Maureen. Milwaukee's Profile

Could this be done with a food processor? Perhaps just using the regular blade? How do you tell when the grind is fine enough? I'd love to try these - I lay a few slices of bacon on top when I make meatloaf, and they really turn up the flavor.

This is great - haven't seen these for over 35 years! They were a favorite among us nursing students after discovering them in a Betty Crocker cookbook. They tasted really good when we experimented with drinks on Saturday nights - usually the alcoholic concoctions were too sweet, so these were a necessary foil.

I really like built-in pull-outs like the desk pictured. I think kids would find this an adventurous bedroom and fun to live in. My only qualm is the open side to the bed with a 3 foot drop for restless sleepers or kids horsing around and tumbling off. I'd probably have added a small bedside table - built as part of the platform - to hold books and kid stuff, and maybe to act as a boundary. Beautiful room.

A really pretty kitchen - the light is great. How does the stove work in the corner? Can you still open the cupboards next to it, or did the corner just get closed off - or is that just the angle of the photo?

Greek roasted chicken breast, buttery white sauce on cauliflower, buttermilk pancakes, quick-pickled cucumber salad, marinara with meatballs, barbecue meatloaf, pork chops with pepper pilaf, shredded brussel sprouts with caraway seed, stir-fried chicken and vegetables in ginger-soy sauce on rice, macaroni and cheese, scalloped potatoes, stir-fried fresh vegetables and scallions, fudge "wacky" cake, apple pan dowdy, blueberry buckle, walnut baklava with lemon and honey - you always remember the good stuff because you make it over and over. But it's always nice to add new favorites, too! Just started to make mint sprinkle for fruit salads, and tried Watershed chocolate chip cookies - they were big hits for my family, so I'll probably have them memorized soon.

This recipe looks so winter-friendly! After shoveling snow three times today, I really want to try it. Any suggestions for a vegetarian-friendly sub for the sausage? I'm just leaning vegetarian fare, and need advice.

I drink eggnog but once a year, so I want the really good stuff! Commercial production emphasizes an ultra-smooth consistency that leaves me with an icky feeling - my mouth and throat feel coated. I much prefer homemade eggnog - the base with bourbon, and lightened with unsweetened whipped cream at the very last moment. Wow, that's REALLY good!

My Mom kept a medium size clean paper bag on the highest shelf in her cupboard. She'd put uneaten bread in there whenever a heel or slice was leftover. It dried and hardened. She'd shake the bag once in a while. She had a never ending supply to crush with her rolling pin for desserts like Apple Betty or to top mac-n-cheese, or she'd cube it before drying, for stuffing. It never spoiled, and she bought all her bread from the tiny neighborhood bakery, where I bet they used no preservatives at all, except small amounts of salt and sugar. I use the same method now. Easy, and it leaves the freezer open for better things. Like ice cream!

Bumper hysteria! It's funny, "allisen 1", and then again, not so funny. I spend my days teaching new parents why it's so dangerous to have bumper pads, toys, and loose blankets in infant beds. A while back, I wrote about it here, hoping that parents showing off gorgeous rooms like this would be in the vanguard - safety and beauty combined - because surely they're hearing the same things in hospitals across the U.S. where they deliver their babies. In fact, there are billboards, print ads - all sorts of ways to learn about safe sleep for babies. Respondents to my comment thought that rooms like this were just for "show", and parents probably used safe sleep conditions for their infants. Well, I sure hope so! But why not concentrate efforts on the room, and leave that bed safe - what a great way to show you love your baby? Kirsten did a beautiful job putting a wonderful nursery together. Why not go a step further and start a trend on this site, styling with a "naked" crib, showing a baby on its back (Kudos, Kirsten!) but with safely swaddled blankets or a covering well below the face? Let's acknowledge the danger babies are in when they sleep in cribs like this, unattended. Yeah, I may be a fanatic, but I just can't laugh about this one. Too many sad stories behind these warnings, and I've lived through some of them. I may have to take my lumps from other readers...so be it.

We were just in the Door County peninsula in Wisconsin - pretty now - gorgeous in weeks to come. It was a great grown-up getaway.