Friday, December 23, 2011

Fast Food Cooking

Recipe Lion is giving away a copy of "The Fast Food Kitchen" to 3 lucky winners. The tag line is "Great Meals At Home in 15 Minutes." I really need this book. I can't make a meal in 15 minutes unless it's a can of Chef Boyardee or SpaghettiOs. No matter how simple & quick the recipe is, it still seems to take me at least an hour to get it on the table. I need someone to show me how to get meals on the table quick. I'd be interested to see if the tips in this book would work for me.

The kids are grown, now what?: #Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Cordial M&M's Cookie...

The kids are grown, now what?: #Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Cordial M&M's Cookie...: In October we made The Ultimate M&M's Cookies recipe that I found on the M&M's web site. Well, M&M's has some new holiday M&M's out and I ...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

I Love Tea

I love tea. Since the weather has turned cold, I have switched my tea drinking from iced tea to hot tea. I grew up drinking English Breakfast because that was Mom's favorite tea but I've found I prefer Irish Breakfast. I recently discovered a couple of new flavors. At the Tea Pot & More I found Tea forte's Mojito Marmalade on the discount table. Since I love mojitos, I had to try it. Yummy!!! And it's caffeine free so I can drink it anytime of day. Stash has a Mojito Mint green tea that's also good. Another favorite flavor that I haven't been able to find except at Panera Bread & then you can only buy it by the cup is The Republic Of Tea's Orange Ginger Mint. I'm hoping that my friend at the New Kitchen Store will be able to carry it when she adds The Republic Of Tea to her tea lineup. Orange Ginger Mint is great when my stomach is upset. Ginger provides excellent relief for upset stomachs whether in tea or ginger ale.

I love looking to see what different teas I can find when on vacation. I can usually find something that we don't have in Northern Indiana. My favorite find on vacation was a special tea made just for the Garden View Tea Room in Grand Floridan Resort at Walt Disney World. I loved it so much I bought a tin. Whenever I drink it, I remember the great Afternoon Tea my mom & I enjoyed.

There are many ways to brew tea. I use a tea kettle or electric tea pot to heat water for tea bags. For loose teas I like to use my Tea Drop. It works just like a coffeemaker but the basket is specially designed for loose tea or tea bags. Using it for loose teas means I don't have to try to put tea in a tea ball without spilling it & I don't have tea leaves in the bottom of the cup. I just put the loose tea in the basket, fill the reservoir with water & hit brew. The newest way to brew tea is with my Keurig. There are K-cups from Celestial Seasonings, Twinings, Tazo, Cafe Escapes' Chai & Green Mountain. I can also make Southern Sweet Iced Tea with my Keurig.

International Delight  has made it easy to turn regular black tea into chai with their Chai Latte creamer. I like to add it to Irish Breakfast or English Breakfast.

Here are some links to my favorite tea companies:
Celestial Seasonings
Twinings
Republic Of Tea
Stash Tea
Tea forte
Bigelow Tea

Saturday, December 17, 2011

~Under the Big Oak Tree~: Corn Dog Casserole

~Under the Big Oak Tree~: Corn Dog Casserole: Hot Dogs and Beans is one of our favorite dinners. It's comfort food. It's a quick and easy dinner to throw together. It can also be a ch...

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Nappenee, Indiana

I love Nappenee, Indiana. There are actually 3 parts to Nappenee. As you enter the town from the west you come to Amish Acres. This historic farm & heritage resort has guided tours of the farm, 5 shops including a meat & cheese shop, a soda shop & fudgery. The Greeting Barn has gifts, antiques & quilts. In the bakery is breads, cinnamon rolls, homemade noodles & canned goods although you can no longer get the famous bean soup from the restaurant. The restaurant serves the Thresher's Dinner, an Amish feast served family style. I love the bean soup. In the summer there is the Amish Acres Arts & Craft show. Most people don't get past the Amish Acres area but for those who do they find a quaint little town.

At the corner of US 6 & SR 19 is downtown Nappanee. At this corner is Downtown Design & Consign, Veni's Sweet Shop & Main Street Coffee House. Downtown Design & Consign has furniture, antiques & even American Girl doll clothes. Veni's Sweet Shop is a 2nd shop for this Niles, MI chocolatier. Also downtown is Metzler Shoes, John's Butcher Shop where my brother gets his babyback ribs, Encore Consignment Shop, E. Newcomer & Sons Jewelry, Natalie's Christian Wellness Center & Antiques on the Square. Coppes Commons, 4 blocks from downtown, is a collection of small shops housed in one of the Coppes furniture & cabinet buildings. Currently there is the Rocket Science Ice Cream, Nappanee Bakery & Treat Shoppe, the Tea Pot & More, Plain & Fancy Gourmet Kettle & Light Of Grace Book & Gift Store. There is also the Countryside Shoppes Showcase which features products from a collection of Amish shops in the countryside around Nappanee. Coming soon is Culinary Mill Market & Deli which will feature meats, cheeses, bulk foods & produce.

Finally on the far east side of Nappanee is what I consider the 3rd part of Nappanee. Here you will find Martin's Supermarket, the Country Table (love their custard on the buffet), KFC & Taco Bell, Dairy Queen & Fairmount Homes. This is the area that was hit by a EF3 tornado back in October 2007 which resulted in the replacement of the KFC/Taco Bell building & the Dairy Queen.

Nappanee does Embrace 2nd Saturday year round with each month having a different theme. There are kids' activities at the library & Coppes Commons, shopping deals & local vendors join the other shops at Coppes Commons.

Take a day & enjoy all Nappanee has to offer. I promise you won't be disappointed.

Links:

www.amishacres.com
www.coppescommons.com
www.embracesecondsaturdays.com
www.mainstreetroasters.com
www.nappaneechamber.com
  
Here are the FB pages for the Nappanee shops:
Coppes Commons 
Nappanee Bakery & Treat Shoppe 
Rocket Science Ice Cream in Nappanee 
Culinary Mill Market & Deli 
Main Street Coffee House 
Embrace Second Saturdays 
Nappanee Chamber of Commerce 
Veni's Sweet Shop.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Santa Track

I just love Santa Track. I may be 48 but I'm just a big kid when it comes to Christmas & Santa. It's so fun to watch where Santa is on Christmas Eve. The animation is fun & the narration is interesting.  I love visiting the different buildings at Santa's Village & playing the games. Today's game was lighting the Christmas Tree. Lots of fun. Check back every day as a different building becomes active & a new game is added. Thank you to NORAD for doing this every year.