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Cozy up with a warm winter beverage

I wonder if others were singing, “The sun will come out tomorrow. Bet your bottom dollar …” while we sheltered from the atmospheric rivers a few weeks ago. And the sun is out, warming and healing our land and souls. We still need water and welcome more rain storms, but in the meantime are soaking up those beautiful rays as often as we can. Since our evening temps drop into the 30s, winter is with us and suggests a warm, comforting beverage. One of my favorites is chai tea. Chai is a Hindi word for tea which can be traced

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February 9, 2023 1 Comment

Upside Down Cakes for our Upside-Down World

New York Times Cooking app is one of my favorite cooking tools. A recent post featured an Upside-Down Berry Cake that caught my immediate attention since Pineapple Upside-Down Cake is a nostalgic favorite.  I love reminiscing about helping my mom place the maraschino cherries between the pineapple rounds! This NY Times cake recipe has the most moist and delicious batter I’ve ever tasted.  Of course, I had to play with the caramel component by adding our Bourbon Smoked Sea Salt Caramel for the first layer.   I heated the caramel to a low boil for about 5 minutes to reduce it

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August 22, 2022 4 Comments

Keith’s 10 Tips On How To Create a Fun & Flavorful Burn Pile Stew

  The Ultimate Cooking Experience 🔥 It seems a waste of energy not to use all the heat generated from a burn pile. However, after a good day’s burn, it is great to sit around the fire with a cold beverage and a Dutch oven full of good eats. When I first started to cook over a burn pile, I would toss everything into a dutch oven and let it simmer. After a few burn pile cookouts, I’ve refined my cooking. I now brown the meat and caramelize onions before adding them to the stew. This extra step adds layers

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April 9, 2022 1 Comment

It’s officially cozy cooking season!

After a long, lingering and enjoyable warm fall, Murphys finally turned winter-cold. The perfect setting for Jan and me to indulge in a cozy evening filled with comfort food and the crackles from our woodstove keeping us warm and comfy.  Since we had a rare (for this time of year) day off, I decided braised short ribs slow-cooked was the perfect comfort food for this cold winter’s day. Braised short ribs are so easy to make and fill the kitchen with irresistible mouth-watering aromas while slowly cooking throughout the day.     The seasoning blend is simple:  1 tablespoon of Smoked

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December 11, 2021 2 Comments

Our New Family Trick For The Juiciest Thanksgiving Turkey

This year for Thanksgiving, my family and I decided to try something different and spatchcocked our turkey.  I will say you will not get the same presentation of the whole turkey for everyone to oooh and ahhhh over right before carving into the bird. However, you will have everyone ooohing and ahhhing as they take their first bite into the extra flavorful and most tender turkey.  Of course, The Tin Turkey Rub was our seasoning of choice.  And it contributed to a mouth-watering gravy. The next best part of cooking our Thanksgiving turkey with this technique was that it only

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November 27, 2021 No Comments

Stuffed Dates Appetizers…Infuse Layers of Flavor to Your Next Cocktail Party

Back in January 2020, Jan and I took a trip to Palm Springs.  We are a bit embarrassed to admit this was our very first stay in this unique part of California, other than the “drive-thrus” on other trips.  We stayed at a mid-century modern boutique motel just blocks off the main street. In addition to the fine and fun dining, meandering and discovering the area, we were in town for the dates and not just the mandatory date shake.  We tasted the first shake with a walking food tour. I was prepared to be underwhelmed since the hype seemed

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October 16, 2021 No Comments

Mediterranean Ricotta Spread

Mediterranean Ricotta Spread The ricotta’s mild taste combined with the aromatic citrus flavoring from the freshly squeezed lemon juice and the mouthwatering herbaceous Greek Seasoning notes makes this gourmet spread a crowd-pleaser.

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August 9, 2021 No Comments

Italian Stuffed Zucchini

A stunning summer side! Stuffed zucchini with our favorite flavors from Italy. Add a zesty buttery flavor to your plate. A perfect side dish to pair your barbeque with a romantic pasta dinner. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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July 19, 2021 No Comments