cathyboettner

Hot Pepper Butter

All the peppers (including banana peppers) are super plentiful right now, so I bought some at our local Mennonite market last week and I made some more of this yesterday, so I decided to repost this from 2021. This is something that our former neighbor gave us, and we just loved it. It is especiallyContinue reading “Hot Pepper Butter”

A tablescape made to look at through rose colored glasses

The flowers that I used for a large bouquet on our peninsula when we had everyone in for the weekend inspired this tablescape. I took the flowers that were still in good shape and placed them in a couple of yellow containers by Southern Living. There weren’t quite enough to fill both containers, so IContinue reading “A tablescape made to look at through rose colored glasses”

Making a HUGE table for a crowd

My brother and his family from Germany came to visit and we used to spend about 4 weeks together each summer when they would visit and stay with us at our old house. Our kids haven’t seen much of them, so, of course, we asked them to come with their partners for the weekend. MyContinue reading “Making a HUGE table for a crowd”

A Tidy Up for the Potting Shed

I had a bunch of plant supports laying on the floor of the potting shed and they were trip hazards so I went to the store and got some hooks to hang them up. Then, I turned my attention to the counter which was filthy and disorganized. It was so hot the day that IContinue reading “A Tidy Up for the Potting Shed”

Other Fall Gardening Updates

I know it seems like we are still in the middle of summer, but the fall will be here before you know it, which means that it’s time to start your kale, chard, and lettuces. Our Ace Hardware had seeds half off and then seventy five percent off to close out the 2026 seeds, so,Continue reading “Other Fall Gardening Updates”

Planting and Protecting the Carrot Crop

I plant my fall carrots around the middle of August, so I pulled up the poblano plants which were the last things in the troughs. Before I did anything else, I went about setting up the plastic poultry fencing because deer LOVE carrot tops. In years past, I have used all the garden stakes thatContinue reading “Planting and Protecting the Carrot Crop”

Tomato Pie

This is a dish that we like really well, but there are some issues with it that I think that I have finally solved. But first, a word about tomatoes. You MUST use homegrown tomatoes for this recipe because the flavor is so much better than grocery store tomatoes that tend to be bland. AndContinue reading “Tomato Pie”

Plenty of Poblanos

I planted 7 poblano pepper plants and they have produced plenty of poblano peppers–say that three times fast! We really like the flavor of poblanos and the fact that they are not hot. There were 52 to be exact. I held a few back to use fresh, and I processed the rest for storage inContinue reading “Plenty of Poblanos”

A Fun Table for Friends in for the Weekend

My college friends and their spouses came in for the weekend. Both of the women love dishes and glassware as much as I do, so this was an opportunity to do something special. The new cushions for the chairs were the jumping off point from a color standpoint. I used a light tablecloth that hadContinue reading “A Fun Table for Friends in for the Weekend”

The Drink of the Weekend–A Blackberry Bramble

We picked 22 lbs of blackberries earlier this summer and I’ve made a bunch of seedless blackberry jam, but we still have TONS of them in the freezer. We have friends coming in for the weekend and I decided that we should have a blackberry cocktail, so I did a quick Google search and foundContinue reading “The Drink of the Weekend–A Blackberry Bramble”