Grilled Potatoes

One of my favorite dishes for the summertime is a recipe I posted last year ~ Jamaican Jerk Chicken. Today I would like to share with you a side dish that I serve quite frequently throughout the summer ~ Grilled Potatoes. You will need aluminum foil, potatoes, onions, spices of choice, and a fat of choices (olive oil, bacon grease, butter, etc.), pan spray, hot grill, grill mitts, and a hearty appetite.

You can make small individual packets, or a couple large packets if preparing for a large group.

Wash the potatoes and slice thin ~ skin and all! If you aren't into eating the skins, then peel them before slicing. Put potato in bowl. Slice onion (if you dice they will over cook too fast) and add to potato. Add spices of choice (now would be a good time to add salt & pepper, too). I prefer Mrs. Dash because it is salt-free and I strive to limit my sodium intake because of hypertension. Add fat of choice (olive oil, bacon grease, butter, etc.) and mix together.

I prefer to spray the tin foil before placing potatoes and forming packets. HINT: Shiny side of tin foil IN helps radiate the heat through the food. :) To form packets I place one sheet of tin foil shiny side up, spray with cooking spray, add potatoes, place another sheet of foil shiny side down that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Then I begin to fold in sides until the packet is sealed up nicely. Smaller packets will take less time to cook than larger packets.

After all of the packets are ready, it's off to the hot grill (I prefer the old fashioned charcoal grills, not the gas grills but you can achieve the same results on a gas grill with a little tweaking). You will want to turn the packets every 10 minutes. These cook up relatively quickly ~ 20-30 minutes. I pull a packet off the grill and give a gently squeeze with the mitts to see if the potatoes are soft yet. These packets can be set aside while you cook the meat of choice.

You can add other veggies to the potatoes (peppers, peas, etc.) ~ experiment and have fun! I have found that cheese melts and holds up better when sprinkled as a garnish after the spuds have been cooked. Cooking the potatoes this way keeps the heat out of the kitchen, and you can personalize each packet for individual preferences (ie: onions or no onions).

Happy Grilling!

Handmade Items Masterfully Created with Yarn

Meet Tricia from LazyT Crochet.

She loves working with yarn, especially hand-spun wool and cotton in order to offer affordable, handmade items to the marketplace. Not only does she create modern and original designs but also traditional, old-world styles in knit and crochet. Tricia specializes in custom orders, too.


Tricia's quality and workmanship is top notch, and it is visibly seen in her products. I am the proud owner of this gorgeous hat, and I absolutely LOVE it! Please take a moment and visit her shop and blog. And, I just discovered she's got a cool Destash Shop ~ Lazy Stuff!

Summer in Vermont

Summer is here! The school where I work has been out for a week, now. YEAH! Time to get down to some fun in the summer sun....wait, we haven't had much sun or heat yet!

In a nutshell, summer in Vermont is never warm enough or long enough to appease me. But, I didn't move here on account of the weather, it came with the package so to speak. While most of the south is sweltering and stuck indoors with air conditioning, just last week we were still running the woodstove to take the chill out of the air indoors.

Ponds, lakes and even the ocean in nearby New Hampshire and Maine is never warm enough to suit me. First time I took the kids to Hampton Beach, NH the natives of this region were walking in and out of the water as though it was a tropical beach. I was fooled...you know it is cold when you take a step into the icy water and your toes cramp up immediately. We're talking skin is red from the icy cold. No comparison to warmer climates where the ocean waters are warmer. Despite the cold water, it is always great fun to hang out on the beach for a day.

My favorite beachy place to visit is Old Orchard Beach in Maine. The family fun atmosphere includes an amusement park, lots of eating establishments and live entertainment. The Pier is awesome, and one often hears live music from establishments within the pier while hanging out on the beach.

Tapping toes, anxiously awaiting the arrival of some sun and heat so we can get out and enjoy our summer of fun!

Busy Times...

She was one of the speakers...


Then she graduated....


Our Growing Family....


And on this cold, rainy day in Vermont ~ a bit of Lemon Sunshine...
Don't be fooled by this realistic looking lemon ~ it's really soap! You can find it here.

Cleaning Up

With just a little over a week before Graduation, clean up from last Friday's fire is going well. Two rooms remain to be cleaned up from smoke damage. I am deeply blessed by the cleaning angels (as I refer to them) that have done an outstanding job on my house while I've been at work! Every wall, ceiling, corner, nook, window, has been cleaned of the smoke smell. The laundry room clean up/repairs and shed will be dealt with after Graduation. It does not appear that any of my soap was affected by the smoke damage in the house. However, my shop will remain closed until after Graduation, as my family is coming for an extended visit and I fully intend on enjoying the time we have together.

My Friday Afternoon...

Fire started in the lower left hand corner INSIDE the shed ~ away from any source of heat or electricity. How it started is as much a puzzle as where it started. Very strange, indeed!


Looking inside the shed you can see the tremendous char in the area where the fire broke out.


These last two photos are taken inside the house in the laundry room. You can see the wood is charred. Had there been no insulation between this wall and the wallboard we installed 2 years ago, things would look entirely different today.



Had it been another 10-20 minutes and the house would have become victim to this fire. We are so thankful for the wonderful fire department we have ~ they saved our home from devastation. The house was filled with smoke, so we do have smoke damage, some rooms more than others. Everyone is safe, the cat is safe...Ashley's prom dress for this weekend smells like smoke, but it is fine.

The upside in all of this....I finally get my house really deep cleaned...and I don't have to do it! :) Unfortunately, my business is going to have to take a back seat until everything is "back to normal" again.

Top Secret Mission

This Momma/Grammy Cow has accepted an invitation to be part of a very special event this summer and she's working her fingers, hooves and toenails to the bone getting ready with some top secret soapy creations. This top secret mission is for a wonderful cause that has me absolutely tickled pink! I will reveal this top secret mission and soapy creations real soon....In the meantime, I'm up for guesses as to what this top secret mission is about. If you think you know, leave a comment here on this post. On or after June 15, I will reveal this top secret mission and if YOU guess what it is (or a good close guess), I will let you enjoy a shopping spree in my shop! My dear blogger friend (and partner in crime) Lily aka Hot Lips is the only person who cannot guess ~ only because I shared with her a month or so ago about this top secret mission...so Lily ~ mum's the word (and no fair accepting bribes, either!), got it? LOL Oh...you guys want clues? I've given enough clues already...just reread this post if you have to, it'll bite you in the nose!