Outdoor Pizza Oven — Fun and Practical

An outdoor pizza oven is fun and practical. Everyone can make their own pizza the way they want and you keep your kitchen cool while enjoying the outdoors.

When it’s hot out, who wants to turn on the oven and heat up the house? I don’t have air conditioning so I know I sure don’t! But there are lots of alternatives to cooking your meals in the oven. I lived in a ghost town in Nevada for five years. When we moved there, there was a gas (propane) stove and a propane tank that hadn’t been used since who knew when. I refused to have it filled and connected to the stove. So for three years, until we got an electric stove, I got to experiment a lot with many of those alternative methods. The microwave became my friend. I used it to cook a big portion of the majority of our meals, but I…

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Lavender Crafts and Camaraderie

Jan, our gracious hostess for the July meeting of our Saucy Sisters cooking group, has a beautiful home with lots of lavender beds. She orchestrated a Day of Lavender for us that included lavender crafts and some lavender infused food. When we arrived, Jan had tea, coffee and scrumptious lavender scones waiting for us. While we enjoyed our refreshments, Jan explained the craft we were going to make — lavender wands. The finished product she showed us looked and smelled amazing. Making Our Lavender Wands We had been told via email to bring pruning shears to the meeting. Once we were finished with our coffee and scones, we headed out into the gardens with our shears to cut lavender for our wands — 11 stems. You can use more…

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Home Baked Bread in 5 Minutes a Day?

I love home baked bread but I don't like the kneading part. Can you believe you can make bread in 5 minutes a day without kneading?

I love fresh, hot-out-of-the-oven, home baked bread and I bet it is a pretty safe bet that you do too. If you are like me, though, you probably aren’t very fond of the kneading part. I have some things to assist me with the kneading part like my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook and my bread machine but I still didn’t make bread very often. A couple of years ago, I saw a recipe somewhere on line that sounded too good to be true. I was telling my friend Kelly’s mom about it and she said, “Oh, I have that cookbook.” Of course, I immediately asked to borrow it and devoured it from cover to cover. A Surprising New Way to Make Home Baked Bread…

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T.G.I.F. Summer Concert Series

Enjoy great music, picnicking and friends in a beautiful outdoor setting in gold country at a T.G.I.F. Summer Concert Series concert.

Last Friday I had one of the most fun evenings I can remember having since I moved to Amador County almost two years ago. A group of friends and I went to the concert in the park at Volcano Amphitheater, one of the concerts in the T.G.I.F. Summer Concert Series, and we had a blast. I went to one of these concerts last year and I wondered what made this one so different that it was so much more fun. It was in a beautiful outdoor setting among the trees, just like last year. The band was awesome and entertaining. Everyone brought food to share and a bottle of wine or other favorite beverage, same as last year. A lot of people turned out for the event.…

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Amador Flower Farm Daylilies

Amador Flower Farm daylilies come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and bloom cycles. They are easy to grow and are just about the perfect perennial.

I’ve said it before, but I just have to say it again. I’m discovering that plants from bulbs have the most spectacular blooms. I guess this is becoming more apparent to me as I have more time to explore places like Amador Flower Farm, where the daylily reigns supreme. Although I think irises are my favorite bulbs, daylilies are right up there at the top of my list of flowers. Did you know that there are more than 35,000 daylily cultivars? Amador Flower Farm daylilies are stunning. With over 1200 of the most popular varieties available, you are sure to find something you love. Daylilies are said to be very easy to grow. They come in a variety of colors, shapes, sizes and bloom cycles, so you can…

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