HOW TO WIN A CHILI COOK-OFF

HOW TO WIN A CHILI COOK-OFF Hello and thanks for stopping in today. As you may know if you’ve been following along here, my son, Austin, is an avid skier.  He races for Rim of the World High School.  As I’ve told you in this previous post, skiing is a very expensive sport!  So, every […]

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MY BIG BEAR LAKE COTTAGE RENOVATION – PART 3

Hi There! Remember I told you we bought a real fixer-upper little cottage in nearby Big Bear Lake, California?  I showed you the before photos of the cottage here. And I showed you the demolition process here. Well, today I thought I’d give you a progress report.  Don’t misunderstand, the cottage is now fully completed and […]

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PEPERONCINI POT ROAST

WARNING!   To all my vegetarian friends, you’re excused now.   Carnivore commentary is ahead! So, now that that’s settled, I’m going to share with you a super delicious and super easy recipe I just got from my hairdresser!  I love my hairdresser. I drive over an hour to go to my hairdresser, Melinda.  Those […]

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TORTILLA ESPAÑOLA RECIPE

Buenos Dias. For dinner tonight I’m making one of my all-time favorite dishes. It’s my go-to dinner recipe when I want to make something quick, easy and delicious, with ingredients I always have on hand.  It’s my Tortilla Española Recipe, or Spanish Tortilla. I can just hear you saying to yourself: “That doesn’t look like a tortilla.” […]

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BIG BEAR COTTAGE RENOVATION – PART 2 – DEMOLITION TIME!

Do you remember this lovely living room?…… And this lovely entry?…… And this lovely kitchen?…… Well, we took a wrecking ball to it…… And a sledge hammer…… And a broom…… And a blower, and a rake, and a saw…… And we found really nasty stuff inside the walls because, after all, this charming, vintage cottage […]

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10 REASONS IT’S BETTER TO BE A SOCCER MOM THAN A SKI RACER MOM

Hi There! It’s winter up in these hills.  My son, Austin, just left town with his Rim of the World High School Ski Team for a race in Mammoth.  And the Winter Olympics are a few short weeks away.  So, I’ve got winter sports on my mind and that set me to thinkin’ that, as […]

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BLUE CHEESE AND ROSEMARY PINWHEELS

Happy Weekend! I’m invited to a friend’s house for dinner this weekend and I told the hostess I’d bring an hors d’oeuvre.  I don’t have a lot of time, so I’m going to make a good old standby recipe I have been whippin’ up for years: my Blue Cheese and Rosemary Pinwheels.  They are super […]

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VISITING THE U.S. BOTANIC GARDEN CONSERVATORY- WASHINGTON, DC

OK folks, I know it’s the dead of winter and it’s not really time to think about gardening and all, but I’m on a roll here, so please bear with me. Remember how I told you in a previous post that I got a greenhouse for Christmas? Well, now that I am the proud owner of my […]

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