tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17059774964222048662024-11-01T03:41:10.205-07:00An amalgamation of recipes, reviews, and opinions.Donnalee's bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15779418047766097197noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1705977496422204866.post-60129937601155551242015-04-24T09:29:00.003-07:002015-04-24T10:22:35.826-07:00

Image Credit: Barnes and Noble If you love whodunits or upstairs/downstairs movies, you'll love "Gosford Park." I'm an Anglophile and love movies about the English monarchy, class system or as I call them, “talkie English things.” Written by Julian Fellowes of "Downton Abbey" fame, there are plots, subplots and schemes in every scene. Similar to Agatha Christie mysteries, everybody has a

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Image credit: Lunar Templates Twitter is my favorite and most effective social media platform for promotion. Since it was founded in 2006, Twitter has revolutionized social media and even revolutions. I have used it extensively and profitably when I had an Etsy store and Squidoo postings. Since Squidoo crashed, I’m starting over and now use it for promoting my own blog. Twitter is

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Image credit: Target.com I started canning during the summer of 2013. I want to save money, have the freshest possible food, and minimize the number of artificial ingredients, like most people. I got advice from friends and family, researched the Web, and watched YouTube videos. I thought that was plenty of research and successfully canned tomatoes and salsa. I also made some jams and jellies.

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Image Credit: Barnes and Noble I've been knitting since I was a teenager in the late 1960's. As you might expect, I've made sweaters, hats, gloves, and baby clothes. The problem is that I only knew how to use one color per row so multi color meant stripes. I've always wanted to do Fair Isle knitting. I was watching "Knitting Daily" on PBS and saw that Fair Isle used only two different colors

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My Ten Favorite Cookbooks© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   I'm a foodie. There, I said it. I have over 40 cookbooks marked with Post-its for recipes I want to try. Here they are on my kitchen counter. I don't even want to count the number of recipes I've gotten from magazines, newspapers and the Internet. Choosing just ten cookbooks is very hard. What about Lidia Bastianich, Rick

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I walk my dog almost every day here in Colorado. UV rays are stronger at altitude and we have 300 days of sunshine. According to my dermatologist, I have sensitive skin and a skin condition called rosacea. I was trying to find a gentle sun screen product to protect my skin from the damaging rays of the sun. I've always liked Neutrogena products and was happy to find that they have just what I

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Most of my collection OK, I'll admit it right now, I like the "For Dummies" book series and here's my collection to prove it. They’re my guilty pleasure.  Whenever I am delving into a new topic, this is where I look after extensive on line searches. The books both entertain and inform. In no particular order, here are ten reasons why I like them. The Part of Tens I always read "The

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Image credit: Barnes and Noble Not just for Dummies! This is the first book about canning that I bought. I like the For Dummies books because they assume that you are new to a subject and really don't know anything about it. I'll admit that I love the cartoons and read the Part of Tens first! "Canning & Preserving For Dummies" is divided into five parts, each reviewed below.  Or

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How can you tell I'm from da Windy City? I say two sentences at the most and people know I'm from Chicago. I'm from da nort' side and root for da Cubs and da Bears. Image Credit: Allposters.com I was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. I lived there for fifty years in the Western suburbs. I moved to Colorado in 2000. Even after all this time, my Chicago accent is obvious as soon as i

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Image credit: Staples.com I've retired but I'm not ready for a rocking chair! Here's my story about retirement for your perusal. Some people plan and count down the days until retirement. Not me, my retirement was sudden and of my own choosing. A supervisor more than half my age was telling me that I had to work ten hours a day through the winter holidays. I went to Human Resources and just

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The Inimitable Cary Grant Source: By Trailer screenshot (The Philadelphia Story trailer) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Cary Grant Cary Grant defines the suave and debonair man. He rose from a troubled childhood in Bristol, England to a world wide superstar. Known for both his dramatic and comedic roles in over 75 movies, he was only nominated for the Oscar award twice.

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Image credit: Barnes and Noble "The Lion in Winter" is one of my very favorite movies. I love period movies and costume dramas that take the viewer to a different time and place. The time is Christmas, 1168 AD/CE and the place is Medieval France in Chinon Castle (Chateau de Chinon), southwest of Paris. The movie portrays a wonderfully dysfunctional family. If you like acerbic wit of Maggie

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Image Credit: Barnes and Noble Hercule Poirot is my favorite Agatha Christie detective of the half dozen that she created and "Evil Under the Sun" is my favorite whodunit. The movies "Death on the Nile" and "Murder on the Orient Express" are terrific but "Evil" is the best of the three because of the music, costumes, scenery, and humor. Costumes to Die For! Academy Award and BAFTA Award

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Image Credit: Allposters.com I started out to do a review of my favorite recording of George Gershwin's music. Things quickly got out of control as I started outlining and gathering ideas. Then more ideas formulated, then too may ideas! Here are four of my favorite George Gershwin songs with added information about each. The songs are "Rhapsody in Blue", "An American in Paris", "

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Everyone that comes to my home is immediately offered something to drink and eat. Although my grandparents came from Eastern Europe, every culture has the same tradition of hospitality. My mom called it "coffee and.....". Nut breads are great at coffee break, tea time, or any time. Fruits and nuts in the bread add wonderful texture and bursts of flavor. Give any or all of them a try! Banana

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© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   Nothing says home like the smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls! This recipe is adapted from the "Betty Crocker Bread Machine Cookbook." The icing is from a 1970's version of the classic "Betty Crocker Cookbook." I have nothing against the rolls from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. These are just more luscious, gooey and taste

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© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   I love my bread machine and can make all types of raised dough recipes in it. Of course I make regular loaves of bread but the "dough" cycle allows all sorts of other yummy recipes. I've adapted my grandmother's raisin bread and a cinnamon roll recipe for the bread machine. I'll show you how to make quick and easy homemade hamburger buns. They are

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© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   I cook from scratch whenever possible. No additives, no preservatives, no complicated list of ingredients that sound more like chemistry lab than a kitchen. I can foods, make bread in my bread machine, and make big batches of soup to freeze. I looked for an English muffin recipe for a long time. How hard could it be? There was no recipe in "Joy of

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© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   I have absolutely no credentials for Mexican food other than I love it! My grandparents came from Eastern Europe and I grew up eating sauerkraut and sausage. I started canning in 2013 and had plenty of salsa and tomatoes. I came up with my own recipe for taco meat and beans. Put it all together with flour tortillas and Velveeta (yes Velveeta) and you

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Image credit: iTunes I was driving home from work listening to the Sirius XM Symphony channel when I heard a piano piece that absolutely captivated me, “Goldberg Variations,” written by Johann Sebastian Bach and played by Murray Perahia. I happened to be passing a Barnes and Noble store and pulled into the parking lot. I bought the CD at full price, which I rarely do. I love music-old school

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© Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved I have an extreme case of rosacea. My entire face turns beet red on exertion like hiking or skiing. I've been stopped numerous times because people think my blood pressure is spiking and I'm going to have a stroke.My dermatologist recommended Aqua Glycolic Facial Cleanser and Aqua Glycolic Face Cream. I think they’re both wonderful products.  My

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Image credit: Best Buy I love my new Vizio TV! The picture is crystal clear, I can watch Netflix, YouTube and it's HD. The price is very affordable. The set is lightweight and a good quality. The setup was very easy and the customer service is superb. Tale of TV Woe My TV technology was in a sorry state of affairs. I had bought one of the first HDTV's twelve years ago. It was

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 © Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   I love cabbage! I've even eaten my grandmother's sauerkraut for breakfast, more than once. Next to sauerkraut, sweet and sour red cabbage is a personal favorite. One problem-I think that the jars at the grocery store are just too expensive. I started canning and found this great recipe. I've adapted and cut it down so that it can be made

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 © Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   Here's a quick and easy chicken recipe using sun dried tomatoes. I don't remember where I found it but this recipe packs in a lot of unique flavor but not a lot of prep work. I did want to title this "Crumby Chicken" but decided that a more descriptive title would be better.  According to Foodsafety.gov, the internal temperature of

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 © Donna Cook – All Rights Reserved   Plain oatmeal raisin cookies taste like Styrofoam to me unless there's a lot of butter in the recipe. This recipe is adapted from the recipe on the lid of Old Fashioned Quaker Oats. I use whole rolled oats. I haven't tried this recipe with quick oats or steel cut oats but they probably would work also. I've jazzed it up with other dried fruits

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