Before I begin the story I want to just say “Happy Fall Y’all” and may your yards be filled with pumpkins and mums and may your days be filled with pumpkin lattes, apple cakes/pies and your nights with soups/stews or chicken and dumplings to your hearts content! Peter and Penelope have stashed Trudy and Randy in the closet until after Christmas when once again Frosty and Noel will allow them back out to enjoy the New Year!   As pumpkins adorn our house and the baking of gingerbread biscotti permeates the air, we are enjoying the cooler (well by 8-10 degrees) and just the change of our attitudes of knowing that in just a few weeks the fireplace will be lit and the blankets will be once again thrown over the arm of the couch just waiting for us to snuggle in!  Aw…yes the feel of fall is upon us!  To begin our first weekend in Oct, we set out to run errands when all of a sudden Peter steps on the brake  and makes a quick turn into the parking lot where Sprouts is located! Before I began to say “did you forget something at home and am doing a uturn?” he looks at me and says “we might as well go ahead and get your chocolate covered Gummi bears before we start our day and I have to listen to you gripe that you don’t have any for the weekend” and you wonder why I love this sweet man! So into Sprouts I ran (ok I didn’t run I waddled) and made the mistake of going to the same man at the checkout counter.  He looked up from his mask at me and remembered checking me out a few days ago when I had gone thru his checkout stand only buying this same candy, and he said, and I quote,”my goodness you must really like these little guys”! And yes when he weighed them I actually had a lb and a half. But I just did the right thing and lied and said  “oh I’m sharing them with a friend”! 

So I paid for them and really did run out of the store to show this darling man that even if I did eat a lot of candy, I could in fact. still run! by the time Peter drove up to pick me up at the curb, I had already untied the bag and had a chocolate covered gummy bear in my mouth…and life began to make sense again! But as we were driving out headed to the exit of the parking lot, we noticed a lady who had parked in the furthest parking space out by the road, carrying her reusable grocery bags, wearing a mask, skinny as a rail , walking briskly in the direction of Sprouts! As we watched her we began to talk of the difference in people! We always drive around sometimes for 10 minutes trying to find the closest parking spaces to the stores! And reusable bags? , we do good to remember to bring our wallets and drinks for our snacks we eat driving around. Do you really thing we can remember to bring our own bags? And as we continued to talk about this we realized that people like her probably have never had a little piece of Heaven that we like to call “hamburgers and French fries from Shakeshack”. We have just discovered this magical place that is now our favorite hamburgers and shakes.

So now in addition to our regular Fall addictions of apple cakes, pumpkin cheesecakes, and gingerbread biscottis, we now have to add chocolate covered Gummi bears and Shakeshack hamburgers! Yes Fall is in the air, and Peter and Penelope are so ready to explore, gather with friends and family or sit with the fireplace on having a hamburger, shake and chocolate Gummi bears! Bless that skinny little ladies heart, I bet she is still walking back to her car with her reusable bags that is filled with nothing but fruits and veggies!

Redwoods & Community

Redwoods & Community

— Read on chocolatecastles.com/2015/10/01/redwoods-community/

Since Fall is about to fall upon us, (see what I did there), I wanted something fallish in the oven. Randy had requested a pecan pie so I looked up the Pioneer woman’s recipe and it looked wonderful so I made that for him and then decided to whip up these wonderful little spice cupcakes to take to some sweet ladies who work ever so hard at trying to make even us oldies look pretty snazzy. So a shout out to Apple Blvd for the fun I have watching them model cute clothes while Randy watches football! And of course, I do hope that Apple Blvd will come to my rescue by letting me sleep in their parking lot in my car when Randy kicks me out from buying too many clothes !

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake mix

1 small box french vanilla instant pudding mix

4 large eggs at room temperature

1/3 cup veggie oil and 1 cup water

Mix all ingredients together and beat for 2 min. Using large cookie scoop, divide batter into 24 cupcake liners. Bake in preheated 350 oven until a little shine is left in the lines on top of cupcakes. I always take them out before that shine is gone so they aren’t dry. Cool completely and frost with Praline frosting

In a medium size saucepan, melt 1 stick unsalted butter (8 oz) with 1 cup of light brown sugar and 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream or milk! Stir until brown sugar is dissolved and butter is melted.

Boil for 1 min. Pour mixture over 3 cups of powdered sugar. Beat until smooth! You might have to add more milk or more powdered sugar depending on how thick or thin frosting is. Add 1 teas vanilla. When Cupcakes are cool, frost with frosting and top with sprinkles of your choice!

I’m not saying I’m a true blonde and I’m not saying I’m not! AND….I’m not saying that covid made me do it and I’m not saying it didn’t! We have all heard of some folks having a little “mind fog” after having Covid! And we have also heard our fair share of blonde jokes! All I can say is this; Randy and I are running out of cities and neighborhoods to move to after these most embarrassing moments! Bless Randys heart, he has had his fair share of these situations but they were mostly of his own doing! Mine, well, let’s just say that mine, for the most part, tend to come because I tend to look at life thru rose colored glasses! And when I hear certain words like party, celebration, fellowships, weddings, birthdays and grand openings, all I can think about is fun fun fun and food food food!!!!

Yesterday was one memory that will go down in my book of “need to move NOW” situations as much as when we moved after me doing a spread eagle with a grocery cart at Kroger! I know y’all probably thought we moved to California due to Randys job but we had to get away from TX quickly when that happened! My kids told me it was a shame that I hadnt had that move on video as it would have won us a lot of money on AFV! But moving forward to this past weekend….we have been hearing our Pastor preach lately about Jesus telling us that we are to be salt and

Light in this ole world and to be looking for opportunities to share Christ with people who might need some encouragement or hope! Well, I saw an opportunity yesterday when we were leaving the house and waved to our neighbor who lives behind us! He was outside across from our driveway putting something in his truck so I told Randy to back up and let me run back inside the house to get some gingerbread biscotti I had made to give to he and his wife! So Randy backs up the car and I proceed to walk over to hand him the bag of biscotti and tell him I hope he and his wife enjoy it. He then begins to thank me and tell me that they are headed out to a “Celebration of Life” for his wife’s mom! As I hand over the biscotti I, well the conversation went like this: Trudy—“oh how fun. Please tell Patti’s mom I said Happy birthday for me and after y’all get home from the party having all the neat celebration food, you can sit down and relax and have a piece of biscotti!” Dewayne—“thank you so much for the biscotti. I’ll tell JEN, you brought this over!” Well, I walked away to get in the car so proud of my good deed when Randy looks over at me and says, (yes he had had the car window down and heard what I had said)

“You just told him to wish his dead mother in law a happy birthday! Do you realize a celebration of life is for people who are dead? They aren’t having a birthday party for her!”

As we drove away I told Randy to now back up because I had to go back and apologize! So we did back up and Dewayne came over to the car! Randy once again rolls his window down and I lean over and begin to apologize and tell him how sorry I am for not realizing what a Celebration of Life was! Randy begins to tell our neighbor that I am blonde and these things happen al the time! Dwayne began to laugh and tell me that his MIL had indeed died in July but because of Covid the Celebration was just being held! I also realized that when he kept talking about his wife “Jen” I had called her by the wrong name before! So the moral to my story is this: when you are trying to be a good neighbor and be salt to people around you, maybe call Jake from State Farm to get some tips beforehand! And learn today’s lingo before opening your mouth! It will save you from having to move so often like we do!

Last week when I was just beginning to get my taste back after not being able to taste even the strongest flavors for over a week, I wanted to taste chocolate. As I looked for something new, I came across this recipe that made a 8×8 pan and sounded so good with not only cocoa in it but 6 oz of chocolate chips. So hurried to get the ingredients out and went to work! This recipe is such a great one to make if you are in a hurry and know that you have to have an ooey gooey brownie in the next hour or you won’t be able to live to see the temps go down in a month or so!
6 oz of unsalted butter

6 oz of semi sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 teas baking powder

1/4 teas salt

2 eggs at room temp ( unless you just can’t stand to wait to make them then go on and take a chance at using them right out of fridge, I did that night and lived to tell about it!)

2 teas vanilla (yes I am still recommending the clear mexico vanilla).
1 cup granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Line an 8×8” baking pan with parchment paper (I Didnt do that, I just sprayed my pan with Pam with flour) But if you use the paper, spray it with cooking spray.

in a heatproof bowl, melt the butter, cocoa and chocolate chips together over a pan of hot water or in microwave. Stir until combined and cooked a bit.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl combine the eggs with the sugar and vanilla. Beat until color is pale yellow for egg yolks, about 3-4 minutes. Mix in the cooled chocolate mixture and then add the flour mixture. Stir until combined.

scrape mixture with spatula into prepared baking pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes! I baked mine about 23 minutes but check after 20 minutes as ovens vary! You want them done but still a little gooey so when a few crumbs still stick to inserted knife in center when checking for doneness, take them out. They will still continue to bake even after you remove them from oven. We had a bowl with some Blue Bell Vanilla ice cream on top. Ah….we will be able to live to see the Fall temps arrive after all! I would add a picture but ate them up so fast I guess I’ll have to make them again to take a picture!

oh. I forgot. I sprinkled some chopped pecans over the top before baking. Yum….

Well, if there is anything that you might want to try to test your marriage, we might have found the perfect situation. This will help to see if you have what it takes to know if you meant it when you promised “through sickness or health, till death do us part”. Even large homes seem small when there is so much coughing. And each person looks at the other one with a look of “if u cough one more time I’m going to push you out side and lock the door” look!

Oh there have been several times in these past two weeks, when that was coming sooner than later. For the past two weeks, we have been side by side in the house trying to get to the point of being able to really say, “I love you and would do this all over again” and really mean it. After all, we consider this not bad that in 26 years, this is the first time we have truly had a divorce attorney name and number on a sheet of paper laying out, ready to call. It’s not that we weren’t feeling sorry for the other one, it was just that we both felt so bad that we would glare at each other when one of us needed something, wondering which one of us would be able to actually get up and get it. Then there were the days and nights of one of us being chilled and the other one was burning up! Who got to pick if the fan was on or off and was the temp set at 72 or 78!

We even survived 9 hours in the ER, waiting for a 15 minute antibody infusion that we had been told to “allow about 3 hours”. We had an appointment, getting to the hospital at 9… we got home at 7 p.m. We do so appreciate the medical staff who are so overworked and yet treat each of us like we were their only patient. But… If we weren’t sick when we got to the hospital, we would have been by the time we left. Neither one of us had a clue that there would be so many sick people sitting around us, coughing and sneezing and complaining every time a medical person walked by them. We came away with a new appreciation for every one who works in the medical field.

We drew straws to see which one of us would sleep in the “big boy bed”, which the other one would go sleep in the guest room. We knew if we tried to sleep in the same room, neither would sleep, as the coughing that took place made us sound like we had TB. And, when we needed a drink to stop the coughing at 3 a.m., I’m not going to lie and tell you that I didn’t fake being asleep so that i didn’t have to go get Mr. Hello I’m Ringing the Bell Because I Need A Drink. Then there were the constant texts from friends and family who wanted to know what our oxygen levers were, day and night. Our blood pressure was usually pretty normal until by nighttime we were so stressed by the concern from our kids if our oxygen levels didn’t stay above 95. And I guess I don’t have to tell you that because we are old and one of us has had lots of pregnancies, there are certain things that happen when you cough a lot. So jammies had to be washed quite often. Before you send us hate email, we are, and have been vaccinated since February. But apparently there are many of us, even though we did get the vaccine, we still caught Covid. One of the positive things is that both of us lost weight. I found out that when you can’t taste or smell, it’s no fun to cook or eat. I even lost my desire for chocolate candy. I never do that. It was so sad that because I had so much time on my hands and could have cooked a lot to share, It was not safe to do that as I didn’t want to spread germs to other people.

We are now on the other side and getting better every day. We are so grateful that we were spared the intense symptoms of Covid that so many people have had. Yes, we felt bad and yes, we still have bouts of no energy, but because of being vaccinated, we were spared the horrible health issues that so many have had to deal wth. And we are still married and we still love each other. But, if this had gone on too much longer, well,…. we kept the attorney’s number just in case we get the flu at the same time this Winter.

I usually do not write about issues that cause conflict or issues that might cause people to not like me. I’m one of those who will do or keep quiet about most everything that might hurt peoples feelings. But last night on TV when we watched a nurse break down crying because she was so tired and overworked, it broke my heart. Her words to everyone listening were these: “most of this could have all been avoided had people got vaccinated.
It started me thinking about that. What is happening to our world when we choose to not listen to wise doctors who have tried to tell us that the vaccine works. When I hear people say that they are not getting the vaccine because they won’t let the government tell them what to do; why not? when they are just trying to keep us safe? Years ago, when government told us we had to get vaccinated for polio and small pox to be able to go to school, we did it. I remember watching some friends when I was a little girl who had to live in an iron lung because they contracted polio. My uncle became crippled with polio. But we as kids, stood in lines with our parents to receive the sugar cube with medicine in it to keep us from having polio. Then once again, when the government came in and told us we had to wear seat belts to avoid being thrown through the windshield, we accepted that. Our babies now have to be strapped in car seats. We pay taxes. Is it all of the social media that has stirred up so much discord that we have taken an attitude of; no one is going to tell me what to do!

Last night as we watched that nurse asking people to please reconsider getting the vaccine, all I could think about was why our hearts have changed so much. Why do we just automatically think that just because we are being told to do something that will keep us safe but also others, why would we not want to do that? Have we become such a proud people that we feel that no matter what we are being told, we cannot surrender our trust to people who know what is best for us? Maybe it is time for us to look inside of our hearts to ask ourselves why are we really not getting on board with this very necessary and important vaccination?

In the gospel of Matthew 22 verse 17 the Pharisees were trying to trick Jesus and “now tell us what you think about this: “is it right to pay taxes to the Roman government or not?” But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” “whom are you trying to fool with your trick questions? Here, show me the Roman coin used for the tax.” When they handed him the coin, he asked, “whose picture and title are stamped on it?” “Caesars” the replied. “well then, give to Caesar what belongs to him. But everything that belongs to God be given to God.” His replay amazed them and they went away.

If you are wondering why I choose this scripture it is because what Jesus is saying is this, we need to honor and respect government. I know what you are thinking. But unless the government tells us to do something that is dishonoring to God or makes us do something that is against His laws or commands, as Christians, we should think about what we are called to do. And sometimes, our wills need to be in line with what is best for us and others, and not just refuse because we feel that we don’t want the government telling us what to do. And of course I do know that some have been told by doctors that because of certain health issues, they are recommending them not getting vaccinated. Totally understandable. And I do respect everyones opinions. This is just mine, so please don’t send me hate mail. It just scares me that we have become a world of so much “to each his own and no one can tell me what to do”.

God has given us wonderful doctors who are wise and who have given us medicines which help keep us safe from so many unknowns. Why do we not trust them, even though if we get sick from the things that the vaccines would have kept us from getting, we accept their medicine to help get us well. This has been an eye opener for me to ask myself some hard questions. Is my heart right in accepting that sometimes, in spite of the fact that the government sometimes makes some really bad decisions, it also makes some very good ones. In this case, they are trying to protect us and our families. We should be so grateful. Yes, we do live in the land of the free. But it is also the home of the brave. And sometimes being brave means we have to step out in faith and do what is best for everyone. And that is to get the vaccine. If this posts changes one person’s mind about being vaccinated, all glory goes to God. He put this on my heart to write last night.

Well,I know the title is long but this dish sounded so good to me that I know I will be making it for the holidays. It is so exciting to know that in exactly 19 days, I can begin to get my fall decor out, put up the Fall Trees and start thinking about all the dishes that will grace the table for the following 4 months. If you are like I am, even if the temperatures don’t feel like Fall, September just sounds like it should begin all the holiday festivities. Even yesterday I sat down to look through some old Taste of Home, Paula Deen and Southern Living magazines for some new ideas. One idea I have to share with you is this:

When having people over for an Italian themed dinner, use large colorful cans (that you have washed) of tomatoes or tomato sauce, to hold bread sticks or fresh basil to put in the middle of the table, or use them to put your napkins which are folded up with forks, knives and spoons if serving buffet style. I loved that idea. Very practical and so cute. So back to the mentioned recipe. Have finally learned to like blue cheese so this caught my eye and can’t wait to make them.

1/4 cup avocado oil

3 cups halved Brussels Sprouts

1/2 cup sliced red onions

1/2 cup sliced sweet red pepper

2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

2 tables balsamic vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese

1/2 cup crumbled cooked bacon

3/4 teas salt, 1/2 teas pepper

1/2 cup chopped cashews or pecans

In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add Brussel sprouts, onions and red pepper; cook and stir until crisp-tender, 8-10 minutes.Add cranberries, vinegar and garlic. Cook just until berries are tender, 8-10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese, bacon, salt, pepper and sprinkle with nuts of your choice.

6 servings

Taken from Taste of Home Nov 2018

Since it’s the Magical Season where we are suppose to be cheerful and joyous, Randy is being saved from being a victim on a 48 Hours episode!

The story begins like this….

Once Upon a Time there was a husband named Randy. Because his wife Trudy had been having some hip and leg pain, and the pain was worse at night when she slept (or tried to sleep but could not because her leg hurt so badly) he shared that maybe it was time for them to buy a new mattress! Well, Princess Bakesalot spoke up and said “what if we buy a new mattress and find out that the pain is still bad and we spent all that money for nothing, when I could have had a brand new sparkly newcrown”. Mr. I Have a Great Idea says ,

” I know, let’s switch out our king mattress for the newer more firm Queen mattress that is in the guest room before we go buy a new one! That way we can see if having a better mattress will help you before we waste money on a new one!”

Well, Princess Bakesalot agreed that indeed they should try it. After all. how hard could it be? So working together they decided to drag the queen mattress from the guest room to the master bedroom and would just put the queen mattress on top of the king mattress so they wouldn’t have drag the king mattress to the other room. Since all the elves were off on holiday from being so tired from Christmas, the couple decided that they still had it in them to make this change! As they discovered, the queen mattress did not have any handles on the sides to help hold or guide it! Mr IHAGI told the Princess if she could just walk backwards holding onto the end to guide it, he would be at the other end to push! All was well until they tried to hoist it over the footboard and knocked over a lamp and desk accessories! As the mattress finally cleared the footboard, the Princess fell backwards onto the floor with the mattress on top of her! She proudly picked herself up and declared that she was fine and they proceeded down the hallway. Upon arriving in the master bedroom, once again trying to hoist it now over the king footboard, they discovered that there was no way on Gods Green Earth that either of them would be able to climb into bed without the use of a 8′ ladder or a cannon to shoot them onto it! So at this point they felt that they now needed to lean the queen mattress over to the wall and remove the king mattress so they could put the queen mattress on the box springs! At least with a good running, start they might be able to get up on this “higher than they were use to” mattress! the king mattress had handles that allowed them to grab onto to hustle it over the footboard since there was not enough room to move it to the side! After as much breath that it took to”huff and puff to blow your house down” the king mattress was now off the box springs and covered the doorway to the bathroom! But alas, the couple decided that at this point it was easier to walk down the hall to the guest bathroom than to try to move the king size mattress! This is how it will stay until we move in 3 weeks! Neither Mr IHAGI or Princess Bakesalot have the energy to change it again!

The moral of the story is this….

Go to a mattress store that allows you To buy mattress with a 30 day return policy and be sure to have lots of ice to put on your hip, your leg and your foot if you attempt this terrible ordeal!

Am hoping the sweeping goes down enough in my foot that will allow me to walk to the bedroom tonight to try out the new mattress!

Also, if you’re wondering why Mr IHAGI and Princess Bakesalot did not just sleep in the guest bedroom the answer is very simple. The Princess is afraid of lizards and a month ago a lizard was spotted in that bedroom which was never found! The End!