It's blueberry time in Michigan!  I was a little overwhelmed to see just how many blueberries make up ten pounds!
After washing and freezing 8 lbs of sweet blueberries, it was time to bake on a rare cool day in Kalamazoo.  I made blueberry scones (new recipe was a disappointment) and blueberry bread with a lemon glaze...yum.  John and I have been enjoying blueberries on our morning cereal daily.  The rest were turned into blueberry butter today....like a jam but not made with anything except lemon juice, sugar, and vanilla.
A friend recommended freezing the berries in recipe quantities which was a great idea.  No more measuring frozen berries and dropping some on the floor:)
What blueberry recipes do you recommend?  I hope to make blueberry shakes, blueberry pancakes, and just eat them as a cold frozen treat on hot summer days!

Oh, dear.  It's been almost a year and a half since my last post!  Some time-sucking excuses: sold our house in St. Louis and moved back to Kalamazoo, recovered from 4 serious health episodes that took up Sept-July when I was living on Ensure and couldn't think about food,  enjoyed a 12 day vacation/cruise with family ,and now am busy shopping for everything needed for our basement finishing.  You'd think somewhere in 17 months I could have written one post!!
   
But no!!  I simply got addicted to foodgawker and now have over 500 recipes in my Favorites list.  It's been great fun trying those new recipes now that my health is better.  My newest ingredient is quinoa (keen'-wah)....I can't get enough of it!

It's been too hot to turn on the oven.  So baking will have to wait!  But, soon....I hope to post a yummy recipe.  Hopefully, it won't take another 1.5 years:)

OHHHHHHHHH Candy

       Some of the best candy I've ever enjoyed is homemade!  The recipe comes from a cooking class with Deanna House, a cookbook writer from Michigan.  Super easy and super fast....and anyone can make it!  Everyone who eats it says, "OHHHHH!", hence the title of the candy :-)  And everyone then asks for the recipe!

       All you need is 1 package of Wilton Light Chocolate Discs and 1 package of Wilton Dark Chocolate, 2 cups of your favorite nuts (cashews or pecans are awesome), and some butter.  The key is using dark and light chocolate.  I'll post the recipe soon with photos.  I'm just learning how to post photos so your patience is appreciated.  You'll love these!!

Caramel corn.....yummy!  But can you imagine it in a salad?  

I couldn't either, until I tried it at Kota restaurant in St. Louis before going to the musical "9 to 5" with my best buds last week.  Along with mixed greens, chopped fresh beets, blue cheese crumbles, and cashews with a citrus vinaigrette, the carmel corn added a sweetness and really made all the flavors pop (sorry, I couldn't help myself:). It stayed crunchy, too.
I tried recreating it at home but used goat cheese with a raspberry walnut vinaigrette.  Success!  The hubby even liked it!  But I must admit, it's hard to keep caramel corn around long enough to make the salad.

If you're ready for an interesting twist on a salad, try this one!  You can find sweetness everywhere if you just know where to look :-)

Choc. o. late!!

Chocolate.  Is there anything better?  How about EASY chocolate cookies?  Are you drooling yet?
A friend recently shared a very simple cookie recipe made with only 4 ingredients: Mix together any cake mix (she used lemon; I used chocolate...duh), 1 egg, 1 8oz Cool Whip (any variety), and roll into balls and then roll in powdered sugar before baking at 350 for ~9-11 minutes.  The dough is very thick and at first you won't think it will all come together but, I promise, it will!!
The cookies were light, chewy, and scrumptious!!  Make them today and you won't be disappointed!
Just had to share this with my chocoholic friends....you know who you are:-)

Meeting PW and MM

Last night, I met Pioneer Woman when she shared her life and signed her new book, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels. Marlboro Man was there, too, in his cowboy hat.  My friends and I waited in line 2 hours for her signature, a joint photo, and to chat with her.  Worth every second.....what a sweetie!  
I can't wait to try some new recipes from her cookbook, The Pioneer Woman Cooks.  We've loved all the ones we've tried so far.  I'll post some recipes later to encourage you to try some too!
Happy cooking and happy eating!

Sharing the Sweet Life

What you need to know today:
I love sweets, any sweets, all sweets.  Each of my teeth is the proverbial sweet tooth!  A true chocoholic, I keep companies like Nestle and Ghiradelli in business.   On a deserted island, my food of choice is chocolate chip cookies and hot chocolate.  Do you believe me now?
I've been cooking up a storm lately since starting Christmas cookies 2 months ago and haven't stopped.  Finding and trying new recipes is exciting to me, and I enjoy sharing my creations with my best friend who lives next door.  It works out for both of us.
Recently, I worked up a monthly menu and am loving it!  No more decisions at 4pm about what to prepare, no more running out of ingredients because I shop for 2 weeks at a time (with a weekly stop for fresh produce), and no more hefty grocery bills because I'm not shopping as much.  Normally, all this structure is a bit hard on me, but this routine seems to be freeing and simple.
My goal is to share a bit of my sweet life along with some favorite recipes and photos.  Thanks for going on this journey with me.  Welcome to my Dolci Life!