Oh, Friends, whether you’re in a loving relationship or not, Valentine’s Day can be filled with love and lots of surprises!

Valentine’s Day Date Night Charcuterie Board

It’s for love and fun and celebrating great friendships, and this Valentine’s Day Date Night Charcuterie Board!

You may also love my Galentine’s Day Charcuterie Board, Valentine’s Day Lunch Charcuterie Board [with heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches], and my friend BakerMama’s Valentine Sweetheart Snack Mix (which would be so cute on a charcuterie board). (more…)

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Oh, Friends, today is a “cookie day.” So I hope you so enjoy this Simple Almond Cranberry Crunch Cookies recipe! You can also try my Vegan Tahini Coconut Chocolate Cookies or my friend’s Soft and Chewy Almond Cookies or Almond Joy Cookies!

Do you ever get your feelings hurt by another person, by a comment that was made that stings? This happened to me just this week. Ouch! It not only hurts, but it seriously makes me want to eat cookies, or to comfort myself with a big hunk of chocolate. HA HA.

Part of that is true, and then again I do believe in discipline. :)

Plus, it sort of makes your soul feel dark when you start having dark thoughts …

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Are you a traditional mashed potato cook for Thanksgiving, or do you like to switch it up and try new flavors?

You may have tried my Pumpkin Mashed Potatoes, or Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes, but today I’m sharing a delicious Curried Mashed Sweet Potatoes.

How to make mashed sweet potatoes

1. Boil the potatoes. You can also bake them (on foil lined pan).
2. Place in a bowl. (Peel if you baked them with the skin on:)
3. You have 2 options—you can place in a food processor or you can whip them.
4. Add all your favorite ingredients (butter, yogurt, spices, honey, herbs).
5. In a large bowl, scrape the potatoes from the mixing bowl (or food processor), and garnish with herbs and fresh pepper.

Set the table

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Friends, for summer hosting, here’s a delightful, easy recipe that your guests are sure to love! We love Oregon berries, so this Raspberry Blueberry Granola Crisp Recipe is one of our favorites.

Raspberry Blueberry Granola Crisp Recipe

Made with fresh summer fruit, I bet you have granola in your pantry! Granola makes the “crisp” topping super easy when you’re in a pinch! (more…)

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“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” Simone Weil

This past week, my husband and I walked to our favorite restaurant, 2.25 miles from our house. I wasn’t too excited about it at first, but then on such a beautiful night, I settled right into the groove of enjoying nature, holding my husband’s hand, joking as we bantered back and forth, and I tried to walk by his side.

Fig Goat Cheese Rosemary-Stuffed Chicken

But first, this delicious Fig Goat Cheese Rosemary-Stuffed Chicken is SO good! Don’t forget to tenderize the chicken first, which makes the meat very soft and more flavorful. (more…)

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This past weekend, I reminded my husband of the sweet moment, on an early-90’s floral sofa, when he popped the question 26 years ago. He’s good with our anniversary, but not the anniversary of our engagement. Which is fine with me. (Below, on the sofa, 26 years ago:)

Marriage is good to write about. I think we need more strong marriages, good examples, truly-in-love stories to share with the world. (more…)

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Happy Valentine’s Day, Friends! Enjoy this Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe, made with mini chocolate chips and fresh strawberries, in small loaves to enjoy, or to give away to your favorite Valentine!

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Bread Recipe

I whipped up the batter in my KitchenAid® Artisan® Mini Stand Mixer (have you entered to win?) (more…)

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Friends, life is eating, loving, and laughing. So much of enjoying eating and the whole food experience is about sharing a meal with someone you love! If you love cauliflower soup like we do, you must also try this Cauliflower White Cheddar Cheese Soup!

Moroccan Lentil Cauliflower Soup Ingredients:

• Onion + carrots + garlic
• Olive oil
• Ground cumin + turmeric + cinnamon + pepper
• Vegetable broth
• Cauliflower
• Steamed lentils (I buy at Trader Joe’s)
• Diced tomatoes
• Tomato paste
• Fresh spinach
• Fresh cilantro
• Lemon juice
• Salt to taste
• Sour cream

We love lentil soup

We’ve been trying to eat more soups in our home, packing them full of veggies, laying off the carbs (tough job!), eating more slowly, and savoring every bite! If you’ve never tried my Red Lentil Sweet Potato Stew recipe, you may want to make this recipe, too! (more…)

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Friends, we often get a sneak peek of beautiful weather this month of February, in Oregon! For Paul and me, this means taking our 1987 camper van out for a night or two. For Valentine’s Day, it’s one of our favorite things to plan, a sweet getaway!

One of our favorite destinations, Pacific City.

You may have recently seen the Top 10 secret coastal escapes in Sunset Magazine. One of our favorite getaways was listed: Pacific City, Oregon. (more…)

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It’s just too cozy in our home to not stay home to dine with friends. I mean, I do love to eat out, but it’s much cozier around our table. There’s something about our conversation that seems a bit cozier, too, around our dinner table.

Throw open the doors!

On lovely sunny days, such as we had this past week, sometimes I just want to stay home and throw open the doors to let the sunshine in!

I did just that for a few hours last week. Even though there was a chill in the air, I opened the sliders and windows as a gentle breeze was coming in. The sunshine mixed with fresh air is sort of like a natural disinfectant.

Now if I could have only kept it that way as our friends came for dinner. Brrr … no open doors in January at 6 pm! (I love this quote, by the way!)

Set the table.

For table inspiration with flowers and design, I like to visit with my good friends Susie and Carol, who own a very cool shop in downtown Medford. This time we chatted about their new sweet line of whimsical wire Valentine fun!

I took a few puffy wire heart vases with a glass flower tube and set a lovely table. (more…)

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