Month: May 2015

Daily Thoughts

Dishwasher Madness

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(I know in the scheme of things  this certainly does not rank up in the top 1000 of things that I should be writing about or even admitting that emptying the dishwasher is just one of the things that drives me crazy. But it does. I don’t mind loading it, but I put off emptying until I don’t have any more room in the sink to stack dirty ones; leaving me no choice but to empty one of man’s greatest inventions. But…here comes the good part, I have devised a plan that makes me not dread opening the door, seeing all those sparkly glasses shining back at me, just begging to be put up. Maybe you have already been doing this, but smart moves have taken me a little longer than most to learn. I have to interject something here about one of my son-in-laws, who I won’t name, but lives in Arizona. This sweet man, who leaves his socks, shoes and empty glasses all over the living room floor, is the same man who comes unglued if I don’t load the silverware in the dishwasher at their house with all the spoons together in the same little divider, the forks all together and the knives all together. But being that I pride myself on being a “wonderful MIL, (mother in law) I play his little game while visiting. But sometimes, I rebel and when he isn’t looking, I put a fork in with the knives. .

1. I pull out all of the top rack and just place them on the counter where they go, then I empty out the bottom rack, repeating the same procedure. Then the worst part, the silverware .ugh…do not get me started. Why do I let the small things like this get me so down, I have to just jump in the car and head to the mall and buy myself a little something? Because, yes, in my way of thinking, I deserve a gift. After all, I just emptied the dishwasher.

2. Back to the chore at hand. The silverware.  I have found that laying out a clean dish towel on the counter and just turning the silverware holder upside down, allowing them all to empty out on the towel is my “go to” method. That way, I make a game of picking out all the knives first and putting them in the drawer. Then next the forks, then last,,,,my favorite utensil because it is what I use to eat ice cream and chocolate cream pie with a 2″ layer of whipping cream.

So there you have it, my tip for the day. Try it and see if you don’t think it helps alleviate the depression that comes with a most dreaded chore.

Will be thinking of a spiffy way to clean toilets, that won’t send me running to catch a cruise ship. Oh…I just thought of one; let Randy handle that one.

Cakes · Desserts

Summer Fruit Cake

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Going through a old spiral notebook that I began when I married in 1973, I found this recipe which my neighbor gave me when she moved in a few houses down from me. She was from Lampasas, Tx and was a really good cook. We would sit in the yard watching the kids play and talk about recipes we loved and what our kids would eat. This recipe was handed down to her from her grandmother and her family had been making it ever since. I am not a big fruit cake lover, but this one sounded like something that I would enjoy, with a big scoop of whipping cream or ice cream during the summer. Give it a try. It is so different from a traditional fruit cake. Here’s hoping you like it also.

2 sticks butter, softened

2 cups sugar

6 eggs, at room temp

1 can flaked coconut

1/2 cup milk

1 large box vanilla wafers, crushed in a plastic bag or blender

1 cup of chopped pecans

8 oz candied cherries, or dried apricots, cut up, or 1 cup of golden raisins

In mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Add coconut and blend. Add the milk. With a spoon, add the crushed vanilla wafers, 1/3 at a time until all is incorporated.

Add the nuts and fruit (cherries or raisins or apricots). Put in a greased and floured tube pan. Bake in a preheated 250 oven for about 2 hours. Cake can be frozen.

*Depending on your oven, Jo told me that she usually baked hers about 2 1/2 hours, although her directions said 2 hours. When cake tests done, remove from oven and allow to cool before transferring out of pan onto a platter to serve.

Desserts · Fruit

Summer Sweets

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A friend of mine has asked me to contribute a easy summer recipe for her blog. I thought it best to give her a choice of 3 great refreshing desserts. This first one, the Cheesecake Filled Strawberries, I found on Pinterest. They look so pretty and they are so easy to put together. Can’t wait to have ladies over to make them.

1. Cheesecake Filled Strawberries

1 lb large strawberries

8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 tables powdered sugar
1 teas vanilla
Graham cracker crumbs *(I added a little about 1 teas sugar to crumbs to make them taste more like graham cracker crust)
Directions:
Rinse strawberries and cut around the top of the strawberry. Remove the top and hollow out with a paring knife, being careful not to cut through to the outside of the strawberry. Prep all strawberries and set aside to dry, covered with a towel, so they don’t dry out.
In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until creamy. Put cream cheese mixture into a piping bag or a ziplock bag which you will cut the tip of the bag to allow you to fill strawberries with the cream mixture. Fill each strawberry with the cream cheese mixture. Once all the strawberries are filled, dip the top in graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, place covered in fridge until ready to use. Better if eaten the same day.
Recipe #2
Frozen Fruit Mallow
1 (9 oz) can crushed pineapple
1 (3 o) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (7 oz) bottle lemon-lime soda (*I used Sprite)
2 (10 oz) packages frozen sliced peaches
1 cup halved green grapes
1 cup heavy cream, whipped (until stiff peaks form, but be careful not to whip it till it becomes like butter)
1 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
Blend undrained pineapple and cream cheese. Stir in Sprite (or 7 Up); add fruits. Freeze until partially set. Then fold in whipped cream and marshmallows. Pour into 9″ square pan or a 2 qt dish. Freeze until firm. Yield 6-8 servings.
Recipe #3
Lemon-Strawberry Trifle *Taken from Taste of Home
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup vanilla yogurt
2 cups milk
1 package (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix
2 teas grated lemon peel
2 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries, divided (or use a mixture of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries)
1 tables orange juice or water
1 tables powdered sugar
1 prepared angel food cake (8 to 10 oz)
In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and yogurt. Add the milk, dry pudding mix and lemon peel; beat until smooth. In a blender, process 1/2 cup strawberries (or mixed berries) with orange juice or water and powdered sugar and blend until smooth.
Tear cake into 1″ cubes; place a third of the cake cubes in a trifle bowl or 3 qt serving bowl. Top with a third of the pudding mixture and half of the remaining strawberries. Drizzle with half of the strawberry sauce. Repeat. Top with remaining cake then pudding mixture. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. * I topped mine with sweetened whipping cream (or Cool Whip if you prefer) Decorate with whole berries before serving if desired.
Yield 12-14 servings.
Daily Thoughts

Memories & Memorial Day

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This past year has brought some new feelings regarding Memorial Day. Besides Randy’s father, who served in WW2, I had really never had any connections to anyone who had served in any of the wars. This year changed my thoughts of gratitude towards people who had served and sacrificed so much for all of us. Let me begin with a few years back.

All of my life, I knew that the father who raised me was my adopted dad, as I was 8 months old, when my mom and dad, (Carl) had married. My mom had always told me that my real father was just not a good man and I never realized how much her feelings for him had influenced my feelings for a man who I never met. After years of her telling me that after they had married, he had impregnated a lady in California and she had told him (his name was Gene Gipson) that she never wanted anything to do with him or never wanted to see him or have him see me. So I never got to see my dad.

In 1976, she finally admitted to me that they were never married and that Gene had come back and tried to convince her to marry him, but her pride would not allow her to give him a chance and she had married Carl because she felt he would make a good dad for me. And a good dad, he was. He was one of the most gentle and patient men that I have ever known. He was a devout Christian who volunteered with the Gideons.  From time to time, she would reminisce about Gene and what a selfish, no good man he was and how glad she was that she had never married him. As I grew up, married and had children, there was always the desire to find out information about Gene. I knew that he had died in 1973, but I also knew that I had at least 1 half sister, which I wondered about. Were we at all alike? Did we share any of the same characteristics? Because I was an only child, the desire was greater than if I had brothers and sisters. Because my mom had shared with me some time ago that she had really never forgot Gene and often wondered what life would have been like, should they had married. She was never a happy person and really struggled with her marriage, she didn’t ever speak positively of either Carl or Gene.

Because of the continued curiosity of wanting to find out any information that I could find about my birth father plus wondering about any half siblings, I began to seriously search. This past year I finally found the obit that listed facts about him and also found that besides the half sister, I had 4 half brothers. The article stated that Gene had been a pilot in the Navy. He had married and had 4 boys and was the owner and operator of a golf course in Peru, Indiana. He was a member of the Methodist church.

Truly I am so sorry that I never had the chance to meet my birth father or any of his other children. It made me think of how many others might be out there, with stories of parents, or siblings which they had never met. After reading the obituary, it began to dawn on me that indeed, both of my fathers, had served in the military and even though neither served in a war, I’m sure that there were sacrifices made.

Thanks to each person who has served, given us our freedom and so many opportunities that we would not have had otherwise.

Here’s to both Gene and to my dad, Carl, both of you in your own way, were heros! Just wish you both were alive for me to tell you thank you for your service not only to our country, but to your families. It made me sad that I had allowed my mom’s emotions and feelings to be my own towards him for all these past years.

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Full Moon, Phone Calls & Cleaning

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This was written in 2013, but a friend suggested that I repost it, as it was so appropriate for the Month of May! Hope most of you are as old as we are and if you have already read it, that your memory is gone and it will seem brand new!

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There was a full moon last night and history was made. All 5 of our kids and one daughter-in-law called. It wasn’t my birthday, and way past Mothers Day and as far as I can remember, only one of those kids have a birthday coming up. The only thing I can figure is that my doctor has called them with a bad report of something being wrong with me. As soon as I got off the phone with adult child #5, I immediately began cleaning out drawers, closets and hurriedly began throwing dirty clothes and towels in the wash….if something was soon going to take me out of this world, I certainly didn’t want ladies coming to bring Randy casseroles, only to find my house with dirty laundry and messy closets.

Even this morning, as I am still pondering what was going on yesterday with all the attention, I find…

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Desserts · Fruit

When Words Fail You, Pies Never Do

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I just saw those words in a Taste of Home magazine over an advertisement for Lucky Leaf Blueberry Pie filling. As I sat there and pondered (and yes, I know, I need to get a life more than dissecting and trying to find meaning through recipes)

that statement, I remembered that all the years growing up, the nights when I got stood up (thankfully there weren’t TOO many of those), or didn’t make the grade I wanted, or having a bad hair day,( which there were so many of those, living in a humid windy city) walking into the kitchen and finding a homemade chocolate, cherry or buttermilk pie…well, I didn’t need to hear any words from my Mom or Dad, I just had to sit down with a great big glass of sweet tea and a piece of pie. It just made everything seem a little better. Pies just always seem to say, Welcome Home, I’m glad you are here.

When I was leafing through this old Taste of Home magazine, I came across this cream cheese stuffed blueberry pie. It sounds delish so think I will make it this weekend, you know, just in case I miss the 12 hour sale at Stein Mart or find that after stepping on the scale, that I have obtained a muffin top on top of the one I already have. I don’t know why I keep gaining a few pounds every year! Must be all the carrot sticks I keep munching on; note to self…give up the carrots so I will have more tummy space for pie!

Blue Ribbon Stuffed Crust Blueberry Pie (substitute cherry or apple, if you like)*If you use the apple, omit the almond extract)

1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened

1 teas grated lime peel

1 teas lime juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teas almond extract

2 (9″) pie crusts (if using refrigerated crusts, let them get to room temp)

1/4 cup slice almonds

1 (21 oz) can Lucky Leaf Premium Blueberry Pie Filling or Cherry

Preheat oven to 425. Beat cream cheese, lime peel, lime juice, sugar and almond extract until creamy. set aside.

Unroll one pie crust and press into sides and bottom of the pie pan. Sprinkle with sliced almonds and press them lightly into the crusts. Top with 3/4 of cream cheese filling.

Unroll second crust; place on filling. Flute edges to form double crusts; pierce with fork. Spread Pie Filling on top of crust.

Add remaining cream cheese filling over the fruit filling and swirl with a spoon, being careful not to disturb the crust underneath.

Bake at 425 for 15 min; reduce oven to 375 and bake 25-30 minutes or until crust is golden around the edges. Cool and refrigerate before serving.

Daily Thoughts

Trudy’s Travel Truths

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As Randy and I were driving back to Texas from Arizona the past two days, we reflected on several things that I thought might be fun to share. Driving through the desert in Arizona and New Mexico, one has LOTS of time to think, especially when someone falls asleep the minute he is the passenger and I am the driver. After I reminded him that I was very considerate in being sure I talked to him the entire time he was driving to assure that he didn’t fall asleep, I was told that yes, he is aware that I do talk the ENTIRE time and there isn’t a chance of him falling asleep, even thought he would love to do so…just to get some peace and quiet. Maybe we had a little too much time in the car together this trip. But…it did give me time to ponder some of the new wonders and sights that we found driving though the cactus thriving desert that goes on for miles and miles and miles. So here are the Travel Truths that we thought might be of some interest to you on your next car trip.

1. Remember to always pack your CD’s or books on tape, because without them, the miles seem endless, especially when you have no one to talk to because they are sleeping, while you drive.

2. Keep a bag of peanut M&M’s on the console to snack on, chocolate makes the time go so much sweeter. I finally figured out that Randy kept handing me candy, even while he was driving, hoping that it would keep me from talking if I had my mouth full. Didn’t work. I am so talented that I can talk, even with a mouth full of candy.

3.New Mexico has the best Mexican food EVER! To prove our point, we saw lots of people there that had muffin tops, on top of muffin tops. (just an observation, and we did our fair share of trying to get our 2nd muffin top going by the 3rd day of eating nothing but Mexican food)

4. The Indian Reservations have the most beautiful old Catholic churches I have seen this side of Italy.

5. The cheaper the hotel, the lousier the free breakfast. Why hadn’t I thought of that before booking? Worth a little more to at least have butter to put on those free pancakes.

6. Just like always getting in the line at the store, which is moving the slowest, we seem to always get the hotel room which is right beside precious little teenagers who are up all night, slamming the doors going in and out to visit with their friends who are on the other side of our room. How does this always happen?

7.Get off the highway to find the mom & pop restaurants, they have so much better food than the fast food chains. Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone of hamburger joints. We have found several places that we count as “favorites” now along the highway between Texas and California. Have met such interesting people getting off the highway. Also learned a few new recipes from these great out of the way places.

8. No matter how much you want to get to a certain restaurant before it closes, do not, I repeat, do not, speed through Ruidoso, NM. The $75 speeding ticket made our “smothered in green chile sauce soppapilla” not taste as good as it usually does.

9. Do not eat green chles two days in a row, as you will really notice the lack of rest stops going through the desert.

10. The Border Patrol’s need to hire a few more agents, we found alien after alien2015-05-17 09.20.23 up and down the streets of Roswell!

11, Last one, truly everything in Texas is bigger!!!2015-05-17 09.29.14

2015-05-17 16.21.56

Meats

Buffalo Wing Pork Chops

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A couple of nights ago our son-in-law made dinner for us. Randy and I walked in Tues night to the best aroma coming from the kids kitchen. We walked over to the stove and saw great looking pork chops. Eric told us that he had found the recipe on a blog that listed 15 simple dinners and had made it once before and fell in love with it. He immediately went out and bought some buffalo sauce and pork chops. We sat down to a great looking dinner. Salad, mac and cheese and these amazing pork chops. Recipe is truly so simple, but the result was the juiciest great tasting pork chops that we have had. Thanks Eric for a great meal!

4 (1/2″) pork chops

1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce

4 slices of mozzarella cheese

Butter

Salt, Pepper & Garlic powder to taste

Heat an iron skillet until warm. Melt about 4 tables butter in skillet. Season both sides of chops with garlic, salt & pepper. Saute chops on each side for about 3 to 4 minutes, each side. Drizzle some of the buffalo sauce on each chop as you are searing them on each side. Place lid on skillet and cook until chops are cooked throughout.

Place chops in a baking dish and place a cheese slice on each chop. Place in preheated oven to “broil” and broil until cheese is bubbling. Drizzle more of the buffalo sauce over the chops and serve immediately.

Daily Thoughts

Aquatic Exercise vs Baking

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As I have shared with you, we are in Phoenix with our kids and have experienced quite a few new things this week. First of all, my daughter drug me to her aquatic exercise class yesterday morning. So not only did I show up in my old lady bathing suit, (you know the one with the skirt, but try to disguise it by getting the loudest print available) but it has been over 30 years since I have shown my face at any type of exercise class. It was embarrassing enough to walk up with her introducing me to her friends who have a collective weight of probably 200 lbs total from the 4 of them, but when I realized that I was the only one there that had skin so white that it glows in the dark, well…lets just say that this is one of the reasons I hide in cooking classes and art class. I never have to show up in a bathing suit. After reminding the instructor that I was almost 65 and had been years since doing anything but walking back and forth between the fridge and the table, I felt fairly certain that she would make it easy on me.

It started off well. Actually it started off great. Under water no one can see the hail damage on my legs, nor could they see parts of me that weren’t meant to be seen until I am laying dead on a table being examined by the coroner. The warm up began and we were off. “walk in a circle ladies and after each lap, walk it a little faster each time around. Ok, this is good, I’m a fast walker anyway, so I had this…smiling to myself, I thought, how hard can this be? I found out after about 5 more minutes. We were instructed to do jumping jacks up out of the water. Ok, I’m still doing pretty swell. Then when she told us to dog paddle with our arms coming out of the water like we were pushing a weight up and out, I almost drown. I fumbled back into the water, swallowing water and Jodi reached over and pulled me up. After a minute of coughing the water up, I imagined that surely we had done enough jumping jacks and swam back and forth that it must be time to QUIT!. But no, it had only been 15 minutes. Now came the part of the class where the wheat is separated from the tares. Teacher tells us to come grab hold of the wall and alternately swing our legs up out and over the side of the wall. You have got to be kidding me. Is she crazy? I thought the last time I had to get in this position was during labor. But here I was, trying to lift up my leg, when I happened to look over and see Jodi doubled over laughing so hard at me that I got ticklled, thinking what a sight I must look like. When we both caught our breath, we rejoined the class and I decided that maybe I should juist modify what I attempt (like the teacher suggested I do), rather than try to keep up with the other ladies. After what seemed like 4 hours, the class was finally over.

By nightfall, I could barely walk. This morning, I had to be pulled down the stairs and Randy had to put my shoes on me. Jodi just informed me that tonght we are off for a family adventure. I was hoping for either a movie where I could just sit in the dark and eat popcorn or maybe a trip to the ice cream store. No such luck. We are walking a mile to the Ranch House where the Wednesday night farmer’s market with food trucks arrive so the community can eat dinner on the lawn while the kids feed the ducks in the lake. I realize that this sounds fun, but  this means that not only do I have to inch my way down on the lawn, but then I have to get up off the lawn. If I succeed at being able to do this, I am going to reward myself and come home and have a huge slice of the strawberry chocolate cake I just made. It’s funny, I never remember having sore muscles from baking.

In the morning, Jodi has told me that the best thing to get me un-sore is to go back to the class. I’m not proud of the look I gave her or what I was thinking. The only reason I am going along with this is that one day she will be the one taking care of me and I want to be sure that she remembers to bring me cookies in the retirement home. She says that she’s not worried about having to do that as she doesn’t think I will live very long anyway. The way I bake everyday and never exercise, I probably won’t live long enough to be any trouble. Just for that, I’m going to go to her silly exercise class after breakfast, as soon as I finish my 3 egg omelet with extra cheese.

Tomorrow if I survive the class, I will celebrate by coming home and finishing the rest of the cake. So much easier on the ole body.

Uncategorized

Designer Underwear

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We are in Phoenix visiting our kids…last night we spent the night in Las Cruces,NM.
After Randy took his shower,he walks out of the bathroom (now this is a picture you want etched in your mind forever)and holding up a pair of clean underwear,proceeds to say,”what happened to my new underwear?” As I sat there looking and laughing at gray undies with huge bleach spots all over them, I remembered that I was going to put that pair way back of his drawer, but got so involved with packing, guess I folded them and stuck them in the suitcase. Because I am so used to throwing all of his underwear in with the bleach water, I had forgotten that he had bought new colored underwear and still threw them in the water with bleach. Still laughing, i told him that if tie-dyed clothes come back in style he will be totally in fashion;plus he has a pair of “one of a kind” underwear and should be so thankful that at least I still do wash his clothes. So many of the wives today insist that their hubbies do their own laundry. So that shut him up real quick. I am hoping that if I ruin too many of his clothes in the wash, he will volunteer to do all of the laundry. Ladies, remember there are other ways,besides nagging,to get men to help around the house. You just need a big ole gallon of bleach and turn the dryer setting to “hot”!..forgot to mention that his new designer undies wouldn’t even fit a 10 yr old now. Who says you can’t get a man to do a women’s job?