Flashback Friday

Back in the day...

Squeaky clean

Blackberry Honey

A couple months ago, a Portland morning show, AM Northwest, featured a lady that knows everything you ever wanted to know about honey. One of the things she said that I kept thinking about was regarding flavored honeys. I have never been a lover of honey, but what she said about honey intrigued me. She said that orange blossom honey does not taste like orange, naturally. Same goes for all other "flavored" honeys, with one exception, blackberry honey! Who knew! You probably did but I didn't! I was intrigued by this and started looking for pure "Blackberry" honey. Let me just say, It wasn't easy to find. We finally found blackberry honey in McMinnville, Oregon, of course! We have found many good things in that beautiful city.

Don't judge us! We are aware that we have used almost half a bottle!

Of course we wanted to try it so as soon as we arrived back home. We had to do a taste test. Oh my, I knew instantly that I love "Blackberry" honey! We decided this honey needed some  Buttermilk Cornbread so we could really try it out. I can tell you it is very good on cornbread. It would also be good on a scone, a piece of toast, or with a spoon! There is a new honey fan in town, as long as it is "Blackberry" honey. If you are interested in more information about all things honey from an Oregonian, you got it! Click here and you will find all you need to know about honey. Marie Simmons also has a cookbook "Taste of Honey."

If I didn't make you want to drop everything and go on the hunt for Blackberry Honey, I haven't done my job. Go find yourself some "Blackberry" honey and...

Enjoy!



P.S. Did you notice the little bee above the label? Until I just saw the bottle this big, I though the honey bottle had a blemish. It makes me happy that it's actually a little bee!

If You Rest, You RUST

This is my omage to Kaiser Permanente for trying to keep us active and healthy throughout the fall and winter seasons. It would be easy to stay inside and "rest" while it is raining or snowing outside. Resist that urge and head to a mall and walk if that's your only option.

Just keep moving! 

Your body will thank you later!

Kaiser Permanente SUV

Our Favorite Chili with Buttermilk Cornbread

One day last week, we were told we could expect freezing temps and 4-6 inches of snow overnight. Wow, that's a lot of snow in the Willamette Valley considering we are still in the middle of November. We live on a mountain so we get even more snow up here. We decided with the cold weather and snow that chili would be a great choice. I started paging through my 3-ring binders, where I keep with recipes I have made. I found this recipe back in 2002 and made it several times. It has been several years since I made it and it looked like the perfect chili for a super cold day and evening to come. We were leaving the house for the afternoon so we decided to put it in the slow cooker so it would be ready when we got home. Between the two of us, we had the chili put together in about 30 minutes. Most things take less time when there are four hands instead of two! Plus, my dear hubby insists on doing all the clean up. Yes....!!!

This recipe is certainly not hard to make but it does have 19 ingredients so it does take a little time for one person. I pull all the ingredients and line them up in order on my counter and add them one at a time when needed. This speeds up the process and it also gives me a chance to double check that I haven't left out any ingredients.

Since we were leaving the house, we warmed the chili to a simmer and then poured it into the warm slow cooker. We waited until the bubbles started appearing along the edges and then turned it down to low until we got home, about 3 hours. I had never finished it off in the slow cooker before but it worked out just fine and I will do it again! Here is the recipe:

What's better with chili than cornbread! I had made this cornbread recipe for the first time a few weeks ago. It was the best we remembered ever making. It seemed like the perfect match for this chili. Here is the recipe:

Some of our favorite chili toppings are fresh avocado, fresh chopped tomatoes, green onions, grated cheese, sour cream and crumbled corn chips for a little crunch.

For the cornbread, nothing makes it better than a pat of butter and a drizzle of blackberry honey. Yum!

That was more than a drizzle of honey. That was more like a river of honey! The honey container doesn't have a pour spout so it is a little tricky to "drizzle!" I will tell you what I learned about honey another time.

Since there's only the two of us, we like to put half of a recipe in the freezer for another meal or two another time. 


Enjoy!

P.S. My pictures aren't the best right now. My camera needs a tune-up so all my blog pictures are coming from my iPhone.

Flashback Friday ~ Happy Birthday, Hon!

Happy, Happy Birthday to my husband! 

You are my one and only true love!

It would take me days to list all the things that make you so special to me! 

You are a one-in-a-billion kind of a man!

I am so happy that your are my man!

You will always be young in my heart!

I love you today and always!

Blogger Heaven

A bit of heaven on earth

Here are a few blogs I enjoy:

Twig Studio

A Sweet Spoonful

Manger

Dinner: A Love Story

Top With Cinnamon

The Vanilla Bean Blog

Cheryl Style


Here are a couple links I use when I am looking for a recipe:

Yummly

Recipelink

Recipe Goldmine



Here are two blogs that have great recipes and cool and unique items for your kitchen and home. You should check them out!

 Food52

Love and Lemons



Have a great day!

Country Pork Ribs with Apples and Sauerkraut

This is our favorite fall meal. I came across this recipe way back in 2008 and have been making it every year since. I was convinced I must have shared this recipe here but apparently not. After I had taken several pictures that didn't look appetizing, it became clear why I have withheld this recipe. It doesn't present well in a picture! Nothing seemed to help. High light, low light...not very appetizing. I will post a small picture of it, but trust me, don't judge this recipe by the picture. It is warm comfort in a bowl. Trust me!

This recipe makes 8-10 servings so invite the neighbors over for dinner. I like to freeze leftovers in portions for the two of us. The are even better the second time around. Another thing I do is make the recipe the day before we are going to eat it. This really melds all the flavors together and there is another benefit too. The extra fat solidifies on top and you can pull it off with a fork or spatula before you warm it up to serve. You can cook on simmer on your stove top, cook it all day in your slow cooker or in your oven for a couple hours on a medium heat setting.

I hope you like this as much as we do!

Enjoy!