Update

Thoughts and Quotes: Do it 'til you're proud. Found inside a Dove wrapper.

And she did. I've told you about my Lil' Sis, my sister-in-law, my inspiration, the woman who can do anything and so she does. She has too many honors and awards to count, she's the professor the students name Teacher of the Year over and over, she wrote the textbook used in counseling classes at her university, and now she's a celebrity. 

Take a look. Yes, that's a full-sized billboard.

She has a family-like connection with her students. They graduate, they stay in touch, they ask her advice (she's a counselor, teaches counseling, and many students become teachers and/or counselors themselves), they get married, they have babies, and they send her photos. And notice the sign - instead of  Dr. Rebecca Brannock, she's Becky.

In her "spare" time, she organized a Neighborhood Watch group, she has a garden, she cans vegetables and salsa, she makes jams and jellies from their cherry trees and blackberry bushes, she planned, planted, and now maintains the prayer garden at church, she makes food for the homeless shelter, she sends cards to those who need a lift, she has a huge yard full of beautiful flowers, she wrote a children's book honoring her mentor, she drives hours to decorate her parents' graves on holidays, she organizes a sisters' weekend for a get together with her four sisters (and sometimes the nieces) every year, she and my brother have dinner by candlelight (cloth napkins, of course) every night except on date nights and celebrations when they go out, she's mom to doggie Miss Ellie and kitty Frankie. She passes out gifts galore, and never fails to send a thank you card if she receives one. I think maybe she deserves LOTS of billboards. She's my Lil' Sis  and I love her to the moon and back.

I know everyone is sick of hearing about "My Books", so I'll make this short, and if you actually want a recipe for something I've made, let me know. I'm not going to post them any longer unless requested. I was even considering discontinuing my blog, until I got a very nice message saying that the archives come in handy because that way the blog posts can be reread. Wow! Who knew? Someone is actually enjoying my blog. Thank you.

So - I've finished the Buon Appetito dinner; some photos. And before you start correcting me; yes, I know the salad plates are France, not Italy. The pattern name is Provence - my first clue. But I think they could be Italian scenes, and the beret wearers are French tourists.

I made Panna Cotta with blueberry sauce again (chilling in the fridge)

I made lasagna.

I worked on St. Patrick's Day. I made the Split Pea Soup, Corned Beef and Cabbage, and the Shamrock Rolls.

I finally found an Apple Muffin recipe I could adapt for the Apple Farm theme dinner. It's so good and so easy, I'm going to share it, though I said, "No more recipes." And it makes 24 instead of 12.

But first, a story. The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of apple pie spice. Who has that in the pantry? So I looked for a make-your-own substitution and found: 

APPLE PIE SPICE

4 Tbs ground cinnamon

1-1/2 tsps ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground ginger

1-1/2 tsps ground cardamom

So I made some. But what if you don't have allspice? And what do you do with the leftover portion?

    ALLSPICE

1 Tbs ground cinnamon

1 Tbs ground cloves

1 Tbs ground nutmeg

But what if you don't have cardamom? The cheapest I've found is $8 a bottle, or you use your mortar and pestle to grind cardamom seeds you take from the pods.

So just go to Walmart and buy some Apple Pie Spice for $4+ or use my adapted recipe and it will probably work just fine. I think it's the pie filling that makes the muffins so good.

APPLE MUFFINS

1 20-oz can apple pie filling

1 18-oz box yellow cake mix

3 eggs

2 tsps cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

Heat oven to 350°. 

Line muffin tins with 24 paper liners. 

Use a mixer to blend all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. 

Scoop into muffin cups and bake 25-30 minutes. 

Cool before removing paper liners. 

Note: If using a hand mixer, I would suggest running a sharp knife through the apple pie filling a few times before adding it to the bowl.

Thrifting: I need to redo the April in Paris lunch and I got rid of my ice bucket. When I went for my annual eye exam, I was driving home right by the local thrift store, and my thrift radar started yelling turn in, turn in, turn in! Works every time. I found the perfect ice bucket (and some other treasures).

Only $3 - brand new, handle still wrapped, tongs still wrapped. I know France is fleur de lis, not pineapples, but I'm not using the lid.

50 cents

75 cents

$1.50

$2.25

$2 Needed this; I don't have much purple.

And best of all, the box they packed up with all my goodies. Have you every noticed that if you put a box on the floor, a cat will go in; if you leave a cabinet door open, a cat will go in. 

And speaking of cats. . . . .

The Pepper and Pals Report: Tobin is the king of the fence.

Pepper is working his day job (actually it looks a lot like his time off).

Stormy needed a rest after killing the rug.

A new grayish cat has been sneaking in to eat, and I think it's a she and I think that she might have had kittens. Not my boys - they've all been to the vet.

Things that Grow: I had beautiful tulips this year. I brought in a few for the kitchen island.

The yellow ones bloomed later.

Of course, my weeds are prize winners. At least I've made a start.

Before

After

The buckets hold tomato plants my Lil' Sis gave me from her greenhouse when I went to see her billboard

I cleaned up some rocks the fence crew threw out on the grass for some reason, along with a bucket full from where they dug for the posts.

I fixed one screw, but look at this.

The work ethic has changed from when I grew up. I keep expecting workmen to do their jobs properly, and I continue to be disappointed. And this is after they were called back to clean up.

The April Surprise: This is what happened on April 20, much to our amazement. These photos were all taken the same day.

Tidbits: I've been following a YouTube and a blog created by Nicholas Fairford. He's a young (30 or 31) gay guy from humble beginnings, who now teaches "Making Life More Beautiful." He lives in Edinburgh, and I can scarcely wait until Covid is over so he can take us on field trips. He speaks so quietly and distinctly and has soothing music in the background. He's very modest, extremely sweet, and he's ruined my life. I'm inspired to "Make my life more beautiful" which includes neater, more refined, more interesting, etc. etc. You should check him out. Just go to youtube.com and search Nicholas Fairford or Google Nicholas Fairfield blog. He even has me cutting the crusts from my morning toast.

Tasting: One more story and then I'll shut up. My friend sent me a link to a food blog with a recipe and instructions to make refried beans. She said: This might fall in the category of "you could, but why would you?" but I'm at least going to test it out!

I promised I'd tell why "I did."

When I moved to California, I'd never known anything about Mexican food except chili. One day my friend Tonya invited us over for tacos like her mother makes. I was in love. I called them Tonya Tacos and I still make them her way all these years later. I even have filling in my freezer right now.

To make Tonya Tacos, you simply brown some ground beef, add salt, pepper, maybe some garlic powder if you're in the mood, and refried beans.

 

Then you use corn tortillas, briefly fried in oil so they're still pliable, and blotted to rid them of excess oil. Fill and then top with shredded cheese, lettuce (I use leaf - not iceberg), tomatoes, minced onion, and sliced ripe olives. No taco sauce, salsa, etc.

When my mother visited me in California, I made Tonya Tacos, and she loved them. When I came back to Missouri to visit her, she asked me to make them. I told her that I'd be happy to and let's go to the market. There wasn't a Mexican restaurant within miles and Mexican food was exotic. Markets didn't have refried beans and the only corn tortillas were frozen or canned, imported from Amarillo, Texas. Ground beef and toppings were no problem. 

So we chose the canned tortillas though they were very small, and my mother said that she had just made pinto beans and they were in the refrigerator. Hence my experience making refried beans. We mashed them up, added some lard, and stirred them around in the skillet until all was mixed. They were great, but I spent a lot of time frying tortillas, because of the size of the tortillas AND the size of my brothers who were teens by then.

To make the filling, I use two pounds of lean ground beef and a 15-oz can of refried beans. I put half the filling in the refrigerator and half in the freezer. I usually eat tacos until the fridge portion is gone. If you use only one pound of meat and half the refried beans, the other half usually goes to waste. Plus it's nice to have some ready in the freezer when you get in the mood again. Like tomorrow, which is Cinco de Mayo.

So now you know what's going on here.

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE