Good Press

This recipe crossed my path at two holiday potlucks. It is yummy and seems easy to make. I also got a giggle at its name. WHITE TRASH SNACK MIX 3 1/2 cups Cheerios toasted oat cereal 3 cups Rice Chex 3 cups Corn Chex 16 ounces M&M's plain chocolate candy 2 1/2 cups salted mixed nuts 2 cups small pretzels 2 (11 ounce) packages white chocolate chips OR 1 (1 1/2 pound package almond bark) Dump the cereals, M&Ms, nuts & pretzels in a large bowl. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler. Melt very slowly, stirring occasionally, being careful not to burn the chocolate. Dump melted chocolate over the rest of the ingredients and fold over and over until you have well-coated hunks and chunks. Spread the whole mess out on parchment paper and set in a cool place until it sets up, then break it into pieces. Store in zip-top bags or air-tight containers. Variations abound and I've seen Golden Grahams cereal, ...

Lest you think I ignored or neglected a big part of my heritage, here is my post about the 67th Annual Preston County Buckwheat Festival wrapping up in Kingwood. We almost didn't go this year -- things have been kind of up in the air since my mom's surgery. So we didn't enter any food or arts and crafts exhibits. We didn't see a parade. We didn't walk through the livestock exhibits. We didn't have family and friends over for our traditional buckwheat-cakes-and-sausage feed on the Sunday before the festival. My husband said he felt like it was too early this year but it always starts the last Thursday in September. Here, in photos, are the highlights of our festival traditions and some of the new things we did this year. May we be better prepared for next year's festival. We watched a lumberjack contest ... ... let Bella ride the carousel (for which we paid $3 -- yow) ... ... bought a chance on a handmade muzzleloader from a craftsman I wrote about, got some ...

Weekends are the time for farmers markets. Here are some of my finds from recent trips and what I've done with them. I'm lucky to live across the street from my community's farmers market. It's also on Friday mornings so I can go to neighboring towns' markets on Saturdays. To find a farmers market near you, go to www.localharvest.org . Sheesh! Blackberries are expensive! Ads in our local paper range from $15 to $18 a gallon. I paid an indulgent $7 for a quart at the market. Next time I'll just pick them myself. But these made a lovely cobbler with my mom's crust recipe. 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 3 teaspoons baking powder 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup Crisco 3/4 cup milk Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9-by-9 glass baking dish. If you have enough berries to make a 13-by-9 pan, double the crust recipe. Rinse and pick over berries. Sweeten with sugar as desired (maybe 1/2 cup). Stir in cornstarch or tapioca -- I'm bad at estimating this and my filling is always ru...

My husband rolled his eyes at the name of this recipe. Hey! I didn't make it up! But he changed his tune once he bit into a warm, chewy cookie. "These cookies rock!" is his totally subjective and not all that descriptive opinion. CHOC-OAT-CHIP CHERRY COOKIES (All props to the recipe writers at Quaker Oats) 2 sticks margarine or butter, softened 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 eggs 2 tablespoons milk 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups Quaker Oats (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked) 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips 1 cup dried tart cherries Heat oven to 375 degrees. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars with electric mixer until creamed. Add eggs, milk and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour, baking soda and salt; add to the butter-sugar mixture and mix well. Stir in oats, chocolate chips and cherries; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 9 ...