Fix-It and Forget-It

Here at Fix-It and Forget-It, we have an ongoing debate about sweet potatoes. Some prefer them dessert-like, mixed up with brown sugar and spices and topped with gooey marshmallows. Others like them savory, perhaps coated with a sesame-soy sauce-ginger glaze. Continue Reading...

Rebecca is my daughter. She’s a very good cook. While I couldn’t get her to chop an onion when she was growing up, she’s become a cook who tries everything now—successfully. She also is the Manager of The Good Cooking Store in our little Lancaster County town of Intercourse, PA. She taught Language Arts to middle-schoolers for 7 years. Now we benefit from all of her energy and good ideas. Don’t miss what she has to say!

As I was growing up, our Thanksgiving meals were spent gathered around my grandparents’ dining room table. We would enjoy eating ham or pig stomach (Yes, pig stomach. It’s a local favorite.), noodles with brown butter mounded on a platter surrounded with a moat of peas, sweet potato croquettes, and yummy chocolate pecan pie for dessert. Continue Reading...

Our local farmers market is flooded with peaches right now and we couldn’t be happier! A lot of Lancaster locals—including us—are scrambling to can all the peaches we can get our hands on while they’re still in season.

Of course we don’t can all the peaches—we slice them and add them to our favorite cobblers and pies. Quick Yummy Peaches is one of our new-found favorite recipes.

So what puts the “quick” in Quick Yummy Peaches made in the slow cooker? Well it’s simply a breeze to put together. Plus we find that this peach dessert disappears in the blink of an eye once it’s on the table!

We made this on a rainy afternoon and we loved the way our kitchen filled with the warm scent of cinnamon and oats baking.
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I now think of grape and cherry tomatoes as dessert. These guys are popping with sweetness that stings, but just a little bit. I am learning how versatile these babies are, and the many dimensions of their personalities, wherever they show up.

As I’ve already confessed, I passed up the grape tomatoes served to us at the ends of our meals when we were in Taipei earlier this summer. The reason? Because I thought they came at the wrong time in the meal. Tomatoes belong on either greens or pasta and as a first or second course. Then one day I figured I might have something to learn. I picked off a handful as the platter went past.

Those little bursts of life gave me a new view of dessert. I was full of spring-time flavor, all thoughts of chocolate banished by the surprising brightness.

Last week our older daughter treated Merle and me to a meal from her kitchen. It was a Father’s/Mother’s Day dinner, and each bite was splendid.

She filled every inch of a skillet’s bottom with grape tomatoes and cooked them until just before they burst. Then she spun them and a few herbs and olive oil into pasta. I went sailing off somewhere into blue-sky heaven with each mouthful.

Here’s the blog, “Simply Recipes,” offering what Elise calls “tomato candy,” this one a Cherry Tomato Orzo Salad recipe.

Here's the link to the recipe:

Cherry Tomato Orzo Salad

It’s the 4th of July! To celebrate, we went searching for a special treat—one that adults and kids could enjoy together. We wanted something sweet. We wanted something chocolaty.

Mmmmmm.

And then it hit us—chocolate fondue! It’s easy to make in the slow cooker, it’s fun for children and adults alike, and it can be varied to suit each person’s taste preference by choose what they wants to dip in it! Bananas, strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, angel food cake, pretzels…

Perhaps you’ll enjoy some fireworks today. Perhaps you’ll enjoy celebrating with family and friends. Perhaps you’ll enjoy something sweet and chocolaty.

We hope it’s all of the above.
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I’m prowling our farmers market these days for black raspberries. Because you never know. Every black raspberry growing season is maddeningly short. But worse, each year the season is maddeningly unpredictable. If I skip one Tuesday or one Friday (the days our farmers market is open for business) in June, I might miss the season. That’s it. Over til next year.

The reason this is so critical is that one of the greatest pies of all time is Sour Cream Raspberry Pie.
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We like efficiency as much as any working woman or busy dad. That’s why we love Fruity Sweet Potatoes – the dish that provides both fruit and vegetables all in one sweet-tasting serving. Try it with Give-Me-More Barbecued Ribs. The sweet and spicy combination of this meal will have your kids beggin’ for more veggies!
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