Seems every family has their own favorite Apple Crisp recipe. We all make it like our Grandmas, Mothers, and even Great-Grandmas did. That’s always the best way, right? Even though we also like to change things up a bit, it’s nice to keep a simple, uncomplicated recipe for Apple Crisp handy. One of the greatest ways to change your Apple Crisp a little is to choose different types of apples. I usually prefer the really tart apples, but am not against using a nice sweet variety either. It’s all good, and that’s what matters. Read the rest of this entry &raquo

I recently purchased this Romertopf Round Clay Bread Pan for my wife as she is getting into bread baking in order to give us a healthy alternative to processed breads. Well she absolutely loves the pan and I love the smell of the fresh bread cooking. I bought this particular pan because it has a very unique look that I knew my wife would really appreciate. My wife tells me that Romertopf clay is supposed to be a very old way of cooking for more traditional breads, and judging from the bread she has been making they clearly had it right back then as the crust is perfect! Read the rest of this entry &raquo

If the only time you’ve ever eaten French Onion soup is in a restaurant, you are in for a treat.  The typical French Onion soup that is offered by most restaurants is a mediocre rendition of homemade crock pot French onion soup.  Homemade French Onion soup is richer, beefier, swimming with onions, and topped with your favorite bread and Parmesan cheese.  What could be tastier?  When you control the ingredients, you know it’s good. Read the rest of this entry &raquo

The holidays are here and that means baking season has kicked into high gear again in our house. Between trying to make enough batches of all of the kid’s favorite cookies as well as mom and hubby’s favorite pies, it’s hard to know where to start. There’s been many a time I’ve run out of the pans to bake them in and had to postpone some of the treats for another day. Finally, I’d had enough and decided it was time to make sure that didn’t happen again this year. I went ahead and purchased a great 12 piece bakeware set made by Baker’s Secret. Read the rest of this entry &raquo

Gifts are exchanged among family, friends and colleagues on various events, occasions and festivals. If you have an extended family with many members, then you must be running out of gift ideas. You try the usual gift choices of art, wine, books, toys for children etc and reach a saturation point about gift ideas. You have still one perfect gift item which can be safely delivered to your family/friends and you can rest assured that it will be loved. You can try food items, but such products need to be well packed to create an impact. You can solve your problem with the metropolitan gift basket which is a wonderful blend of different food items. Read the rest of this entry &raquo

My family gets together on Sunday evenings for dinner quite a bit and most of the time we have a pot luck type meal. In other words each of us women brings a dish to share. Since my sister-in-law is a vegetarian, I try to bring something she can eat as well. Bean dishes seem like a good idea since they have quite a bit of protein in them. This past weekend I made some vegetarian boston baked beans that turned out great. Read the rest of this entry &raquo

My favorite dessert is banana pudding. Not the kind my Swedish, Iowa mother made for me; instant pudding from a box and a couple of vanilla wafers on the side. I mean good old-fashioned Southern banana pudding. I met a man from the South and he taught me how to make cold banana pudding (there’s also warm, but that’s too Southern for me). Read the rest of this entry &raquo

Omaha’s Wine is made from grapes grown directly from the state of Nebraska. Nebraska’s oldest winery was founded in 1994. Currently there are about 20 commercial wineries operating across Nebraska. The vast majority of these wineries are small and sell most of their wine to tourists who visit the winery.

The wine and grape industry in Nebraska began in the late 19th century, with most of the vineyards located in the counties of southeastern Nebraska. The wine and grape industry in Nebraska was dormant until the mid 1980s; the passage of the Nebraska Farm Wineries Act by the Nebraska Legislature in 1986 increased the amount of wine that a Nebraska winery could produce from 200 US gallons to 50,000 US gallons.

Even in the early 1990s, fewer than 10 acres of vineyards were in cultivation in the state.