Week 118, 3-25-2018

Thoughts and Quotes:  The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.  Lewis Carroll

The quote is from Alice in Wonderland; I presume from The White Rabbit. I know just how he feels. I seem to stumble into roadblocks wherever I turn. Another remote has stopped working properly, so an hour call to AT & T to get a new one. Everything I want for my yard is out of stock or when I do buy something, they ring it up wrong and I have to go stand in line at customer service for thirty minutes for my refund. I did get my taxes in the mail, but my yard is a disaster, I haven't planted even one seed, my house is a mess, I need to take my car in for servicing, I need a manicure and a pedicure, I'm in the process of changing banks, my roof still hasn't been fixed, and I still don't have my laptop back to fix my email addresses. All these things nag, nag, nag, at me. So I'm pushing the reset button here and now, and you're my witnesses. Next week is going to be super productive and everything will fall into line.

I don't have much to report this week. I'm actually working on the Tablescapes book. I haven't started the input yet, but hope to this week.

Tasting: This week's soup is Vegetable Chowder.

VEGETABLE CHOWDER

4 cups of broccoli, florets only, chopped

2 cups diced potatoes

1 cup thinly sliced baby carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup finely chopped celery

2 cups water

4 cups milk, divided

2 tsps (or 2 cubes) chicken bouillon

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/3 cup flour

1 cup frozen corn

2 cups Velveeta process cheese cubes

2 Tbs butter

Put the water and all vegetables but corn in a large pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover, and simmer 12-15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Add 3 cups of the milk, chicken bouillon, salt and pepper.

Mix the flour with the remaining cup of milk and add to the soup, along with the corn.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook and stir constantly until thickened, about two minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in cheese cubes and butter until melted.

This week's salad is Tossed Salad with Tomato Soup Dressing

TOMATO SOUP SALAD DRESSING

1 10-3/4 oz can tomato soup

3/4 cup white vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1-1/2 cups salad oil

Put all in blender and mix at low speed. Refrigerate. Serve on tossed green salads.

Makes 4 cups.

OAT BRAN MUFFINS

2-1/4 cups oat bran hot cereal (or 2-1/4 cups raw oat bran)

1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup chopped nuts

1/4 cup raisins

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup honey or molasses

2 Tbs vegetable oil

Heat oven to 425°F.

Grease bottoms only of 12 regular-size muffin cups or line with paper baking cups.

Combine dry ingredients.

Add milk, eggs, honey or molasses, and oil.  Mix just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Fill prepared muffin cups 3/4 full.

Bake 15-17 minutes for cereal muffins; 12-14 minutes for raw oat bran muffins.

Note: Raw oat bran produces a muffin which is great for hiking or biking as it is very sturdy and also very filling. Pairs perfectly with a box of juice, as it is a little on the dry, chewy side.

This week's tissue box card:

Thrifting: My local little thrift store is right down the street from the hardware store where I buy yard supplies, so I dropped in to get some 3-ring binders. Baby was snoozing away. She walked into the store one day, looked around, and decided to stay.

I bought 6 binders (some even had notebook paper in them), plus the magazine holder,

a basket for my nail polish

and two vases for $3.75.

And my only discards were the book I finished.

Some pens I bought twice and a stamp I'll never use. Must get busy on discards this week.

The Pepper and Pals Report: Pepper is doing fine. No more problems since our trip to the vet. He and Stormy are pretty lazy little kitties.

And Ginger spent the day sleeping in the screened patio - so sweet.

Time for Others: My Easter cards are in the mail, thanks to Nancy. Sorry I can't send to everyone around the globe.

That's all I have this week. My posts might be a little skimpy for awhile until I get things back under control.

HAPPY EASTER

BUY A NEW HAT

HAVE AN EASTER EGG HUNT

WE CAN WEAR WHITE SOON

DRINK YOUR WATER

GET SOME SUN - VITAMIN D

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE

 WHITE SOON

Week 117, 3-18-2018

Thoughts and Quotes: The advantage of being 80 years old is that one has many people to love.                                                               Jean Renoir

And I find that to be true. The problem is that when you're eighty, chances are that many of your loved ones are as old as you are, and you start losing them. So my advice is to always be on the lookout for new people to love and make sure that some of them are much younger than you are.

And who is Jean Renoir? I had to know. If you don't know either, click HERE.

Tasting: The Very Exclusive Cooking Club met at Mim's on Monday.

VERY EXCLUSIVE COOKING CLUB

March 12, 2018, at Mim’s

THE TABLE

THE MENU

Chopped Salad

Poppy Seed Dressing

Swedish Meatballs 

Noodles with Meatball Gravy

Asparagus-Squash Medley

Sister Shubert Rolls

Lemon-Orange Pound Cake

Vanilla Ice Cream

Iced Tea      Coffee

THE FOOD

THE PARTY FAVORS

Gouda Cheese, Orange-Fig Spread, Lavender Soap

THE RECIPES

The Swedish Meatballs recipe can be found HERE.

ASPARAGUS-SQUASH MEDLEY

1/2 lb. asparagus
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder or 4 cloves of garlic chopped fine
1 Tbs butter

Wash asparagus, remove tough ends (about 2 inches), cut in half, and place in a large bowl.

Wash yellow squash and zucchini, cut into thin slices (1/8”), add to asparagus.

Add salt, pepper, dried oregano, and garlic to the vegetables and toss.

Melt butter in a large skillet; add vegetables. Cook and stir constantly until vegetables are tender but not mushy.

CHOPPED SALAD WITH POPPY SEED DRESSING

1 pkg of your favorite chopped salad mix

1/3 cup white sugar

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground dry mustard

1 tsp grated onion

1 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp poppy seeds

Serve desired amount of salad mix.

Mix dressing ingredients in a blender or shaker – serve on the side.

The Lemon-Orange Pound Cake can be found HERE.

Tasting: Lots of tasting this week. Here's my soup of the week. Simple yet delicious.

CORN COMFORT SOUP

1 15-oz can cream style corn

1 15-oz can whole kernel corn, drained

2 cups milk (preferably whole milk 4%)

4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter

Salt and pepper

4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled for topping, optional

Combine all but bacon in a medium saucepan.

Heat to boiling; ladle into bowls.

Sprinkle with bacon bits (optional).

Note: Crudites make a nice accompaniment as this is a very rich soup. 

The salad of the week:

MASSAGED KALE SALAD

Sally 

1 bunch of kale

Juice of 1 lemon

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1 unpeeled apple, diced

2 Tbs light honey

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

Wash kale well and pat dry. Remove stems and discard. Tear leaves into small pieces and place in a large salad bowl.

Mix together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Pour over kale.

Using both hands, firmly squeeze and massage the kale for 30 seconds to tenderize. Messy hands, but worth it.

Add apple and honey; toss well. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

Note 1: Buy prewashed and prepared kale in a bag for convenience.

Note 2: If you don’t care for the robust taste and texture of kale, use half kale and half spinach or lettuce.

Muffin Tin Monday recipe: of the week:

ORANGE MUFFINS

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 cup buttermilk 

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

3/4 cup chopped pecans

Zest of 1 orange

Topping

Juice of 1 orange (you won’t need all of it)

Sugar for sprinkling

Heat oven to 375°F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.

Beat in the eggs and buttermilk.

Add the baking soda to the flour and stir in just until moistened.

Fold in pecans and orange zest.

Pour into paper-lined muffin cups (15-18).

Bake 18-20 minutes. While hot, brush with orange juice and sprinkle with sugar.

Cool 5 minutes before removing.

Note: You may substitute 1 cup of plain yogurt for the buttermilk, if desired.

Tissue Box Cards: Finally, I'm up to date. I made this card, forgetting I'd used this same tissue box last week, so I still needed one for this week, and the four I was behind.

 The camera distorted the color; it looks better than this.

This is the one I meant to make.

Sometimes you just need to add some bling.

Tips: Listen up Cardmakers. I learned this from Joey. The snowman already had a plaid scarf, and I wanted to color it to blend with the card. Tricky coloring to get the tan evenly spread, so I stamped it again on tan paper (paper, not cardstock), colored the reddish lines, went over the black part with a ballpoint pen, cut out the scarves and hats and glued them to the white snowmen. 

Tissue boxes aren't the only things I recycle. This is the wrapping paper from Bev's gift.

I used it to make her thank you card.

And this base was an Easter card which didn't work out, so I turned it into a thank you card.

Thank You: For my continuing birthday calls, cards, and gifts.

From Cardmaker Bette' - if it's purple or butterflies, you know it's from Bette'.

This beautiful store card from Brother Danny

And a new baking dish from Bev

Tidying: If you're wondering what happened to my clearing out goals, I stopped taking photos when clearing out socks, gloves, scarves, and sweaters. On top of clearing out placemats, I was up to June with my discards. Now with the birthday gifts and these fun pedestals I bought for myself (see the Muffin Tin Monday photo) -

And the new stamps I bought on Clearance -

plus the two Joey gave me, I think it's time to go back to my weekly schedule.

Thank you also to Cardmaker Jean for this adorable St. Patrick's Day card. I ran out of time and didn't make even one card. I also got two of the cutest ecards. I'd love to share the one Linda sent with a note that I could put it on my blog as my St. Patrick's Day table, but I don't want to be sued for breaking copyright laws. The table had a teapot set covered in shamrocks and a full Irish breakfast. 

And I did eat my corned beef and cabbage when experimenting with corned beef soup last week.

The Pepper and Pals Report: I noticed that Pepper didn't eat much of his breakfast, and in the late afternoon, he started drooling. I couldn't get him in to see his regular vet for several days, as one vet was on vacation, but I could get an appointment for the next day at another vet I've used. 

He didn't eat his dinner and started drooling more, so I was eager to get him in right away. She did a physical exam - no temperature, no problems except a small ulceration in his mouth. She took a blood sample - no problems. She gave him some fluids, a shot of antibiotics and a shot of painkiller.  We left with $214 less money and two shaved places on Pepper - one under his chin and one on his leg where she took the blood sample.

Thirty minutes after we got home, he went over and started chowing down on his wet food.  I guess the sore was really hurting him, and that was all that was wrong. The next day he was back to his old Bad Boy ways, trapping Stormy under the loveseat in my bedroom.

Of course, when I walked in, it was "Hi, Aunt Patsy. How's it going? No, I wasn't doing anything wrong".

All the other kitties are doing fine, but now I have the two new tabbies AND Hercules trying to steal the feral kitties food.

Things That Grow: Daffodils look so pretty in the yard, but spoil yourself and bring a few into the house to enjoy.

Tidbits: Friend Barbara sent me a list of Ten Additional Commandments which I feel are worth sharing.

1. Prayer is not a "spare wheel" that you pull out when in trouble, but a "steering wheel" that directs the right path throughout.

2. So why is a car's windshield so large and the rear view mirror so small? Because our past is not as important as our future. So look ahead and move on.

3. Friendship is like a book. It takes a few seconds to burn, but it takes years to write.

4. All things in life are temporary. If it's going well, enjoy it - it won't last long. If it's going badly, don't worry - that won't last long either.

5. Old friends are gold! New friends are diamond! If you get a diamond, don't forget the gold, because to hold a diamond, you always need a base of gold.

6. Often when we lose hope and think this is the end of the road, God smiles from above and says, "Relax, Sweetheart, it's just a bend, not the end!"

7. When God solves your problems, you have faith in His abilities; when God doesn't solve your problems, He has faith in your abilities.

8. A blind person asked St. Anthony, "Can there be anything worse than losing your eyesight?" And St. Anthony replied, "Yes, losing your vision!"

9. When you pray for others, God listens to you and blesses them. Sometime when you are safe and happy, remember that someone has prayed for you.

10. Worrying does not take away tomorrow's troubles; it takes away today's peace.

Don't you love these? I think 7 is my favorite. 

So I bid you adieu for now, wishing you warm sunny weather, lots of blooming flowers, safe travels, and good health.

MAKE SOME GREAT MEMORIES

GET A COD SANDWICH AT WENDY'S BEFORE THEY'RE GONE

AND THAT MOCHA FRAPPACCINO

CHECK OUT www.1000LifeHacks.com

BUY AN EASTER BONNET

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE