I ran into a neat product recently.  I had never seen it before - Reynold’s Pre-Cut Aluminum Foil Sheets. I have been buying pre-cut parchment paper for baking for quite a while, but these aluminum sheets are truly handy. Lots of times, you don’t need such a big piece of aluminum foul and it’s always the dickens to cut off the roll - usually tears away at the end, leaving you with odd shapes … [Read more...]

They do it every year. They fall off the trees. Leaves. Every single one, which means get out the rake and get to work. Or not? For the past few years I have eschewed the rake and leaf blower and cranked up my lawnmower instead. Not only is this far easier than raking and bagging, it’s better for your yard. By mowing a few times each fall the leaves are shredded into fine pieces where they … [Read more...]

  I had a breakfast planned for country ham and eggs, and everybody knows you need biscuits for that. I can make biscuits from scratch, but I’ve found that the frozen biscuits are an adequate substitute, and a whole lot easier to prepare. Plus, if you only need 8 biscuits, just take 8 out of the package. I was in the Wal-Mart grocery section and I wanted a package of 12 Pillsbury Grand … [Read more...]

There is Wright Bacon and there’s the rest of them. Wright Brand Bacon is the Rolex, Mercedes and Stradivarius of the bacon world. What makes Wright so good, and so pricey? For starters, a 90-year old recipe which involves curing hand selected pork bellies and slow smoking over real wood chips for a consistent and delicious flavor. This hickory smoked bacon is naturally smoked and cured with … [Read more...]

For six months, I have been weaned from Xfinity Cable TV. They were charging nearly $150 a month and that did not include Internet nor any of the premium channels. It was a rip-off in my opinion. So my daughter Laura helped us set up two “smart” TVs and switched us over to Roku. Roku includes networks like Hulu, Netflix, Spotify and especially the ACC Sports Network. Though we can get it, we … [Read more...]

Drat. The local farm where I have been buying cage-free eggs is and has not been not delivering. That’s because the chickens are molting and apparently their hens cannot lay eggs and molt at the same time. So we were completely out of fresh eggs. I don’t mind regular eggs, except they are not as firm and flavorful as local eggs. The cage-free part is irrelevant. I just like the cage-free … [Read more...]

Fire up the grill and get some steaks going. We do a lot of that these days as more and more of us stay home to eat. The only problem with grilling, though, is the clean-up and preparation of the grill. First you scrape and scrape, then you burn off the residue, then you spray Pam on a hot grill and hope for the best. My son-in law, Brent Ham, says I have been doing it all wrong. Brent says … [Read more...]

When we were packing for Hawaii last year, I discovered my only pair of tennis shoes was falling apart. Literally. One sole came completely off. Since some walking was required on a few of our Aloha State excursions, I went shopping for a pair of casual shoes. I shop for shoes only when an existing pair falls apart. My wife, Nancy, however, likes to shoe-shop on any day of the week ending in … [Read more...]

  Kroger’s had some ribeye steaks on sale last week. I glanced at one of the three-packs and noticed a lot of marbling in the steaks. Always, always buy steaks that are well-marbled. That was my Daddy’s advice and he was right as usual. I didn’t pay much attention to the price per pound, but I think the package was about $24, so $8 a steak wasn’t bad. I decided to freeze one steak and have … [Read more...]

  For 11 months a year, we are forced to buy fresh peaches that are anything but. They are likely imports from Mexico or South America that were picked months in advance and stored in cold lockers. These alien peaches are as hard as rocks and tasteless. But now, fellow peach aficionados, our time has come. The white peaches are in season and many local and regional orchards are bringing … [Read more...]