​We are having typical Minnesota weather, chilly one day and steamy hot the next!  It seemed like it was too warm for the birds, there weren’t as many at our feeders yesterday! I don’t blame them I would stay in the shade of trees too if I were them. Todays recipe comes from my friend Helga Anderson everyone who tries them give them rave reviews. I am writing the recipe as it was written but Helga uses 3/4 cup butter in the glaze and says they freeze well.
 
Zucchini Fruit Bars
 
1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 cups grated zucchini ( do not press liquid out)
1 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, do not drain
1 tsp. vanilla
 
Glaze:
1 cup butter ( Helga uses 3/4 cup)
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated milk
2 tsp. vanilla
chopped nuts
 
Topping:
coconut
 
Combine bar ingredients in a large bowl; beat. Pour into a greased jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with coconut. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-27 minutes.
 
While bars are baking prepare glaze by mixing all ingredients in a sauce pan, except for the nuts. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and slowly spoon hot glaze over hot bars. It will seem like a lot of glaze but the bars will absorb the glaze. Sprinkle nuts on top!
 
Have a great week!

​The rain we received was enough to revive my flowers and rhubarb! We only got 1/2 inch so hope we get more this week. My foxglove are in full bloom I love them, and the birds are keeping us busy refilling the feeders. Love the sunshine mornings and all of the activity in our back yard!  I often make a coconut impossible pie so I was anxious to try todays recipe, I liked it, hope you do too.
 
Impossible Rhubarb Pie
 
2 1/2 cups rhubarb, cut up
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup Bisquick
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
 
Streusel topping:
2 Tablespoons firm butter
1/2 cup Bisquick
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped nuts
 
Arrange rhubarb in a greased 9-inch pit plate. Mix remaining ingredients in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Pour over rhubarb, let set for 5 minutes. Combine streusel ingredients and sprinkle over top. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Serve warm or cool.
 
Have a great week!

​Such a welcome Mother’s day gift yesterday, when I observed three male Orioles at my ready and waiting grape jelly, oranges and nectar Oriole feeders! I have had them ready since May 1st, so far only Robins and finches had been visiting! A sure sign that spring is here, now if it would just warm up some! My Grandson Nik spent the afternoon with us yesterday, this week he leaves for a summer job in central North Dakota at a fish hatchery , one of his duties will to inspect boats that are entering or leaving the lake. He will be 8 hours from home so I doubt if he will be home much. I was grateful for his help in mulching my flowers. Pa Lloyd had shoulder surgery last week so has an arm in a sling for 6 weeks, I think he just wants to get out of doing dishes!! Anyway  it was a treat to have Nik with us, a real Mother’s day gift!
 
I love cooked onions so I get excited when I spot Vidalia onions in the grocery store. Today I am sharing a favorite recipe for cooked onions which by the way is a great topping for baked potatoes.
 
Roasted Parmesan creamed onions
 
3 sweet onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. cayenne, optional
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
 
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spread onion rings out in a 9x13- inch baking dish, keeping rings and layers intact, then drizzle with olive oil and season generously with salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 15 minutes or until softened. Remove onions from oven and raise temperature to 450 degrees. Combine heavy cream, wine, butter, garlic butter and cayenne in a medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until butter is melted and bubbles form on the outside edge of cream. Pour over pre-roasted onions, sprinkling parmesan cheese over all the onions. Cover dish with aluminum foil and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for another 5-10 minutes, or until onions are caramelized and cheese is golden brown. Serve hot.
 
Have a great week and stay safe!

It seems all we have been able to get is rain sprinkles, I do hope one of these days we get a good 1-2 inch rain shower! My flowers need rain desperately. At least it is supposed to warm up so perhaps I can get my window boxes planted. I want to have my four year old great granddaughter Lydia over to help me plant. That should prove interesting, she loves to be outdoors.


I don’t do as much baking as I used to but Pa Lloyd had a birthday and I had a supply of blueberries on hand so I made a blueberry coffee cake. It should have lasted the two of us much longer than it did. I am sharing the recipe with you, hope that you will like it too. It did not need any glaze or even a sprinkle of powdered sugar.


Blueberries and Cream coffee cake


1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 cup fresh blueberries


Streusel filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon  Mix together and set aside.


In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes, add eggs, one at a time beating well after each, beat in vanilla. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with sour cream. Fold in blueberries.  Spoon half of batter into a prepared tubed (like a Bundt pan) , then sprinkle on half of the streusel mixture, then rest of cake batter, lastly the last half of the streusel mixture. Cut through the batter with a knife to swirl the brown sugar mixture. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 55-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes then remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. You can dust with powdered sugar before serving if you wish.


Have a great week and stay safe!

​It looks like we have another week of cool weather so a soup recipe will still hit the spot!  Even though it has been cool and cloudy the birds in our neighborhood have been very vocal in the morning, singing their little hearts out! We have a chickadee busy building a nest in our out door old fashioned water pump. they have done this other years and then fuss at us when we sit outdoors, too close for their comfort!
Asparagus says spring to me, I had some last week that tasted so good, my favorite way to fix it is to roast it but we like this soup too!
 
Cream of Asparagus Soup
 
2 # asparagus
6 Tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
6 Tablespoons flour
2 cans chicken broth
2 cups half and half
1 Tablespoon dill weed
salt and pepper
 
Break off asparagus bottoms and discard, cut off tips into 2 inch pieces. Melt butter , add cut up asparagus and onion . Cook 8-10 minutes, reserve tips of asparagus. Add flour. blend and cook 1 minute, add broth, cook 10 minutes. Puree in small batches in blender , return to pan add half and half, dill week, salt and pepper, reheat gently then add the asparagus tips. Serve hot or cold.
 
Have a great week and stay safe!

The robins are bathing in our bird bath, it seems a little chilly for that but they seem to be enjoying it! My tulips, poppies, daffodils, crocus and lilies are up, even my chives are tall enough to use, I hope that Mother nature doesn’t throw us a curve!  My daughter Mary and her family are coming for Easter, our son John and his family the weekend after Easter we are starting slow, so we still can practice social distancing, it has been a long year and I truly don’t think there will be a big change for most of the summer. We have both gotten both our vaccines so are feeling a little safer. Now on to the recipe, I always think strawberries feel like spring, hope you enjoy this one!
 
Strawberry Spinach Pasta Salad
 
8 oz. of penne noodles, or your pasta of choice, cooked according to package directions
2 cups packed fresh baby spinach leaves
1 cup sliced strawberries
1 cup pineapple chunks
1/4 cup dried cranberries, or dried blue berries
1/2 cup salted cashews
 
Orange poppy seed Dressing:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon Dijon
3 Tablespoons honey
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tsp. poppy seeds
optional: pinch of salt and pepper
 
Combine all dressing ingredients in a jar, cover, shake well, set aside
Combine all salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with the prepared dressing.
Serve immediately or cover and chill for 1 hour before serving!
 
Have a great week, Happy Easter and stay safe!

​Pa Lloyd always says that when you have seen the first Robin in the spring there will be 3 more snows before spring, so we will see! I just hope my tulips that were up survive!
 
Today’s recipe comes from the kitchens of Pat Burns and Joanne Soma,  I thought they were delicious, the one I had used a chocolate cake mix and chocolate chips you can be creative and try other flavors, if you want them to be gluten free simply use a gluten free cake mix. Today would be a good day to try them, turn on your oven and warm up your kitchen!
 
Toffee Cookies
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup canola oil
1 regular size butter pecan cake mix
1 pkg. butterscotch chips
1 pkg. toffee bits
 
Beat together eggs and oil then cake mix, Mix in chips and toffee bits, this will take some muscle. Drop by Tablespoon full 2 inches apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, let cool a couple of minutes before removing from pan.
 
Stay safe and have a good week!

​I guess if it means our cold spell is on its way out I won’t complain about new snow!  Spring has to be around the corner, I think its safe to say that we all look forward to warm temperatures where we can be out doors again, especially when we have been so confined to our homes! We had appointments to receive our Covid vaccine last week but was cancelled due to bad roads over much of our country and vaccine not being delivered. Hopefully we will be able to receive it this week.
 
My friend Anita Galkin called me last week with a new recipe using sweet potatoes, she says it’s the only way she makes them now. So I tried the recipe last evening and it was very good, I’m anxious for when I can invite company for a meal and try it out on them.  Its always fun to be able to make something in a different way. I hope that you will give it a try and like it too!
 
Sweet potatoes with Boursin cheese
 
2 medium sweet potatoes
Olive oil, for drizzling
salt and pepper
Boursin Garlic & Fine Herbs cheese ( found in small 3 inch box 5.2 oz. by the specialty cheese)
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chopped
1/4 cup dried cranberries
honey for drizzling
 
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Wash sweet potatoes and peel if desired, then slice them into disc-shaped slices about 1/4 inch thick. You should have about 6 slices from each potato. Arrange sweet potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle both sides with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
Roast the sweet potatoes for 7-8 minutes, flip each slice over and bake another 7-8 minutes. Let sweet potatoes cool a couple of minutes, transfer to a serving platter, spread the Boursin cheese on each slice, then top with chopped pecans and dried cranberries, finish with a drizzle of honey on each slice.  Enjoy!
 
Have a good week and stay safe!

​If this isn’t soup weather I don’t know what is!  We have had a pretty mild winter until now, this cold spell has lasted awhile and isn’t for the faint hearted, it makes it easy to stay inside doesn’t it? Today is one of those comforting soup recipes that Carolyn Seidel was generous enough to share with me. I hope it warms you and yours up! Before I forget the recipe I shared last week is best if you drain most of the liquid off of the corn before adding, its otherwise too juicy.
 
Stuffed Green Pepper Soup
 
1/2 cup white rice, cooked to make one cup, set aside
 
1 pound lean hamburger, crumbled and cooked until no pink
 
Add : 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 medium sized onion, chopped
1 cup chopped green pepper, cook 5-6 minutes longer
 
Add:
3 cups beef broth
14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes ( chop large pieces of the tomato)
2 Tablespoon brown sugar
3 bouillon cubes or 2 tsp. of bouillon granules
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
Bring to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes
Add:
1 cup cooked rice
Let simmer for another 5 minutes so soup is hot for serving.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
 
Have a great week, stay warm and safe!

​It certainly feels like a Minnesota winter this week!  These cold temperatures call for cozy warm up crock pot meals, like I am sharing with you today!
 
Reading has always been a passion of mine especially during this year of isolation. I have so appreciated our local library. Routinely I call in a list of books that the staff gather for me to pick up. Last fall as I was unloading my books I brought home I found a small crock pot  cook book compiled by the staff of our Martin County Library tucked in at the bottom of the plastic bag under my books! I have tried many of them and they all are make again recopies! Today I am sharing one of the most versatile ones that was submitted by Deb!
 
Fiesta Chicken
 
4 chicken breasts, frozen or raw
1 pkg. dry Fiesta Ranch dip
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 can corn, undrained
8 oz. cream cheese
 
Place all ingredients ( chicken on bottom) in slow cooker. Cook 4 hours on high or 6 hours on low. Shred chicken with forks and mix back in.
 
Use for tacos, enchiladas or serve over rice.
 
Have a Happy Valentine’s day, stay warm and safe!