As I have mentioned many times I the past, I get my inspirations from all over the place, from many different sources. I love recipes that show pictures, then I can easily figure out the rest on my own. I almost always change the original recipes too, making them my own. It’s just what I do.

The original recipe for this delicious festive fall side dish of artichokes, garlic and potatoes came from our very own foodzesty at https://foodzesty.com/. Thank you for the inspiration. That original recipe sounded oh so good, so I just had to try it on my own. But alas, it quickly became my own recipe. First I didn’t have all the right ingredients to make it exactly the same, and second I had other things that were just begging me to add them to the recipe too. So, once again, I made this delicious side dish my own. It was definitely a big hit too.

I used the smaller potatoes and cut them in half. Instead of using artichoke bottoms, I already had artichoke hearts, that I just cut in half. I also added pumpkin, since it is pumpkin season after all, and tomatoes because I had a lot of delicious fresh tomatoes straight from Janet & Bob’s garden that I wanted to use. Gift From The Garden So once again, a little of this and a little of that, and VOILA! A new side dish was created.

For this one, I didn’t measure anything (though I rarely do), I just knew I was cooking for four people.

I can artichoke hearts, drained and cut in half

1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes

1 1/2 cups pumpkin, cubed

1 1/2-2 TBSP garlic

2 lbs small potatoes, cut in half and par cooked with boiling water and vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

enough olive oil to coat the vegetables

Preheat the oven to 400* F or 200*C

First I cut the potatoes in half and boiled them for about 10-12 minutes in boiling hot water with a dash of vinegar. This is a little trick I learned not too long ago. It helps crisp up the potatoes when roasting them. I will use this new method from here on out too. It makes the potatoes come out just perfect.

Once the potatoes were semi-cooked, I drained them, then tossed them in olive oil, salt and pepper and garlic, along with the pumpkin and roasted them in the oven at 400* F or about 200* C. for about 20 minutes.

After about 20 minutes, stir the potatoes and pumpkin mixture, then add the artichoke hearts or bottoms and tomatoes and combine well. Put it all back in the oven and continue to bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.

When the potatoes and pumpkin are tender, it is done. Serve these tasty fall vegetables alongside your favorite main dish and enjoy. We all did. And I created something entirely different with the leftovers too. You ‘ll just have to wait and see what I did next. 🙂

Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

El Five is another restaurant owned by the restaurant group Edible Beats.  We just went to El Five, a Mediterranean Tapas house, with Janet, Bob, Mike and Lauren. We were still celebrating the two birthday girls. The Birthday Party Janet, Bob, Larry and I have now been to 4 out of the 6 restaurants in the Edible Beats group. We still have yet to enjoy Ophelia’s, as well as Root Down DIA. Ophelia’s is most definitely on our bucket list, however, I don’t think Root Down DIA will be, though definitely not because of the food. We like to experience the restaurants together, and haven’t traveled with each other yet. Besides, Larry and I usually get the o’dark hundred flights in the early hours of the morning, so it is highly unlikely we will be experiencing Root Down DIA anytime soon.

The Edible Beats Restaurant Group are known as the “renegades of flavor and masters of of remix. [They are also] known for responsibly-grown and innovatively simply sourcing veggie-forward fare.” The restaurants are all creatively named and grouped to spell out L.O.V.E.R.R. A Trip To Linger

L – Linger

O – Ophelia’s

V – Vital Root

E – El Five or El 5

R – Root Down

R – Root Down DIA

El Five is nestled high above LoHi on the fifth floor of 2930 Umatilla, El Five boasts spectacular, unobstructed city views of the downtown Denver skyline, and a wide frame of sprawling highlands for an unrivaled sunset view. The Large open-air patio sits adjacent to its big sister: Edible Beat’s concept Linger.

The views from the rooftop of Denver and Bronco Stadium at Empower Field.

This is the entrance to El Five. It was a little hard to find at first, since we had to go through the parking lot and then enter the lobby. From the lobby, we had to take the elevator up to L5. Once we got off the elevator, we entered into the fabulously fun world of El Five, the Restaurant.

The Kitchen

The Bar

The Bathrooms

El Five was a new experience for all of us, but Janet, Bob, Larry and I all at least had an inkling of what to expect. It was all completely new to Mike and Lauren though. They have some catching up to do. 🙂

The Mediterranean Sea has a rich export culture, all connected by one region : The Strait of Gibraltar. Like the port, El Five is a melting pot of all the Mediterranean regions, creating dishes without a home country, that taste like favorites from each one : Tapas De Gibraltar. El Five is a restaurant that specializes in tapas, or small plates. Tapas are small plates of food that are meant to be shared amongst friends. The more people you have to share with, the more fun it is. We all ordered something different and then we all enjoyed small samplings of everything. We all had little bits of Heaven with each bite, starting with fabulous Portuguese wine, Macanita, recommended to us by our fabulous server and sommelier, Anton.

Since there were 6 of us, the first bottle of wine didn’t last very long, so we all felt inclined to purchase another bottle. It was a special occasion after all.

Our server Anton was such a delight. He was on top of everything and thought of things even before we did. He was there to take care of everything, and that he did too.

Anton, as well as everyone else, including the Manager Frank, were all so helpful and truly made our evening an experience to remember. Some of the delicious wine was accidentally spilled, and Anton and Frank, as well as the rest of the staff were right there, on top of everything, within seconds.

Since we all ordered something different, it seemed like there was an endless supply of food coming our way. Just as we would finish one dish, another would take its place. Everything was out-of-this-world delicious too.

We started off with a couple of platters of the Lebanese Garlic Dip and Vegetables.

Next came the goat cheese croquettas and rabbit confit crujientes. These were our starters.

From the starters, we moved on to the “main entries”, which included Patatas Bravas,

Iberian pork loin,

pork cheeks,

and the seafood paella.

Yes, it looks like A LOT of food, and it was, but it wasn’t at the same time. We all enjoyed little bits of everything. We were all full and very satisfied, but none of us were too full. It was just the right amount.

And because we had two birthdays that were celebrating, we also ordered some desserts as well, once again to share with everyone. We ordered the malabi, which is an orange blossom, sesame tuile, pistachio butter, strawberry compote,

and the chocolate terrine, which was a combination of caramelized white chocolate with Turkish delight, candied orange and a passionfruit coulis. The birthday girls each also received some spiced dragees, or dark chocolate coated hazelnuts.

Everything was just perfect. We are all still talking about the fabulous dinner, the spectacular views, and the tremendously fun evening we enjoyed together. It was definitely a fun night to remember. We can’t wait to go back.

El Five is located on the 5th Floor at 2930 Umatilla Street, Denver, CO. Definitely make reservations before going. You can contact El Five at (303) 524-9193. You will definitely be in for a delightful evening that you will not forget. El Five is a treat for all the senses. It will make for a magical evening indeed. You will most definitely be glad for the experience.

Food is meant to be enjoyed, and it is better enjoyed when shared with friends, family and/or loved ones. This is definitely the definition of living the good life. Stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

WOW! I really got myself backed up. I need to get busy again. I have so much wonderful stuff to share with all of you.

As you know I am always looking for new and creative ideas for things to make not just my church coffee cart, but in general. I get my ideas from all over the place, including a lot of you. This idea came to me from one of you. I believe it was from foodzesty, at https://foodzesty.com/ but I am not positive. My apologies. I had saved the post to make sure I could properly acknowledge my inspiration, but alas, in my haste to clean things up, I must have deleted it accidentally. The original version was absolutely adorable, especially with the smaller Nutter Butter Peanut Butter cookies. I couldn’t find the smaller cookies, so my acorns must be from a different “tree, but I think they still came out cute. They were a big hit too.

These are super easy to make and would be fun to make with your kids or your grandkids too. All they take are just a few simple ingredients and a little time and patience.

I dabbed each cookie with a little bit of chocolate frosting first, then added a kiss to make the top of my acorn.

For the bottom tail, I melted some peanut butter chips with a dash of milk, and again, dabbled a little bit on the bottom, and finished it with one peanut butter chip. I think his acorn had a little “sap” dripping from it. 🙂

Place the finished acorns on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour to let them set before serving.

These are a fun and tasty way to enjoy the fall season. You can use any type of small sandwich cookie for these too. Use your imagination and be creative.

Take in all the beauty of the day. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

As you know, I have now been home for quite some time now. I am just now getting to my normal things and into my normal routines once again, rather than sharing only my vacation photos. When we were back east, I was expecting all these gorgeous fall colors but was rather disappointed. The fall colors were not so brilliant when we were there, but they are now from what I have heard and scene in photos. Though we did see patches of trees that were brightly and beautifully colored. I guess we just didn’t time things right. Maybe next time. 🙂

Our fall colors here at home, however, have been truly magnificent. We are having yet another banner fall. Our colors are so vibrant. Every street I turn down has all their trees are on full display with bright greens, yellows, golds, bright oranges, burnt oranges, bright reds and burgundy reds. They are just so beautiful. I am truly in awe. God’s paintbrush has been very busy indeed, painting us yet another beautiful fall. I am loving every minute of it too.

This was our tree in our front yard. But now, it is a naked tree.

Fortunately I can still enjoy my neighbors’ gorgeous tree. Too bad they aren’t nearly as nice as their tree. 🙂

And the colors all around.

This is my view from my back deck. Isn’t it gorgeous?

Unfortunately, pictures just don’t do these beautifully colored trees justice. Every season has its own special beauty and charm, but fall for me, is by far my favorite. I never get tired of taking in all these breathtaking colors and scenes.

Make your day and all your days spectacular too. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Yesterday when I posted about the Amish Country, Amish Country I completely forgot that we still did other things as well. After leaving the Amish in Lancaster County, we headed to Hershey, PA, where the delicious Hershey Chocolate comes from. How could I forget that?

The street signs were named after all types of chocolate and even the streetlamps were designed as the famous Hershey Kiss.

We didn’t have a lot of time at the Hershey Factory, and it was a total last minute decision, however we made the very last tour of the day, and still got to learn about how the famous chocolate is made. There is so much to explore at the facility. In fact, they have made it into a whole theme park, with rides and all kinds of entertainment. We did not have a chance to do any of those, and quite honestly, neither of us had much interest in that either. We wanted to learn about the chocolate, so we ran up the stairs and hopped onto the little tour carts, and off we went. If you have ever been to Disneyland, and have been on the Haunted Mansion ride, the tour was set up exactly like that. As much as I love chocolate, and Hershey’s Chocolate at that, I have to stay, I was not a big fan of the way they made the Hershey tour into a Disneyland-like ride. I would have much preferred an actual tour with a real tour guide than a virtual tour and guide. But other than that, it was still very interesting and very informative.

Hershey is the birthplace of the famous Hershey Kiss, Hershey Bars and Reece’s Peanut Butter candies, among many others. Hershey’s Chocolate was founded in 1894 by Milton Hershey.

The very first Hershey bar was sold in 1900 for a mere 10 cents.

Candy bars have sure changed and evolved over the years, and the price is a lot more than just 10 cents too.

The famous Hershey Kiss was created in 1921, complete with it’s trademark plume. And through the years, Hershey’s has created many more types of iconic candies and chocolate confections that we have grown to love and cherish just as much as we do the Kiss. I’m sure we all remember our first kiss. 🙂

I would have liked to ride in the Kissmobile. That would have been fun. But, it will have to be another time.

It was a sweet day indeed. 🙂

Like with any company than has been around for a long time, Hershey’s has certainly been through plenty of tough times; the same tough times that we as a nation have faced as well, but Hershey’s was a place of hope and inspiration. During the times of the Great Depression and WWII, Hershey’s was there providing jobs to those in need. During the 1930-1945, Hershey’s was a part of The Great Works Project,  building the most iconic landmarks of Hershey during this time, Hershey Park, Theatre and the Hershey Hotel.

During WWII Hershey’s created the Ration D bar for those who served.

Up until the late 1980’s Hershey’s was still primarily just a producer of chocolate confections. However, in the 1990’s, Hershey’s acquired LEAF, Inc., which opened their world to about 40 other kinds of sweet confections and candies, including Jolly Rancher, Whoppers, Milk Duds, Good & Plenty, Pay Day, Heath, Rainblo and Super Bubble.

At the beginning of the new millennium, Hershey’s expanded their operations once again, and lead the way by creating the World Cocoa Foundation, which began investments in West Africa to support cocoa farmers and improve cacao agriculture. In 2003, they introduced sugar-free candies. In 2012, Hershey’s was recognized as one of America’s most community-minded companies, as one of the Civic 50. They are still leading the way in many new and innovative ways in the world of chocolate and confections, and they are still growing. In 2021 Hershey’s acquired yet another candy company, Lily’s Sweets, the high-growth, better-for-you confectionery brand of candy. I somehow get the feeling that they they are not done and still have a lot more growing to do too.

Once again, this was a fun and very informative tour. I am so glad we decided to do it, even if it was a totally last minute decision. Often times, those are my best decisions. 🙂

Upon leaving Hershey, we took one more tour for the trip, and headed into Harrisburg, the Capitol of PA. That was good to see as well, though we didn’t spend a lot of time there.

As you can see, we were on the run and saw so many interesting things and places on this trip. We were all over the place. It was yet another fantastic vacation to add to the books.

Have a sweet day, stay safe and stay well Everyone. ‘Til next time.

One of our other excursions for this recent trip was to visit the Amish Country in Lancaster County, PA. The Amish are an interesting group of people. Everyone has heard of them, but most people, myself included, don’t really know that much about them. The tour that we took showed us the Amish way of life. It included a working Amish farm, a guided bus tour through Amish country, visits to their local businesses and a tour of a typical Amish house. It was all very interesting and informative.

The Amish are not a single unit. There are four main groups — the Old Order, the New Order, the Beachy Amish and Amish Mennonites — with many subgroups and different rules within these categories. For instance, the Beachy Amish and Amish Mennonites often drive cars and use electricity while the others use horse-drawn buggies.

An Amish house

Amish roots stretch back to the time of the Protestant Reformation in sixteenth-century Europe. Their religious ancestors were called Anabaptists (rebaptizers) because they baptized adults who had previously been baptized as infants in a Catholic or Protestant church. Members of this conservative Christian faith came to Pennsylvania in the early 18th century to escape persecution in Europe for their Anabaptist beliefs. The Pennsylvania Amish community in Lancaster County is the oldest and largest Amish community in the United States, numbering about 43,000. While most Amish and Old Order Mennonites are of Swiss ancestry, nearly all speak Pennsylvania Dutch, an American language that developed in rural areas of southeastern and central Pennsylvania during the 18th century. The people are NOT Dutch, and the term Dutch is a slang for Deutsch or German. The largest Amish populations are in PA, but you can also find them scattered about other parts of the country too. The Amish are now found in about 30 states as well as parts of Canada. There are roughly 300,000 Amish located in these parts of the world today.

They do not attend a physical structured church, but gather in peoples’ homes instead, separating the men and the women. The sermons and hymns are all in high German. This is one of the prayer rooms, and then another would be located in either another room, or in a separate area of one very large room. One is for the men and one is for the women. They gather in small groups of 20-30 families (however, each family can be quite large) and they rotate services every couple of weeks to another home.

The Amish farms and homes are intermixed with “The English” homes and farms. “English” refers to anyone who is not Amish. A few ways to determine an Amish home is by the septic tanks located on the properties, the dark, plain clothes hung up high on the clothesline and the windmills. And usually they have large farms as well.

They are almost completely self-sufficient and make or produce almost everything on their farms or within their communities. Barn building and home building are big social events where everyone joins in together. They build the barns first, then build their homes.

The clothing of the females, both young and any woman under the age of 35.

And for the older women, it is almost always all black.

For the males, it is almost always black. Zippers and buttons are not allowed on any of the clothing for anyone. Head coverings for both men and women are a must.

The straw hats are the working hats of the men and the black hats are more for social gatherings. The women wear the white caps.

Because the population is growing and homes and land are scarce, they often either acquire the “English” homes and add onto them, or will rent out space to the “English” and will cohabitate together on the property.

The main beliefs of the Amish are  faith, family, community, and living a simple and modest life. The Amish live out their own religious beliefs and lead a unique life in their own spiritual way. They are hard working farmers and small business owners. They do most everything without the help of modern technology or conveniences or electricity, though they now use batteries for a lot of their energy needs. Amish life is governed by the “Ordnung,” a German word for order. The rules vary from community to community.  The Amish, for example, may shun members of their order who repeatedly ignore the beliefs and rules of Amish society. According to the Young Center, “Most Amish groups forbid owning automobiles, tapping electricity from public utility lines, using self-propelled farm machinery, owning a television, radio, and computer, attending high school and college, joining the military, and initiating divorce.” Though there are some conflicting ideas that are currently around. They keep everything very plain and simple, with very little decorations or adornments.

Instead of indoor plumbing and toilets, they use outhouses. They then dip out their waste by bucket, treat it with lime, mix it with animal manure and spread on their farm.

The lime house.

According to the Young Center, the Amish do not consider technology evil in itself, but believe that it has the potential to bring about assimilation into the surrounding society. “Mass media technology in particular, they fear, would introduce foreign values into their culture,” says an article on the Young Center’s website. “By bringing greater mobility, cars would pull the community apart, eroding local ties. Horse-and-buggy transportation keeps the community anchored in its local geographical base.” Some of the rules are seemingly contradictory — for instance, 12-volt car batteries are permitted by many communities while 120-volt electricity is not. In addition, most Amish are not permitted to drive motor vehicles but are allowed to hire outsiders — known as “English” — to drive them. However, this is still their primary mode of transportation, though you can also find them on scooterbikes as well.

This was a BIG contradiction to me. At the end of our tour, we decided on a quick lunch at Costco, and we saw some Amish ladies with their carts piled high, shopping at Costco. From the looks of it, their carts were filled with modern junk foods too. HMMMMM!

Photographs up close are NOT allowed, but you can photograph people from a distance, when they are working or engaged in activities. The Amish considerate it a violation of the Second Commandment, which prohibits the making of “graven images.” They believe any physical representation of themselves (whether a photograph, a painting, or film) promotes individualism and vanity, taking away from the values of community and humility by which they govern their lives. Photos are banned because they might cultivate personal vanity, which runs against the church’s prohibition of “hochmut,” a word meaning pride, arrogance and/or haughtiness.

Amish children typically only attend school through eighth grade, mostly at private schools, but about 10% are in public schools, according to the Young Center. Their right to end school at age 14 was confirmed by a 1972 ruling of the United States Supreme Court. Instruction is in both English and their German dialect. The Amish children who do not attend public schools are often taught in one-room schools.

At recess, the boys and girls all play together.

One modern Amish student for the day. I think he was leaning German, which is appropriate, since Larry is German.

Perhaps the most famous aspect of Amish social life is “rumspringa,” which means “running around” in the Pennsylvania German dialect. According to the Young Center, it is the time, beginning at about age 16, when youth socialize with their friends on weekends. Rumspringa usually lasts for about 2 years. Amish youth are no longer under the total control of their parents on weekends and, because they are not baptized, they are not yet under the authority of the church. Rumspringa ends with marriage. Apart from introducing young men and women to one another, this period is an important time when Amish youth need to decide if they will be baptized and join the church, which usually occurs between 18 and 21, or leave the Amish community. At first glance, rumspringa appears as a stain on Amish culture. The Amish, however, feel as though this fling with worldliness gives them the strength to come back to the Amish religion and be strong standing members. It is believed that ninety percent of the Amish youth will return to the Amish Church.

Dating among the Amish typically begins around age 16 with most Amish couples marrying between the ages of 20 and 22. To find a prospective date, the young adults socialize at functions such as frolics, church, or home visits.

And so concludes the adventures from our latest vacation, to Virginia, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania. We did a lot and had a fabulous time. We learned so many new things and had many adventures. Vacations are always fun, but it is always good to come home again too. I hope you have all enjoyed my latest vacation series.

So now, it is back to Jeanne in her kitchen and life here at home. As always, stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

As I have mentioned a few times in this latest vacation series, we learned a lot about the Civil War on this trip. On our first days, in VA, we learned about the Confederates and their take on the war. In Gettysburg, we were in the northern part, and got a completely different view. As with all history, there is never just one version of what happened. In the case of the Civil War, as is probably true with most things, both the North and the South were both fighting valiantly for their cause. Both sides suffered greatly, and both sides lost many brave men.

We started the day off bright and early at the Gettysburg Museum. We saw a short film on the war and then went to a re-enactment, then briefly toured around the museum, seeing what we could before taking a guided tour of the battlefields. It was all fascinating. We learned so much.

President Lincoln and I having a heart to heart conversation.

The Confederates are in gray and the Union Soldiers are in blue.

I wish we had more to time to really see and appreciate everything the museum had to offer, but we were on a tight schedule. We had a timed tour and then we had to head back to the airport to fly home. We were in Pennsylvania and we needed to get back to Dulles Airport, around Washington D.C. The museum was very nicely done and offered a great presentation. Maybe next time, I will get to fully appreciate it as should be done.

The weapons of war.

The brass and how to tell who was who.

The musical instruments of the war.

Some of the artists’ depictions of the actual battles.

Fortunately I have never actually experienced the pangs of war. I hope I never have to either. Both sides always have “nicknames” for the opposition. I guess it makes it less personal that way, which makes it easier to do what needs to be done. The Union Soldiers were called “Billy Yanks”. The Billy Yanks were the Federal Army and were slightly more prepared than the Johnny Rebs of the South.

The Confederate Soldiers were called “Johnny Rebels” or “Johnny Rebs”.

Though neither side were “living the life of luxury” at all. Both sides were barely getting by. This is an officer’s tent. As you can see, it is very sparse indeed. The troops were lucky to have tents at all. Many did not even have shoes, and they were short on all basic needs, including ammunition and armory.

A wall of honor and remembrance to the fallen.

After rushing through the museum, we headed out to meet our park ranger who lead the tour of the battlefields. He was very informative and knowledgeable, and had a great sense of humor. He made the tour very interesting as well as very informative.

General Meade took a modest farmhouse and transformed it into his headquarters.

General Meade

The battlefields of Gettysburg. Though the war continued for almost two years after the battles of Gettysburg, this was a very significant turning point in the war. Had the Union Soldiers not won here, the United States as we know it today, would be vastly different, if even existent at all. We all owe a great deal to these brave men who fought so valiantly here, on both sides. This was one of the bloodiest and most deadly battles of the whole Civil War.

This is where the Confederates lost in defeat, with devastating losses of their troops. This battlefield was the turning point of the war.

Little Dome

And because of the battles fought here, and the brave men who gave their all, with many sacrifices made on both sides, this is who we are today. God Bless America, and may this banner forever wave.

After leaving Washington D.C, we headed to Richmond, VA for our niece’s wedding. It was a beautiful day and she was a gorgeous bride. The day was filled with love and beauty.

After the wedding, we were on the move once again, this time to Gettysburg, PA. Our first Gettysburg experience was a ghost tour of the town. There are lots of ghosts and lost souls roaming the Gettysburg area, and ghost tours are a big thing, especially at this time of year with Halloween just around the corner.

Our guide. She was very interesting and knowledgeable.

These are the only ghostly encounters we had that night. The people of Gettysburg really get into the spirit of the Halloween season.

We had a fun evening, and at the very least, we learned some of the local history. However, we did have an encounter the next night after we returned from our trip to Amish Country. On our second night in Gettysburg, we had dinner at a local restaurant and were strolling around town afterwards. As we were strolling the sidewalks, I smelled the smells of a cigar and men’s cologne following us around, and NO ONE was around us at all. At the time, we had the sidewalk to ourselves. Our visitor stayed with us for a couple of blocks, then as suddenly as he appeared, he was gone, just like that. Of course Larry isn’t into this stuff and didn’t sense anything. But I did.

‘Tis the season of the spirits. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

OMG!!!!!! I have just gone through ALL the fabulous entries we had for this year’s 2022 Great Bloggers Bake -Off. WOW!!! Let me just say you all did an amazing job. As usual, you have made my job as judge very difficult indeed. This year we had so many entries. It grows by leaps and bounds every year. This has been our best year yet. All of you outdid yourselves. We had all kinds of great baked goods, ranging from cookies to savory dishes to breads, to cakes and much, much more. All looked totally scrumptious! There were also beautiful poems and special interviews that were greatly appreciated as well. Thank you for ALL the great submissions, whether they be recipes, poems, advice or interviews. I think I have already gained 10 lbs just by looking at everything. A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to every single one of you. None of this would have been possible without you.

1. First I will start with our Most Improved Baker’s Award. This year, it goes to Gary Metcalf, from Bereaved Single Dad at https://bereavedsingledad.blog/ for his Flapjack recipe. Gary has come a long way and has greatly improved since the days when we first started the Bloggers Bake-Off.. Great Job Gary! I am very proud of you. Keep up the great work! 🙂 Gary has gone from Best Efforts to Most Improved. Way to go Gary!!!!!

For the next awards, I have broken it down to the categories of Best Cookies, Best Bread, Best Tarts, Best Savory, Most Creative, and then our #1 overall, Grand Prize Winner

2. For Best Cookies, again, there were quite a few selections from which to choose. Our Runner Up is Brian, from Bushboys World at https://bushboy.blog/ for his Florentines.

and Best Cookies goes to Irene, from My Slice of Mexico at https://mysliceofmexico.ca/ for her Nova Scotia Oat Cakes.

3. Best Savory Dish goes to Jack who can be found at Caramel https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/ for his Mushroom, Spinach and Goat Cheese Pie.

4. Best Bread goes to Tandy Sinclair, from Lavender and Lime at https://tandysinclair.com/ for her Seeded Soda Bread Rolls. Tandy is a past winner as well. I love seeing all the repeat contenders. Keep it all coming!

6. Best Tarts goes to Dreamer at Dreamer at https://cinnamondreamer.wordpress.com/ I have a feeling I will be making these myself in the very near future.

7. Best Breakfast Breads go to Milly or Miss Milly Robinson for her berry buns. Oh these look berrilicious!!!!! I do not have a blog site for Milly, but I know Mel knows how to reach her.

8. And now we are coming down to the wire. Who will it be? What will we see?

Both of these lovely ladies are past winners, and both are so creative. Their recipes are always beautiful works of edible art.

For the Most Creative Cake Award, once again, it goes to Robbie Cheadle for her Circus Cake. Robbie has a few websites where you can find her and see what she has been up to: https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/, https://roberta-writes.com/, https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/. Check her out and congratulate her on her beautiful and creative works of edible art.

And our Grand Prize winner for the 2022 Great Bloggers Bake-Off is …….

Drumroll please. This is Robbie’s winning entry from last year, her Drum Cake.

Sheree, from A View from the Back at, https://viewfromtheback.com/2022/10/15/the-great-bloggers-bake-off-2022/ for her Vegan Nutty Caramel Cake. Yes, it really is a vegan cake. Sheree entered a few different things this year, and it was hard to choose even from just her creations, but this time, her Vegan Caramel Nut Cake came home with the grand prize. CONGRATULATIONS my Friend, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

Once again, thank you to ALL of you. We had so many amazing entries this year. You all did a FABULOUS JOB!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS and a big round of applause to all of you for a job, or jobs, very well done. This is possible every year because of all of you, your efforts and your support. We all got into the world of blogging to help support each other and this is a spectacular way of showing our love and support for all our fellow bloggers out there. Let’s keep this annual tradition going. I look forward to seeing all of your creative efforts once again next year. Keep up all your great works in the kitchen!

And special thanks to both Mel from Caramel https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/ and Gary Metcalf from Bereaved Single Dad at https://bereavedsingledad.blog/. There is so much work and effort that goes on behind the scenes to make this wonderful event happen. Mel and Gary both spend countless hours putting all of this together and they do a fabulous job. Every year it just keeps getting better and better, thanks to both of these two working tirelessly behind the scenes.

Thank you once again for allowing me the great honor of being the judge for this fabulous annual event. Even though my job gets harder and harder each year, because each year we we get more and more scrumptious, mouthwatering entries, I LOVE every bit of it. I am already looking forward to next year and all the delicious treats that we will see. Until then, stay safe, stay well, and I will see you again soon. ‘Til next time, Jeanne.

It is now time for me to get busy with my judging for the 2022 Great Bloggers Bake-Off. I know you are all anxiously awaiting the results. I am too. But before I do, here is one more inspiring submission that talks about this year’s theme. It was submitted by Annette Lewis from Making Joyful Choices And Changes at https://crushedcaramel.wordpress.com/2022/10/16/robert-and-annette-making-joyful-choices-and-changes/ Thank you Annette.

ROBERT AND ANNETTE MAKING JOYFUL CHOICES AND CHANGES

OCT 16, 2022 CARAMEL 15 COMMENTS

Yesterday we had the delight of hearing from our special BAKE OFF Judge Jeanne, who shared with us her passion for baking and also for nature, and wise advice in managing the challenge of risings costs. In case you missed that very joyful post, here is a link that will that you straight there:

THE JOY THAT JEANNE HAS SHARED WITH US

Today on the 2022 JOY OF BAKING GREAT BLOGGERS’ BAKE OFF we are shining a light on a SUSTAINABLE BAKING and how we can live joyfully in harmony with this beautiful planet.

I know that many WordPressers publish stunning photographs of nature and many have written about both their concern over climate change and the changes they have made to be more in harmony with this planet. But I know one blogger personally who has made some big changes in her lifestyle, and as it is always a pleasure to pop round and chat to Annette, the creator of LADY LEWIS, I asked her to share her thoughts and feelings with us.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT NATURE AND OUR BEAUTIFUL PLANET? WHAT BRINGS YOU THE MOST JOY FROM CREATION?

What a delightful question Mel! How do I feel about our beautiful planet? I think I speak on behalf of many when I say that even during the toughest of times, I am filled with a sense of true awe and gratitude that our home is so magnificent and breathtakingly beautiful. I see no accident in that. It is simply an expression of love and joy – a gift to be treasured and prized.

Robert and I are very concerned about what we have seen with our own eyes. On a small scale, we have seen fly-tipping and vandalism. On a large scale, we have seen top grade timber such as spruce felled to be burnt as an alternative to coal – an alternative that is classed as “renewable energy” but actually produces more carbon emissions. The short-sighted decisions and quest for profit have contributed to what we perceive as great inadequacies in the stewardship of this planet. I am exercising restraint in what I say here Mel, because I know you want this feature to be joyful – but yes we feel deeply concerned about the damage being done.

What brings me the most joy? Well, the combination of nature that particular strikes pleasure into my core is that of water-trees-mountains. We love North Wales and the West of Scotland, and also the Lake District for rewarding us with that spectacle many times over and over.

Other bloggers who regularly share the joy of nature with us include:

Josy – A WALK AND A LARK

Kianna – DIARY OF AN ASPIE

Lou – A DAILY BIRD OF THE DAY PHOTO

HAS YOUR CONCERN OVER THE DAMAGE BEING DONE TO OUR PLANET PROMPTED YOU TO MAKE ANY CHANGES IN YOUR DAILY CHOICES?

Very much so. I think for many years Robert and I were perhaps a little stuck in our ways in some respects. But without even discussing it, we both started to make little decisions that were prompted by our feelings on what we had personally researched. I noticed that whenever we dined out, Robert was ordering a vegetarian dish and I was curious about that because when I met him he always ordered game or a hearty red-meat dish. We started to have conversations and although I have been brought with a “meat and two veg” mentality, I started to educate myself on vegetarian and vegan cooking.

I think that the lockdowns and social distancing requirements during the Pandemic were very advantageous for us being able to make conscious changes. Of course we could not host or attend dinner parties for such a long time, so once we were allowed to do so, the passage of time that had elapsed made it much easier to tell friends and relatives, “Oh by the way, we now stick to a meat free diet.”

What prompted that decision are three factors:

• health concerns – we wanted a healthier lifestyle
• global concerns – we have researched the dentrimental effects of mass cattle farming
• pondering the cost of life

That last one might sound odd, but Robert was moved by a documentary he worked on that introduced him to a family who are living off their own land now – they grow their own produce and they keep chickens who supply them with eggs. During the filming, the subject of eating meat was brought up, and the gentleman said that every now and then they will kill one of the chickens. But he said that when you slaughter an animal for food yourself, your view of life and the cost of your food changes. He said their desire for eating meat has reduced for that reason. We cannot help compare their attitude to these fast food chains where people line up to buy a bucket of bread-crumbed chicken without any thought for the the real cost of their food.

I don’t want to sound preachy, because I don’t have an issue with people eating meat. But more thought ought to precede people’s choices. I sort of wish that all meat-eaters went through the process of slaughtering an animal and eating it, simply because the awareness of the true cost of your food deepens. I think there should be better education so that people do invest more conscious thought into their daily choices.

Other changes Robert and I have made – we sold our diesel guzzling vehicle and replaced it with a nippy electric car. We are also choosing to walk whenever we go into town, and use public transport in London. The electric car is handy for life outside of London.

I think the most profound change is in our beliefs. Our appreciation for creation has deepened. We now see more beauty, more wonder than we have ever done so before. This beautiful earth being restored to a paradise has become a focus in our minds, and it is prompting all sorts of changes – little and large.

Other WordPressers have been making changes and choices including:

Fandango – THIS THAT AND THE OTHER

David (and Polly) – DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

HOW HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO SHARE THE JOY OF BAKING WITH OTHERS?

I enjoy cooking and baking. As you know Mel, I don’t have a sweet tooth at all, but I find great pleasure in seeing the joy that baking brings to others. Robert likes every mealtime to be a shared event – and we enjoy having guests. I love to find new recipes. One area I need to educate myself in is plant-based baking. I think I am still using too much dairy in baking. I was very impressed when you showed me Sheree’s beautiful vegan tart.

Thank you for allowing me to talk about these subjects Mel. I think I want to say in conclusion that choices are personal. Everybody prizes their freedom to make their own choices. But it is important to educate ourselves so that we understand the impact of our choices.

Robert and I have found joy in making choices and changes that help us to feel more in harmony with this planet…and that feeling is I am sure going to prompt us to make more and more choices that feel good and often turn out to taste more delicious than we ever would have imagined.