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“If ever I go looking for my heart's desires again, I won't look any further than my own backyard.” -- L. Frank Baum  I am not sure there is a more revered word than “home”. For me, no matter how tiring, frustrating, or melancholy my day might be, when I drive into my old farmhouse's driveway, my heart is filled with a soft and joyful peace.   Home is where our hearts stand still with tranquility, regardless of brick or mortar. Just the mere thought of home takes us back to a world of love and serenity – where all is right with...

Winter's dark dinner hour always reminds me of my mother's potato soup; as it filled our brick home with the comforting aroma of onions, potatoes, and cream. It was clearly the respite of the day for all seven of us, especially, when she made a big pan of hot corn bread to go along with it.  While growing up, I remember on weekends she would make a huge pot of her creamy soup. It would simmer on the back burner of our old fifties stove all day long, with occasional stirs from my mother as she passed by. When my brothers, twin sister, and ...

 

Quote – No, Santa Claus! Thank God, he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood. Savory food – Homemade cheeseballs of all sorts. Appetizers Sweets – Fudge, Christmas cookies of all sorts, peppermint ice cream Drinks – Egg noggie, Homemade hot chocolate, cranberry champagne punch Entertainment – My ornament exchanges, parties of all sorts, Christmas caroling, Movies – It’s A Wonderful Life and The...

I love, love, love this time of year. The spirits of the holidays are thick in the air and you can feel it the people, the places, and especially the food. Nothing can compare to the holiday treats and all of the baking wonders that have come out of family kitchens for generations. I know in our family I grew up enveloped with Christmas baking traditions.   My dear grandmother from West Virginia would send a much-anticipated frozen chocolate pecan pie up to our family every year, and my sweet mother would make various ...

Oh my word, I cannot believe Sweetie-licious won the coveted Golden Spatula Award, for Best Apple Pie in America, on The Steve Harvey Show! We competed against the The Little Pie Company of New York City, and it's wonderful creator, Arnold Wilkerson - his pie was amazing! Our Laura's Sticky Toffee Pudding Caramel Apple Pie won in a blind taste test by the studio audience. My time with Steve Harvey was limited, but so fun and inspiring! What a talent- he is humble, spiritual, and wicked funny! Again, thanks to Steve, his de...