Valentine Poppers!! Embroidered Tee's for the Grandchildren!

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There's no reason to buy those cheesy pre-packaged valentine cards when making homemade Valentine's Day gifts is as easy as this! These Valentine Candy Poppers are the simplest Valentines Day craft for kids to make for their friends or for you to make for your kids or Grandchildren. Best of all, they're a great project for using up all of those cardboard paper towel rolls, or gift wrap rolls you've been saving up! I saw this on a morning show here in Scottsdale, and knew you would love it!! 

Chick Pea Bruschetta-Chef Stebner

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I had the rare opportunity,to attend this exclusive lunch class with Executive Chef Michael Stebner, who co-created (with Dr. Andrew Weil) True Food Kitchen, and shared recipes and techniques with a few fortunate observers! The focus of True Food Kitchen is to promote an anti-inflammatory diet while using seasonal, simple and pure ingredients. The menu included Chicken Farro Salad, Fettuccine with Kale Pesto, Chocolate Icebox Tart, AND a special appetizer that Chef Stebner served at Dr. Weil's 69th birthday feast and I am sharing with you today!! Love'n the Kitchen gave me free reign to take pictures and roam about the room....yes I used the "Blog card"!! 

Pulled pork Bruschetta or sliders! Superbowl!

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The ultimate post holiday party is about to happen! Superbowl Sunday  is almost here!! It happens once in a blue moon, but the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras are converging on New Orleans to bring a party of epic proportions. Mardi Gras and Superbowl in New Orleans on the same weekend!! 

These slow cooked  Pulled Pork Sliders or Pulled Pork Bruschetta make a great appetizer for game day or any gathering.

Chinese Spare Ribs -Courtesy of Lin!

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JJ, Wee Bear, TT and I went on our annual ski trip, this time to Whistler for a nice 10 days. During our time there we visited a couple times with a close friend of JJ and Wee Bears. They met him many years ago here in Washington (lives in the same neighborhood) and he spends the winter in Whistler as he loves to ski. Gerry and his wife, Lin invited us all for dinner a couple nights and on one of those nights, Lin treated us to a delicious meal of Chinese Ribs! 

JJ and I were lucky to be able to watch her make this dish in her kitchen and she was so kind to tell us what ingredients she used for the making. I did not get the exact measurements so I scoured many recipes and found a recipe that has the same ingredients but with a different cooking method. These ribs smell amazing during the cooking process and they taste even better! They are fall off the bone delicious. The spices and sauces used make these lick your fingers good! She served these along side some simple steamed broccoli and cauliflower using a bit of the broth she cooked the ribs in. Also, she treated us to her homemade fried rice, which we will feature in a future blog post!

Chinese Ribs
Linn Williams and food.com

Wonkey Weaving Gourd Basket!

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Recently I attended a class to further my education on Gourd Art. It was taught by two very patient, talented and passionate Gourd Art teachers.......

Hearty and Healthy meet White Chicken Chili!

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 Would you believe that we have 30 degree F weather here in Scottsdale? Yes, when we flew in from the Pacific Northwest, we left our fleece jackets on! Brrrrrrr... it's freezing! Dry but freezing! Even my cactus's are cold, they are all wearing their Winter gear, a Solo styrofoam cup!

This put me in the mood for White Chicken Chili  a recipe I played with for some time to perfect! I wanted a hearty but healthy, warm me up, thick soup.....

I like to eat low fat, when the flavor isn't jeopardized,  so I used 2% cheese in the soup, but, you can omit or use any cheese. The ground chicken  provides some lean protein, and the beans give a bunch of protein and fiber -- plus making the soup creamy with MUCH less fat than a cream-based soup would contain.

Lemon-Lavender Pound Cake

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We have some new neighbors that moved into the neighborhood and my girl-friend and I decided we would make a day of baking and present them with this wonderful cake. I found it on Pinterest but I added a couple different things to the batter. 

This pound cake is not overly sweet and the lavender gives it a wonderful fragrant smell and taste! I'm lucky to have several lavender bushes in my garden so I will have to get creative with baking with lavender! 

The glaze that is poured on top after it comes out of the oven is heaven as it gives it a sweet crunchy topping...uuh, yum! Next time I think I'll double the glaze recipe as it could be even better with a little more sweet tangy crunch on top. This cake is perfect in the morning with a cup of coffee or as an afternoon snack with a cup of tea. If you want to serve this up as an after dinner dessert, it would be lovely with a dollop of cream or a scoop of ice-cream.