Nancy and I are blessed with a sprawling, tree-shaded patio in our backyard. Since the grass wouldn’t grow among all the tree roots, we poured concrete and created a nice outdoor room, which we thoroughly enjoy. But! It’s summer with 90-degree-plus weather, which makes sitting outside – even in the shade – not so enjoyable. Nancy, however, had the good sense to put an outdoor fan on a … [Read more...]

I don’t know what a kitchen is like without a tub of bacon grease beside the stove. When I was a boy, it was either lard or bacon grease for almost every meal. When we cooked bacon, we poured off the excess into a pot and seasoned with it. I keep a container of bacon grease even today. But for Father’s Day, knowing my passion for cooking, my son gave me a tub of rendered bacon grease called … [Read more...]

One of my kids gave me a very nice and a very expensive stainless-steel pan one year. I ended up donating it to Good Will. Everything I put in it stuck like Brer Rabbit to the Tar Baby. However, I just read an article that makes me wish I had kept the pan. The Well-Equipped Cook’s website says there is a sure fire way to make stainless stickless. Here’s what they say. Put the pan on the … [Read more...]

Late at Night while you’re sleeping, poison ivy comes a creeping all around-ound-ound-ound. Poison ivy, Lawd, will make you itch.   Thanks, Coasters, for that classic song reminding us of the evils of poison ivy, a plant so vile as to send shivers up the spines of those who are extremely allergic – like half of my family. Fortunately, when I accidently bump into the noxious plant, … [Read more...]

Anytime I’m at a fair or a carnival, the first thing I do is check out the stands with Corn Dogs. I ate my first one at the West Virginia State Fair in August 1955 and I’ve been hooked ever since. The sweet cornbread crust, the juicy hot dog inside and slathered in mustard? I could eat a half dozen. Recently, at Aldi’s - where I practically camp out these days - I saw a package of Bremer Corn … [Read more...]

I usually start a few plants for my garden indoors and from seeds, even though I have better luck with mature plants from a quality greenhouse. But I am going to try spaghetti squash this year which you usually don’t see in pots, and I bought some seeds. I also generally use plain old potting mix for my base, but I saw an interesting product at Lowe’s – Jiffy Seed Starting Mix. What caught my … [Read more...]

Mostly, we’ve avoided a brutal winter, but there have been a few frosty mornings with ice clinging to the windshield at 8:30 am. That means turning the car on early and get out the ice scraper - unless you have a can of Johnsen’s De-Icer handy. This stuff is amazing. Nancy bought a can early this winter and uses it every frosty morning. You just spray the windshield, and the frost disappears. … [Read more...]

A friend - knowing I spend much of my time tinkering around in the kitchen - gave me a bag of Hefty Half-Gallon Storage Slider bags as a Christmas stocking stuffer. The bags are terrific, first because they are a unique size. Often, I get out a gallon Zip-Lock that’s way too big but the closest size to what I need. These half-gallon sizes are perfect for things like a leftover meat loaf, half of a … [Read more...]

I saw some really nice looking cole slaw, pre-cut, at Whole Foods. It had a variety of cabbages and I bought it. At $3.99, it was about twice as much as I would pay for regular cole slaw, and it was also about twice as much as I needed. When I got home, I made a batch of slaw with half the mixture, then got out my trusty Food Saver and air-sealed the rest of the mix. A week later, I opened the … [Read more...]

I was in Sam’s recently and remembered that we needed eggs. Back in the Egg and Dairy section, I saw a shelf with Pasture Raised Eggs, a description I had not noticed before. Commonly, I see Cage Free Eggs, but never Pasture Raised. The eggs were large brownish eggs and were $4.98 for a dozen and a half – a little more than I pay for regular eggs but a little less than Cage Free eggs at … [Read more...]