Art of Natural Living

Enjoying the Green Life

Pumpkin Cheese Ball

By Inger Oct 14, 2025 Appetizers, Cooking & Recipes 4 Comments

Cute and seasonal with a hint of heat, this Pumpkin Cheese Ball is a crowd-pleasing appetizer that’s perfect for fall.

I grew up in the days when cheese balls were all the rage. Back then you could hardly find a party that didn’t have at least two!

Now I’m not sure why they went out of favor–perhaps it was the rise of artisan cheese. But by then I was bored with them and ready for something new.

Of course, boredom can fade. So when cheese balls started to make a comeback, I was ready to give them a try. And they really are fun and tasty, especially when decorated to match the season! Read more

Halloween Witches Brew Cocktail

By Inger Oct 12, 2025 Beverages, Cooking & Recipes, Halloween 5 Comments

Like a colorful Tom Collins, this Witches Brew Cocktail combines Blue Curacao, Empress Gin and Lemonade for a fun, layered, Halloween drink.

I’ve always wanted to try my hand at layered cocktails. They’re the drinks you may have seen with different bands of color–and of course a really fun vibe.

Now these drinks are often designed for a specific holiday. You might see red, white, blue for the 4^th of July. Or the sea-toned mermaid cocktail for a fun summer vibe.

Or todays blue, teal, and purple Witches Brew–all dressed up for Halloween. Read more

Juicy & Crisp Pork Shoulder Roast

By Inger Oct 11, 2025 Main Dish, Pork 18 Comments

Tasty Pork Shoulder Roast is perfect for slow cooking and melts into a fork tender dinner with a juicy crisp exterior.

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to taste a spit-roasted pig–with crisp skin and succulent juices, let me tell you this… Today’s Pork Shoulder Roast is the closest you’ll get to that by home-cooking in your own oven.

First, there is a layer of external fat that becomes crisp, juicy and decadent. And then, the juices run through the meat making it tender and loaded with flavor. Read more

Hot Fudge Sauce—No Corn Syrup

By Inger Oct 4, 2025 Cooking & Recipes, Desserts & Snacks, Vegetarian Recipes 9 Comments

Thick, rich & chocolatey, this easy, one-pan hot fudge sauce is perfect to top desserts or ice cream sundaes. Honey sweetened even.

I love it when I discover a new recipe by accident. This time, it started when I needed a chocolate fudge sauce to top a dessert.

Remembering a delicious hot fudge sauce from my childhood I decided to grab something from the grocery store. This was not a good decision.

The store-bought sauce had almost no taste of chocolate… perhaps because the first two ingredients were corn syrup, then high fructose corn syrup.

And so I made my own–which turned out to be super tasty and easy! It was so good I tossed the whole purchased jar into the trash. So good, in fact, that I immediately made a second batch so my husband could have it with ice cream. Read more