I was in the mood for an iced coffee today, but I wanted something different than the same old, same old, ya know? I checked on our coffee bean supplies and we still had some wonderful Manitou Blueberry from Leelaunau Coffee. I poked around a bit in our freezer and found some frozen Michigan blueberries. It didn’t take me long and I had a pretty sweet idea percolating :).

So, here’s what I did to make a super delicious Chocolate Covered Blueberry Iced Coffee Smoothie:

We picked a bushel of apples yesterday at Hubbard’s Corey Lake Orchards. It was a gorgeous day and the slight breeze wafted the fresh smell of grapes growing next to the apple trees. If you have never smelled rows and rows of ripening grapes you won’t really know what I am talking about. It’s this intoxicating fragrant pure grape smell - sorry best I can do to describe something you smell ;).

Anyway, I digress. This post is about an apple sauce recipe I just came up with in the kitchen this morning. With all of those apples (and the opportunity to pick a bunch more) we wanted to make up large batches of apple sauce and store them in the freezer in quart-size bags for easier storage (and defrosting). Rather than stand over a pot of sliced apples and stirring them occasionally I decided to come up with a crockpot recipe for apple sauce.

I made up the recipe for these cute little pizzas this evening and they were great.  I’ll try to post a picture the next time I make them.  I didn’t think of it until they were almost gone tonight.
Ingredients

8 frozen dinner rolls (dough)
1/2 lb. ground beef
1 tsp. grill seasoning (I used a combination of steak [...]

I clipped this recipe out of a magazine years ago and finally tried it this year. I don’t know what took me so long - it is delicious and so easy!

2 c. blueberries
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. lemon juice
Combine above ingredients and place in a greased 8-inch square baking dish.
1 c. flour
3/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. [...]

While I was at the local grocery store over the 4th of July weekend I was struck by inspiration. I had a hankering for grilled burgers and while I had the burger in one hand I glanced up and saw breakfast sausage. They have their own recipe and make the sausage back in [...]

When I was a kid, nothing could quench my thirst on a hot summer day like a drink from the hose or an ice cold glass of lemonade. As an adult and parent of two busy kids - nothing quenches my thirst and gives me some much needed energy like a high octane iced [...]

This dessert was inspired by our 3 year old. One night he and I made a pumpkin pie for Papa. I let him eat some of the pie filling straight out of the can. He loved it so much that when he was given a piece of pie the next day [...]

This recipe comes from Lovina Eicher who maintains a homestead in rural Michigan with her husband, Joe, and together they are raising their eight children. Lovina contributes snippets of her traditional Old Order Amish life in a weekly column, Amish Cook, that appears in various newspapers across the country.
Rhubarb Butter Crunch
Ingredients:

3 cups fresh, finely [...]

. . . I have ever used. Ever since college when I tried to bake my first batch of chocolate chip cookies (instead of just eating the dough) I have been searching for a great chocolate chip cookie recipe.
It seemed that every time I baked a batch of cookies there would be something not [...]

The wind is gusting and snow is falling. It is a perfect day for meat loaf. I know a lot of folks don’t care for dishes with the word “loaf” in the title, but this is quite possibly one of the best tasting meat loaf dishes I have had.
So, without further ado, lets [...]