Marshall and Dan don't blog so I am going to blog for them.. Marshall called and wanted to know how to make cheesy covered cauliflower and I referred him to ambers cheesy mashed potatoes and Dan wanted to make a birthday cake for someone and I referred him to my strawberry roll cake. Both has huge success. All these months later I refer to our cookbook more than any other!!! We are good!!! So lucky to be in this family! Deb

It's Hard to Blog without a Computer!

My computer died a few weeks before Thanksgiving and that makes it difficult to blog! But, after several months we have finally replaced it! In the absence, I've tried lots of things from the cookbook, particularly the week of Thanksgiving, which we spent with my in-laws. In fact, after making several new things (or at least new to Lon's family), two of his sisters wanted to bookmark the online version of the cookbook!

One of the first things I made while we were there was fajitas, using the Island Broiled Chicken from Aunt Deb. My mother in law is notorious for throwing away food after dinner because leftovers don't really get eaten at her house, but I am pretty sure she ate the leftovers from this meal for at least three or four meals. That's saying something for her!

I also made Green Bean Caesar from Aunt Deb/Aunt Marilyn. We all know it is amazing, but now so do my in-laws! It was great as usual.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, when we were discussing who would make what, it got brought up that maybe potato flakes would be the way to go since we would be feeding quite the crowd. I think at that point in the conversation my jaw may have hit the floor! IDAHO GIRLS DO NOT DO FAKE POTATOES! And more importantly, I am fairly confident that if my dad ever caught wind of this, he would disown me! Needless to say, by default, I got to bring the potatoes!

Every time I cook while visiting Lon's family I realize that Farmers do food a little differently... For instance, the only reason any of them have apple cider vinegar is because I bought it for something I cooked the last time we were there. Lon's mom's sugar container holds exactly three cups. They were astounded when I told them how many pies are included at a Farmer Thanksgiving. And even more astounded when I told them how fast they get eaten!!

A couple other things I have tried:

Aunt Janette's Brownies, with and without the cream cheese filling, both of which were great! Lon's not a huge cheesecake fan, so I think he preferred them plain, however.

My Mom's Chicken Noodle Soup. I brought this to a friend after she had a baby and she asked for the recipe saying it was the best she had ever had!

Jenny's Sloppy Joes. They were very yummy! Eden especially liked them!

Aunt Deb's Chimichurri. SO, so good!!

Several months later, I am still loving this cookbook!!

Jennifer's macadamia coconut white chocolate cookies

Well I'm embarrassed to tell you all but for the fourth time in about 2 months I have made these cookies. I have also eaten about 3/4 of them every time I have made them. Every time their has been a good excuse like I had to take refreshments to quilt group or something. Last night I had an overwhelming urge to eat them and so I made them and am happily eating my way through them.....actually I'm feeling a little sick. I have eaten a lot of them!!! Happy eating deb

Uncle Dan's Birthday Dinner

Last Sunday we celebrated Uncle Dan's birthday with a family dinner. He looked (more like foraged) through the recipe book for the perfect meal to suit his fancy. He selected Janette's Apple Custard Pie, which we loved. He choose Paty's Chilaquiles, Tortas , and two of her salsas-Salsa Roja and Green Salsa. They were so delicious! Dan was very pleased with himself for his choices! Just what he wanted!!!

3 new meals

Tonight Brad made us Crites' Mexican Bird of Paradise and boy was it good. Brad even wrote "yummy" in the cookbook next to the recipe so that we don't forget.

Last night for dinner we ate Grandma Farmer's apple pancakes. They were very tasty.

We also recently made Pork and Cabbage Stew. I'd gotten some napa cabbage from a produce group that I'm in and I didn't know what to do with it. I found this recipe which I questioned a bit. When I saw it was Deb's recipe I decided it was worth trying! It was delicious, of course.

Italian Chicken and Potatoes

Jenny's Italian Chicken and Potatoes was on the menu at our house a few days ago. I used a balsamic vinaigrette because that was what I had in the house. And because the dressing wasn't heavily seasoned I doubled the spices in the recipe. (To add more heat I tripled the red pepper flakes!) It was so amazing and is a new favorite for us all!!!! The chicken was melt in your mouth tender and moist. And so easy! Thanks, Jenny!

New vinaigrette recipe added to the cookbook!

I just added a wonderfully light vinaigrette dressing to the cookbook, Lemon Vinaigrette. I hope you enjoy it.