Back Home!

After an uneventful ride home (i.e. no car breakdowns) I am back home after a wonderful visit to Minnesota.
This is the view I had most of the trip home. Yes, that is the rest of the M&M bag riding in the dash of the car. Desperate times call for desperate measures. When you don't have a microwave handy to melt your M&M's you have to be creative. Sitting in the sun on the dash works slowly but surely. Yum!






I came home to a couple of fun packages in the mail of some of the online retail therapy I've been doing. (You know, to relieve stress!) The first package I opened was these wonderful stitchmarkers that I ordered from Laura on her Etsy shop. Instead of metal rings, they have a stretchy material that glides on your needles. The ABC ones will work well with Cat Bordhi's new sock book that I just got. I can't wait to try them! (Thanks, Michelle, for telling me about these!)



The next package I opened contained my new Knitpick Harmony circular needles that I first learned about on Bonnie's blog. (Blog reading can be very hard on one's budget!!) I LOVE my other Knitpick circular needles but have been concerned they might not be allowed on the plane when we travel to England on Wednesday. These are wood and I think should go through security without a problem. I'm bringing a self-addressed stamped padded envelope tho, just to be sure.

Has anyone flown recently and know what can and can't be taken on the plane?? Inquiring minds want to know!




Sumo was so happy to see me and I was so happy to see him. I had felt bad leaving him for so long but he did just fine with Steve and Ryan. You see him here right after we took a nice long walk. The biggest change I have noticed in him is that he wants to be with us 100% of the time. If I go upstairs, he is there. If I'm cooking, he's by the kitchen. He doesn't want to be alone. Unfortunately, it means that on these beautiful Fall days when he usually LOVES to be outside, he is sitting in the house with me.






Well, lots to do in just a few short days. Here is the Rice Pudding recipe as promised. (Cheryl, I think this is your mom's recipe from our church cookbook from, like, a thousand years ago!!)


OLD FASHIONED RICE PUDDING

1 cup rice
2 cups water
2 cups milk*
6 eggs, well beaten
1 cup sugar
½ cup melted butter
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups milk
2 cups milk
ground or stick cinnamon



Cook rice in water in double boiler until water is Absorbed. Then add 2 cups milk to rice in double boiler and cook until almost done. Beat 6 eggs. Add sugar, melted butter, salt, and vanilla, and 2 cups milk. Combine rice and egg mixture in large casserole. Add 2 more c. milk
(6c of milk all together). Bake 325 degrees for 1 hour. (Test to see if pudding is done by cutting a knife through it. Pudding is done when a knife comes out clean) Cinnamon may be added before baking if desired. Raisins or dried cranberries may be added before baking

*2% or whole milk works best. Skim & 1% can get a little runny
**This recipe can easily be cut in half as well!
***Additional Tip: If you like a little more custard, you can bake the pudding in a pan of water. This slows the cooking a bit creating more custard.

Enjoy!!

Until Next Time...

Football Food

I need to post a new post quickly so that I don't have the picture of Ryan and Nikko the first thing I see when I pull up my browser. Don't get me wrong, I love the picture, but it is just too hard right now. It is such a good picture of her. Very deceiving in a way. She looks so good and like her self that it starts me down the path of questioning our decision. A path I don't need to take right now. I know it was best for her. And hard for us. I think of the line from the movie 'Shadowlands' - "The pain now is part of the happiness then". So true.

So, anyways, with the cooler weather and the start of the football season, I thought I would share a few more of my favorite recipes. (There's not much more progress on my Monkey sock.. but I do hope to finish it this weekend with all our travels).

I'll start with my Chili recipe. This is a family favorite. And a favorite of several of the kids' friends. (Right, Shana?)


Chili




1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
1 14.5 ounce can petite cut tomatoes (don’t drain)
1 16 ounce can dark red kidney beans (don’t drain)
1 16 ounce can chili beans in chili sauce
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. basil





1. Sauté beef, sausage, and onion. Drain fat.
2. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer for awhile.
3. Add 1 stick (large link) of Louis Rich low-fat Turkey Sausage(found near the bacon) sliced thin and then in halves.


Now the real game ticket is to serve this over rice. Really. Over rice. Try it! You can also garnish it with sour cream; shredded cheese; jalapeno's; green onions etc.. Oh, and cornbread rolls go perfect with this!

* I almost always double or triple this recipe. It freezes great. When I do that, I throw in an extra small can of petite cut tomatoes.


This will be double recipe day. Afterall, there is lots of football ahead! And football=food.

This is a recipe some of my dear friends 'stole' when they were catering back in high school. I think the original recipe was secretly written on a napkin or toilet paper or something. I don't know, Cheryl & Nae - do you think it's ok almost 30 years later to post this???


Praline Bars



1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter

chopped pecans

graham crackers

6-8 Hershey chocolate bars


1. Bring butter and brown sugar to a boil and let cook for a while.
2. Line a jelly roll pan with foil and lay graham crackers in a single
layer on the foil.
3. Pour butter & sugar mixture over the graham crackers.
4. Sprinkle chopped pecans over the butter & sugar mixture.
5. Put in 350 degree oven until it bubbles. Remove from oven.
6. Place 6 - 8 Hershey bars over top. Let stand a few minutes and
then spread the chocolate smooth.
7. Refrigerate until cool.
8. Remove bars from pan and take off foil.
9. Cut into bars with large knife on a cutting board. Store in refrigerator.



I made these bars yesterday for the BUNCO group I am in once a month on Thursday night. It was actually our first meeting last night. We had a great time. Julie was the first one to get a REAL BUNCO, so she got to wear this beautiful tiara. It wasn't hers for long, but she did don it several times over the course of the evening. My friend Karen actually stole the crown several times and ended up winning the 'Most Bunco' prize with 4 real BUNCOS. Sadly, I never once wore the crown. Maybe next time.








Of course, Sumo recommends just grabbing a good ole raw hide bone to gnaw on during the game. One bone should last you through most of the Sunday games! (If you chew sparingly!)













Steve has the day off and we are off to spend the day away. Not sure where all we'll go. We will end up with a visit to Kirstin. Yes. The Chipotles is open now! It just may be the Fast Food Therapy I need. Yum!

Until Next Time...

WE INTERRUPT THIS SOCK KNITTING FOR....

M&M's of the non-chocolate variety!

As you know, I LOVE my M&M's. Love 'em! So when I went over to Karen's blog and saw this dishcloth on her post WITH a link to the pattern, I knew I had to do it. Right away. I pulled down my stash of Sugar & Cream cotton and found this bright green and cast on! It knit up quickly and I already have another one on the needles. I really think I need a drawer full of these in all sorts of bright colors!







My second Cider Moon sock took a trip to the Frog Pond this weekend, which was quite a sad moment. (For you non-knitters, to Frog something means to Rip-it, Rip-it, Rip-it!) Somehow when I moved the sock from dpn's to the 2-circular needles I went down a needle size or two. Needless to say, as much as I tried to convince myself that it would be ok, I knew what I had to do. Now the yarn has to get back in queue for it's turn on the needles!




In the meantime, I cast on some All Things Heather that came home with me from St. Louis. I was drawn to this skein because it reminded me of the Minnesota Vikings, which is my team. I LOVE football, so I am pretty sure I need some purple/gold socks for the upcoming season.

I was also pretty excited to read about a KAL just for us knitters who also love football!! Check it out here.











My niece from Minnesota came to visit for a few days, and walked in wearing this shirt!

Yep. About sums it up!














We've been enjoying some yummy Strawberry Smoothies lately, and I thought I would share the recipe.





Strawberry Smoothie











1/2 cup Country Time Lemonade mix
3/4 cup water
1 cup sliced strawberries
3 cups ice

Put all in blender and mix until nice and smooth. We use fresh strawberries, but you can use frozen strawberries. Decrease the amount of ice you use, unless you thaw the strawberries first. (We freeze strawberries now so we can enjoy these in the middle of winter. Always nice to have a taste of summer when it is below zero outside!!)


Tomorrow I help take Aaron back to school. Seems like I was just picking him up! Where does the summer go??

Next week I'll be taking Kirstin. Everybody is leaving me!!


Good thing Sumo has promised never to leave me!!

Good dog, Sumo. Good dog!


Until Next Time..

when I will share photos entitled 'Fun With Grapes'. You won't want to miss them!! (Right, Kirstin?)

THE PREP AND THE PARTY......

It is now Tuesday, and the party is several days past. Oh, and what a party it was! We were blessed to have such a wonderful day (warm and plenty of sunshine); as well as plenty of friends and family to come celebrate with us. Thought I would share a few photos of the prep and the party!

First off, for all of my mom's friends back in Minnesota, here are a few photos of her hard at work!! She was the official 'cracker' of the 30 dozen eggs we scrambled on Friday!!

She tried a few times to get 'fired' (you know, egg shells in with the yolks; cracking the egg into the shells etc..) but she couldn't get off that easy!!












She 'graduated' to the cutting of the bacon to top off the egg dish casserole. With 3 large casseroles, double deep in eggs, that was quite a bit of bacon!! I just kept her coffee cup full and she was happy!!

The egg dish was a huge hit at the Open House. I will share the recipe at the end of the post. It's been our Christmas morning egg dish as long as I can remember and is very delicious. Kirstin is still getting comments from her friends at school and work on how much they loved it!!












Ryan and Mallory were up early Saturday and put together trayfuls of yogurt/fruit parfaits. These were a HUGE hit and were totally gone by the end of the open house! They just layered strawberry and vanilla yogurts with Triple Berry Fruit (from Sam's club); bananas and my homemade granola. Yum.







Kirstin decided against using her school colors for our decorating theme, but went with a gerber daisy theme instead. It was very fun. My good friend from Minnesota brought her this fun cookie bouquet from 'Cookies by Design'. It was a great decoration for the serving table and was immediately gobbled up following the open house!!















We also 'imported' the cake from Minnesota from Retha and Sandy's Sweet Shop. It is by far and away the best cake I have ever had. I ordered extra, just because I needed to ensure leftovers!! Here is the small cake we had for display... It was my personal favorite. White cake with strawberry filling. (The sheet cakes were marble with chocolate cream filling). Once again, right after the open house we cut into this cake and it was gone in record time!! (And no, I will not share how many pieces I ate.....)











Just a few fun people shots:

























And finally, a group shot of her friends and cousins who came from out of state to celebrate with her. It is a FUN group and I love them all dearly...







Here is the recipe, as promised. Eggs don't photograph that well.. so I will just say that it basically looks like scrambled eggs.

Christmas Egg Dish
(Egg/cheese)

18 eggs
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. Half and Half
3 Tbsp. butter
1 10 1/2- ounce can cream of mushroom soup
6 ounce can mushrooms, drained (optional - I don't use)
5 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) shredded Cheddar cheese
3 to 4 slices bacon, crisply fried and crumbled (I cheat and used the pre-cooked bacon)

1. Combine eggs and Half and Half. Beat.
2. Scramble lightly in butter in large skillet.
3. Put eggs in large, shallow casserole or pan.
4. Mix soup, mushrooms* and cheese. Pour over eggs.
5. Top with bacon.
6. Bake at 250 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes.
(This can be refrigerated before baking. If so, bake 1 1/2 hours.)


Sumo has a surprise for you in my next post, so stay tuned...


Until Next Time.....

Sock Clubs and Such....

My first official Loopy Ewe Sock Club package arrived yesterday! I can't wait to cast them on...and hope to do so right after Kirstin's Open House next weekend. Such a fun package Sheri put together with a fun pattern and the yarn that matches the socks in the pattern!! Chocolate (of course) and a lemon scented sheep and some lemonaide. I feel so fortunate to be a part of this club!!





Getting this fun package in the mail was in addition to the 'Mother's Week' that my hubby has declared. (in lieu of just a 'Mother's Day') Each day he is doing something special for me. Am I a lucky woman, or what??? These flowers arrived one day; lunch out another; a gift bag with a new excercise outfit was on the table one morning and today I opened a beautiful new glass serving tray. (All of my glass serving trays have Christmas Trees on them.... I still use them all year, but it will be nice to have one without a Christmas tree!!)

I wonder what tomorrow will bring????





MYSTERY: How is it that my family cannot seem to get their dishes INTO the dishwasher?? More often than not, I come downstairs to this familiar picture:

That's right. The dirty cereal bowl sitting RIGHT ON TOP of the dishwasher! What is so difficult about opening the door and placing the bowl INSIDE??

Sample Answers:

"I thought the dishwasher was clean"

"Well, if I put it here it 'magically' disappears"

"Love you, mom"

Hmmm... Guess I should stop working my magic!!






And, as a matter of fact, I came down the very next day and caught Kirstin in the act of putting her bowl IN the dishwasher. Yippee!! I was finally getting through!!




But, alas, this very morning there was her bowl once again on the counter. I know, I know, next year I am really going to miss that bowl on the counter after she goes to college. In fact, I'll probably shed a tear or two missing that bowl so much. So, I worked my 'magic' again today and put the bowl away.






Here is a quick and easy pasta salad recipe. It is by far my favorite. The picture isn't that great.. but it is very tasty!

Pasta Salad with Orange Peppers

16 oz spiral noodles
2 orange peppers
1 cucumber, peeled, sliced and seeds removed
A bunch of fresh spinach, well washed
1 tomato, ( or 10 cherry/grape tomatoes)
8 oz. Feta cheese
8 oz. Italian dressing (I like Wishbone Zesty Fat Free)


1. Boil noodles according to package directions.
2. Add cut up pepper and cucumber.
3. Tear spinach and add to noodles.
4. Crumble feta cheese into noodles.
5. Mix refrigerated dressing into noodles shortly before serving.
6. Top with tomatoes.



Well, it is a beautiful day here today. Lots of sunshine and warmth. A perfect day to get a lot accomplished.

Until Next Time....

SIGNS OF SUMMER

It is a beautiful, sunny day and I am seeing signs of summer all around. It makes me smile. I LOVE to be warm and it seems like warm weather has been a long time coming!! But it is here now and I hope to stay!

Quick update on backs, surgeries etc.. Aaron had his second surgery and is doing much much better this time around. In fact, we took him back to school yesterday where he is hoping to take one of his finals this week and touch base with his other professors to make a plan for completing his other courses soon. So many thanks for all your prayers and concern for him. In the meantime, Steve's dad ended up in the hospital for most of last week as well and ended up having a defibrillator put in. (All while Steve was still in San Diego....) But he is home now and doing well. Yes, I think things are looking up!!

As soon as it starts to head into warmer weather we start thinking 'shearing'. Yep...Llamas need to be sheared so they can handle the heat of our Iowa summers. If we had the time, it would be nice to clean them all up so we could save the wool. (Which we have done in some years past.) But now it is just a matter of getting the wool off the animals to make them comfortable. The animals don't like it at first, but once they settle down, MOST of them do quite well.






This is Squire. He was one of the first llamas to be sheared
this year. I know that it HAS to feel good to have all that wool off of you once the heat sets in!



















This is Sebastian. He is Kirstin's first llama that she owned. His dark wool is especially important to get off. His large midsection suggests he had a bit too much grain this past winter!! On real hot days we put out sprinklers for them and hose them down on occasion.






Another way that they cool themselves off is to roll in a dirt pit. It's not long after you set a llama into a pasture that they start making a dirt pit. This one is in our paddock, not too far from the barn. It holds one large adult llama which can create quite the dust storm when they are rolling around in it!! Never tried it myself. Can't say I've even been tempted!







Another sign of summer is Steve standing at his grill. Love that about this time of year....Easy meal time.





















Of course, Sumo is never far from the grill, licking his lips and hoping for a hand-out!!















Getting the hammock out is another ritual. I love the time spent sitting in the hammock. A group of Ryan's friends stopped by yesterday and piled on! (Yes, it was dangerously low to the ground!!)

But who cares????



Ryan's best friend got married yesterday. A beautiful day for a wedding. I have to say, it was strange seeing Ryan up front in a tux. It won't be long and he will be the groom. I feel as tho we are being slowly drawn into the next season of life. Empty nest; children getting married; grandchildren. How can this possibly be happening??? I feel far too young.....

But I am very excited. I think it will be another fun 'season'!!










Jello. Yes, summer means jello. So, for our Sunday night group I made our favorite jello 'salad'. (Yes, around these parts anything with jello and fruit is called a salad.....). I know, I know that jello is gross and made up of gross things. But it still tastes good once in a while.
So here is my recipe for anyone who wants it! And feel free to treat it as a dessert if you'd like!

Yummy Strawberry Jello

1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry jello
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup ice cubes
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries (or 5 oz. frozen)

1 pkg (3 oz) strawberry jello
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup ice cubes
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries (or 5 oz. frozen)
2 cups cool whip (whipped cream)

1. Dissolve 1st pkg. of jello in 3/4 cup water
2. Add ice cubes
3. Stir 3 minutes, until gelatin is slightly thick, remove ice.
4. Stir in fruit. Pour in mold or 8X8 glass dish
5. Place in refrigerator
6. Repeat steps 1-3 with 2nd pkg of jello
7. Stir in fruit and whipped cream.
8. Pour in mold on top of other jello
9. Refrigerate at least one hour.

(A double recipe fits a 9X13 glass pan)


I also made a pan of Caramel Rice Krispie Treats. (Been craving them for some reason). But as if they are not sweet enough already, I dipped them in chocolate. I don't know why I do these things. But they are yummy and I have high hopes the kids will finish them off tonight so that I won't!!

Time to start my walking routine!! (First thing tomorrow!)


Until next time.....

OFF AGAIN......

Yes, the car is packed and ready for an early morning departure. Where am I off to now? It is time for my yearly Spring Crop Get-Away with my friends. We have rented a house in Owatonna Minnesota (Preserving Memories Retreat) and will be there through Monday. Kirstin will join us Friday evening for the weekend. I have brought along the sewing machine and materials we need to work on her quilt for her dorm room next year. I also have my knitting along.. and threw in my cropping stuff for good measure.


Kirstin found a great scarf pattern over Spring break and is already well into her second scarf. It's an easy pattern and they look and feel wonderful!! I have started one out of Noro yarn.. but work keeps cutting into my knitting time!!!

The brown scarf is Paton's Wool Merino, Taupe. The middle one is Paton's Varigated Wool Merino and the little one is my Noro one. (Hope to show my progress after the weekend is over!!)

It's hard to see the pattern real well... but it's really nice. The pattern is called Rafaela's Twisted Brioche Scarf by Jane Marino. (Click on picture to get an enlarged photo)

Of course the weekend would not be complete without food!! We team up for meals and each team takes one meal start to finish. Kirstin and I have Saturday lunch. We are going to make 3 different salads and have bread sticks. One of the salads is a must at every crop. I mixed up the dressing tonight to take along. I don't have a great picture, but here is the recipe.

Spicy Chicken Salad

1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
1 whole green onion, cut in half
1 Tbsp dry sherry
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
2 cups water

1. Place in saucepan.
2. Simmer 20 minutes.
3. Cool. Shred Chicken.

Dressing:

Stir together until blended:
1 1/2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
2 1/2 Tbsp salad oil

Stir in:
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp white vinegar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 to 1/2 tsp ground red (cayenne) pepper
1 Tbsp minced green onion
1 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro.

Blend well.

To assemble salad, place shredded lettuce on plate, top with chicken and then add dressing.
(I usually triple the dressing... mixes great in the Pampered Chef Salad dressing mixer)


I wanted to show the finished purses that I sent with the team to Russia. I heard the team arrived safely, with smooth flights; good connections and zero lost luggage. It will be wonderful to hear of their time there.



























Well, everyone have a wonderful weekend!!

Until next time....

ICE ICE BABY....

We’ve had quite a weather weekend. It started Friday with layers of ice; turned to snow Saturday; into rain early Sunday and they predict more snow later today (Sunday afternoon). Needless to say, we decided to delay our trip to Galena and prepared for a weekend at home. Unfortunately the storm has taken out our internet, so I’ve been unable to update my blog and visit the many blogs I love to read. I’m typing this on our laptop and hoping to head into Panera later to tap into their wireless internet and upload. Here is just a glimpse of some of the ice.

Ryan and Mallory were both without power at their places, so they packed a bag and came out for the weekend. It’s been fun. Watching movies; playing games; and dressing up. Ryan is in the middle with Mallory and Kirstin on either side.

















Steve braved the roads on Saturday to go to Applebees to pick up lunch. They have carside service, so I called in the order and they brought it out to his car. Unfortunately they brought him the wrong order!! He got all the way home, and I realized he had the wrong food! Called Applebees, and they told him to keep this food and come back for our order. So back he went. They gave him the right food and a gift certificate for the mix up. Needless to say, we ended up with a TON of food for less than $25.00!! Here is Kirstin, Ryan and Mallory enjoying a ‘mistake’ Veggie Patch Pizza!








I’ve been able to pick up my knitting needles and have great hopes of getting quite a bit done this weekend. My tote for the exchange is done, and ready for a date with the washing machine! I’m going to make a matching cell phone case to go with it as well.





















Got the bowl knit for my mom and also ready to be felted. Hoping the color matches, but if not, we’ll find something that works. These bowls are a quick and easy knit and are fun to have out.








Plugging away on my RunAmokKnotSewHobo bag that I am making for one of the Missionaries in Russia. Once it’s felted, I plan on doing a little embroidery on it. Heidi does some AMAZING work on her bags and is such an inspiration! I won’t do anything as indricate as she does, but hopefully a few lazy daisy stitches like I’ve done on previous bags.

















Also did a little baking!! Mallory was commenting how much she LOVES rhubarb and we just so happened to have rhubarb in our freezer that Kirstin froze this past fall, so they made our Tried and True Rhubarb Cake. This is a recipe I got from my mom and remember her making many times when I was growing up. It is especially good warm with a dollop of whipped cream!

Rhubarb Cake

1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup milk mixed with 1 tsp soda
2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup sugar mixed with 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix sugar, shortening and egg
2. Add flour, salt, vanilla and milk mixture. Mix well.
3. Stir in Rhubarb.
4. Pour into 9 X 13 pan. Top with sugar mixture.
5. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes.

Sumo has been doing ok throughout the weekend. The first time I let him out Friday he looked like Thumper on ice in the movie Bambi! He couldn’t navigate the skating rink that our yard had become. It’s gotten better for him, but he still limits his visits outside, and prefers the comfort inside. Here he is on the back deck looking in.... (and is now comfortably sleeping at my feet!)




Until Next Time......