Easy Shamrock Cookies!

I'm getting ready for St. Patrick's Day around our house with all things Irish!  This afternoon, I made shamrock cookies to have with hot Irish tea.

  For a really easy cookie (that you can make with the wee ones) just slice ready-made sugar cookie dough, then use a shamrock cookie cutter as a stencil! 

  When you take the cookies from the oven, gently place the small cookie cutter on the center of each cookie and let the children use colored sugars to sprinkle (heavily) the shape onto the cookie.  Remove to wire racks to cool.  You're done, with no time-consuming, messy dough-cutting.  This trick is great when you are short on time, but want to do something fun for the holiday.  

Pickled Beets Make a Great Easter Side!

Easter is just around the corner!  As the daffodils pop through the mulch and robins swoop back and forth as they build their nests, I start thinking about some of my favorite springtime recipes.  One of the recipes that holds fond memories for me is for Harvard Beets.  It was shared with me years ago by a sweet elderly friend from our church family in Charleston.  

  Here's Miss Ona's wonderful recipe for pickled beets.  She called them,"Harvard Beets".  Enjoy!

Before you drain those beets, make sure to reserve some of that beautiful juice for the sauce!

You can stir your sauce ingredients with a spoon as they thicken, but I find that a wisk works better!

Once you combine the beets and sauce, you can serve them warm or chill them for several hours (my favorite way to eat them!)

Aunt Hazel's Copper Penny Salad

When I was a newlywed (a long time 

ago!) my aunt, Hazel Bell, would send me great recipes to add to my little wooden recipe box.  I was happy for the bits of cooking help, and she was good at regularly sending letters and recipes from her retirement village in Arizona. 

  Aunt Hazel and Uncle Clarence moved from Ohio to Arizona upon their retirement.  They were a very social couple, and at one point were voted "King"  and  "Queen" of the village!  I have a picture of them at a picnic, sitting in lawn chairs, proudly wearing their crowns.  I think there were lots of picnics, BBQs, and golf outings in that place!  She had lots of occasions to swap recipes with other,"seasoned" cooks.  

  I always knew that if a recipe came in one of Aunt Hazel's letters, it was a keeper!  This salad that I'm sharing with you is her pickled carrot salad that she called,"Copper Pennies".  (It's best made a couple of days ahead of when you plan to serve it.)

Peeling the carrots is the most time-consuming part of this recipe!

I like my carrots and celery in nice chunky pieces.  I just slice the onions and green pepper into thin slices.

I mix the marinade in the container (with a lid) that I plan to store the salad in until I put it in a serving dish.  

This salad is better the longer it chills in the fridge!