Week 30, July 17, 2016

Thoughts and Quotes:  People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.

                                                                Iris Murdoch,  A Fairly Honourable Defeat

And to make you mad with joy, I take you to -

Things that Grow:  Chel is a gifted photographer and writer who takes us on little jaunts around England and when I received this post of the Flower Festival at Castle Howard, I knew I had to spread the word.  So here you go - Enjoy 

Tidbits:  In addition to wallpaper, you can make gift sets from grocery bags.

Tasting: The "National Days of" seem to be all about food.  For National Blueberry Muffin Day, I made the Blue Blueberry Muffins from Joann Fluke's book, The Blueberry Muffin Murder.  I'm not a fan of crumble tops, so I left mine plain.  You can get the recipe with an internet search.

July 11, Blueberry Muffin Day

This is the bottom of the muffin papers, which I deemed appropriate, as this is how big I will be after eating them.

I was torn between National Pecan Pie Day and National Eat Your Jello Day, but opted for the jello, as it has fewer calories. I thought I'd see if my silicone bakeware would work as jello molds. This seemed perfect for a swirl of peach slices in jello.

July 12, National Eat Your Jello Day

I had the peaches all nicely arranged in the swirls, but while walking to the refrigerator, they swam around and rearranged themselves.

The answer as to whether you can use silicone bakeware as jello molds is a definite "NO".

And July 12, National Pecan Pie Day

I'd been looking at pecan pie recipes and really wanted to try something new, so I ended up making it, too.  The recipe came from Gretchen Eickhorst in St. Charles, Missouri, and was published in Taste of Home (I think). The recipe had been cut and filed, but looks like Taste of Home.  Here's the recipe:

MYSTERY PECAN PIE

Taste of Home

9” unbaked pie crust

     Bottom Layer

8 oz. package of cream cheese

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

       Top Layer

1 cup light corn syrup

3 eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350°.

Beat the ingredients for the bottom layer together.  Pour into the pie crust.  Sprinkle pecans over.

Stir top layer ingredients together and pour over the pecans.

Bake 50-55 minutes or until set.

I guess the mystery is, "How did those layers switch places?".  I had only dark corn syrup, and only 1/2 cup, so I added enough apple jelly to make up the cup, and it worked.  I love pecan pie the regular way, but if you're looking for something with a new twist, this will work.

July 13, National Beans 'N' Franks Day

This suited me just fine.  I've never outgrown my love of Wienies and Beans.  I like using baked beans instead of pork and beans.  Add Cole slaw and corn muffins and chow down.

Wienies and Beans - perfect

On a tray

In the family room

Watching a baseball game on TV

July 14, Bastille Day

Instead of posting a cake recipe, I should like instead to send prayers from the USA to our friends in France in the wake of the vicious attack by terrorists in Nice.  We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured, and we send our condolences to the families of the deceased, wherever you are.

July 15, National Tapioca Day

I love trying new recipes, so I decided to make a recipe called Strawberry Tapioca Salad which I found on the internet here. I'm not sure why it's called a salad, because it's definitely dessert to me.  It's made with tapioca pudding cook and serve; vanilla pudding cook and serve, strawberry jello, Cool Whip and strawberries.  If you're trying to avoid prepared foods, this may not be for you.  And it makes a lot.  I put half in the freezer. We'll see how that works.

July 16, National Corn Fritter Day

I sort of made corn fritters - they're more a cross between corn fritters and hush puppies. I just made up a Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix and added a little extra milk, some canned corn, and so they wouldn't be too sweet, some yellow corn meal. I deep fried them in a saucepan on the stove.  

  

July 17, National Ice Cream Day

Can you think of a better way to celebrate National Ice Cream Day than with a root beer float?

Some of the National Days next week are Fudge, Lollipops, Sour Candy, Junk Food, Vanilla Ice Cream, Peach Ice Cream (I think Baskin-Robbins made a lot of the National Days selections), Caviar, Daiquiri, Tequila.  As the elastic in the top of my pants won't stretch any further, I have designated next week as National Week of Salads for Patsy.  

Tablescapes:  I've included only one table from the Tour of Tables this week, as it has so many interesting things that I think are worth a look.

Togs:  Another brown week.  Please remember that I'm not wearing these clothes right now, in the heat of summer.  Just getting organized for fall.

Monday, July 11

Tuesday, July 12

Wednesday, July 13 Slinky, not wrinkled

Thursday, July 14

Friday, July 15

Saturday, July 16

Sunday, July 17

DON'T FORGET TO MAKE A WISH ON THE FULL MOON TUESDAY, JULY 19

This is the Buck Moon because deer start getting their new antlers about now, or the Hay Moon or Thunder Moon, names are self-explanatory.

PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR MEN IN BLUE 

And pray that the people who start protests will realize they're only adding fuel to the fire and exacerbating the problem. 

EAT YOUR RAINBOW OF FRUITS AND VEGGIES

Thank you for sharing my life