Author Archives: cathyboettner

I have tried many recipes for pumpkin cheesecakes, but I always go back to this one because it is so easy and delicious. The crust is like a chewy spicy cookie, and the filling is soft and creamy and perfect. It is delicious by itself (the way I prefer it); great with a little whippedContinue reading “Easiest and Best Pumpkin Cheesecake”

I took a recipe from my mother in law and made a few modifications to make it a really adaptable filling for quiches. Quiche Filling (makes 3-9″ quiches or 2-10″ quiches) 1 1/2 cups of mayonnaise 6 tbsp flour 2 rounds of Boursin cheese 12 eggs 1 1/2 cups of milk Combine all ingredients inContinue reading “Quiche with Options”

It’s been uncharacteristically dry here for several weeks, and the forecast while we were out of town was dry too, so we ran our sprinkle system the whole time we were gone. Boy, what a difference a couple of weeks has made. We’re going to have to eat a lot of bok choi soon!

We just got back from vacation and it was great, and I want to tell you about it in case you are considering a trip to DC or to NYC. First of all, we booked our hotels and our train travel (Amtrak) through Amtrak which gave us a pretty good price on our hotels, whichContinue reading “Bright Lights, Big Cities”

It’s still PLENTY hot, so it’s hard to think about getting ready for the cooler months ahead, but now is your chance to get a big thank you from your future self for putting in a fall garden. I pulled up almost all of my summer garden a few weeks ago so that I couldContinue reading “The fall garden”

I have recently pulled up all my tomatoes, squash, and peppers to make room for my fall plants. I have started my fall plants, and I had some that I needed to get in the ground, but my primary garden needs to have some additional landscape mix put on it (which is supposed to beContinue reading “The Beginning of the Fall/Winter Garden”

I planted Beauregard sweet potatoes which are fast maturing–in about 110 days. The last time I grew sweet potatoes, I had some real WHOPPERS. The question is, will this be a repeat since I am harvesting about 45 days earlier than last time. This is what the garden looked like when I started: So, ofContinue reading “Taming the Sweet Potato Jungle”

I am working on a fundraising event and we are making up several bar-themed auction baskets. My friend in Atlanta found me some great little cutting boards at thrift stores that were a great price, but needed a little TLC. (But you can do the same process for your own cutting boards that have startedContinue reading “Refurbishing Cutting Boards”

My basil plants have done REALLY well this year. I have three giant pots with about this size plant in each of them–they are more like basil bushes than plants. So, I thought that I would make some basil pesto for pizzas, pastas, and a pesto quinoa dupe for the First Watch Pesto Chicken powerContinue reading “Basil Pesto”

Yet another purchase from the farmers market. I bought two baskets of squash from the Mennonite market and a bunch of huge onions. My guess is that is was about 8 lbs. I sliced up the squash and onions and it looked like this: I sauteed them with a stick of butter. Now I hadContinue reading “Squash Casserole for the Freezer”