Heather's Bytes

You know what goes really well with homemade bread? Homemade butter! And it’s really easy to make, especially if you have some bored helpers around. Read more »»

Did you know January is Bread Machine Baking Month? I didn’t either but I’m apparently aligned with the universe because I’ve used my machine no less than a dozen times since the start of the new year. I can’t give myself too much credit, though — that just tends to happen when our temps dare to dip below the 40 degree mark. Read more »»

Fried pickles. A year ago I might have given you a face like this at the thought, but then we actually tried them and I looked like this.

They were good, but the restaurant gave us a whopping 12 pickle chips to split between the five of us, which wasn’t so good. (I’m looking at you, Buffalo Wild Wings.)

Anyway, I knew I could easily find a recipe for them online so the next time I went grocery shopping I picked up a jar. And it’s sat in the pantry for months because knowing I can do something sadly doesn’t trump being lazy.

This weekend Mike and the girls have been glued to one football game or another, so I was able to sneak into the kitchen this afternoon and tackle something of my own. (Sorry.) Read more »»

One of my favorite Christmas memories is helping my grandpa make fudge. Throughout the year, he’d find good deals on gigantic Hershey bars (back when they were good), bags of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows and keep them stored in his chest freezer (oh how we kids eyeballed those chocolate bars).

He’d make huge batches to give away to friends and family, and if we were lucky enough to be there that weekend then we got to help. Read more »»