It had been a busy and rough two weeks! Emotionally and physically! Two of our friends had passed away and there had not been enough Advil in TX to relieve me of pain from my leg! Who knew that there is a cyst called Bakers Cyst that appears behind your knee cap and wouldn’t you know that apparently it is named after a person not from people who stand up baking for Hours a day! But apparently that is what has caused the pain that has caused me to sit for long periods of time on frozen bags of peas and corn! Truly I have been so blessed with good health and Have not been used to having physical pain other than tired feet from shopping or trying to diet to get baby fat (which at 72 I’m still trying) off of me! But this last month had me down emotionally and physically! After two funerals of these precious friends in less than a week apart, I was spent! On Saturday Randy and I had to get out to run errands (why do they call it run when no one actually runs to do them). We “car” errands! But on the way to order randy new computer glasses, I told him that I wanted a key lime pie like the one I had bought for a friend this week! That pie had been on my mind all week! I had gone to Costco to pick up some food for the family that had lost a very much loved member and when I had seen the pie in the bakery section of Costco, I picked one up to take to them! It looked delicious! So this past Saturday we headed to Costco to see if they had any key lime pies left! Costco was crazy. So many people there you had to wait at end of aisle sometimes just to go down it! As RAndy and I pushed our cart back towards the bakery dept, I told him “oh I hope they still have some of the pies! But with this many people here I bet they are all gone! Especially after being here since last Saturday when I first saw them!” So as fast as my little chubby legs would take me (and walking like I was 100 years old because of my knee) I spotted the cold case that holds the pies! Lo and behold, looking down into the cold chest holding lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting was ONE key lime pie. Sitting all by itself beside all the cupcakes! I grabbed it and held in for dear life! You would have thought I was at KMart grabbing the last item on their blue light specials! (If you are younger than 60 you probably have no idea what a blue light special is!)

As we got to the car, I realized that this is one of those little blessings that God in His goodness gives to us! Is it just a key lime pie, of course it is, but to me it was one of the times that He shows us personally how much He loves and cares for us! He knew the hurt of the last two weeks! He hears our hearts when we are needing a sense of His presence and He loves to show us that no matter what , He is always there. When days are hard and life throws us unexpected trials that cause us pain, God can show up even in a refrigerated case with a key lime pie! It was one of the times when I walked away thinking “He saved it just for me”. Thank you Lord for the Sonshine you bless our lives with when we are down and discouraged! To God Be The Glory!

Psalm 81:16 “but I would feed you with the best of foods. I will satisfy you with wild honey from the rock” ……

And sometimes a key lime pie!

It has been fun trying different combinations of veggies for Meatless Mondays. Tonight was a combined pan of blackeye peas with green beans, corn on the cob (as per Randys request), cooked green cabbage with onions and carrots! But the winner of new dishes was a recipe I saw last week on FB. It was cornbread made with onions and called Upside Down Cornbread and folks, it is a winner!!! we love Jiffy Cornbread (please don’t send me hate mail) , I know real southerners love the homemade cornbread but we do love Jiffy and it makes a perfect size for us for 2-3 meals. The recipe said to slice onions and bake them in butter for about 10-12 minutes in a baking dish. Remove from oven and pour whatever cornbread you want to have over the onions and bake as directed by your recipe. The extra butter and onions give it such a wonderful flavor. We topped ours off with the blackeyed pea/green bean mixture! So now we don’t have to feel guilty about the key lime pie we will have for dessert come 8:00

When I find a new candy such as the ones I found the other day, the picture that immediately comes to mind is topping cupcakes with them. So that’s exact what I did. Heading out to a ladies lunch tomorrow I figured they might e not these scrumptious little cupcakes! They are ready, covered and sitting in the fridge until time to leave tomorrow. Have found that placing cakes and cookies in freezer or fridge makes them much more moist until ready to use. So made them today and can’t wait to have one tomorrow.

1 Duncan Hines Devils Food cake mix

1 small package instant chocolate pudding

4 eggs at room temp

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 1/4 cup water

1-2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips. Beat for about 2 min and then stir In chocolate chips. Divide batter into cupcakes liners! Bake for about 15 min or until they test done. Cool and frost with your choice of frosting! Please don’t tell me (Cora) if you use canned frostings

Frosting that is easy and delicious

1 stick (8 tablespoons) softener butter

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tables white Karo

2 teas vanilla

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Milk, whipping cream or half & half to get to spreading consistency (about 1/4-1/3 cup)

Mix until no lumps remain. Frost cooled cupcakes. Top with candy ball or any candy you like!

Well I tried to make a video of this but it didn’t work out very good. So am just posting pics and recipe!

Duncan Hines Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix

Small package of French Vanilla instant pudding

1 1/4 cup water

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Can of Coconut pecan frosting

Mix all ingredients together except the chocolate chips. Beat for 2 min and then stir in chips. Place about 1/12 cups of batter into desired prepared and oiled baking pans ! Spoon some of the frosting mix over the batter. Spread rest of batter over being sure to cover the frosting mix.

Bake until cake tests done. Time depends on sis of your pan!

When cooled. Drizzle chocolate ganache over cake and fill hole with some of the left over coconut pecan frosting if you like.

Ganache is 1/2 cup chocolate chips to 1 cup of whipping cream. Hear Creme just until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and Stir in chips. Slow to sit for a few min then stir until chips are melted.

I’m in love with the new Fry Daddy I got for a bday gift. Last night I got it back out and sliced the zucchini I had into 1/2” slices. Poured some buttermilk over them and then dipped them in self rising flour which I had seasoned with seasoned Salt, Pepper some Sicilian spice I love to use! Dropped them in the hot oil and wala…they came out perfect. The wonderful thing about the Fry Daddy is that once you drop in the chips or French fries or any veggie you are frying, you don’t have to stand there and turn them over hoping they don’t loose some of the “crust” after turning them

This has opened up a whole new world of fried foods for us! Heart Doctor is on speed dial!

Covid does many things, one of them being that we “get” to be quiet and spent more time at home and away from doing lots of things that we love! That is my story this week! I had many things planned to do, people to see and places to go! Monday began with excitement knowing that at 6:30 I would be gathered with lots of friends who were just as excited as I was to hear Debbie Stuart speak! The old term “Feed Them & They Will Come”, certainly applies to Monday night. It wasn’t a dinner with great food, (but there were great cookies) but it was a evening of being fed Gods Word that spoke to so many hearts! Instead of coming away with heartburn and regret from eating too much, I think I can speak for the women there, that we all came away with a renewed passion to put our priorities in the right place! As I drove home I felt so inspired to get in Gods Word and recommit to seek Him in all my ways. Not only was it a night to see and hug on so many ladies I had not seen in a long time, but was just a reminder of what sweet Memories are made when woman gather. Friendships are renewed and laughter fills our hearts as we catch up with one another! And then comes the reason we had come to fill the church; a night of learning from God’s Word. We read from Haggai 1 when Haggai was given the message from the Lord to tell the exiles who have returned from Babylonia to begin rebuilding the temple! I’ll post the scripture below so you can read the words that Haggai was given! The people had indeed returned to Jerusalem but in the business of trying to make it their home once again they had left the temple undone. Their priority became their own houses, leaving the House of God in shambles! As Debbie read from chapter 1 “this is what the Lord Almighty says, “ Consider how things are going for you! Now go up into the hills bring down timber and rebuild my house. Then I will take pleasure in it and be honored, says the Lord!” The people had become distracted by daily needs and wants and had Excuses for why they had not finished Gods Temple! As i drove home I began to think about that. Have I been “rebuilding Gods temple (my heart) before other things? Then Tuesday arrived and I began to not feel very well. By Wednesday the Dr confirmed I had Covid. Because activities had to be canceled, I had extra time to read and pray. It was then That I realized that was what I do so often! I allow daily activities and business to be my excuse for not “building Gods Temple! Because our hearts are His temples, am I more focused on my own priorities? many days the first thing on my mind is “when can I decorate for the season at hand, or what can I bake today, or who can I meet for lunch? All good things, yes, but who should occupy the first thoughts of my day? My Lord and Creator, or my house? My savior, or the weekly menu? Who should be the last thought in my mind before closing my eyes at night? Who I had talked to that day or Praising the God who is my Provider? Did I remember to give thanks for all the blessings of the day, or did I just lay there and think about what I needed to do the next morning? Does God want us to enjoy our lives and decorate and bake and meet friends for lunch? Absolutely! But we are called to put Him in His rightful place, FIRST! When we make Him our priority, our passions for a abundant life seems to fall in place! He is honored and we are blessed with His peace, knowing that His Love Never Fails and His Presence Never Leaves Us! Thank you Debbie for reminding us of Haggi 2:4-5 “take courage and work, for I am with you, says the Lord Almighty. My Spirit remains among you, just as I promised when you came out of Egypt, So do not be afraid.”