BUTTER GIRL GOES ORGANIC

I know a sure fire way to boost my blog views is to have an attention grabbing title like... Soaking Your Nuts !  Now not to mislead you,  what I'm actually talking about  happens to be...walnuts, almonds, cashews...you know, those kind of nuts.  :D   As I have learned in all of my reading, soaking your nuts is a good thing my friends.  But if you want to quickly grab someone's attention, (I dare you) just start talking about soaking nuts.  I will always remember when I was hosting an older group of gals at my home for a club meeting.  My plan was to prepare healthier desserts for them to enjoy at the end of the meeting.  One of those items was a bowl of almonds that I had soaked and then toasted in a slow oven for several hours. I was explaining to someone sitting beside me how (and why) I had soaked the nuts, when another gal said, "Whaaat?  Who's nuts did you soak?"  hahaha.....It is a fantastic way to open a door for discussion.  Soooo....why in the

I had the pleasure of spending last weekend in the hills of Southern Ohio with my son and some of his OU college buddies.  I rented a cabin nestled in the middle of the Zaleski Forest, loaded up some coolers and off we launched for a weekend adventure in the woods! Our cabin...no, not a tent.  Don't push me! To me, being in the woods away from civilization IS camping! One might wonder what the hell I was thinking...but hey, I'm that Mom who goes that extra mile for her kiddos.  It was something that Zach wanted to do, so it was my birthday gift to him this year.   Because the boys were busy 'doing their thing', I had a whole lot of time on my hands.  To be honest, initially I struggled a bit.  There was no Internet connection and limited (if any) cell phone reception.  Eeek.  What's a girl to do?  I hiked a bit.  Read a l ot and cooked for the kids when they were hungry...which was rather often!   The area was absolutely beautiful.  Peaceful.  Seren

Written for The River Current publication 7/18/13                                                                     Not so long ago, I did a blog post entitled…Road Tripping Black Berry Crisp.   I had such a good time with this recipe idea that over the 4 th of July weekend, I tried it again…Road Tripping Strawberry Shortcakes.  I am like the Mobile Dessert Diva!   The whole thought behind these road-tripping recipes is largely due to the fact that I prefer some desserts hot out of the oven.   This becomes complicated when you are invited somewhere else for dinner.    With a little preparation, I have found that it isn’t really all that hard to pre-assemble the ingredients before you hit the road.     Often at a gathering of friends and/or family, many congregate in the kitchen anyway…so why not have your dessert ready to throw together while enjoying the company of others?   Again, I will suggest not taking a recipe that will cause a mess or confusion for whomever

For those of you who have been reading my words over this last year; you know on occasion I like to share my blog stats.  By blog stats, I mean how many readers have actually been visiting my blog and also where they are from.  I find these stats simply fascinating.  Fascinating that people in countries all over the world have read my words.  In no other forum, could I ever dream to reach so many people.  As previously shared...blog stats are addicting!    When I first started writing, I would check the stats almost hourly.  I was simply amazed, flattered (and a little freaked out) that people were reading what I was sharing.  My very first blog post was on June 9, 2012.  I can still remember my feelings as I created my Marital Status: W web page, wrote my first post and nervously pushed the Publish button.  And here I still am.  Perhaps driving some crazy with my endless writing; but as I have always touted...better out than in!  To date, Marital Status: W is still leadin

Yesterday morning I had the opportunity to visit a local Famer's Market in southern Ohio.  I was wooo'ed by all of the vender's standing proudly behind their displays of fresh organic fruits and veggies, homemade breads and pastries, pure maple syrup, farm fresh eggs, flowers, plants, organic coffees...oh my!   My eyes were probably twinkling like a kid in a candy shop.     I excitedly said to my friend, "Look at all of this wonderful stuff!"...to which the response was; "Oh right, these are  your people ".  (LOL...spoken as if we were from another planet.)   Yes, they are my people .  These are the people that I want to be associated with and know.   These are the people that wise ones seek.  The people who take time, love and energy to grow such healthy and delicious products, load them all up and bring them out to the streets on a warm Saturday morning to share with us who recognize and appreciate the awesome-ness and dedication of  their wor

 4th of July celebration with my family at least 10 years ago. Auntie Carol is the lovely one with her head tilted back ...enjoying the moment with her beautiful laugh. This week my family bid a sad farewell to a great gal...my dear Auntie Carol.  I'm not sure why we always called her "Auntie " Carol?  We don't associate the prefix 'Auntie' with any one else in my family?  It has a nice ring.  Maybe it's the addition of that second syllable.  I'm not sure the real reason; but it sounds special, just like the dear lady who wore the name.    My Auntie Carol was my mom's youngest sister.  I will always remember her to be the vibrant sister; the one who dared to live her life to the fullest.  Vibrant and happy with a contagious laugh.  And stylish... always  stylish.  She was the cool aunt; the one we kids loved to spend time with.    And need I mention...she was a master in the kitchen. (I'm telling you, it's in the gen

  What could be more appropriate for the 4th of July?  A bucket of freshly picked cherries!  (Picking is the easy part...pitting is exacty that; the pitts!)  But the warm cherry pie will be oh so worth it!   Happy 4th of July friends...have a safe and 'warm cherry pie' sort of day! 

  The Green Bean Coffee and Tea Café    Yesterday was a rainy, quiet, lonely Sunday.  Hmmm...what does one get into on a day like that?  Well, that's an easy one for me...I headed to the kitchen.    For weeks now, I have been wanting to make some cookies that I sold at my sweet coffee shop...The Green Bean Coffee and Tea Café.   Most have heard of and enjoyed them at one point or another in their lifes....Monster Cookies!  Typically they are large...the batter being scooped onto baking sheets with an ice cream dipper.     In our Super-Size-Me society, I believe most people now expect cookies to be over-the-top huge.  Keep in mind that cookies that are three times their typical size, also contain three times the calories too.  Just sayin....food for thought.   Eventually we started making the Monster cookies at the café smaller...because a few wise customers had requested a smaller version.  Now here's a mind game that we can play with ourselves...I won&