One of the fun facts about my home state of Michigan is that it produces 75% of the tart cherry crop in the United States. In fact the lovely town of Traverse City in northern Michigan is known as the Cherry Capital of the World and is host to theRead More
Make Your Own Peanut Butter
One of life’s little pleasures when stirring up something tasty in the kitchen is taking a few licks off from your stirring spoon or beaters when you’re done. All that goodness will otherwise just be wasted when you wash things up, right? Why not savor it a bit before itRead More
Homemade Butter
Homemade butter. It sounds like a delicious luxury, doesn’t it? Our great grandmothers who had no choice but to sit at the butter churn if they wanted butter would probably laugh at us. You have it so good now! The luxury is in being able to go to the storeRead More
Make Your Own Dill Pickles
Got cucumbers? If you do, then you can easily have pickles too! I’m loving this simple recipe for homemade pickles that doesn’t require any canning and can be made one quart-sized jar at a time. This is just the right quantity for my household size and of course if youRead More
Make Your Own Butter Spread
Back in the early days of this blog I tried a recipe for making your own margarine spread. And . . . it did not turn out so good. You were supposed to take a pound of margarine and mix it with a 1/2 cup of milk to make aRead More
Homemade Magic Shell Ice Cream Topping
For the last couple of weeks, the Aldi grocery store where I shop has had a big ole display of Magic Shell ice cream topping by the checkout. I was tempted to buy some. Even picked up a bottle and almost put it in my cart. But then . .Read More
DIY Ceasar Salad Dressing Mix
Summer is almost here and that means more grilling, more picnics, and more salads. Lots and lots of salads please! Of course lots and lots of salads means we have to think about salad dressings too. This summer instead of reaching for my usual boring bottle of ranch dressing,Read More
Homemade Chicken Nuggets (with 3 Homemade Dipping Sauces!)
Am I the only one who still clips recipes out of the newspaper? Am I the only one who still gets a newspaper? OK, I know I might be a little old school, but sometimes you can still find good stuff in the newspaper! We tried out this recipeRead More
How To Make Homemade Breadcrumbs
The birds are gonna hate me. It used to be that when I had some leftover buns or bread, I would go outside to my bird feeder and crumble the bread around on the ground and let the birds go crazy. Poor birds. Now I’ve found something better toRead More
Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing
A big fresh salad is a welcome addition to any meal during the hot days of the summer. In fact if the day is a real scorcher, I’m happy to make my whole meal out of the just the salad. It’s crisp, refreshing, and doesn’t get you all warmed upRead More
Make Your Own Sweet and Sour Sauce
I think you’ll enjoy this very simple recipe for a homemade sweet and sour sauce that doesn’t require any cooking or chopping. I’ve seen other homemade sweet and sour sauce recipes that are pineapple based and require boiling of pineapple juice or chopping of pineapple. This recipe uses the muchRead More
How To Make Homemade Croutons
Do you have some bread and butter around the house? And a couple of spices? That’s all it takes to toast up some homemade croutons that you can add to your salads or soups. Once you learn how to make homemade croutons, you’ll really enjoy how lightly crunchy they areRead More
Do You Like Ortega Taco Sauce? Try Making Your Own!
When it’s taco night at our house, I have to be sure I have some taco sauce in the house too. Hubby gets all sad if I set out a nice spread of taco meat and toppings but no sauce. “What, no taco sauce?” he’ll say and look mournfully aroundRead More
Make Your Own Tartar Sauce
Why is it I never have tartar sauce in the house when I need it? Lucky for me I learned this easy substitute several years ago that has come to the rescue on many occasions. Now I can make my own tartar sauce on the spur of the moment! InRead More
Can You Turn Tomato Paste Into Ketchup?
This week I tried a recipe to make your own ketchup by doctoring up a can of tomato paste. I had high hopes for this recipe, but alas, it’s just not quite the same as the ready made stuff. The basis of the recipe I tried was to addRead More
Make Your Own Salsa Using Canned Tomatoes
We go through salsa pretty fast at my house. Hubby and Son both love to snack on chips and salsa when they get home from work to stave off their hunger pangs until we’re able to get dinner on the table. I decided it would be a good idea to findRead More
Make Your Own Seafood Cocktail Sauce
Did you know it’s super easy to make your own seafood cocktail sauce? It’s simply a matter of mixing some spices into a cup of ketchup. The main ingredient that gives cocktail sauce its distinctive flavor is horseradish. I had never purchased horseradish before and in fact, the mostRead More