Posts Tagged With: easy recipes

Two for Tuesday

Posted on March 31, 2015 by emjayandthem

Care to play along? On Tuesdays, pick a topic and segue into it!

It’s Tuesday – 2 days in to a 4 day week – whoop!

1. Today’s the last day of March and I’m glad. Why? We’ve had 4 seasons in 2 days. Mild Saturday. Snow Sunday. 50 and breezy yesterday. Today? Who knows? Maybe April won’t be quite so finicky!

2. Stopped last night to get a few “treats” for the wee ones this weekend. We have an Easter gathering planned – an early brunch on Saturday. You see, when oldest boy & his wife divorced, Easter Sunday became yet another battleground with the other side. I – for one – was not going to be territorial about it and there was no backing down from them, the uber-Christians. I know, ironic, isn’t it? I get it – to a point – the kids should have that time with their cousins, we’re all about that. But there’s never been any g-i-v-e this way. So, about three years ago I announced we’d have our celebration on Easter Saturday. Period. I’m fine with it – it’s relaxed and fun and beats a “drive-by” visit any day of the week. Grandpa will join us and we’ll have four generations in my kitchen enjoying some of my “company French toast”, eggs to-order, bacon, ham, sausage, home-made hash browns, fruit, coffee, juice, etc. Oh, and a “magic” pumpkin spice cake for Gramps, his favorite. Yes, there’ll be way too much. Yes, he’ll take 2/3 of the cake home (shh, that’s the point) and yes, the littles will probably overdose on candy. They won’t be far behind us :).

Already there! Google.images.com

Are you planning an Easter gathering? In what ways have your traditions had to adapt over time?

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless. ~Charles M. Crowe

Categories: Faith, Family, Fun, Gratitude, Holidays, Home, Humor, Life, Personal, Recipes, Seasons, Self Discovery, Thoughts | Tags: breakfast, brunch favorites, Cadbury's, Charles M. Crowe, chocolates, Company French Toast, crazy March weather, Easter, easy recipes, family, four seasons, gatherings, God is timeless, Hope, magic spice cake, pumpkin cake, quotes, Random, resurrection, spring weather, Two for Tuesday | 10 Comments

Baking up some No-bakes

Posted on October 14, 2013 by emjayandthem

There are cookies that you bake. And cookies that are bars.

And cookies that you layer up in silly little jars.

There are cookies that crumble and cookies that are crisp.

And then there are “no bakes,” the cookies with a twist!

Sometimes known as “boiled oatmeal cookies,” in my house we just call ’em “no bakes.”

Hubbs remembers these as part of Friday lunches at school; when he talks of the memory, his smile reaches to his eyes, the way Frank used to smile while getting his belly rubbed. Other friends recall these as an after-sports treat. However you get them, they’re ooey-gooey-chocolately-creamy-and nuttery-delicious.

Quick, easy, and rather impossible to resist. Ready?

Here’s what you need to bake “No Bakes:” (shh no baking involved)

2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine
3 cups quick cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter – crunchy or smooth – your choice
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
waxed paper

Directions: In a saucepan over medium heat, mix sugar, cocoa, milk and butter. Stir slowly and bring to a steady boil — allow to boil (while stirring) 1 minute. Tip: don’t short-change the time, the cookies will not set later on.

Once boiled, remove pan from heat and quickly add peanut butter & vanilla – stir to melt/mix. Next, pour in oats and nuts, stirring well. The mixture will start to firm up as everything cools.

Spread a long sheet of waxed paper on your counter top and drop the cookies by tablespoon onto the waxed paper. You could make them smaller if you wished but …. really? Why?

Let stand at least 1 hour to cool. Store loosely covered or in the fridge.

Ever had a “no bake?”

Categories: Family, Food, Home, Recipes, Traditions, Uncategorized | Tags: boiled oatmeal cookies, cookies kids can help make, easy recipes, family favorite, No Bake Cookies, tried & true recipe | 14 Comments

On kindness and casseroles

Posted on July 19, 2013 by emjayandthem

Hubbs always tells me I give too much away. And he’s probably right.

I do. I can’t help it, that’s how I was raised, it’s what was modeled for me from my earliest days.

When someone’s hurting, you help. When someone’s sick, you help. When someone’s struggling, you help.

The thing is, he loved that quality about me, when we met.

Nowadays, I am not so sure.

Yes, he’ll take the accolades that come our way when I do what I do … for others. But I think that, sometimes, he wonders what’s left in there for him. He has a point, and I get what he saying: Save some of you … for me.

But the thing is, it’s not that complicated, convoluted, or otherwise.

It’s actually very simple:

I do what I do because that’s how I cope.

That’s how I cope when I get the news that someone I love is dying, when someone I love is trying to survive divorce, when someone I love needs a reminder that there’s still good in the world. That there are still people who will do for others … if they can.

Cooking up something comforting and lovely allows me to do something when circumstances dictate there’s nothing that can be done.

Don’t get me wrong, he’s not unfeeling.

He’s just never cooked a casserole. 🙂

He’s never experienced another telling him how much they enjoyed what his hands created. How wonderful it was to have home-made loveliness to wake up to. How nice it was to not worry about cooking a meal.

He’s never had someone tell him how they tucked away the last piece of cheese ball to savor late at night after the chemo and through the tears when they could nibble and cry without someone there watching them.

He’s never seen the smiles Heath Bar brownies can bring to a new mother smiling through gritted teeth as a new baby wails in the background.

He’s never known it. Never done it. How could he know?

I can’t blame him, because if you’ve never done it, you couldn’t possibly know that all casseroles call for one readily-available ingredient: kindness.

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