Author Archives: cathyboettner

There are so many fruits in season right now that are just great in cobbler. I love cobbler because it is SO easy to make. Cobbler filling 6 cups of sliced peaches (you can use frozen) or substitute your favorite fruit–follow the recipe on the minute tapioca box. 1/4 cup minute tapioca 3/4 cup sugarContinue reading “Summer Cobbler”

My mother in law turned 80 this year, so we (me and my husband and my sister in law and brother in law) threw her a party. We started working on the details back in April and came up with doing a brunch on my sister in law and brother in law’s patio. (She hasContinue reading “An 80th Birthday Party!”

Our youngest is moving into an unfinished apartment, and his brother already raided the basement for a bunch of furniture for his first grown up apartment, so we had to get creative…. I used to have a workbench in the garage at the farm and then in the basement in this house. Recently, it hadContinue reading “A Recycled Work Bench Top turns into a Super Cool Kitchen table”

This is something that our former neighbor gave us, and we just loved it. It is especially good with smoked meats and fantastic on smoked sausage or kielbasa. It is really easy to make. Step one: Prep your banana peppers. (I used about 20 to 25 very large peppers) Even though banana peppers are notContinue reading “Hot Pepper Butter”

Our tomatoes are starting to come in and I picked up a few more when I went to the Mennonite market in Delano, TN. Last year I started roasting my tomatoes for my tomato sauce and it made a big difference in the taste. Here’s how I do it: I wash and cut up myContinue reading “Homemade Pizza Sauce”

Stromboli patty (or meatball) recipe: 2 lbs hamburger or ground turkey 1 1/2 cups marinara sauce 3/4 cup Italian style dry breadcrumbs 2 eggs 2 tsp Italian seasoning 2 tbsp garlic salt 20 oz turkey Sweet Italian Sausage with casings removed Place all the ingredients in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and mixContinue reading “Stromboli Sandwiches”

I went to the grocery and was lucky enough to find a couple bouquets of white spider mums (which are a favorite of mine). I placed them in the blue vases from the table that I posted earlier this week. I added these cool swirly things that clematis flowers turn into along with some yellowContinue reading “Flowers for the Fourth”

Mike is normally all about the chocolate desserts, but when it gets to be blueberry season, he switches gears and is more into fruit pies. One of his very favorite recipes is Blueberry Cream Pie. This year I started with a homemade crust that I have published here before. Pastry: 2 3/8 cups all purposeContinue reading “Blueberry Cream Pie–Our traditional Independence Day dessert”

My mom had potato plants that came up from a handful of potatoes that didn’t get harvested last year and we dug them up this week. Mike and I had already planned on having a vegetarian curry this week, but it went in a different direction….. Ingredients: Head of cauliflower cut into bite sized piecesContinue reading “Vegetarian Red Thai Curry”

I got started early on my table for Independence day. I started with a blue and white checked cloth and layered a neat handmade square cloth in red, white, and blue. I used my black lanterns, blue vases (which will be filled with yellow, white, and red flowers), and white starfish. I pulled out someContinue reading “Fourth of July Table”