Favorite Oven BBQ Chicken

Never throw away a good recipe. While searching through my mother’s old recipe files, I found a recipe for “Broiled Chicken Barbecue” which dated from a 1952 issue of “Better Homes & Gardens” magazine. Gee, this must be a good recipe for my mother to have saved it for over 60 years. I made the chicken recipe, liked it and now I often serve it when we have guests over for supper. It’s especially nice for summer picnics and barbecues.

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Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad on a Road Trip

This week I’m on a road trip from Louisiana to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. It’s 1002 miles; a long drive. A home cooked meal is always welcome when we’re on these driving trips. Often we’ll stop at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. This restaurant chain is scattered along the interstates throughout the Eastern states; we discovered that they serve family-type menu foods. This time we stopped to eat at one somewhere in Alabama and I tried a new menu item: Brussels Sprouts and Kale Salad Continue reading

Easy and Elegant Strawberry Cake for Mother’s Day

Local strawberries are in season for a few short weeks in the spring. Refreshing and healthy, I like to feature recipes using Louisiana berries as a way to support local farmers as well as include fresh fruit in our meals. I have in mind a cake which I made years ago for a bridal shower; a poke cake. And with Mother’s Day coming up soon, it is a very striking cake for this festive occasion, too.

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Thai Wonton Soup (Simplified) and Family Vacations

Part of the fun part of a family vacation is the unplanned adventures which happen along the way. But what is more frustrating that taking a family road trip vacation and finding that the family navigator can’t read a map? I discovered the answer for modern-day travelers. Like may other families we’ve dropped the maps and rely on GPS tracking systems. Last summer we tried to find an address for a Fed Ex store in an unfamiliar urban city and listened to our three GPS systems shout contradictory instructions at the same time.We found the Federal Express Store just before it closed and then noticed a Thai restaurant down the street in the same strip shopping center. We decided to stay and eat supper there. Continue reading