The Happiest Place on Earth

One of our all-time favorite places to visit is Disney.  We aren’t picky – we’ll go to Disney World in Florida or Disneyland in California. I lived in California as a little girl so going to Disneyland is one of my most treasured childhood memories.  When I grew up and started a family of my […]

Baked Rigatoni

My son-in-law’s birthday was last week and when asked what meal he’d like for the celebration, he requested one of his favorites – Baked Rigatoni.  I was very happy to hear this since not only is it delicious, it is also ridiculously simple. I’m sure everyone can agree that any recipe that is a crowd pleaser […]

May Magic of the Month – Seven Summer Pies

May’s Magic of the Month is a celebration of wonderful fruit pies that remind us of the long, summer days ahead. Mama Bear was well known for her delicious, made-from-scratch pies.  In her restaurants, bakeries and catering, pies were always among the top requests.  Notice some of the pies have her signature pie crust bear […]

Our Vintage Barn Wedding

When our younger daughter, Laura, announced her engagement, we went into immediate wedding planning mode.  As a wedding planner of many years, I felt comfortably in my element. When Laura and her husband-to-be, Chase, announced they wanted to get married in a barn, it left me slightly speechless.  I knew barn weddings were becoming popular, […]

Pumpkins in California

I’ve mentioned before that my mom was a “country wannabe” even when living in a small house in California.  Despite our postage-sized yard, she was determined to grow pumpkins for my brother and me.  The problem was our yard was so small, she could only make room in a patch of dirt close to the […]

Rooster or Guard Dog?

When I was young, we had two collies – Mac and Tammy.  They were definitely pets and not much use for anything else.  They certainly were no protection again unwelcome visitors. But that didn’t matter because we had a rooster who believed it was his job to protect hearth and home.  He took this job […]

A Chicken Named Egg

As I’ve mentioned before, when we moved to Indiana we became “farmers”.  We purchased ducks and chickens and set about treating them as members of the family – as only transplanted California farmers will do! I’ll never forget the first egg we discovered in our hen house.  We knew owning female chickens meant that eggs […]

Willard the Goose

After surviving – and thoroughly enjoying – our first Indiana winter, spring arrived.  Spring is absolutely beautiful in California but Indiana holds its own very well.  First to arrive are the tulips and daffodils and then the incredibly spectacular dogwood trees. With the new birth of spring came a new desire in my mom – […]