Author Archives: cathyboettner

I am making cinnamon rolls for the Thanksgiving holiday since the boys are both going to be home. (Yay!!) I make a huge batch and use some and freeze the rest for later. Dough: 1 1/2 cups milk scalded 1 cup cold water 1/3 cup mashed potato flakes 1/2 cup of sugar 8 tbsp butterContinue reading “Super Cinnamon Rolls”

I have been making these for a long time and have literally made hundreds of pounds of them over the years. This is another easy one. 4 1/2 cups raw spanish peanuts (you will need to buy 2 lbs.) 2 cups sugar 1 cup water Kosher salt Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine nuts, sugarContinue reading “Sweet and Salty Peanuts”

I am NOT a fan of fussy recipes. It’s not that I can’t do it, I just don’t want to. I have been making this particular recipe since I was in high school, so a LONG time. It’s great because you literally just cook it until it is brown–no thermometer, no testing in a glassContinue reading “Super Easy Toffee–No Candy Thermometer required!”

We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving at my in-laws house and my mother is going to join us. I am in charge of the Cranberry-Raspberry-Orange Sauce, mashed potatoes, and cornbread dressing. I love it because these are all items that can be made ahead of time. I am also going to prep the turkey theContinue reading “Thanksgiving Preparations–Make Ahead Recipes”

Pippa is now 12 weeks old and growing fast. Here are some of my favorite photos.

I couldn’t find poblano pepper plants this summer so I had to start them from seed, and I didn’t get them in the ground until late. We are getting some really cold weather this week, so I went ahead and picked the peppers. This is how I prepped them for the freezer: First I putContinue reading “Poblano Peppers”

My brother and nephew are in the states for a couple of weeks on a road trip and they stopped by for lunch on their southern swing. It’s the last of the cutting garden–pink cosmos and coriander flowers. Looks pretty spring-like for the middle of October, but that’s what was blooming. Who knew that corianderContinue reading “Visitors from Germany”

Our fall garden has been particularly productive. I picked some kale last week–only the largest outer leaves. This is what it looked like when I brought it in to clean it: I have a 36″ sink in the laundry room and you can see how full it was. To get it ready to use, IContinue reading “Kale for DAYS!”

We lost our two old lady dogs last year–Charlotte and Delilah. We have ALWAYS had pets throughout our entire marriage. We took a break for about 6 months and didn’t have any serious discussions about a dog until about May of this year. Mike insisted that we get a purebred puppy that we could raiseContinue reading “My Newest Project–Meet Pippa”

We’re going to see our boys this weekend so I am making a huge batch of chicken piccata, which is one of their favorites. 5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, sliced to 3/4″ 1 cup all purpose flour 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 2-12 oz jars artichoke hearts 2/3 cup capers, drained 1 1/4Continue reading “Chicken Piccata for a Crowd”