Daily Thoughts

Grandkids, Grandparents & Guns

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This weekend our 10 year old grandson, Sevy stayed with us for 4 days. Both Randy and I thought about  when our kids were young, how we would take a sack filled with Matchbox cars, or Barbi’s to grandmas house to entertain the little darlings for the weekend. The grandparents felt fortunate if there was a new Disney movie just coming out that they could take the kids to which would then take up a couple of hours.

We want to be sure that other grandparents out there learn a few new guidelines of how to spend 4 days with a 10 year old, without getting stressed out enough to double up on Geritol (or something stronger) or just “accidentally” leave the kid at Dave & Buster’s.

1. Forget the Barbi’s and Matchbox cars. Just be sure you have enough power strips in the house that will handle all the sweet childs “toys’, so you don’t blow a fuse and end up without any electricity. Be aware that any grandchild over the age of 6 will probably tell you that they can and do try to fix anything on your computer or television that will give them access to more games and cartoons. We are now doing research on how to get our tv and computer back to our settings.

2. If you don’t have the cartoon network; GET IT…even though you might have “SpongeBob Squarepants” song embedded in your brain for the rest of your life, just having it on will give you time to shower and get breakfast ready. And….FYI, luckily for all of us grandparents, you will be glad to know that they are 13 Seasons of SpongeBob, each season having 18 episodes..Ain’t life grand?

3. There is no need to “tuck them in bed and read them a story”. All they want to snuggle with is their Ipad, cell phone and Xbox controllers.

4. They have an uncanny way of finding any chocolate that you have hidden away  for those times when you need just something to tide you over until the next football practice, which will give you 2 whole hours of quiet; but cannot seem to every find the other shoe that will allow you to be on time for their golf lesson,or football game.

5. When you ask them if they might want to play dominoes or cards, they will probably ask you if that is an app on your phone!

6. Accept the fact that you will gain 5 lbs the weekend you have the little angel s in your home, due to the fact that you will be eating fast food the entire time. If it doesn’t come from Chick Fila, McDonalds or Pie 5, they don’t want it.

7. Do not ever believe, I repeat, “DO NOT EVER BELIEVE” the sweet little innocent darlings when they say that they wish you would take them to Academy “just to look” at any thing. They are lying. They know when they look up at you and tell you that you are the best Nana in the world, that you will end up carrying out what ever it was that they came to “just look at”.

8. And last great lesson  for the weekend; be sure that you are in good standing with your neighbors. You don’t want them calling the cops when you are out on the driveway, having target practice with the air rifle that they “just went to look at”. Also be aware that sometimes those pellets ricochet and can hit objects that were not intended to hit…thus the new dent in the car.2015-04-12 09.09.58

9. Be sure that you go to bed by 10. Their day begins about 6 a.m. and they like cartoons on the minute they go downstairs. They do not ever like the house void of background noise, so neither should we. After all, if there is quiet, they might hear you tell them to do a chore.

10. Take lots of pictures of them with your phone. One day you will need some evidence to embarrass them to bribe them to come see you in the nursing home.

So these are the lessons that we learned over the last 4 days. I leave Tuesday to fly to Phoenix to babysit 3 more grandchildren. Will write the new lessons I learn there, when I return.

Cakes · Desserts · Fruit

Apple Sharlotka

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2015-04-11 13.07.27

Saw this in a cookbook that was being passed out at Costco. Randy loves apple anything, so when I saw this, I knew I would be making this. So easy!

7 Eastern or Red Delicious, Empire or Jonagold, peeled and diced into 1″ cubes.

3 large eggs

1 cup super

1 teas vanilla

1 cup flour

1 teas baking powder

1 teas cinnamon

1/4 teas nutmeg

Powdered sugar for dusting

Ice cream or whipped cream for topping

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with a circle of parchment paper. Butter the pan and paper.

Place diced apples in the prepared pan.

In a mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating well. Add vanilla, then stir in dry ingredients, just until blended.

Pour the batter over the prepared apples, smoothing it over and into the apples. Gently tap the pan on the counter to even ly distribute the batter.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until cake tests done.

Let cool in pan for 20 min. Flip the cake onto a plate, then again onto a serving platter.

When cool, dust with powdered sugar. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

Chocolate · Desserts

Brownie Fudge Pie

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Many years ago a sweet friend of mine, Marie Williams gave me a book, Take Big Bites, by Linda Ellerby. It has been one of those books that keeps reminding me that life needs more special moments, more shared memories with loved ones and that we need to always be grateful for each day that we have. Every few pages in the book, Linda gives a recipe. This recipe became one of those that I continue to make sometimes twice a month, sometimes more. It is printed also in my cookbook, Princess on the Porch, but after having it edited again, before it goes into publication, I noticed that the recipe which is on page 90 needs correction. In my book, I gave in the list of ingredients, 1 cup of butter, when it should read 1 STICK of butter. If you have a copy of Princess on the Porch, please make sure to make this correction. It would be pretty greasy if you use 1 cup.

For those of you who don’t have a copy yet, I hope you will consider getting one when they come out in a couple of months. They will be available for Kindle, through Amazon and I think, Barnes & Noble. In the meantime here is the recipe.The book has humorous stories along with recipes and words of encouragement for the seasons of your lives…

Linda Ellerby, thank you for sharing this memory with us. This dessert has already been enjoyed in our home, more times than I can count. Everyone who we have shared it with, agree that it is a chocolate dessert that should be considered a food group.

1 stick butter

2 (1 oz ea) squares unsweetened chocolate

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teas vanilla

2 eggs

1/4 teas salt.

Preheat oven to

Melt chocolate and butter together over low heat or in microwave. Cool. Mix together the next 5 ingredients. Add cooled chocolate mixture and then stir until completely blended. Pour into a greased pie plate. Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes. Do not over bake, as you want it a little gooey

If you are a true chocoholic, you will cut off a piece every time you walk through the kitchen. Serve warm with ice cream is a great way to make new friends.

Serves: 6 to 8

Daily Thoughts

A Spoonful of Sugar & Thankfulness

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My last posting was on a Spoonful of Sugar Teacakes! And truly we have learned in our many (and I do mean many) years of life, that sugar seems to always make the “medicine go down” so much easier. Sugar is that special little ingredient that makes even the worst of medicines or some vegetables, easier to swallow.

In this new Season of retirement, Randy and I are seeking what would the Lord have us do. Sometimes, we (ok, I admit, mostly me) try to get ahead of the Lord trying to figure out where the next path will lead and what will be our place in serving. After all, we tend to think that sometimes we might “deserve” this time Just because we are retired, doesn’t mean that life should be all about us, or that all our time is our own. God leaves us all here for a reason. It is up to us to use our time for His glory and to remain faithful, even when we might not feel like it. Sometimes we might  be focusing on excuse; that we try to say are “reason’s” keeping us from serving others. If we had more time, or money or talents, or friends, we could be more useful. But what if the real reason that we aren’t being used  is that we are lazy, or self absorbed? What if our focus is wrong? Am I being thankful for what God has given me? Am I thankful for the life that He is allowing me to live?

After attending a Women’s Retreat, the speaker, Debbie Stuart, who is so special to our family, told us that sometimes, we can be in the middle of God’s will, even though we feel like we are in the wilderness, just like when God left Moses in the wilderness for 40 years. This past year, I felt many times like we were in a wilderness. There have been days when we felt that maybe we heard God wrong and He didn’t really lead us back to Texas. That maybe we were suppose to be someplace else. But even though there have been days that seemed to feel like wilderness to us, there has been an underlying peace that we know we are suppose to be here. That His plans might not unravel as quickly as we would like, seems to tell us that maybe it’s our faith that He is trying to grow. Maybe He leaves us in the wilderness to teach us that we need to lean on Him more than ourselves; or our motives need to change, maybe our character. Whatever the reason, and there always is one, may we learn whatever He is trying to teach us and then grow into the person that reflects Jesus Christ to others.

This morning, I turned the page to a devotion in Jesus Calling and this is today’s reading.

April 6th:

“Bring Me the sacrifice of thanksgiving. Take nothing for granted, not even the rising of the sun. Before Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden, thankfulness was as natural as breathing. Satan’s temptation involved pointing Eve to the one thing that was forbidden her. The garden was filled with luscious, desirable fruits, but Eve focused on the one fruit she couldn’t have rather than being thankful for the many good things freely available. This negative focus darkened her mind, and she succumbed to temptation.

When you focus on what you don’t have or on situations that displease you, your mind, also becomes darkened. You take for granted life, salvation, sunshine, flowers, and countless other gifts from Me. You look for what is wrong and refuse to enjoy life until that is “fixed. ”

When you approach Me with thanksgiving, the Light of My Presence pours into you, transforming you through and through. Walk in the Light with Me by practicing the discipline of thanksgiving.”

My prayer  is that I will become more thankful each day, even when life takes us in paths that lead to the wilderness for a season. May I use the wilderness days to grow my faith and service to God. That I won’t focus on what I don’t have but on what we do have and serve out of thankfulness and love for God’s love, mercies and  His gift of salvation.

Psa 116:17 I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and will call upon the name of the Lord.

A spoonful of sugar and thankfulness, a great recipe for wilderness days!

Cakes · Desserts

Spoonful of Sugar Tea Cakes

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Happy Easter! He is Risen! What a glorious time of year when we celebrate the risen Savior!

Tomorrow, we will consume our weight in sugar, with all the chocolate bunnies, the ham with it’s sugary glaze, baked beans, coconut cakes and handfuls of colorful jelly beans. Sometimes, (and this happens maybe once every 5 years) I even get on sugar overload. Randy loves these teacakes, because they are not real sweet…just like having a little spoonful of sugar to pop in your mouth. They can be decorated to look like any holiday, but are especially pretty on Easter dessert tables, with lightly colored colors of Easter. But perfect for your coffee time in the afternoon and because there is no coconut to add even more calories, you can even have a few more pieces….am I the only one that thinks like that?

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 cups all purpose flour

4 large eggs

2 teas vanilla (or 1 full teaspoon of almond extract, which is what I use as it makes me taste like wedding cake)2015-03-26 08.01.24

1 table baking powder

1/2 teas salt

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup sour cream

Cream Cheese Frosting (if desired) or sprinkle cookies with colored sugar as your topping

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13×9″ baking cake pan. and dust with flour.

In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar at medium speed with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla.

In another medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat until well combined. Beat in sour cream. Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.

Bake for 35 min or until cake tests done. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan and cool completely.

Trim off 1/2″ from all the sides. Level cake using a serrated knife to trim off rounded top. Cut cake into 3×2″ cubes. Spoon cream cheese Frosting on top of each cake piece. Garnish with colored sugar or raspberries.

Frosting:

1 8 oz cream cheese softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup whole milk (add gradually, you might not need it all)

Mix all ingredients and mix until well blended.

Be sure to share the Good News of Christ and His love for us with someone…invite them to church! Have a glorious Easter

Desserts · Fruit

Lemon Ice Cream Bars

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What a great recipe for Spring and Summer. While waiting in the salon with dye all over my head, I began to leaf through magazines that the owner brings to the shop. I took pics of this one and one that I will post tomorrow: Donut Tiramisu. Can’t wait to make that one either. I have recipes for bread pudding made with donuts (thank you very much Paula Deen) but had never heard of this one so will be anxious to get to donut shop and buy the necessary donuts to make that one next week.

In the meantime, will be making these, as lemon just screams, “SPRING”. So we are off to a great start to a most beautiful time of year; except all the green junk that is all over our driveway, sidewalk and porch.

For the lemon Curd:

6 large egg yolks

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup fresh lemon juice

12 tables unsalted butter

1/2 teas grated lemon zest.

Or if you are in a springtime lazy mode, buy the lemon curd already made.

For the Bars:

2 (5-6 oz) boxes shortbread cookies,

3 tables unsalted butter, melted

1/2 teas grated lemon zest

2 pints vanilla ice cream, slightly soft

Powdered sugar for dusting

Make the lemon curd: Combine the egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat; cook, whisking until the mixture begins to thicken, about 8 minutes. Stir in the butter, 1 chunk at a time, with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 7 more minutes. Stir in the lemon zest and salt. Pour into a bowl that will sit on top of a large bowl, which you will fill halfway with ice. Set the bowl of curd on the ice and let cool completely, stirring occasionally.

Make the bars:

Coat an 8″ square baking dish with cooking spray and line with foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides. Pulse the cookies in a food processor until finely crushed. Slowly add the melted butter and lemon zest and pulse until  the mixture starts coming together..

Transfer the crumb mixture to the prepared baking dish and press firmly into the bottom. Spread the ice cream over the crumb mixture with a rubber spatula; spread the lemon curd on top. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

When ready to serve, lift out of the pan using the overhanging foil. Cut into pieces and dust with a little powdered sugar. Makes

about 9 squares

Daily Thoughts

April Has Arrived

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This morning I awoke remembering a great story that happened April 1st, 2002. We had just moved to California and Jodi, our daughter, and Jaden, our first grandchild. It just so happened that Jodi was needing a car, so Randy took her car shopping while I stayed home with Jaden. Randy and Jodi got to the Ford dealership and went for a test drive with a salesman. Jodi drove, with the salesman in the front seat, while Randy rode in the back. Upon arriving back at the car dealership, Jodi informed the young man that she really liked the car and that she would like to see some numbers. The salesman quickly opened the door and ran inside to “talk to his manager to get the best price possible.” Well, while he was inside, Jodi began to rub the door panel and informed Randy that this car was just so pretty and that she loved the gray material of the seats and the doors. Randy told her, that, “yes, it was really a good quality of mouse fur that they had on the seats and interior of the car.” She looked around to him, who sat ever so smug in the back, without cracking a smile.  Jodi asked, “are you serioius? How many mice do you think it took to cover the whole car?” Randy told her that he didn’t quite know but that as nice as it was and you couldn’t even seem seams anywhere, that they must have been really big mice. She was sold. When the car salesman came back, she told him that she really liked the car. Randy was sitting there just wondering if she would tell him that she was so excited about the nice quality of mouse fur that came in the car. But, thank the Lord, she kept it to her self; by the time they got home, Randy had confessed, when he couldn’t hold back the laughter any longer that he wasn’t serious. Jodi couldn’t decided whether to speak to him or laugh. She got the car and we have joked to this day that you can always tell the quality of a car, by it’s mouse fur. Happy April Fools Day!  Will tell you in another post about the time we told her on April 1st that we had ordered her a husband from Russia; as you can tell, Randy is quite mischievous!

Breads · Desserts

Quick Crusts Ideas

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The last day of March? Really snuck up on me. It has been such beautiful weather here that all I have wanted to do is sit outside (you notice I don’t say, walk or run) and think about what I might want to bake next. When I was going through several baskets of recipes the other night, I came across this sheet I had torn out of some cooking magazine, but I don’t know which one.

I thought it would be convenient to post all of these different crusts on one posts, so you could print them up and tape them inside one of the cookbooks you use often. There are 6 different crusts. I will give several suggestions of which type of pie you might like to use the appropriate crust for. But be daring and experiment with them and let me know what you are using the crusts for.  It’s exciting to learn different recipes for friends.

Basic Crust Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, combine all crust ingredients, stirring to combine. Press crust into bottom and up sides of a 9″ pie plate. Cook for times specified below. Cool completely before adding your fillings.

Macaroon Crust

3 cups crumbled macaroons (about 9 cookies)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Cook for 10 min.

Use for:

chocolate pies, coconut pies, lemon pie, pineapple pie

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (isn’t it wonderful you can buy them already crushed now)

1/4 cup ground nut of choice *opt

3 tables sugar

5 tables melted butter

Cook for 6-8 min or until lightly browned.

Use with:

Any type of cheesecake filling, chocolate, lemon, strawberry ice box pie

Gingersnap Crust

1 1/2 cups gingerbread crumbs

2 tables firmly packed light brown sugar

4 tables melted butter

Cook for 6-8 min or until lightly browned.

Use for:

Any pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake filling, caramel, banana cream, possibly apple filling

Peanut Butter Cookie Crust

2 cups peanut butter sandwich cookie crumbs (about 16 cookies)

2 tables sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

Cook for 6-8 min, or until lightly browned.

Use for:

chocolate filling, peanut butter pies, apple pies

Daily Thoughts

Dumpster Diving

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“Randy has hit an all time low. Yesterday we ran to the store to get a few items and while we were out, he told me that there were several sacks of clothing that we needed to drop off at one of the clothes donation boxes, so be on the lookout for one as we drove by parking lots. Well, I spotted one, so he pulled over and since I am such a giving person, I told him that he didn’t have to undo his seat belt and weather the wind gusts that were blowing profusely up to 40 mph. But that’s just the kind of person I am, thoughtful, kind and….well, at least I was until he did the unthinkable. When we were pulling up to the donation box, he slows down to a crawl and says to me, “look, isn’t that just the kind of seat we have been saying that we would go buy for Payton when the kids come over to eat?” I glared at him and said, “don’t even think about it Mister.”

So I got the clothes out of the trunk and placed them in the box. Feeling so very good about us keeping up with our closets this year and instead of putting all the clothes in a bin in our garage labeled, “SIZE WE WISH WE WERE”, we were going ahead and just giving up on that dream and giving the clothes away now, instead of letting the kids burn them when we are gone.

As I began to open the car door to get in, he continues, “just look, that seat is still in the box and it does look like exactly the one that we said would be perfect for our little 9 month old princess.” I reminded him that there are cameras all over the parking lot and if he thought for even one minute that I was going to have my rear end plastered all over a security camera screen in some warehouse somewhere, he was just crazy. After all, I am a author now. Authors don’t go stealing “junk” that sits outside the donation boxes in Walmart parking lots. What if the camera saw us and wanted to use us as examples of “why they ask people not to leave items outside the boxes ‘ and my rear end would end up on the 10:00 News. He told me I watched TV too much and, of course, they didn’t care if items were taken that were still sitting outside the donation boxes. How does he know that? Has he brought home other items that came from outside donation boxes? Does one really ever know their spouse? Maybe that is where he found my new ironing board? or the new lamp that he told me he found that was such a “great deal!”

Well, the new high chair is all sanitized and ready for Payton when she comes over next time. We won’t tell her parents where the chair came from, other than saying, “oh, it was such a great deal and was just exactly what we had been looking for.”  Randy just told me he had some errands to run and told me not to ask where he was going nor could I ask where he had been if he walks in the door with a doll house or wagon; just have the disinfectant out and ready. Wonder which news channel I should watch tonight?

Uncategorized

Individual Dessert Servings

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2015-03-24 12.05.12

Walmart has the cutest colored plastic mason jars which I bought to use for individual servings of either salads or desserts. Layered lemon pudding, combined with cream cheese topped a bottom layer of crushed shortbread cookies, then topped with blueberry pie filling and whipping cream, finishing off with a swirl of a little more crushed cookies. Served them to friends, who ate every bite. A great little summer, quick dessert when short on time and energy!

Go get some of these cute little jars, while they still have them!