For years, I have been making buttermilk pancakes for my boys here and there – weekends, snow days, sleepovers, and birthdays.  When they were doing distance learning for school last spring, though, they were asking for this buttermilk pancake recipe almost every morning.  I had to set a “pancake day” for my own sanity and Saturday morning pancakes have become a family tradition!  I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to share this tasty and easy buttermilk pancake recipe.  I just don’t think of pulling out the camera to take pictures while I’m making pancakes in my jammies on a Saturday morning. But, this recipe is too good not to share!  These buttermilk pancakes are a little tangy, not-too-sweet (just 2T sugar for the entire recipe), and are fluffy and delicious.  Perfect for a lazy Saturday morning.  I’ll also share a few tips for pancake-making success. The printable

Organizing is something I do pretty regularly.  Several times a year, I’ll get a little tired of certain areas and I’ll start sorting.  Sometimes I force myself to go through each item and make decisions.  Other times, I just organize the stuff that’s there, only getting rid of the obvious.  As I’ve been organizing in February, I’ve been trying to make decisions about each item and take action on it before I simply put it back neater than I found it.  The result has been so refreshing.  Less stuff, more space, and it’s so much easier to find things.  I’m gathering like things together, getting rid of what we don’t need, and working on projects that have been on the to-do list for a long time, sometimes years.  One of those action-items included creating a Blurb book of my great-grandma Rosa’s recipes. I only knew Rosa when she wore her

One of the things I want to focus on this year is eating more vegetables.  I like vegetables, so there is really no excuse for not eating plenty of them every day.  But, you know how it is…it’s just easy to go for something else.  So, I’ve started eating a vegetable& egg stir fry for breakfast.  At first, I thought it would be a bit of a disappointment, but I really love it and have started craving it.  It’s a hot and hearty breakfast that gives me a good start eating for the day.  I shared a picture of it on Instagram earlier this week and received so many comments on it and requests for the recipe, so here it is… The key to making this vegetable and egg stir fry easy to make for breakfast is to have all of the veggies chopped in advance.  I chop them up

In the early days of quarantine, I remember feeling a little panicked about food.  Maybe panicked is too strong of a word, but I was worried about the unknown.  I have some small experience with food shortage and not knowing what you’re going to be able to get each day.  I spent a summer in Russia, just a few years after the wall fell.  I lived in an apartment with my dad and, as the lady of the house, I was responsible for the shopping and cooking.  I liked homemaking even then and my dad was always one to push me into the deep end to see if I could make it. We shopped together the first few times and I learned that it was nothing like going into an American grocery store.  Their stores were small, more like the size of a gas station market, and the shelves were

There was a time, before kids, before I started a business, when my main focus for two sweet years was being a homemaker. I left my corporate job and supported Jeff as he served full time as a youth pastor. Leaving my job with a demanding schedule and limited time off meant that I could go on all of the youth trips and participate in all of the activities. It also meant that I had a lot of free time during the day, which I used to throw myself into decorating, keeping house, and becoming a better cook and baker. I dove into new territory with recipes like this classic white bread recipe.  I had Food Network shows like Good Eats and Sara’s Secrets running in the background most days and I would jot down notes about searing meat, making the perfect roux, and developing deep flavor in a sauce.

I’ve noticed that I’m not the only one into cooking comfort foods in these strange times.  Not only are they comforting, hence the name, but they tend to be a good way to use up ingredients that are starting to turn or to use some of the canned goods in stock.  I’ve used this excuse to make banana bread, blueberry muffins, and last night, I made a childhood favorite to use up some fresh broccoli that was yellowing – Chicken Divan. For years, I’ve doctored and tweaked the basic recipe found in The Heart of Hospitality Cookbook we got when our family was stationed in Germany… It’s a collection of favorite recipes by people who were a part of the Overseas Christian Servicemen’s Centers in the 70’s and 80’s.  There is Onion Pie from Vicky Rogers, Impossible Quiche by Chris Spader, Konigsberger Klopse by Delcy Davenport, and Fudgy Oatmeal Squares