Art of Natural Living

Enjoying the Green Life

Savory Caramelized Onion Burger

By Inger Jul 25, 2024 Cooking & Recipes, Main Dish, Sandwich No Comments

Rich and flavorful, this Caramelized Onion Burger will put your summer grilling over the top. In a hurry? Pre-make your onions and it will come together in a snap!

This year we bought a new gas grill. It was inexpensive, but the starter works, the burners light (all of them!) and it gets hot enough for a perfect sear.

Bring on the burgers and steaks!!

Even better if I can do burgers with a twist–just because variety’s the spice of life! Stuffed Pizza Burger? Yup. Flavorful Chimichurri Burger? Count me in.

And how about a savory Caramelized Onion Burger! Read more

Wisconsin Old Fashioned Cocktail

By Inger Jul 20, 2024 Beverages, Cooking & Recipes 7 Comments

With warm notes of cherry and orange, rich brandy, and a refreshing sparkle from some soda, the Wisconsin Old Fashioned is a flavorful and appealing cocktail.

The harvest season is here. And it’s always a reminder to enjoy great local delights. This can mean fresh crops like cherries and sweet corn. Or maybe local foods like fried cheese curds or pan-fried lake perch.

Or maybe both, like this classic Wisconsin Old Fashioned Cocktail. Coming with a few different options, I’ll take a Brandy Old-Fashioned Sweet, please! It’s probably the most common variation here. Read more

Tasty Cherry Shrub Beverage

By Inger Jul 15, 2024 Cooking & Recipes 7 Comments

With a sweet-tart fruity flavor and a hint of vanilla, a Cherry Shrub makes a delicious alcohol-free beverage or a tasty cocktail mixer.

Necessity was the mother of invention today. You see, I was planning to make Cherry Turnovers for my blogging group’s National Cherry Day celebration (see below for more tasty cherry treats). I even had a half gallon of cherries pitted and frozen from last year’s harvest.

Well sadly when I went to the freezer to pull them out, I found it had stopped working. It was working the day before but now the temperature read 32 and all that was left was a mound of limp fruit lying in a puddle of juice.

Which means that instead of pastries we’re having drinks today! Cherry Shrubs to be precise. I figure that, since I’ve been making my Strawberry Rhubarb Shrub almost weekly, it’s time to move on anyway! Read more

Easiest Stracciatella Gelato

By Inger Jul 9, 2024 Cooking & Recipes, dessert 17 Comments

Smooth vanilla gelato, accented with crisp chocolate crumbles, makes Stracciatella Gelato a taste delight. And this easy version needs no cooking!

Usually when I think seasonal, it’s fresh local fruits and vegetables. But lately, I’ve been thinking of, well, all kinds of frozen desserts.

Becuase, in the heat of summer, what’s more satisfying than a yummy chocolate frozen yogurt (people say mine just like ice cream), or a tasty smooth gelato. Like my new Stracciatella Gelato!

Now normally I’d be hitting up the local gelato stand, but since my prediabetes diagnosis, I’m really watching the sugar in my diet. But what if I could make it homemade—with a sugar version for guests and a sweetener version for myself.

And what if it were super easy to make… so I could have it anytime I wanted.

In the end I got everything on my wish list. Just blend the ingredients (mostly in the blender) and pour it into the ice cream freezer.

Yup, this could be life changing! Read more

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