These muffins won’t win any beauty contests.  They’re not the prettiest muffins on the block.  They have a muffin face only a mother could love.  But man-oh- man, they’re delicious.  Let me break it down for you…

They have bacon.  That alone should be enough to convince you.
They have Swiss cheese both in them and toasted [...]

I’ve talked a great deal about frugal foods and menu planning in my last few posts.  There’s no doubt about it, one of the most budget-friendly foods you can make is beans!  But that’s not why I’m posting this recipe today.  I’m posting it because it’s STINKIN’ AWESOME!  And because it’s cheap.  I thought you [...]

Looks tasty, doesn’t it?  It’s crisp around the edges with the perfect balance of saltiness and creaminess in the center.  It’s nourishing.  It’s delicious.  It fills you up.  It only takes five minutes to make from start to finish. But you know what else dings my chimes about this dish? It costs $3.42 for four [...]

I have an enduring love affair with bread.  It’s not just the pure pleasure of pulling off a steaming heel of bread, slathering cold sweet cream butter over the top, sinking your teeth into the crumb and shattering the crust; although those are reasons enough to be devoted.  Making bread; the process of measuring, mixing, [...]

Hey!  We have a giveaway this week.  Details are after the recipe.  Stick with me, it’s worthwhile and will make your upcoming holiday baking projects sing!

We are currently in Week Three of a full-immersion ‘get-to-know-influenza’ unit study of our homeschool.  One, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. We like to space things out around [...]

I’m exceptionally fond of combining my obsessions.
Sometimes it’s not so great.  Take Homer Simpson’s fabled “Nuts and Gum”,  par example…
Sometimes, however, it works great.
When you put together dark chocolate ganache and pie crust you get Dark Chocolate Truffle Tarts.  A happy accident if ever there was one…
I might’ve mentioned that I’m obsessed with Autumn.  (Here, [...]

A few weeks ago, my mom made the trek out to Michigan to visit her sisters (my aunties) and my Grandma.
One night while Mom and my baby sister were out there, the Shaffer girls (because that’s what they become when they’re all together again) and Grandma gathered around the kitchen table to talk food and [...]

I come from a camping obsessed family.  My Dad is, by trade, a camp manager.  My Mom likes to take her blanket outside and sleep under the stars (she also wants an outdoor bath tub, but I digress.)  My sister, Jess, and her family are certifiable trail and tent nuts.  My brother, Luke, digs the [...]

I have started and stopped writing this post fifteen different times.  I’ve written as much as five paragraphs and then deleted the whole thing.  I am, you might say, distractable and distracted.  My children keep bursting in through the doors yelling crazy things at me. (Because apparently my children have given up speaking in favor of [...]

My boys gave me a cold this week.  I cannot tell you the joy this gives me.  Not because I love slobbering and running from the nose, eyes and every other mucus membrane on my head.  I’m just relieved that I got it from them instead of the other way around.  That way there is no [...]