This past Saturday Otto and I decided we needed some fresh air while Joe was out deer hunting. We bundled up and headed to the Holland Farmers Market to see what was going on at the market. It was sunny and the air was crisp. We walked from stall to stall taking in all of […]

Small businesses need our support especially during this holiday and winter season. I thought it would be fun to highlight one of my favorites each week here on the blog for the next few months. This past week I went and stocked up on homemade pasta from The Local Epicurean in Grand Rapids, Michigan. They […]

I needed a brain break last week. I wanted to be creative and I also wanted some pumpkin pie. I feel like pumpkin pie is similar to candy corn. You either love it or it’s garbage. I could eat candy corn by the fist full and I would argue that a good pumpkin pie might […]

Making marshmallows is a combination of art and science. It’s about time, speed, temperature and setting. I have been working on perfecting my marshmallows and these in the future I’m going to work on getting them a little more fluffier. Homemade marshmallows by nature are a little more dense (and sticky) but so so delicious […]

My mom and grandma make the best bread pudding and one of them usually makes it every Thanksgiving and Christmas and while some would call it a dessert….we Hoppens call it a side dish. Saturday was a cool crisp fall morning and the first one of the season and we had every intention of venturing […]

The mornings and evenings are getting chillier and chillier around here and when that happens my brain immediately goes COMFORT FOOD. Joe said a few days ago remember when we could travel and we had that awesome fondue in Switzerland? Random.. it was like five years ago. But yea I never forget a good pot […]

I don’t know if it was my son driving his paw patrol through the bowl of flour or what but these muffins are some of the best pumpkin muffins i’ve ever made. I know, I know I say that about all the muffins I make.. (see blueberry muffins here) but i’m not joking around. They […]

It all started with a ceramic egg holder that popped up in my my Instagram feed before I fell into a rabbit hole of all the cute kitchen goods on the internet right now. Most shopping experiences lately have been lack luster and I find myself still roaming online during my free time. I have […]

I read the other day that there could potentially be a pumpkin puree shortage this year. I shouldn’t be surprised it is 2020 after all. Maybe this is the time in my life when I teach myself to whip up my own pumpkin puree? hmmmm I smell a weekend activity. An activity… Kind of like […]

I’ve mentioned a million times how many tomatoes I have but I feel we are finally coming to the end. I have made ketchup, marinated them with toasty bread, made sauces and salsa galore. Last on my list is Canadian ketchup (new recipe) but any stragglers are going to be made into these marinated dehydrated […]

Allow me a moment to share the saga of this ketchup. I had this post and recipe all typed up and ready to go last week and when I hit “publish” it was gone. Disappeared and nowhere to be found. I needed to take a step back from my rage and disbelief and now here […]

I will always remember the night that Joe and I spent in Italy under the starts of an old patio with 4 other strangers and a chef enjoying hot bread and pasta that we had just prepared all together from our cooking class. It was one of those nights you see in a movie. Laughing […]