Sunday, July 17, 2016

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

26 comments:

  1. What an interesting recipe! I like cream cheese anything so this sounds yummy!!

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    1. It's not bad. Not as sweet as the usual pecan pie. The cake I didn't post on Bastille Day has cream cheese also. And apples. Will try to get it in next week. I suppose your recipes are like England, though. I must look up some conversions. I'm sure they're out there in "the cloud".

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  2. The peacock table colourings are amazing, I love the turqoise blue and it is good to get all your outfits ready for autumn or fall even in the heat of summer. Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment:)

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    1. Hi Rosie, In case you haven't been following my blog, let me explain that the table is from The Tour of Tables which the garden clubs in my area used to present each year as a fund raiser. I'm putting a few photos each week.

      About the clothes - if you notice the dates above them, I'm trying to see how long I can put together a new outfit each day. I just decided to do brown since I have so much of it (3 weeks now and still not finished). You might see winter clothes in August. As you can see by the number of the day, I have way too many clothes.

      By the way, I visit the Five on Friday every week, but sometimes it takes me all week to get to everyone. I don't always leave a comment, but I always enjoy the posts.

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  3. I really was impressed with the peacock tablescape, what a beautiful setting. Liked the look of the pecan pie, one of my favourites.

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    1. I knew everyone would love that table, so I put lots of photos. I'm amazed that she was able to find so many peacock things for her table. My tables aren't nearly so glamorous, but they can actually be used for everyday. Think I'll post one of mine next week so you can see the difference. I'm such an amateur.

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  4. What a colorful dressed table ! I don't think about autumn clothes yet, I still have to wear them, for summer it's cold here in Belgium. There is no season anymore !

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    1. Hi Gattina, I'm just doing autumn clothes right now because I have so much brown. Notice the day and the date above each outfit? I'm trying to see how long I can put together a new outfit each day. Three weeks of brown so far, and I still have more.

      Please understand that the table is not mine. It's from The Tour of Tables, a fundraiser for the local garden clubs. Wish I had all those beautiful dishes.

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  5. Hi Patsy!! So much fun to check in with you, as always. ;) I love to see some of your new creative talents (I need to start making gift bag sets like that!!), your culinary talents (that pecan pie looks so good!...and I love that you show the failures like the jello too), and your classy tastes (your wardrobe and that amazing peacock tablescape!).

    I'll say that it's good thing I stay away from those national days...as you're right in how they all revolve around food! Lol!!

    Hope you have a wonderful and blessed week ahead my Dear. Continuing so many prayers for our world from over here too.

    xoxo

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    1. Hope I didn't mislead you. The tablescape is from The Tour of Tables, a fund raiser for the local garden clubs. I wish I had some of those beautiful dishes.

      My tablescapes are for everyday. I buy my dishes, etc at thrift stores, etc. After we finish the Tour of Tables, I'll show you some of mine. I'm doing a book of them, if I can ever get back to it - 52 in all, one for each week.

      I'm ignoring those National Days - it's salad for me this week.

      Always love hearing from you. Be cool.

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  6. The desserts seems delicious. How can I follow your blog, pkease?

    Sandra

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  7. Hi Sandra, I'm at www.teasandts.blogspot.com If you enter your email address in the column on the right near the top, you'll be notified when I publish a new posting. I have a posting every Sunday and you will be notified by email on Monday.

    Or you can just log in to the website and it will take you to my latest post.

    Or if you check my profile, my email address is there. If you send me your email address, I'll put you on my Blog list. When I publish on Sunday, I sent a group email to my Blog list to let everyone know I've finished. Otherwise, Blogger will notify you on Monday.

    Thank you visiting and thank you for your inquiry. I hope this helps. By the way, if you go to my first post, it will tell all about my t's.

    Coming to visit you now.

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  8. Love the gift bag set!! Lots of fun. I Like all the celebrations of days like jello day too!

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    1. George Mahood wrote a book called "Every Day is a Holiday". For six months, he celebrated a National Day Of. It's the wackiest book and non-fiction. He had me falling off my chair laughing. His wife is such a good sport to go along with his zany idea and very witty also. It was an e-book I got from Amazon. You might like it. Unlike my week, it wasn't all about food. Maybe we'll do that again, but right now I need to take off the pounds last week added.

      Still enjoying the Five on Friday. One day I'll join you, but right now my post on Sunday is all I can handle.

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  9. thank you for visiting my blog Living Life on Main Street and leaving such sweet words. You just made my day!!

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    1. And the Five on Friday bunch make my week. I look forward to checking up to see what everyone is doing. We're so lucky to have the internet so we can see how everyone lives around the world.

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  10. You've certainly worked/cooked/eaten your way through quite a few National Food Days this week, thanks for sharing links and recipes. The swimming peach slices made me laugh out loud!

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  11. And I gained two pounds. No more National Days. Why are they all about food?

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  12. Oh that is good to know about the jelly and silicone not seeing eye to eye ha! I love a national food day too but had to stop honouring them all because my waist line could not cope. Have a lovely weekend xxx

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    1. The two pounds I gained could have been twenty, had I eaten all the food I prepared. Most of it went down the garbage disposal. I won't do National Days again - hate wasting food.

      Maybe I'll take a peek occasionally and see if there are any National Days without food.

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  13. Oh, this was a fun post! Love the grocery bag gift pack, all the wonderful recipes (sorry about the Jello mold :( , the peacock table theme and all your cute outfits! x Karen

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    1. Once you start making cards and gift sets, you see cards wherever you look. I make envelopes from magazine pages and calendar pages. I cut up newspapers (especially at holidays) to get pictures and captions I can use. I use tissue boxes as background and wallpaper samples are wonderful. Some are good for backgrounds and some for pictures. They're pre-pasted, so when you smear on the glue stick, they cling to the card like they never want to part. I was even checking out a lady's blouse in line at the supermarket, wishing I could snatch it off to cut up for cards. It's a disease! Card pox. There's no cure. You can recognize those who have it because they'll be covered with tiny flecks of glitter and might have a smear of glue or ink on their clothes.

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  14. Wow what amazing recipes!! That pecan pie looks so scrummy, I've never made it but you've made me want to try! The table looks fascinating, and I love those grocery bags! Have a good week :)

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    1. More tables from the Tour of Tables later today. I always post on Sunday. Wish they were still having that fundraiser. I loved attending.

      Try the pecan pie. It's easy and good and your piecrust doesn't split as it does at times with regular pecan pie.

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  15. So delicious things! I've never heard about these National days before, seems, we haven't similiar here.
    I very like the peacok decoration and mostly the embroidered blouse-jacket from tuesday. (I haven't managed to make more outfit photos, I have to many to deal with my mess after the home restoration and my old mother)
    Have a nice new week

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    1. It's your new black dress that I want to see. We saw a bit of it, but it looked as if it has beautiful lace.

      Interesting. I thought everyone had national days of. Ours seem to always be about food.

      I remembered that you like embroidered clothes, but I don't have many. I'm sort of a Plain Jane, but I do love bright colors.

      Happy new week to you, too.

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