The Unexpected Blessings of God – Sweet and Juicy Every Time

This morning I am giving thanks for the many blessings of God and for the unexpected ways in which they come to us.  A couple of weeks ago I was moaning because I did not think that any of our beautiful big brandyboy and brandywine tomatoes would get ripe this year.  Summer seemed to be [...]

Enterprise employs immigrants to teach cooking classes and culture

Here is another great idea that shows creative imagination in the development of business.  Read about Culture Kitchen

What Do You Do With All Those Tomatillos?

This post is by special request from my good friend Andy Wade who obviously has more jalapenos in his garden than he knows what to do with.  And as we look as though we will be getting a bumper crop of both tomatillos and apples too this year I thought that it was a good [...]

We Can All Make a Mustard Seed Difference

This is a great story – shows how all of us have the potential to change the world When Kellogg’s announced this week that it is moving to limit the deforestation caused by the palm oil it uses to make Frosted Flakes, Keebler cookies, Rice Krispies, and Girl Scout cookies, it represented an enormous achievement [...]

Could You Host a Gathering Place dinner?

A couple of weeks ago we held our first Taste of the Mustard Seed event in Seattle.  One of the attendees was our friend, TV cooking personality Graham Kerr, once known as the Galloping Gourmet .  Graham was so excited about what we are doing that he has gifted us with 1,000 copies of his book The Gathering [...]

The Dangers of BPA in Canning Lids

Home canning season is just beginning and those of us who like to extend the harvest by putting away fruit and vegetables are looking out our bottles and getting ready.  But before you go and buy those Ball or Kerr metal canning lids here is something that you might like to think about. BPA, the [...]

On the threshold of Christmas

Christmas is definitely in the air.  Last night we attended a performance of the Messiah – part of our yearly pre-Christmas tradition and this morning I have been baking furiously getting ready for our Open House this evening at which event I will ignore Advent tradition and light all the Christmas candles including my Christmas [...]

Flu Therapy

Another day at World View Institute in Launceston.  I love the rhythm here – lectures Monday and Tuesday and then a day off (at least for me) which is just as well because I am still fighting a cold and have not felt well since I first caught the flu back in Los Angeles about [...]

First Apple Cake for the Season

I just made my first apple cake for the season for our MSA Board meeting tomorrow.  It is a great way for me to relax once I have all my materials ready for the Board members. Our apple crop is not as big as usual but there are still plenty to enjoy.  This recipe was [...]

What Do We do With All the Tomatoes?

Yesterday I posted a twitter update that read “Enjoying the aroma of drying tomatoes.”  Unfortunately some of my facebook friends interpreted that as “dying tomatoes”  and so there have been a few rather pointed comments about the state of my garden.  That of course made me realize that I have been rather silent about what [...]