My Weekly W's - Last Sunday of May

What's top of my mind:  Data centers.  Two weeks ago, there was a rumor that one of the large landowners in our county was going to sell a good portion to a corporation that is interested in building one of these monstrosities in our county.   Our county board and the townships board that the land is in held emergency meetings to discuss.  Our local board is half republican and half democratic and they all work very well together.  Who knew that was possible?  One board member explained the situation well.  Our wonderful governor Pritzger who does not like local government to have much say over their communities, snuck in a new law around three years ago that gives the state government full rights to basically do whatever the hell they want regardless of the community.  The board member explained that if the township refuses to allow a sale the state could hit them with huge fines.  The board did rule that nothing will be done for 180 days until they can investigate everything further.  I will be following this very closely.  These data centers are a huge strain on our water, electricity and so much more.

Who needs a good slap:  Just when you think someone cannot sink any lower, they do. Governor Pritzger deserves 5 throat punches  slaps, for SO many reasons!  This is not a political party rant, but a personal oppinion of mine about our governor so please don't take it there.

Where I've been:  Thursday we went to St. Louis University hospital for a test that TBG had scheduled.  It was a long morning for him, so when we finished around 12, we needed a good lunch and stopped at Drakes in Shiloh. You know I love their club sandwich.  Friday, I only worked half a day so beat the holiday weekend crowds at Kroger and picked up a couple of things.  Yesterday we went to Effingham to enjoy lunch at Firefly.  Their fried green tomatoes are SO good, along with everything else.  My birthday is tomorrow along with Memorial Day, so we wanted to enjoy a meal with just the two of us to celebrate early.

Where I'm going:  Tuesday I have an appointment to have the back tooth that I broke pulled.  I took Wednesday off too just in case I'm not feeling well.  I'm sure I'll stay home regardless.  Thursday TBG has an appointment with his cardiologist here in town.  Other than that, we have no plans and I hope no others pop up.

What I'm watching:  The garden is growing like crazy. Everything looks really good. I went out this morning to cut some of the garlic scapes.  I am going to pickle this bunch and then pick the rest in a day or two for hummus.   

What I'm eating:

Spaghetti and beef meatballs with a salad

BIG salad x 2

Chicken sausage, scalloped potatoes and asparagus

Cube steak, pesto mac and cheese with a salad.  It has probably been 20 years or more since I've made cube steaks and TBG mentioned it one day last week.  I told him they are on the list for sale at the farm we go to, so he went out and picked two up.  They were really tender and tasted good, but not a favorite of mine.

Chicken tikka masala with rice and naan.

Tonight we're having salmon with sides to be determined.

What's making me smile: This bush makes me smile every year.  Does anyone know what kind it is?  I would love to have two or three more on the other side of the back yard.

                I hope everyone is well and if you're in the US enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!!

What's for dinner?

 

With the ingredients above, can you figure out what I made for dinner?  

Hint...it's an old school classic.

Hope everyone is doing well.

My Week

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day!

The weather here was great this past week.  Cool in the mornings and perfect in the afternoons.  We had quite a bit of rain through the week which was nice.  No storms, just nice steady rain which is exactly what we've needed.  

I went to a number of stores to stock up on items we regularly use.  This should keep me out of stores for a while.  The farmers market also started so I went to see my favorite farmer.  He had gorgeous lettuce, radishes, strawberries and of course flowers.  His onions are wonderful and I've already replanted a couple of the bulbs.  You can't find onions like this in the store here.

I worked out in the yard multiple times getting everything planted in the garden and in pots.  I like to grow basil and arugula in large pots because they seem to do better.  I did pick up another lavender plant and put it in a pot until it gets a bit bigger.  Our yard is off to a good start.

While doing things around the house the last few weeks I watched a number of good documentaries.

The Twister-Caught in the Storm.  This was about the tornado that hit Joplin Missouri and it brought up a lot of emotions.  I know one of the doctors that was in the hospital that was hit by this storm.  

India-Sweets and Spices

Kidnapped-Elizabeth Smart

Sins of Our Mother

Nobody dumps my daughter

Yesterday we watched Mother's Day on Netflix.  I don't remember seeing that when it came out in 2016 and it was a pretty cute movie.

Meals this week...

Sirloin steak, baked potato and salad

BBQ chicken legs, pesto, white cheddar mac and cheese and asparagus

Chicken fajita nachos

Beef chili with cornbread

BIG salad x2

LO pan of stuffed shells and a salad

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the month of May.  I still am not quite sure how it is 5 months into the year already but here we are.

Be safe and remember to celebrate a little every day!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In My Kitchen - April 2026

Happy May!  April was a pretty full month for us, and I didn't do much new in my kitchen so this post will be a bit sparse, but I still wanted to join along with sherrys pickings for her monthly In My Kitchen.  It is always fun to see what others from all over the world are doing in their kitchens plus I didn't want to break my record of doing four months in a row. 😉

We had a lovely Easter dinner at our house with lamb T bones, garlic and rosemary potatoes, deviled eggs and asparagus.  It was delicious.  I used this recipe for the lamb, because it always comes out so well. Culinary Adventures with Lori: 52 Recipes in 52 Weeks #4 Lamb T-bones with Rosemary-Balsamic Butter Sauce  For dessert, we enjoyed banana pudding that I made with Lorna Doone cookies for something a bit different than a crust or vanilla wafers.  It turned out really well.

The next day we celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary by taking a day trip and having a wonderful lunch together at our favorite place Firefly Grill - Farm & Table in Effingham, Illinois  The weather turned out to be perfect, so the drive was gorgeous.  It was a great day with my favorite person in the world.

New items I picked up this month.

TBG loves hot tea every day, so I picked up another bag of the Berry Berry that he really enjoys, making sure he has a good variety in the cabinet to choose from.

I like to keep beef tallow on hand to occasionally cook with and also to make lotion.  This winter I made it through the cold harsh winter that we had with soft skin instead of dry and scaly. It has to be the tallow lotion that I made in the fall.  I love this stuff.

This popcorn is SO good.  It pops up beautifully and has very little of the annoying hull to deal with.  

I love Lindt chocolate and TBG picked up this bag for me which was appreciated.  This bag contained a new to me flavor of Neapolitan.  The filling was a mixture of strawberry and milk chocolate with the outer shell being white chocolate.  I'm not a big fan of white chocolate but this combination was really very good.

My curveball is a picture of my buddy Binx which is suiting since he spends a lot of time with me in the kitchen.  This picture is from this morning.  It was pretty chilly when I got up so I put a throw down by the patio window so he could warm up.  It took him a while to get the blanket exactly how he wanted it but after he did, he took a nice two-hour nap.  

Sherry, thank you for hosting because I know you have been so busy as well. I hope everyone has a wonderful May!!  

26 New To Me Recipes in 2026 # 5 and #6 -Sauces

I love cooking with a lot of spices and I love a glaze or sauce.  A good sauce can be utilized in so many different ways and really give a basic meal a nice kick. 

At the end of March, we met my brother and his family at Fridays to spend some time together and catch up.  We haven't been to a Friday's since we lived in Florida, and it was TGI Fridays back then.   I ordered the chicken sandwich with whiskey sauce and as soon as I started eating, I remembered that sauce very well.  As I ate, I was thinking about all of the different things this sauce would be delicious on.  Chicken, fish, salmon, burgers...so many uses.  I looked up copycat recipes and landed on this one and it does not disappoint.

Friday's Whiskey Glaze

2 cups brown sugar

1 cup pineapple juice

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup Jack Daniel's whiskey

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon garlic granulated or powder

1 teaspoon onion granulated or powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a medium saucepan, combine all of the ingredients except for the cornstarch.  Heat and whisk over medium heat until the mixture is reduced by a third and coats the back of a spoon.  It took about 20 minutes.

Whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water and then whisk into the glaze.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool. 

Once cooled, refrigerate for at least one hour and it will continue to thicken.

I've made this twice in the last month and we've enjoyed it on a variety of meats. 

In early April we had lunch at Drakes which we enjoy two or three times a year.  I love their burgers but once I tried their club sandwich a few years ago, I was hooked.  They use a wheat berry bread perfectly toasted and are very generous with the meats, cheese, lettuce and tomato.  Another thing that really puts it over the top is their honey mustard sauce.  It is delicious so again I searched for a good copycat recipe and landed on this one.

Drakes Honey Mustard Sauce

1/2 cup mayo (you can also use sour cream or yogurt, but I used mayo)

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons yellow mustard

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

pinch of paprika

Place in a jar with a lid and shake it all up.  Refrigerate for at least an hour to let it all combine well.

This is good on a salad, sandwiches, chicken strips, fries and probably a lot more.

I don't know how we are already at the April, but here we are.  I hope everyone had a lovely month and that May is even better.

Do you have a favorite sauce??  Inquiring minds would like to know.

Food for Thought

 

 I am really hoping they were being 'funny' and not serious.

26 New To Me Recipes in 2026 #4 Cinnamon Roll Cake

I found this recipe at https://www.thecountrycook.net and it is a keeper.  The recipe is simple, straightforward and delicious.  7 different people tried a piece and all of them including us were very happy with it. The cinnamon filling is perfect, and the cake is very moist.  It does taste like you're eating a cinnamon roll and  I will be making this again.

For the cake:

3 cups AP flour

1 cup white sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk

1 stick of butter, melted and cooled

For the Cinnamon filling:

1 and 1/2 sticks of room temperature butter (I used one and it was perfectly good)

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons AP flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

For the glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar

5 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9x13 baking dish.  In a large bowl combine the first 5 ingredients for the cake.  Then slowly add the butter.  Mix just until combined.  Do not over mix.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the ingredients for the filling and mix together well. Once combined, drop the cinnamon filling by spoonfuls onto the cake batter. 

Take a butter knife and make swirly, marble effect patterns all around the cake dragging the knife through both the cinnamon and cake batter.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. (40 minutes was perfect for my oven)

Combine all of the ingredients for the glaze and drizzle over the cake once it has cooled a bit.

ENJOY!

In My Kitchen-March 2026

March was a pretty good month even though it flew by.  Honestly though, they all seem to fly by now so I'm trying to just enjoy each day.

The weather was all over the place this month with spring, summer and winter temperatures so our meals were a mixture too.  Here are some of my favorite meals from March.

Chicken noodle and white bean soup with onions, garlic, ginger and cumin.  Such a comforting meal.

Lamb burgers with spicey 'fries'.  

BIG salad with lots of veggies and chicken. 

Beef and potato hand pie with a small side salad.  

Naan 'pizza' and a salad

I have always made quite a bit of our bread, but I've been on a roll and have made all of the various breads we've eaten since January.  I don't think there is any going back to store bought now.  Here are two of my favorites.

Loaf of white Dutch oven bread.  Culinary Adventures with Lori: My new go to Bread recipe

NY style bagels  Culinary Adventures with Lori: 52 Recipes in 52 Weeks #3 New York style bagels

A friend of mine loves dates and sweets so I used peanut butter to stuff in a date and then dipped them in chocolate and sprinkled some with pistachio nuts and she LOVED them.  They really are pretty good and mostly pretty healthy too.  She is always bringing me things from Poland like this cute trivet and a couple more kitchen towels.

So that is what March looked like in my kitchen.  I am joining Sherry at sherrys pickings who hosts In My Kitchen and connects us to each other from all over the globe.  Thank you again for hosting Sherry. I hope everyone has a wonderful April.

Things That Make Me Smile

 

This half of our backyard is always so pretty this time of year, and it always brings a smile to my face.

        I hope everyone has a great day and a wonderful Easter weekend!!

The last Sunday of March

How is it even possible that we are almost in April?  I feel like the months are turning into just a blur no matter how much I slow down and try to make every day intentional.  I've heard as you get older this is what happens, so I guess I better just get used to it.  But seriously it is crazy.

On Monday I received a call from my one up that I needed to take a PTO day before March 31 because it is part of systems financial improvement plan, that everyone takes two days between March 16 and 31. I am assuming that after letting almost 100 people go last month they had to pay quite a bit of PTO out and needed to recoup that somehow.  It is interesting times we are in.  I never thought I would hear taking PTO was mandatory but here we are.

I finally found a desk for my new space at home, and it is exactly what I've been looking for.  It's an old solid wood desk with 8 drawers that has been completely refurbished.  Other than eventually painting, the room has turned out perfect for me.  It's odd to have a room all to myself with all of my 'stuff' but I am really enjoying it. 

I took my mandatory PTO day on Friday so decided to go and do a bit of stocking up on sale items at Kroger.  I got a great deal on a number of things we routinely use like Bob's Redmill Flour for 2.49, butter for 2.29 and quite a few other items.  Gas was 3.99 a gallon and I had 50 cents off a gallon so that was a nice savings.  With everything going up more and more, I really feel bad for people with fixed incomes or children at home.  

What we ate:

LO chili and a cheese roll up

Lamb burgers with 'fries'

Salmon with Jack Daniels glaze, baked potato and asparagus.  I will share the recipe for the glaze soon, because it is so good on so many things.

BIG salad 

Dinner at friends.  She served these cream cheese pickle bites and they were amazing with an awesome dill dip.

Naan with chicken, red onions and Provel cheese with a salad.  I love that one naan is the perfect size for the two of us to share.

I'm glad I ate well all week because yesterday afternoon I broke one of my back molars.  There really isn't much tooth pain but it broke off and is so sharp that even talking and swallowing is pretty painful because my tongue scrapes up against it.  SO, tomorrow I will be calling the dentist to see if I can get this taken care of asap.  I have a lot planned for the coming week and this was not on the list.  But, you know what they say about planning.

I saw this and immediately thought of Binx.  He's almost four years old and this is definitely his life.

He's had this toy since he was a kitten and he used to sleep on it a lot when he was little and I actually found him sleeping on it this week and he doesn't fit as well as he used to.

                                           I hope everyone is staying safe and doing well!!

Weekly Review

 

Happy Sunday!  Weather wise, we had a week with winter, spring and now summer all rolled up.  After last week's warm up the bottom fell out Monday, and we had lows in the teens for a couple of days with snow flurries off and on.  Now we've been in the 80's for the last four days.  We hit an all-time high of 85 yesterday.  Deciding what to wear each day has been a bit of a challenge to say the least.

We took advantage of the gorgeous day yesterday and worked out in the back yard for a while.  I checked on my herbs and the garlic, and everything looks really good.  I cleaned up the back patio table and chairs and gave the grill a good scrub.  This week we're having our gutters and house pressure washed so we'll be all set for relaxing outside and grilling very soon.

I've been doing my yearly Spring spruce around the house and while sorting through a number of things over the last two weeks I was able to enjoy four different shows on Netflix.

Chef (2014) I have seen this movie two or three times and I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.  

Breakdown 1975 (2025) I found this documentary very interesting.

Love Con Revenge (2025) I enjoyed this one also.  This isn't the online scams we're all used to hearing about.  These were 'real' relationships and even a marriage. 

Bad Shabbos (2026) Cute movie.

What we've been eating:

Monday was cold so I decided to make another batch of beef and bean chili with cornbread.

Big salad and lo cornbread

Moroccan lamb meatballs, rice and naan

Crispy garlic chicken, baked potato and salad

Beef cheeseburgers and 'fries'

Chicken fajita and rice bowls

Today I am going to make a batch of jalapeno pepper jelly.  I really overstocked the jalapeno's last summer, so I need to start using them up before this year's batch comes in.  I did pretty well on all of the other fruits and veggies I stocked because it looks like they'll run out right after the new ones start coming.  Last month I did run out of green bell peppers, so I need to remember this year to preserve much more.  After the jelly is done, I 'm going to go outside and read for an hour or two. That is my cozy happy place this time of year and I have a stack of books I want to read this year.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!!

26 New to me Recipes in 2026 #3 Crispy Garlic Chicken Thighs

I found this recipe on RecipeTinEats website and figured it would be a quick weeknight meal for the two of us.

Ingredients:

5 or 6 skinless boneless chicken thighs

1 tsp. garlic powder or granules

Salt and pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine or broth (I used broth)

2 tbsp butter

2 large garlic cloves, minced

Finely chopped parsley-optional (I did not use it)

Instructions:

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Place chicken in skillet smooth side down.

Cook for 5 minutes until deep golden and crispy

Turn and press lightly with spatula and cook for 2 minutes.  Add garlic and butter, cook for another minute or two until garlic is light golden and it smells amazing.

Add wine or broth and turn up heat just a bit.  Stir around the chicken to dissolve golden bits stuck on the skillet into the broth.  Simmer rapidly for 1 to 2 minutes.

Remove from heat and serve chicken with the sauce.

I served the chicken with a baked potato and a salad.

I have tried MANY of her recipes and usually love everything that I make of Nagi's, but we gave this one a 6 out of 10.  Part of it maybe because thighs are not our favorite piece of the chicken but honestly, I think we just prefer a lot more spice and flavor.  

Culinary Adventures with Lori: 26 New to me Recipes for 2026 #2 Lemon Garlic Salmon Tray Bake

Culinary Adventures with Lori: 26 New to me Recipes for 2026 No. 1 Texas Cowboy Chicken

Things That Make Me Smile

 

When I saw this, I felt it deep in my soul.

My Week

Happy Sunday!  Can we just a pick a time and stick with it?  I don't care which one it is. This is brutal to my system, and I will be confused and tired for a few days.  Am I the only one?

I saw this and think it is a good reminder for all of us.  We are the star in our own lives, and we need to always remember that.

I hope everyone enjoyed the first week of March.  We hit our first 80 degree day with a few in the 70's and now after off and on rain for a few days it's back to highs in the 60's.  The forsythia bush is popping out its pretty yellow leaves, the garlic that I planted in September is now showing 6-7 inches of growth and so many more signs of the new season and new growth.  

Dinners this week...

I only make fried chicken once or twice a year because it's not the healthiest. We had fried chicken, potato salad, coleslaw and a roll and it was so good.  I kind of wished we would have waited a few months because a few slices of fresh tomatoes would have been perfect.

BIG salad

Stir fried chicken, rice and asparagus

LO steak sandwiches and salad

LO chili and jalapeno poppers

Pasta, salad and garlic bread

Yesterday we went out to lunch with my brother and his partner.  We met at TGI Friday's about an hour north of us. The food was just OK but the two hours with them were wonderful.  💗

Naan with prosciutto, red onions and mozzarella cheese with a salad was our light dinner.

I worked all week and while I am thankful for a job to continue with my financial goals, it is getting a bit depressing there and the morale is horrible.  I did all of the normal things I do at home each week except I didn't read anything or watch much of anything on TV.  

TBG is continuing to improve health/fitness wise, so I am very thankful for that.  Our health is really all we have when you think about it.

I hope everyone is safe and doing well.  Have a great week!!

In My Kitchen February 2026

Hello and happy March!  I know a lot of people in the US are happy that winter is fading away and spring is right around the corner.  It is a bit bittersweet for me because I do love winter.  But each season has a lot to offer so I'm excited for a few changes after hibernating for months.

I'm joining Sherry at sherrys pickings to share what went on in my kitchen this month. Be sure and visit her to see what is going on around the world in people's kitchens.

February was a bit of a slow month in my kitchen.  I took inventory of the freezer to see what needs to be used before summer when I start to restock.  I did very well last summer/fall in dehydrating and freezing our local produce.  I have quite a few blueberries and cherries to use up and a LOT of jalapeno peppers.  Everything else looks like I chose just the right amount for us except for green peppers which I used the last of this past week.  I'll need to make sure to put more of them away this year because we do use them a lot.

Valentine's Day was last month, and I had fun making chocolate raspberry jam filled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (with a lot of sprinkles of course) for my work group.  They enjoyed them and wanted me to make more.  I also made chocolate covered strawberries for TBG and I.  I found the cutest heart shaped container that was just perfect.  I'm not a big fan of chocolate covered strawberries, but these were pretty good.

We went out to dinner for Valentine's Day on the night before and really enjoyed our favorite local Mexican restaurant.  I tried a strawberry daiquiri and was not disappointed at all.

TBG and I played a lot of boardgames and card games and one night I made appetizers for us to enjoy while we played.  Wonton wrappers are amazing vessels for a number of things.  I made a few with cream cheese and pepper jelly and a few with some left over chili with cheese on top.  They really are so good.

New items in my February kitchen...a new candle that smells SO good.  Who doesn't love Mama's Pancakes with syrup?

And a friend of mine sent me one of her latest creations.  A kitchen witch.  I remember back in the 70's these were very popular for a while.  It's a tradition in many countries to hang one by your stove to make sure all of your cooking turns out delicious.  I'm not sure if I believe that but she is super cute, in a witchy kind of way, and all of our meals and bakes turned out pretty good, so she has a new home by my stove.

Well, that wraps up February.  I hope everyone is well and staying safe.  What has been happening in your kitchen.  I would love to hear about it.