2-17-2019 Valentines Day

Thoughts and Quotes: With God, all things are possible. 
                                                   Matthew 19:26

                                     Without God, all things are permissible. 
                                                   Fyodor Dostoevsky

Thank You: To Martha, for my goodbye present. Martha and I have been neighbors for fourteen years, and every time I was in her kitchen, I was admiring her beautiful cake stand. The tenth commandment says that I shouldn't covet my neighbor's cake stand, but I couldn't help myself. And now it's mine. See - the Bible says to ask and ye shall receive. I didn't ask directly, (it was obvious I loved it), but sent the desire into the Universe for one of my own and now here it is. A perfect parting gift. It won't be the same without Clark and Martha next door to me after all these years. 

Isn't it the most beautiful cake stand in the world?

Thank You: To My Girls Up North, for my gorgeous Valentine basket of goodies. I'll savor a little bit of love each day and make it last a long time.

Kettle Corn - yum!

Cookies

This looks interesting

Assorted candies

And my favorite: Mint-filled chocolates in a cute little Eiffel Tower tin

Stormy immediately claimed the stuffed toy which I believe is a sloth

And the fight is on!

And the icing on the cake - it came in a tub which I can use next year.

Pepper says he's not interested. He just wants to snuggle with his throw they sent at Christmas. So soft and cozy!

Thank You: For my valentines. This one made by Jean.

And one made by Joey.

And this cute one from my Lil Bro and Sis

Time to Celebrate: While we're on the subject of Valentines Day, I had some friends for lunch. Guess I should have said "over for lunch"; sounds as if they were the main course.

The Menu

Cranberry Jello Salad

Crunchy Chicken Casserole

Mixed Veggies

Pickled Cucumbers and Onions

Mixed Grain Muffins

Cherry-Pecan Ice Cream and Butter Cookies

The candy-filled ceramic purses were Take Homes.

All the recipes are on the drop downs (Cucumbers and Onions is under Salad) except the cookies, so here it is.

BUTTER COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp almond extract

2-1/4 cups flour

15-18 small maraschino cherries, cut in half and drained

Heat oven to 350°.

Combine all and shape into balls.

Indent top and put cherry, cut side down in dent.

Bake 8-10 minutes on ungreased or parchment-lined baking sheets.

Note: I’ve also made these cookies using orange extract in place of almond and a piece of candied orange peel instead of a cherry half.

Of course, I had help from my assistants.

But one went to take a nap, and the other had to rest.

Time for Others: I'm still on hiatus with cardmaking (sending ecards), but I did make a few valentines for family.

Tasting: Steg and I went to Leong's this week. I liked the decor. The food, not so much.

Steg had Sweet and Sour Pork and Pork Fried Rice

My tummy wasn't feeling tip top, so I had Eggdrop Soup and Pork Fried Rice. Soup was good.

Tales: Joey's Book Club read a book by Lee Child, and she really liked it. They read The Affair.  We usually like the same things, but she's more into romance than I am (Nora Roberts), and I can handle more blood and guts (Patricia Cornwell). This sounded like an author we would both enjoy (like Nelson DeMille) in the thriller genre.

Child's protaganist is Jack Reacher and he has a smart mouth and is a maverick like Spenser, so I knew I'd like him. I wanted to read them in order, so I started with The Enemy. Eager to read the next book.

Teaching and Learning: Last week I told you I'd tell you about the information I ran across about tea. It's called Tea 101 and it's free and comes in the form of an email.

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Tea

Chapter 2: The Art of Steeping

Chapter 3: Herbal Teas

Chapter 4: Caffeine and Tea

Chapter 5: Tea and Health

Chapter 6: Matcha

It comes from The Republic of Tea (I'm sure you've seen their teas somewhere), and you can sign up HERE. There's no obligation to buy anything, but they will send you emails to try to sell you some tea.

Teaching and Learning: I also promised you some things to know before you go last week. Friend George got this from a newsletter he subscribes to because he and Ceil go to Puerto Vallarta every winter. Good info for travel when you leave the country, no matter where you're headed. The info is HERE. You can cut and paste to print it, but I can't import it directly into my blog post.

Things We Can Learn from the Movies: A detective can only solve a case once he has been suspended from duty.

Things People Actually Said During Job Interviews: "What is your company's policy on Monday absences?"

Tidbits: I'm so sorry I didn't wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year earlier. It started on February 5 and ends on February 19. This is the Year of the Pig. You can read all about it HERE, including what to eat, what to wear, what not to do, what is lucky, and some of the myths. You can also find out which animal is your Chinese New Year according to the year in which you were born. Then you can explore your Chinese horoscope according to your animal. Lots of fun.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR

GET READY FOR SPRING

BUY SOME GARDEN SEEDS

MAYBE PLAN A SPRING CRUISE

BUY A NEW BATHING SUIT

GO TO A GARDEN SHOW

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE

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