~Valentine's Day Desserts~

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The day when we enjoy showing the special people in our lives that we appreciate & love them is rapidly approaching!  Valentine's Day!!!  A day filled with shades of reds and pinks!  It can also be a day for special desserts.  Now, these delicious special desserts can also be easy to prepare!

My heart word cloud below contains family favorite desserts that we enjoy- a lot! Place your cursor over a dessert name & it becomes larger.  Click on the bolded large name & like magic the post on my blog appears.  For me the choice is not easy for Valentine's Day!  What would you choose???

Enjoy!
Yummy!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! 

A Gift of Homemade Cookies

After enjoying an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with my family, December suddenly arrived. Celebrating the holidays is a wonderful time of the year and it does require preparation. You and I both are deciding on the special gifts to choose for family members and friends.

For special people who live a distance away an excellent gift is a batch of your homemade cookies (made from scratch not using a mix), packaging them and mailing the goodies. For different special occasions I have baked Craisin Raisin Oaties, Sour Cream Sugar Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cookies and mailed the homemade cookies to the thrilled recipients. (Click on bolded words for recipes and packaging instructions.)

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies are absolutely delicious! Cookie cutters are used after the dough is rolled out. My family has never tasted a better sugar cookie! The baked and cooled cookies can also be placed in the freezer for your family to enjoy later.

Soft, delicious, chewy homemade cookies! Craisin Raisin Oaties, Sour Cream Sugar Cookies or Chocolate Chip Cookies all are yummy! They always hit the spot for any occasion and they can be packaged and mailed to a delighted family member or friend to enjoy!

Yummy!!!

Is It Blueberry Season, Yet?

Yes, blueberry season is definitely here! The cultivated, ripened, juicy blueberries are now ready to be picked at local farms in Western Massachusetts! Our delicious winter supply of the blue, tasty, nutritious berries were prepared and frozen yesterday.

This morning we enjoyed a hearty breakfast of Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes! (Click on bolded words.) The addition of ¼ tsp. of nutmeg to the batter before placing the batter on the grill resulted in scrumptious pancakes. Topped with a little maple syrup – Yummy! The extra pancakes were placed in our freezer. It is always a wonderful surprise in the morning to open the freezer door and locate them!

Two batches of the Blueberry Freezer Jam are now sitting undisturbed on our table. Today was also a day to make the Freezer Jam. Tomorrow afternoon (after the required 24 hours) the containers will be placed in our freezer next to the Strawberry Freezer Jam. Each batch was prepared carefully and separately.

Enjoying a handful of fresh, mouth-watering, ripe, washed blueberries is part of summer. There may be some fresh berries left in our refrigerator to make Blueberry Delisimo or Yummy Blueberry Muffins. Have you had the opportunity to bake them? Share your comments with us by clicking on Comments.

After blueberry season has passed, we can enjoy our supply in our freezer.

Yummy!

Special Mother’s Day Desserts!

Are you searching for a delicious, exceptional and easy to bake dessert for your mom for Mother’s Day? Surprise her with a dessert that you have baked in your oven rather than one purchased in a bakery. The dessert will be special, because you have spent the time deciding what to prepare and then followed through and baked it. I have many suggestions for you. Blueberry Delisimo is prepared with fresh or defrosted blueberries. Topped with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream it is absolutely delicious! Do not be fooled by its appearance before it is baked in your oven. Hermits are definitely a New England favorite. These molasses cookies are filled with raisins. Cranorange Coffee Cake is one of our family’s favorite desserts. Topped with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream Apple Crisp is served any time during the year. A combination of Granny Smith, Empire and/or Cortland apples results in a yummy dessert.

Any of these desserts will be appreciated. Each one is delicious. Enjoy baking your choice!

Oatmeal and Cholesterol

Four months ago I was advised that I needed to LOWER my cholesterol, so I started to pay more attention to the Oatmeal commercials on television. We have all seen them … an individual proudly states that he/she has eaten a serving of oatmeal cereal every day for 1 month and the result is a lower cholesterol reading. Knowing that I would tire of that particular breakfast every day, I decided to eat oatmeal every other day. My breakfast would be either “Creamy Cranberry Oatmeal”, Creamy Oatmeal made with raisins or Awesome Oatmeal Pancakes. After eating this breakfast for 3 months, I, JG, am a believer! I can proudly state that I have lowered my cholesterol 23 points in 3 months by eating a breakfast with oatmeal every other day! WOW!! And … I am still enjoying my healthy oatmeal every other day.