - in getting everything put up, and in enjoying stuff like winter squash and apples. But fall also means that citrus starts showing up in the stores more, and for better prices, which got me thinking about making these Macadamia Lime Blondies again - and this time, shooting a few photos and getting the post out here on the blog. I think you will be glad. Not only do these blondies have lots of bright lime flavor, but there are also crunchy, buttery macadamias ... Read More about Macadamia Lime Blondies
Banana Streusel Coffee Cake
I actually made this a few weeks ago, after yet another family visit that left behind the remains of a bunch of bananas. Neither of us is at all fond of eating fresh bananas, particularly ones that are getting past their prime. On the other hand, such bananas are just reaching the perfect stage for baking, and we are both big fans of baked stuff with bananas. And if your grandkids happen to leave behind some nearly-overripe bananas and you don't feel like baking with them right away, did you ... Read More about Banana Streusel Coffee Cake
Skillet Pumpkin Fudge Brownies
This recipe solves a pesky little kitchen problem that I will bet anything you have run across. It goes like this: You find a great recipe for some pumpkin muffins, or maybe pumpkin doughnuts. You open a typical grocery store can of pumpkin puree, measure out the one cup needed for the recipe - and don't they all just need that ONE cup - and then thriftily scrape out all of the remaining pumpkin into a refrigerator dish and pop in in the fridge. "I'll make some thing out of that later in the ... Read More about Skillet Pumpkin Fudge Brownies
Pumpkin Raisin Yeast Bread
It is getting to be that time of year. You know - when there is pumpkin everything, everywhere you look! I confess I don't really "get" pumpkin coffee drinks at all - I guess probably because I'm not particularly fond of sweet coffee, unless it also involves chocolate. But, pumpkin everything else, I am very much okay with. Like this Pumpkin Raisin Yeast Bread! Our own pumpkins did well this year - we have quite a nice number of lovely little pie pumpkins to use this fall. This ... Read More about Pumpkin Raisin Yeast Bread
Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake
A lovely late summer cake! Alas, this will be the final blueberry post for the summer of '14. Not the last blueberry thing we'll eat, for sure. We freeze blueberries to use in the wintertime. They are equally good as the fresh ones in a cake like this. If you run across this recipe for Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake later on in the year, don't hesitate to use frozen berries in it. But fresh ones are what we have today. A final picking that Larry did with his Mom the other day. Blueberry ... Read More about Blueberry Ginger Buttermilk Cake
Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
Do Moms still do this? Bake a batch of cookies while the kids are at school so that the house smells amazing when they walk through the door? Our weather seems to be making an early turn toward fall, which has me thinking about those first days of school every year, both from my own childhood, as well as the girls'. The anticipation, mingled with a bit of dread - seeing friends again, will the outfit I pick get me off to the right start, will someone be mean to them on the bus, will their ... Read More about Brown Butter Pecan Cookies
Peach Cobbler
"If I had my little way, I'd eat peaches every day..." Sorry, but I don't think it's possible for me to write a post about a peach recipe without quoting lyrics from "Presidents of The United States of America". In fact, I am making sure that you are similarly inspired by embedding the video at the end of the post, so you can just wander down here right now, and give it a listen while you read the rest of this. Unlike The Presidents though, we are going to have us some fresh peaches, and we are ... Read More about Peach Cobbler
Fresh Cherry Almond Muffins
Darn, I so wish we could grow sweet cherries. Alas - all of our attempts to date have failed, resulting in scraggling, pathetic trees that eventually give up entirely and die. Fortunately, all of our other fruit trees seem to be pretty happy here, though we've not seen any fruit from them yet. That is nothing to fret about though, since they are still not old enough that we would be expecting much out of them. Except staying alive and growing larger that is, which they all seem to be doing. ... Read More about Fresh Cherry Almond Muffins
Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
I started work on this recipe last year, and didn't get it quite where I wanted it. Then, along came cherries, and I got distracted. I came back to it this year though, because it is definitely worth getting right, and now I am very happy with this final version. Local strawberries are just now coming into season here - we will have them for about a month or so, but no longer than that. Pick-your-own strawberry places are big around here, and I think you can find them just about anywhere. ... Read More about Strawberry Cheese Coffee Cake
Outrageous Chocolate Toffee Cookies
We are having a very happy week here at Creekside. We've all been waiting for our younger daughter and her husband to be blessed with children, and yesterday, they were very happy to welcome their new daughter into the world. Our third grandchild! Not only that, but we are especially thrilled that they now live just a few hours away, instead of 2 days' driving, so we will get to share in this life of this new little one much more than we had originally anticipated. We feel incredibly thankful ... Read More about Outrageous Chocolate Toffee Cookies
Savory Chive Cream Cheese Scones
It is a quintessentially gorgeous summer day as I am writing this. Summer has definitely taken it's time getting here, and while I can't really say this weather was worth waiting for, because: "Summer, where the heck have you been?", but I am really grateful that it's here now. One of the things I am finding out day by day is what plants were lost in last winter's brutal weather. You hold out hope that a favorite plant is just late in emerging, but eventually you have to accept that a couple of ... Read More about Savory Chive Cream Cheese Scones