Do you like bananas? I do and so does my daughter Anne. Since she does our grocery shopping nowadays, she has a method of choosing which bananas to buy. We have a friend from the Philippines who taught us how to select the best banana. She looks for bananas with thick fat ends, not pointy ones. She is right. There is more banana hiding behind the peel. She says they have a better flavor, too.

My mother could put together a soup even when there didn't seem to be enough food in the house to make a meal. I grew up on soup, especially in the winter time. With a little meat to season it and the vegetables we had on hand, she could make a hearty soup for not much money. Cornbread goes well with most soups and goes well with this one.

When I was in charge of my household, when I could get around better, when I was still driving, I tried to keep a well stocked pantry. It was too well stocked according to my daughter, Anne. I didn't shop every week. Once a month was more like it, when I got my Social Security check at the first of the month. Oh, yes we would run out of bread and milk, but that was about it.

The Olive Garden is our favorite restaurant. A few years ago we celebrated my eighty-ninth and half birthday in July. (When you approach ninety, every day is a luxury.) We had an Alfredo dish. My daughter Anne had chicken and I had shrimp. We decided we could make a recipe at home that tasted just as good.

A while back I gave a recipe for ham loaf. There are a couple other things I do with ground cooked ham. One is ham and potato cakes. The other is Ham Patties with Sour Cream. Why am I offering them now?

I have been hungry for cookies lately. Today I broke down and made some. They were from an old cookbook I found somewhere or other. What a disappointment. I have many tried and true recipes that turn out fine every time. Why, oh why, do I continue looking for new ones. Anne reminds me of that fact every time I have a cooking disaster.

It's that time of year again: “Easter Egg Time.” What do you do with all of those colored hard boiled eggs?

I remember when my kids were of Easter basket age. After the drabness of winter (it had been a long time since Christmas), they needed some cheering up. With no birthdays since December, there had been little to celebrate. They were ready!

I like upside-down cakes. They go together quickly and you can eat them warm. Warm is best, anyway. As much as I like gooey frosting, the small nine inch upside-down cakes never go stale around our house. Ice cream or Cool-Whip is a welcome addition, too.

What child doesn't like a decorated cookie? What mother likes to do the decorating? Some do. Some don't. If you have a couple preschoolers tearing up the house, the last thing you have time to tackle is decorating fancy cookies.

The word “COOKIE” has a magic sound to a child's ears. You might even get them to lie down for a nap, if you promise cookies when they wake up. I know. I used bribery as a parenting tool when mine were at that changeable stage between diapers and pull-ups. It works, if you vary the bribe.

Do you like strawberries? Do you like rhubarb? I say yes to both questions. I learned how to make Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie just a few years ago. Previously, when I thought of Strawberry Pie it was the one with fresh strawberries in a baked crust, cover with strawberry glaze and piled high with Cool Whip. There was a serious gap in my pie repertoire.

I like Chicken Chow Mein. It is a quick easy meal. I remember when I worked back in the late 70s with four kids at home and a hungry husband. I worked in a sewing factory. Sewing doesn't require much thinking capacity. Once you learn what the operations require, it was pretty much rote. I would plan my supper meal as I sewed.

Aluminum foil hasn't always been available for the housewife. (That's what we called married ladies that stayed home and didn't work outside in the real world.) I remember, after World War II, when aluminum foil and I were first introduced. Oh yes, I had become quite an expert in using waxed paper to seal a bowl for chilling in the fridge, but we all know you can't cook with waxed paper. It was love at first rip between me and aluminum foil. I looked for new ways to use this wonderful invention. This oven dish is one of them.

I got a call from Aaron Russell the other day. He was checking to see how I was doing. He hadn't talked with me in a while. During the conversation, he mentions that he likes to bake bread. Not just any bread, but salt-rising bread. He described the process as well as how good the bread tastes. That got me thinking.

Fresh pie cherries aren't available in February. That's okay. Food City does my canning for me these days. They have one pound cans of red tart cherries on the shelf every day. I call them sour cherries.

Do you really think George cut down a cherry tree? Do you really think he fested up to the deed? Naw. George was known as a ladies man. I wouldn't be surprised if he did tell a lie now and then.

Here is a fudge recipe I made a long time ago, that is, if you call 1981 a long time ago. Fudge recipes have evolved over the years. They are easier to make now. Just cook up some sugar and evaporated milk. Add chocolate and marshmallow cream and you have fudge. But it is not the same as the old fashioned variety. Oldsters will agree with me. (I will share one of those recipes at a later date.).

This offering is about oatmeal muffins. But let me stop and say a few words about blueberry muffins. My youngest daughter's first job in Tennessee was at Krystal's on Broadway. We had never heard of Krystal or even White Castle, for that matter. They both set their reputation on dinner roll sized hamburgers. In 1987, you could buy an entire meal for a dollar. I fell in love with them and ate until I couldn't stand to see another one.

Who doesn't like banana pudding? It is the signature dessert of the South. Here is a variation of that yummy classic. I like strawberries almost as much as I like bananas.

I first made this variation in June of 2013 as a dessert for the Wednesday Night Bible Study Supper at Revival Vision Church of God. I delighted in introducing a dish the group wasn't familiar with. This is a tasty example.

Have you ever eaten Perfection Salad? It is one of my favorites. Back in the day, you would see at least one at every potluck on the end of the table among the several macaroni salads. It is one of those dishes they say we are tired of. Not so. If I should be fortunate enough to spy one at a potluck, I wIll plop a good-sized spoonful on my plate and probably go back for more.

Grandma made the best cookies, didn't she? She didn't work outside the home. Those were the days when she washed, starched and ironed her ruffled curtains and had time to crochet frilly doilies for the end tables next to the sofa. Ruffled curtains are things of the past as are crocheted doilies. She didn't have to get the kids properly dressed for school and then get herself to her job on time. She did have time to polish up on her cookie recipes.

I saw an article online the other day. It listed recipes that are outdated and thankful to be gone. I don't agree. Everyone of them are on my “favorites” list. I think the reason they are outdated is that they were over-used back in the day. I remember when I first discovered canned tuna fish. We had a Tuna Noodle Casserole about every other week. I have a good recipe for that, too.