We are blessed to be spending 4 days at a friends house up in the mountains here in California. Right now I am sitting in their sun porch with the sound of waterfalls outside the open windows. What a awesome reminder of God’s beautiful creation. Because we have to come out here to get internet, we have had 3 days thus far of no phone service, which I truly thought would send me into withdrawals. How easy it was to just enjoy the sound of quiet. The sound of water falling over rocks as we sat out and enjoyed snacking on queso, fruit, dishes of candy at every corner of the cabin. We have barbecued rib eyes, had breakfast at 10 before heading out for hikes. Watching Blue Jays fly around the giant sequoia and looking for the small bear that we hear comes around has been exciting. Kathy, Dee and I have spent hours looking through recipe books, played cards and visited over pumpkin sliced coffee.
It is times like this that reminds me of just how blessed Randy and I have been. I remember fearing when moving to CA 4 years ago this month, might be a crazy idea and what were 2 people, in their 60 ‘ s doing moving across the USA to the unknown. We had truly felt a peace about it but when the actual move date came that feeling became fear. Now looking back 4 years later, we know that God had a plan. A plan to show us that if we step out in faith, the blessings that He has for us is so much more than we could ever imagine. We are so thankful for the wonderful memories that were made in these past 4 years and continue to be made with the precious Christian friends who will forever be in our hearts, no matter the distance. We are grateful for so many things that He has showered upon us, and today, a new memory of sitting around the dining table, unhurried, listening to waterfalls and laughter and remembering that God is in His Heaven’s and still in control, no matter how crazy the world seems sometimes. We just need to take the time to remember that. Streams of water have given us a chance to pause an remember the Springs of Living Water that can heal any soul.
California Dreamin’
What a special week this has been to visit our sweet friends here in California. We have eaten our way through LA, played hand & foot, laughed so hard we cried and just enjoyed the simple pleasures of friendship that means so much. We are determined not to get teary eyed as we leave in a few days but to just give thanks for the Lord for allowing us to come visit. It has been pure joy. We have found that people who live here make you feel like you are living in the 50’s. They just call you up, tell you to come over for a meal and then we end up staying for a couple of hours to play cards. If there is no dessert made…no problem, they just pull out ice cream from the freezer and don’t apologize for not having a Martha Stewart dessert made. Everyone is thrilled to just be among friends, catching up on their lives.
Life seems at a slower pace than in Dallas. Seems weird to say that, but people here seem to have more of a desire to just sit and visit. It makes me more determined to acquire that lifestyle when we get back to Texas. Not worry that I might not have a fancy dessert baked, but to invest more of my time in people’s lives instead of worrying about what to serve.
Seems That no matter where we roam, there is always a lesson to be learned. I need to wake up to the reality that instead of dreamin’ of a more old fashioned social life, it is up to each of us to help make happen what we wish “could be.”
Mexican Short Ribs With Dried Cherries
Upon arriving at our friend’s house in CA, we were greeted with the awesome aroma of these short ribs cooking. They were fall off the bone and the gravy that it made was just the best. Had the rest of c the gravy tonight over the left over scalloped potatoes.
1 (16 oz) jar roasted red sweet peppers, drained (about 2 cups)
3 tables Mexican Chile Cocoa Spice
3 lbs bone in beef short ribs
1 Large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 cup red wine or beef broth
1 (14 1/2 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
3/4 cup low sodium beef broth
1/3 cup dried cherries
in a blender puree sweet peppers and Mexican chili cocoa spice, set a side. Season beef with 1 teaspoon salt and 1 half teaspoon pepper. Coat a Dutch oven with Pam cooking spray; heat over medium high heat. Add beef. Cook until deep brown all over about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Drain all but 2 tablespoons fat from pan. Place sliced onion in pan and cook and stir over medium heat 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook and stir 1 minute more.add red pepper puree to onion mixture And cook while stirring 3 minutes. Transfer mixture to a 6 quart slow cooker. Add tomatoes, broth, cherries and ribs. Along with any juices on plate. Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on HIGH 4 to 5 hours. Transfer ribs to a platter. Skim and discard excess fat from liquid. Pour Sauce over ribs.
Crossing Over
We did it; as soon as we crossed over the border to Arizona we quickly noticed that we looked like the thousands of other Seniors that actually live here. We felt that we needed to change a few of our old habits to fit in a little better. We felt it coming on when we noticed the signs at a Frys grocery store selling $1 root beer floats to seniors. We didn’t know until we stopped that they meant high school seniors. We just assumed that because of where we were they meant the “wise” old geezers.Then we realized that not only did we feel like we belonged here since every neighborhood has a “over 55” gated community that wave us on in without stopping us; but our precious grandkids who we drove 17 hours to see tell us that if we really want to pick them up from school this week, they would appreciate it ever so much if we would park around the corner:
It was embarrassing to be seen getting in a car with grandparents. We paid them back by having t shirts printed up with their pictures on the front saying, “never fear..your grandparents are here.”
Randy has bought his first pair of stripped Bermuda shorts with black knee socks and ordered me a pair of gold tennis shoes.
We like to feel like we really fit in when we visit places. Better close, it’s almost 4 and Randy is ready to leave for the senior blue plate special at Applebee’s.
I better get him out of here before he trades in my car for a Buick.
Apple Nachos
For all you gluten free friends here is a great snack that is easy and delicious. Just in time for Fall
36 caramels
1 tables water
30 large marshmallows
1/3 cup butter, cubed
4 medium tart apples, peeled and cut into 1/4 ” slices
1/4 cup chopped dry roasted peanuts
1/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
3 tables Halloween sprinkles
In a microwave-safe bowl, melt caramels with water; stir until smooth
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt marshmallows and butter. Arrange apple slices on a large platter. Drizzle with the caramel; top with marshmallow mixture. Sprinkle with peanuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles. Serve immediately.
German Chocolate Thumbprints
At church today our teacher in our Sunday School class was talking about how spoiled his kids were and told us that “IF” (and believe me he doesn’t) but “IF” he believed in reincarnation, he would want to come back as one of his children. I started to think about that and realized that it would be great to come back as one of our grandchildren. We had lunch today with our 10 yr old grandson and I got him in trouble by handing him a giant Hershey bar as soon as we sat down. Of course he immediately unwrapped it and began to chomp away on it before his dad saw it and fussed at him for eating it before having something “healthy”. I don’t think you can qualify Mexican food as “healthy” but since all Sevy had had all day was donuts and now candy, I guess the Mexican food was a little better than what he had eaten all day. All this to say that when you think about how we Baby Boomers totally spoil our grandkids, it would be great to come back as one of them. But since we won’t be coming back as anyone or anything, I think I will just go ahead and eat all the chocolate I can now.
Hence the recipe…
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 table shortening
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tables strong coffee (brewed)
1 teas vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tables baking cocoa
1 teas baking powder
1/4 teas salt
Filling:
3/4 cup flaked coconut
3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
1 teas vanilla
4 to 6 tables sweetened condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
Drizzle:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tables shortening
Preheat oven to 350.
In a microwave, melt chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, coffee, vanilla and melted chocolate mixture. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.
Roll into 1 inch balls. Place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Using a Thumbie (which you can by on Etsy for $5.00 in the chocolatecastles store), make an indention in the center of each ball. Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes or until firm. Remove to wire racks to cool completely.
Meanwhile, for filling, in a small bowl, combine the coconut, pecans and vanilla. Stir in enough of the sweetened milk to form a stiff mixture. Fill cooled cookies with filling (about a teas each). Melt chocolate chips and the shortening for the drizzle and then drizzle over the cookies. Store in an airtight container.
Yield: about 4 dozen
Cowboy Cornbread
Last night we were invited to a friend’s home for dinner. She had told me she was cooking (oh my I almost said, “fixin”) a big pot of pinto beans for dinner and there would be six of us. I promptly told her that I would bring the cornbread. Visions of this great bread from years ago began to invade my memory. Why had I not made this great cornbread that is almost a meal by itself? Actually, put a salad with it and it is a meal.
So last night I proudly walked in with my old iron skillet, filled with my cowboy cornbread. We had a fabulous meal of beans, salad, cornbread and ended the great dinner with a homemade peach cobbler that Connie brought. The entire evening was mixed with laughter, sweet fellowship and great food. The gift of friendships sharing a meal is one of life’s greatest blessings!
2 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread
1 can cream style corn
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 small can of chopped green chiles
1 lb of hamburger beat (yes, all you healthies out there, you can use Mexican flavored ground turkey)
1/2 cup of frozen seasoning veggies (it is Stillwells brand of mixed chopped onions, bell pepper and celery) or fresh chopped.
4 tables butter
1 teas garlic powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
Fry the meat with the frozen seasoning veggies, garlic, salt and pepper until meat is done and veggies are tender. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven now to 400.
Combine cornbread mix, eggs, corn, green chiles, cheese and milk. Stir until well combined. In a large skillet (iron if you have one), add about 1 tables oil and heat on burner until oil is hot. Turn off the burner. Place half of the cornbread mixture into the hot skillet and then sprinkle your meat mixture over it. Spoon the rest of the cornbread mixture over the meat. Place in preheated 400 oven for about 35 minutes or until it tests done and is lightly browned on top. As soon as you take out of the oven, spread butter over the top, allowing it to melt and cover the entire bread. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes and then cut into wedges and serve.
Chicken Breasts Lombardy
A friend of mine brought me 2 sacks of cookbooks that she was getting rid of, knowing how I love to look through them, she immediately called me to see if I wanted them…one of those was Five Star Recipes from Southern Living which has a picture with each recipe. This one caught by eye and cannot wait to get back in town to make it.
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tables butter, melted
6 skinned and boned chicken breast halves
1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup butter, melted and divided
3/4 cup Marsala or any white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 teas salt
1/2 teas pepper
1/2 cup ( 2 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped green onions
Cook mushrooms in 2 tables butter in a large skillet, stirring constantly, just until tender. Remove from heat; set aside.
Cut each chicken breast half in half lengthwise. Place each piece of chicken between two sheets of wax paper.; flatten to 1/8″ thickness, using a mat mallet or rolling pin. I prefer to cut each piece into smaller pieces.
Dredge chicken pieces in flour. Place 5-6 pieces of chicken in 1 to 2 tables butter in a large skillet; cook over medium heat 3-4 min on each side or until golden. Place chicken in a lightly greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish or other large casserole dish. repeat procedure with remaining chicken and butter. Reserve pan drippings in skillet. Sprinkle reserved mushrooms over chicken.
Add wine and broth to skillet. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 10 min, stirring occasionally. Stir in salt and pepper. pour sauce over chicken. Combine cheese and green onions; sprinkle over chicken.
Bake uncovered at 450 for 12-14 min. Broil 6″ from heat (if you have electric oven, allow door to be partially opened), 1-2 min or until browned.
Serves 6-8
Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie
The pumpkins are out and am excited to find new delish ways to make use of them. I do remember the first year that Peter Pumpkin and I were married, I ask him to take me to the pumpkin patch down at Farmer’s market to pick out the perfect pumpkin that would adorn our porch. When we found it, I was so excited. There in the car seat beside us would be the first pumpkin that we had picked out and bought together. When “she” became (yes, it became a she as I named her Penny pumpkin), should we say a little decayed, ok, rotten, I ask him to bury her in our yard so we would always have her with us. I do seem to get attached to things. He knew that if he buried her in our yard, we would have a yard full of pumpkin ivy the next year, so he had just thrown her over the fence, and came in and told me he had taken care of her. I didn’t bake any pumpkin dishes for a few days, just out of memory of Penny. He didn’t tell me that until years later when we were in the heat of an argument how he had really “taken care of Penny” when he blurted out the words, “oh, and remember the year you told me to go bury Penny in our yard, well, I didn’t, I just threw her over the fence!” How cruel can a husband be??? So from that point on, I knew that this was not a man I could trust….I don’t let him pack away all my snowmen at Christmas now either, I just can’t take the chance. So, in honor of Penny, here is a recipe that I found in a 2010 Taste of Home that I am making this weekend.
2 cups finely crushed pecan shortbread cookies (I will use Lorna Dune)
1 tables flour
3 tables butter, melted (as if the cookies don’t have enough in them already)
Filling:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 can (15 oz) solid-packed pumpkin
3 tables flour
1 tables milk
1 teas ground cinnamon
1/4 teas each: ground ginger, nutmeg and cloves
3 eggs, lightly beaten
In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, flour and 3 tables melted butter; press into an ungreased 9″ deep-dish pie pan. Bake at 350 for 9-11 min or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
For filling, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the pumpkin, flour, milk and spices. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined.
Pour into crust and bake at 350 for 40-50 min or until center is almost set. Cover edges with foil during the last 15 min to prevent overbrowning if necessary* (see below). Refrigerate for at last 4 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream
*an easy way to cover edges is to place the pie plate on a piece of foil that is large enough to lap over the edges when it is brought up around them. I go ahead and do this at the beginning of the baking as it is so much easier to do this before dish is hot, then just remove the foil from the edges, leaving it under the pie, to finish baking about 25-30 min before pie is done.
QT for RC
Peter has reached an all time low. We had just finished mailing off some packages when RC announced that since I had had a great lunch sitting outside Corner Bakery with a good friend after art class, he deserved at least a $1 drink from QT. My sister in law has been telling me about QT and all the different tea flavored drinks. They have absolutely any flavor of tea, coffee or soft drink imaginable, allowing you to mix any flavor in any drink, all for $1.
Peter Pumpkin, being in the groove of the Fall season, had been out running errands all morning while I was in art class and never stopped for lunch. I told him that I wanted a drink also, so in to QT we go. We don’t like to think of ourselves as retirees that stop in at Micky D’s for afternoon coffee and apple pie or that cute little ice cream cone they have, so we think that it sounds much more “hip” to say we stop at QT to get refreshed.
I head over to the tea dispensers and decided on Black Current-Mango flavored tea and turn around to see what he is choosing. He had disappeared. I walked all over the drink section, but no hubby in sight. I take my giant $1 drink and proceed to go looking for Mr. Excitement.
As I neared the hot dog counter where they are turning over and over and over, just to get the perfect doneness (how perfect can they get, we are, after all, in QT) all the while looking up at you and saying, “pick me, pick me”. I look over to see my husband who will not go to a buffet because the caliber of the food he says, is not quite up to par. He is standing over the turning hot dogs just waiting for the perfect hot dog to come along. Who is this person? He has gathered his clear plastic hot dog holder and is loading up the bun, which you take from under the counter, and loading it with mustard out of a little packet, chopped onions, that have probably been there for 5 days and then tops it off with pico di gallo (I’m sure that’s not how it is spelled, but I’m too lazy to go look it up).
This is truly a Candid Camera moment. We have been married for 18 years and this is the first time I have seen him get a hot dog from a convenience store. Apparently, the line we had to wait to check out tells me that other retirees have caught on that Micky D’s is not the “in” place for seniors who are out roaming around in the afternoon. I was so disturbed by the time it took us to check out that I told him I was craving ice cream. We decided that maybe McDonalds wasn’t so bad, so we headed over there and treated ourselves to hot apple pies, ice cream cones and him a “free” senior coffee All that after the $1 drink and $1 hot dog. So now, Peter is excited that we have found yet another place in town that he can get a lunch under $2.50….sometimes even heading over to Costco to get our free samples to go with our 3:00 senior coffee. He says that he is going home to google QT and map out our food stops for when we are on the road next week. He did promise that he will alternate QT, Micky D’s,QT, Micky D’s, so as not to get bored with our meals along the way. I’m hoping that maybe he will splurge while traveling and treat me to a from Taco Bell meal…but he informed me that would only be if our retirement check comes in before we leave. Love this new retirement season, it just keeps getting more and more exciting!
Chocolate Castles 