As I sat there this morning applying layer upon layer of makeup to cover a wrinkle here and there (actually there are more than that, but it sounds better to put it like that), it dawned on me that I need to write out a living will. Not the kind that tells which kid will one day be given the job to “pull the plug” but the kind of will that gives specific instructions as to the following should the need arise. It seems that I am always telling Randy some of the following:
If I have a stroke and cannot talk for awhile or am not able to get myself dressed this is what you need to remember. Then I panic and think, “oh my gosh what if he forgets everything I am telling him to do. Would he still allow friends and family to enter the room and as they gaze down at me, and see whiskers flowing freely out of my chin? Would they stare in wonder thinking “oh my gosh, so that’s what she looks like with no earrings or eyebrow pencil!” Oh the poor dear, if she only knew which jammies Randy was putting on her to receive company! Those are the things that are keeping me up at night as the “golden years” are so quickly engulfing me.
All that to say, that after staring at myself this morning in the makeup mirror with the sunlight casting such a bright light into the bathroom, I decided that women need a true living will. A will that will keep us looking like we are alive, even if we are laying there trying to blink the alphabet to our caregivers letting them know that we are wanting our morning Diet Dr Peppers and the 3:00 p.m. Hershey candy bars. So here we go, please feel free to download it and print it off for your precious hubby who might need just a bit of wisdom in how to really take care of us, should the need happen.
1. Leave a list of which earrings go with which outfits/jammies
2. Always, and this is a command, not a suggestion: keep a razor on the bedside to quickly run over our faces before ANYONE enters our rooms.
3. A list of your favorite candy and snacks to keep hidden in case the silly nurses think you should be snacking only healthy Ensure. I think we all know by now that Ensure only assures you that you will remain regular, no matter what.
4. A manicurist will be sent to our home/nursing home every two weeks, no matter if you are in surgery or unconscious. This is a most important requirement.
5. The children cannot talk about what they will do with the inherited money from the will or insurance in the room, as they gaze lovingly down at me, even though I might look like I cannot hear them. I will come back and haunt them.
6. A list of great books that I want read to me. A good murder mystery is always good to keep our minds active trying to figure out who did it.
7. Should my teeth be in a container, insert them before any company and apply #325 lipstick (Revlon) at least 6 times a day. List the makeup bases and cheek color so you won’t look like a clown should your husband decide that the orange stick is close enough to the color you normally wear.
8. My hair is to remain blond, (shampoo in Loreal #120) at all times! Even if I am 102. No gray, EVER!
9. Do not let my Mary Kay extra emollient night cream run out. It is what keeps my wrinkles just “every here and there” and last but not least….
10. Be sure that my toenails are always painted a pretty bold color. At least as I look down at my feet, I will have something bright to be staring back at me.
It was a shock to me to find that I had never posted my Spaghetti & meatball recipe. It is one of our most requested dinners from family and friends alike. When I lived in Corpus Christ for years, there was a neighbor, Cam, who was Italian from New York and she gave me so many of her recipes that to this day, her meatballs, pecan pie, sour cream pound cake, and so many other of our desserts are still most treasured.
These great little gems have now been placed in my “oh my gosh why haven’t I made these before? I only have maybe 20 years or so left to eat them” folder! Because we had some friends over last night for spaghetti & meatballs, I started thinking about the left over cornbread dressing from Thursday evening when I made stuffed zucchini. They were so good I had the leftovers today for lunch. They were easy, quick and will be a favorite for any fall/winter dinners that we have.
I love Fridays. It makes me think of what all I want to bake for the weekend and who can I invite to have dinner with us. It is fun to immediately think, “wow, we can watch Netflix until midnight if we want and still sleep in on Saturday and so what do I want to bake for a Republic of Doyle, or Call the Midwife or our new favorite, I’ll Have What Phils Having” marathon?”
One of the most dear to my heart comfort foods is chicken pot pie. But, because one cannot ever find it without peas, I am forced to make my own. Actually, it is such a great dish to make. For some reason, it makes me feel like autumn is in the air, even though it is over 100. It brings back memories of sitting by a fireplace while the pot pie is in the oven and the apple crisp is sitting over on the counter waiting to bring about a wonderful closure to our meal. Yesterday I could not wait any longer. Chicken pot pie was on the menu. I didn’t care if there was no fire in the fireplace, or that the thermostat was turned down to 64 so the oven could be on. Because we had had the kids over for dinner on Sunday evening for barbecued chicken and hash brown casserole, there was still some of the potatoes left over so I began to think, “hum, the hash brown casserole could be used in my pot pie and give it a wonderful cheesy flavor. And flavor it did have. The pie was absolutely wonderful and we ate unit there would have been no room for apple crisp (ok, not for a couple of hours anyway, but we had pumpkin cookies and cherry pie so didn’t need to make anything else). The only thing I will change when I make it again is that I will homemake the biscuits to place on the top. Last night I used canned biscuits because I was in a hurry to get to game night at a girlfriends house. But it was still really really good.
Some sweet ladies came to our house for a brunch a couple of weeks ago. Because I had talked about sausage gravy over biscuits at water aerobic class, a couple of the ladies expressed a desire to have some, as they had never experienced this wonderful southern dish. While others in the class are talking about how this class is helping them feel better and building muscle strength, we are at the other end of the pool planning our sausage gravy biscuit brunch. One of the ladies said that she would bring some watermelon so we would have one healthy food item, while yet another said that she would bring a coffee cake. Well, this is the pastry she brought and everyone had a hissy (I’ve been dying to see that word)fit over it. We had such a grand time that morning. The night before, I got this great idea to type out questions to pass around the table and let everyone pick out one a the bowl was passed around. Here are some of the questions that got us talking and getting to know each other a little better. So before I post the recipe a little further down, why not think about having some ladies over that you would like to get to know and use this idea to start the conversation flowing. IT was a really nice morning and we had some really nice memory sharing among us.
Last evening a friend of mine and I decided that after playing golf for a few weeks, we wanted to participate in what is called Glo Golf, here in Arizona. Apparently, this particular golf club entices folks to come out at night with this marvelous idea of playing after the sun goes down. All I can tell you is that I don’t remember having that much fun outside of the kitchen when I have a mixer in my hand and a pound of butter beside me. Our husbands decided they would like to go so they could “help” us find the balls, or shine the flashlight on the course so we wouldn’t end up in a water hazard trying to find the tee box. So off we went to play in our first glow golf tournament. We picked out our out-fits that would go with our 4th of July led necklaces. Randy was even instructed to wear a shirt that would match the blue in my necklace so our pictures would look perfect, color wise. We arrived to find that apparently the 50 golf carts that were lined up had made a trip (or 5 trips) to the Dollar Store. Every imaginable glow in the dark neon bracelet, necklace, hanging ornaments had been purchased and adorned the golf carts. We were the only ones that didn’t have a golf cart that could be seen from space. But, what a night. They had told us that if we found ourselves using the glow balls that were given to us and needing more, they would could be purchased for $8/each. Those of you who know Randy know that he would swim an ocean to retrieve a lost ball before spending $8 for a ball. So we take off, realizing that, if at all possible, that glow ball that came in our alloted amount, would be treated like gold. And swim some of us did. On about the 3rd hole, I actually (in the dark don’t forget) crawled under a wire fence that separated the driving range from the “out of bounds” area to the right of the fairway. But retrieve I did. With the help of two different golf clubs and muscles from crawling on my stomach that I had not used in years since trying to get dirty diapers from under furniture that was too heavy to move, when the kids were little. Thank goodness, it was dark. A little further down the course, Teresa found herself crawling over a fence to find her glow ball which was laying near the street. She came back with a splinter in her finger from the wooden fence. Both of our balls landed in the water hazard which we, once again, using the longest clubs we could get, dragged the ball to the edge of the lake, then sticking our hand in that filthy water, was able to rescue the treasured ball. We discovered drainage ditches that we had never noticed when we play in the daytime. All in all, we had a ball. The laughter, the new adventure, the memories that were made with our husbands there to cheer us on, were priceless. We cannot wait to sign up for the next one.
We have a young chef who comes into our community once a month who is absolutely wonderful. Not only does she bring us amazing recipes, but she is funny and just livens up the people who show up. You come away laughing and in such great moods, it is just a great class to attend. Last week she made 4 really good recipes of which I have already made one. It will be one of our staples from now on. Open Faced Caprese Sandwiches. She also gave us the recipe for Butterscotch Peanut bars, Watermelon-Feta-Basil Salad and a summer mixed drink which I will post tomorrow. But today I am posting the Caprese Sandwiches and Butterscotch Bars.
Chocolate Castles 