Dancing Apache Ranch Picnic

An all-time favorite picnic spot and wonderful place to spend a summer afternoon is Dancing Apache Ranch.  Sharing our afternoon and the yummy food we ate. Dancing Apache Winery Denisse and I took the road trip up I-17 and celebrated her retirement with a fantastic day.  Sitting in the lush grass next to the spring-fed […]

Sneakers!

Praise the Lord in heaven that stylish footwear now includes sneakers!  As opposed to say, stilettos.  For which my back, my knees, my ankles and my feet thank the fashion gods (not in heaven above, BTW). Where I come from athletic gym shoes are called “tennis” shoes.  Because I tend to spend a lot of […]

Crispy Smashed Potatoes

Grilling season leaves so many options for delicious side dishes – especially those that include potatoes.  Pairing up with grilled pork loin, I made Crispy Smashed Potatoes and they were the star of the show. Potatoes We had a mixture of small red and yellow potatoes that needed to be used up.  Since they were […]

Bissell Spot Cleaner

Other than normal cleaning, cooking and patio blowing – which all seems to be endless – nothing much going on around here. I did take the little Bissell spot cleaner for a ride in my bedroom and wanted to show you how it went. What I Love It’s so easy to store and retrieve this […]

Refreshing Summer Drinks

If endless glasses of iced tea and bottles of water have you bored this season, here are some of the refreshing summer drinks I’m treating myself to. Large Acrylic Goblets Early in the season I found a set of 12 Tommy Bahama acrylic glasses at TJ Maxx.  They are humongous.  As in an entire can […]

Salad Bar Board

Too hot to cook?  Here’s a different twist on an at-home salad bar – a salad bar board. Using different cutting implements for variety and using ingredients for a well-balanced meal, this board will give you a yummy and satisfying summer meal without heating up your kitchen. I used the Mueller Chopper for carrots and […]

Wrangling Waste Baskets

Here are a few tips I use in the kitchen for wrangling waste baskets. Making a dirty job a little better. Our kitchen waste baskets – one for trash and one for recycle – live in a dedicated cabinet next to the sink. It’s nice to have them out of the way.  Especially since our […]

Gluten Free Crispy Chinese Chicken Salad

Gluten Free Crispy Chinese Chicken Salad is a healthy, tasty and beautiful salad to enjoy on a summer day. The crispy chicken is filling and satisfying. Modifying ingredients is my forte in the kitchen. I try to use what I have on hand, and most recipes need some tweaking to satisfy both the hub and […]

Car Battery Portable Jump Starter

Well, another post that might not seem too sexy.  But.  I’ve run into some car trouble.  And I want to share two things that bailed us out and might literally have been life savers.  A car battery portable jump starter and a spare tire. If you live in a climate with wild weather changes (who […]

Summer Kitchen Refresh

The beginning of June seems like the appropriate time to do a summer kitchen refresh.  To lighten things up a bit, I added some faux citrus.  The small PB lemon tree (Amazon version here) went into a cute white basket and on top of my pet feed cabinet and under my beautiful Buc-ees chicken.  BTW, […]