Father’s Day “Green Spaghetti” Recipe

Nothing says summer like fresh basil growing in the garden.  And, it’s usually around Father’s Day that we make our first batch of basil pesto.  When our now 19-year-old son was 2 years old, my husband made pesto for dinner, and we gave our son plain pasta, thinking he wouldn’t like it.  When he saw [...]

White Chili Recipe

So if you haven’t figured it out yet, I love beans!  I think they are the most delicious, nutritious, and filling protein.  And, aside from my Super Bowl of Red Chili recipe, I also love to make white chili (white beans and chicken breast).  As always, you can omit the chicken altogether, or substitute with [...]

Tomato-Onion-Feta Salad

This is one of our family’s favorite summer time salads.  No recipe exists for this, because it comes straight from our family’s European heritage.  It’s easy to make, refreshing, pungent, flavorful, and goes really well with almost anything that’s been grilled, but especially a good steak!   It’s guaranteed to become a favorite for you, [...]

How to Host a Martini Party!

This past February, we hosted our second Neighborhood Martini Party.  It’s the perfect cure for cabin fever during our long, dark, cold winters in Ohio.  Both times, it was a huge success.  Everyone has a good time, and then safely WALKS home! So here are a few tips we’ve learned from our soirees: Invite about [...]

My Top 10 Favorite Getaways

Two of the biggest perks of being self-employed for the past 15 years are flexibility in my schedule, and traveling for my clients. When you combine the two, it results in wonderful opportunities to extend business travel into leisure. And, we’ve taken advantage of this opportunity quite often over the years. Most of my business travel is within North America, but it’s a big place, and there are still several states I’ve not yet visited!

A Great Vegetarian Meal

Since I am of the Eastern Orthodox faith, my family and I take Communion at least once per year, usually during Great Lent.  Per tradition, we must “fast” for a week to prepare, by essentially eating a vegetarian diet that excludes all dairy.  In addition, some people (including clergy) also abstain from consuming cooking oils [...]

Marie’s Lasagna Recipe

Marie’s Simple Lasagna It didn’t take long to figure out that the most visited posts on my blog are the recipes! So here’s another great recipe that I’ve refined over the years. It comes from a dear, old friend of the family – Marie.  Like my chili recipe,  it’s simple to modify and make your own. [...]

Helen’s Super Bowl of Chili

I’ve been a Cleveland Browns fan for as long as I can remember. The most memorable game for me (because I choose to repress the other games) was in 1980, when the Kardiac Kids played the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs at the old Municipal Stadium. I was one of those die-hard fans in the [...]

Inspiring Ideas for Your Next Family Vacation

Over the past 18 years or so, we’ve tried to take family vacations on a regular basis. It was easiest when the kids were really little, and we didn’t have to deal with school schedules, practices, lessons, and friends. It was also easiest when the economy wasn’t in the dumper. Occasionally, we would even take [...]

Who’s Helen?

To find out who I am and why I’m taking the time to write a blog, click here and read my new “About” page!

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