Lifestyle

We have a friend we lovingly refer to as “the human jukebox.” He has a ton of songs floating around in his head, and all it takes to get him to launch into one is to subtly mention a lyric. Joey and I sometimes make a game of seeing if we can make a comment that will result in him humming, whistling, or singing the song later on after it’s invaded his subconscious.

Filling Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 3 celery stalks, diced 3 medium carrots, diced 1/4 yellow onion, diced 6-8 cloves garlic, minced Sauce Ingredients 10.5 ounces cream of chicken soup 3/4 cup milk Directions Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray an eight-by-eight-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set it aside.

Add the blackberries to a blender or food processor and process until they are smooth. Pour the berries into a fine-mesh sieve over a small saucepan, and stir them around, pressing the mixture to get as much out of the berries and into the pan as you can.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line one and one-half regular-sized muffin tins with cupcake liners.

I have always been a sucker for poppy seeds. If there is a tray of pastries that includes poppy seed bread or muffins, that is what’s going on my plate.

Cupcake Ingredients 1/2 cup butter, room temperature 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons lemon zest 2 eggs 2 teaspoons vanilla 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/4 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup sour cream 1 1/2 cups flour 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons poppy seeds Frosting Ingredients 1 1/2 cups blackberries 1 cup butter, room temperature 4 cups powdered sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon milk or cream, if needed.

CONWAY SPRINGS – A local family has new hope after their family member received a new heart this week. As reported in last week's TSnews, Marques Coursey was waiting for a heart transplant at KU Medical Center in Kansas City.

Ingredients 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 tablespoons butter 1 small onion, diced 3 to 4 medium carrots, diced 2 stalks celery, diced 16-ounce package potato gnocchi 6 to 8 cloves garlic, minced 1/4 cup flour 6 cups chicken broth 2 cups milk 3 teaspoons dried parsley garlic salt and pepper, to taste 1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded 1 cup fresh spinach, chopped 1 tablespoon corn starch, mixed with 1 tablespoon water Directions In a large stockpot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the onion, carrots and celery, and saute until the onions are translucent.

This past weekend, Joey found whole chickens on sale and proceeded to put three on his smoker. I told him I wanted to try a different way to make stock from the bones, once he was done pulling the meat, and he graciously put the pieces into my large crockpot for me.

CLEARWATER – Imagine peoples’ surprised looks on Easter weekend when they thought for just a moment that they had stumbled upon the Easter Bunny in downtown Clearwater. What they had found was Rosie, a Flemish Giant rabbit.