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Good morning, and happy Sunday! This week included Super Bowl-watching, antique shopping, and plenty of Valentine’s Day treats. All of the highlights, along with each of our dinners, are included in today’s roundup of Our Week in Meals.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Our Week in Meals is where I share a little bit about what we’ve been up to over the past week — as it relates to our dinners each night. This series gives you a glimpse “behind the scenes” at some highlights from our life, shows you how I balance a busy schedule with feeding my family, and offers a few new ideas for your own weekly meal plan.

Now, let’s back up to last weekend…

Sunday was a total wash-out, with non-stop rain all day long. Keith and Casey still had to travel to Fredericksburg for Casey’s outdoor soccer practice, but everything else was canceled for the day — including my morning walk with friends, the boys’ afternoon hockey game, and another afternoon soccer practice.

Since we suddenly had a quiet day at home, I spent most of the morning in the kitchen. I baked a batch of chocolate chip pudding cookies for dessert that night, made a pot of beef stew for supper the following evening, and helped Gibbs make some lemon drop candies that he found in this Harry Potter cookbook.

Since it was Super Bowl Sunday, we planned a fun dinner with a handful of party foods that everyone could snack on. We had crispy baked chicken wings, tortilla chips with guacamole and pico de gallo, mini pizza bagels and mini corn dogs (from the frozen section!), and cut-up carrots and celery with ranch dip.

Close side shot of oven baked chicken wings served on a blue and white platter.

Plus chocolate chip pudding cookies for dessert!

Shall we chat about this week’s books? First up, a creepy mystery-thriller with a major twist at the end: Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney. I love a book that keeps me turning the pages, and this one did not disappoint! Here’s a quick summary from Amazon:

Daisy Darker was born with a broken heart. Now after years of avoiding each other, Daisy Darker’s entire family is assembling for Nana’s 80th birthday party in her crumbling gothic house on a tiny tidal island. The family arrives, each of them harboring secrets. When the tide comes in, they will be cut off from the rest of the world for eight hours.

But at the stroke of midnight, as a storm rages, Nana is found dead. And an hour later, the next family member follows…

Trapped on an island where someone is killing them one by one, the Darkers must reckon with their present mystery as well as their past secrets, before the tide goes out and all is revealed. As seen on the TODAY show and picked by Book of the Month, Daisy Darker’s family secrets and Alice Feeney’s trademark shocking twists will keep readers riveted.

I also enjoyed the second book in the Miss Julia series by Ann B. Ross, Miss Julia Takes Over. After I mentioned reading the first Miss Julia book last month, many of you responded to let me know that you love this series as well! It’s funny, endearing, and very entertaining. I definitely recommend starting with the first book in the series if you’d like to check them out!

The sun returned on Monday morning, so Keith and I headed out for a walk once the boys were off to school.

Can you see the big hawk on that lower branch? They live in our backyard and perch nearby, looking for mice in the fields and toads in the ponds.

I took the boys to the dentist mid-day…

…and served Dutch oven beef stew (prepped the day before) for a quick dinner before hockey practice that night.

Overhead shot of old-fashioned beef stew on a dinner table.

Tuesday was Valentine’s Day! 💗💞💓I met Ashley for a walk, and stopped at Yoder’s to pick up some groceries afterwards.

Back home, I baked our favorite one-bowl buttermilk chocolate cake to have for dessert that evening (adding V-day sprinkles on top), and got some work done at the computer.

Slice of one bowl buttermilk chocolate cake on a white plate.

Supper was a fun (and easy!) holiday-themed meal that I knew the boys would love: heart-shaped flatbread pizzas, along with simple green side salads.

Wednesday was a warm, spring-like day…

…perfect for a morning walk up the road with Mollie!

I also got myself a new water tumbler for the season, which arrived that day. Can you see the pretty flowers?! It doesn’t take much to make me happy, hah!

In all seriousness, we have loved the Simple Modern water bottles for years. They’re just as good (if not better) than our Stanley and Yeti options, they’re dishwasher safe, they fit in car cup holders, and they last a long time. This new one came with two straws, and both a straw lid and a flip lid.

Supper was an easy vegetarian meal that even my house of meat-loving guys enjoyed: penne alla vodka, Caesar salad, and homemade garlic bread.

Close up side shot of a bowl of creamy penne alla vodka recipe

I drove south to Nelson County on a rainy Thursday to have lunch with my parents and my aunt, and to do some antiquing at a couple of our favorite shops.

I made it home just in time to pick up the kids from school, do the regular homework routine, and get dinner in the oven.

Since I knew I’d be gone all day, I kept supper really simple: chicken spaghetti casserole (which I thawed from the freezer), rolls, and steamed green beans.

Side shot of chicken spaghetti casserole in a baking dish with a wooden serving spoon

Friday was largely spent testing new recipes in the kitchen, followed by a walk outside when the weather cleared.

Keith took Gibbs to play golf that afternoon, while I stayed home with the other two boys and prepped dinner.

We had “egg roll in a bowl” for supper, paired with rice to make it a more filling meal. This is a quick, healthy, flavorful option for those low-key Friday nights when we’re too tired to fuss with much else.

Bowl of healthy and easy egg roll in a bowl for dinner

And then it was the weekend! I met my friend Barbara for a walk on Saturday morning,

helped Gibbs make another batch of lemon drop candies using molds that we got from Yoder’s, and then took Spencer to his indoor soccer game in Charlottesville after lunch.

Finally, back to one of our favorite local spots for dinner — Rappahannock Pizza Kitchen. I had the warm radicchio and Brussels sprouts salad with toasted almonds and Parmesan to start (sooooo good),

and pepperoni pizza to follow! Plus, a stop next door at the Corner Store grocery for a fresh loaf of bread and sweet treats afterwards…always. Perfect Saturday night!

That’s all for today, friends! I hope that you’ve found some new inspiration for your own table in the week ahead. Thank you for being here, and have a wonderful Sunday!

blair

Hey, I’m Blair!

Welcome to my farmhouse kitchen in the foothills of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Inspired by local traditions and seasonal fare, you’ll find plenty of easy, comforting recipes that bring your family together around the table. It’s down-home, country-style cooking!

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Square overhead shot of hands serving a chicken pot pie recipe with biscuits
Overhead image of a bowl of chili mac on a dinner table with cornbread
Hands serving a platter of sheet pan sausage and potatoes

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Comments

  1. Thanks as always for the great recipes, I have a couple saved to try later. Our church is trying to set up supper clubs to establish deeper fellowship and I will definitely search your website for recipe ideas!

    1. That’s wonderful, Ann. I’m so glad that the recipes might come in handy for your community. Thanks for reading along with us!

  2. Hi Blair,
    Recently been having a lot of serious health issues but you make my LOVE for cooking still be strong with wonderful ideas to stick back for when I can do the cooking I do much enjoy! Look foward every week for your Emil to hit my box!! Each eeek is such a great inspiration from YOU! Thank you so much for keeping my spirits up!
    Yours, BRENDA KNOPP

    1. That’s so nice to hear, Brenda. Thank you for reading the blog and for sharing such kind words. Have a great week!

  3. As always, so many great recipes to choose from!
    Need to make some cookies soon and the pudding chocolate chip recipe looks like it might just be the one to make.
    Thanks!

  4. Miss Julia books are my favorite! I adore Miss Julia! I e read the entire series so far, & hope there is a new book coming soon.

    1. So fun, I agree! I couldn’t believe how many books are in the series. I’ve got some reading to do! 🙂

  5. We love Naan flatbread pizzas. Billy says he likes them so much he doesn’t need them from a pizza place any more!! What I like is that I make his traditional and I can make mine with pesto, fresh mozzarella and Compari tomatoes .. which are the best tomatoes in the stores!!
    A friend told me to spread the Naan with fig jam. Finely chop peeled apples and sprinkle them on. Then add Brie. That is delicious!!

    1. Those options sound amazing, Debbie! Yes, my kids adore the flatbread pizzas — especially when they can customize each one. 🙂

  6. Some time when you are at the Corner Store, you may want to give their salmon and/or beef a try if you haven’t already. Both are the best! Who would have ever thought a little corner store would have the best meat and seafood in the area (way better than Wegmans or Costco, although of course a little higher priced)? Sometimes they also have other fish such as mahi mahi, trout, swordfish, etc. Only thing is you can’t be sure how much or anything they will have at any given time.

    Always fun to read your weekly newsletters!

    1. Thanks for that tip, Norma! Yes, that shop is amazing in what they sell. I’ll have to remember to grab some meat/seafood next time!

  7. Love your weekly e-mails. I just finished Daisy Darker last week as well – did not see that ending coming – a good thriller! Looking forward to trying your Penne alla Vodka and the pic of those chocolate chip pudding cookies look so yummy, I must try those as well!

    1. We’re so glad you enjoy the emails and hope you give the recipes a try! Please let us know how it goes if you do.