Six Items Every Kitchen Needs (But Many Don’t Have)

Once you have the basics, here are the items that we find most useful for putting together fabulous meals in your own kitchen. If you are just beginning to stock your kitchen, there are some fairly obvious things that you need to have: pots, pans, measuring utensils,...

After Church Chicken (or Turkey) Salad

It’s just a fairly straightforward chicken salad recipe that we have tweaked to our liking over the years. It became “After Church” salad when we realized it sized up well to make LOTS of sandwiches for our hospitality gatherings after 10 a.m....

Smokey Tomato Sauce

We make this sauce in August when we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with. We love the “hearty without meat” flavor it brings to a wide variety of dishes. Another plus: it maintains it’s unique, smokey flavor through the canning process....

Basil Pesto

This pesto recipe is very versatile. It is pictured here with Cavatappi pasta, cherry tomatoes and some fresh mozzarella. We like to make lots of pesto in the summer when fresh basil is readily available and freeze it for use throughout the year. Having pesto on hand...

Italian Sausage and Cheese (Not) Stuffed Manicotti

These “not stuffed” manicotti may be a little easier to make than the traditional filled pasta tubes we’re used to, but this recipe still requires an investment of time. Luckily, once you are committed, you might as well make enough for the future....