Audacity Beer Dinner at Taverna Rossa

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Friends. You just cannot underestimate the value of good friendships in your life. This has been brought home to me these past few years living away for extended periods of time. Now settled back in our permanent home, we truly appreciate the time we have with our loved ones. It has been a blessing to share in both good times and bad, and the fact that we remain connected is something I am so very thankful about.

One of the things I really missed Continue reading

Chicken Soup…Great for the Soul

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The house is back to its quiet self. With the heavy rains this past weekend we got an extra day with our son due to a flight cancellation. Alas, he has returned to college and it’s only my husband and I left to hold down the fort. It is both nice and melancholy at the same time, a different type of quiet around here.

As the boys have gradually moved on I’ve had to adjust from cooking for four of us down to just the two of us… Continue reading

The Evolution of Spaghetti and Meatballs

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Dinner is served! Spaghetti with meatballs two ways: vegan and regular. Italian sausage was baked in the oven with the regular meatballs.

This week has flown by. Our son has been visiting, but he heads back to school today. I was happy to be able to send him off with a decent homemade dinner on his last night here. He and I spent some time yesterday morning trying to figure out Continue reading

Welcome to the Dog Days…or is that Daze?

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Time to make-your-own taco!

It’s that time: the dog days of summer. Oh, I am feeling it mightily! We have a backyard project that has essentially eaten up our entire summer. What was supposed to be a month-long project turned into two months…actually more as we are at the two month mark today. It looks as if it will end up being closer to three months all in, but two more weeks for sure. I must say, it has been one of our more challenging endeavors. The twenty-twenty hindsight offers would have us handling things quite a bit differently. However, in the long run these three months will look less ‘long’ and we will [or should] end up with a beautiful finished product. Continue reading

Avocado or Avocadon’t? That is the Question!


If you have nothing but love for your avocados, and you take joy in turning them into guacamole, all you need is someone to share it with. ~ Jason Mraz


I love avocados. They stay close at hand in my kitchen; they have many uses. Slices garnish my eggs at breakfast (I’m more of a savory-food-for-breakfast gal than sweet); they are often found in my fresh summer salads. Nothing beats homemade guacamole, which I often prepare in my molcajete. Sometimes I just sprinkle on a smidge of salt and scoop it straight out of the skin. Then there is the ‘BLTA’ sandwich: Continue reading