What do you do when you need croutons for salad or a dressing? Do you shell out good money for toasted stale bread at the store? You don't have to do that. Croutons are easy to make. You can use any kind of bread you like. Let's face it, the bread you buy is at least a day old when you buy it. Open it and it's on its way to being too stale to use for anything other than toast or croutons. So you do have stale bread at home. Don't throw it out. Make croutons. You might add some dried spices for different flavors.

Back in the day, when we lived on the farm, if I wanted to prepare a Sunday chicken dinner, there was a lot of prep work to do. We only did this if we had company coming. We couldn’t go to Food City and select a package of chicken parts from the meat counter. Nope! Na! Na! No way! In fact, in those days the only chicken I might find at the meat market was a sorry looking whole chicken. Separately packaged breasts or drumsticks were far in the future. I prepped my own.

What can you do with the masa harina flour you see on the grocery shelf? I know mass farina flour is used to make tortillas, so that is what I do. It's different. Try it next time you need flour tortillas

I never drink a glass of iced tea that I don’t think of my brother, Russell Stimer. He passed away over twenty years ago. Gone, but not forgotten. Russ died of throat cancer. A doctor had told him not to smoke cigarettes, but that small cigars were ok. Not true.

I have a number of leftover turkey recipes. If you have leftover chicken, that works, too. One thing about cooked meat is that it can be put on the table in a hurry. Most of the time in less than 30 minutes. I have a collection of quick supper meals.

This salad makes a big batch. It keeps well in the fridge. I make it and much on it for several days. Very good..

In small saucepan, combine the sugar, vinegar, oil and salt.. Bring to a boil over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Let cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, in large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Add dressing. Toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours. Serve with slotted spoon. Makes 25 servings.

Was your Thanksgiving dinner when you were a youngster different than what you celebrate now? Mine was. Mother and Dad are gone as are my two brothers. Back in the day that was it, just the five of us. We seldom had company during the dark days of the Great Depression. It was just the five of us and Banjo, our supposed Beagle.

Do you remember when Bisquick came out with several "impossible pie" recipes? They are super easy to do. However, I had forgotten about them until I was going through my recipe file a while back. I found this one. It's easy . I hope you'll try it.

It you are much younger that my almost 95 years, you probably have never heard of knob and tube wiring. It was the early form of house wiring. Everything electrical back then was new. The easiest way to wire a house was surface wiring. There probably was only a ceiling fixture in a room.

Need to fix supper in a hurry? Try this recipe. Supper in half an hour.
Butter a 10 by 7 inch baking pan. Spoon a third of canned chili into bottom of dish. Arrange half of round crackers over chili. Sprinkle half of shredded cheese and seasonings over chili. Repeat layers. Top with remaining chili. Bake in preheated 400 F. oen for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly.