DayDreamnWorld

Alphabe-Thursday..."J" as in I hate Jello!

2012-01-25T13:35:00.004-06:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "J" as in I hate JELLO!

I really do. I have no recollection of ever eating JELLO, but perhaps my mother fed me some when I was young and impressionable and didn't know enough to refuse. As long as I can remember I've refused to eat JELLO. Why? I think it might be because I don't like my food to move. You know how JELLO wiggles? Disgusting!

However, there is something I make that has JELLO as one of the ingredients, but it doesn't look like JELLO. It doesn't wiggle as much as plain JELLO. I've posted the recipe once before, but this one is worth repeating. When we were living in Virginia Beach, VA during the 1970's my neighbor and friend, Elaine Monn, gave me this recipe. She called it Congealed Salad, but our family has always called it Pink Stuff.

PINK STUFF

One small can of crushed pineapple

One 6 oz. package of Jello (I use raspberry)

One 12 oz. Cool Whip

2 cups of buttermilk

½ to one cup nuts (I like chopped pecans)

Combine undrained pineapple and Jello in a smallsaucepan. Heat until Jellodissolves. Mix Cool Whip and buttermilk(I use a whisk); add nuts. Stir in Jellomixture; mix thoroughly. Put in a moldor long rectangular pan (I spray my mold lightly with Pam first). Let set for 4 hours (I leave it in therefrigerator overnight.

Serves: 12

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's Alphabe-Thursday participants.

Things that are going on...

2012-01-20T18:56:00.001-06:00

Reid came home from his trip last Sunday morning. He had a great time on the cruise and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. However, he developed a cold during the week and by Sunday evening had a fever.

He E-mailed the Physician's Assistant at MD Anderson on Tuesday since he was scheduled for a CT scan and the clinical trial on Thursday. She told him to come to the Emergency Center to be evaluated. It was determined that he had some pneumonia in his one lung and he was given an antibiotic. They also did a flu test and the following day that came back positive. So, now he's taking Tamiflu too. He did have a flu shot last October, but I guess this is a strain that the shot didn't cover. However, the fever is gone and he doesn't feel all that bad. The CT scan and clinical trial have now been re-scheduled for next week.

Meanwhile, Jim was also down at MD Anderson on Tuesday for his regularly scheduled appointment. His PSA has gone up again, but he was given a new injection and hopefully this will bring it down. He's feeling well and did a bunch of running around today on his day off. He even went grocery shopping with me this afternoon. Tomorrow I'm going to make some Chicken Noodle Soup just like a Jewish Grandmother! If you remember my Secret Santa gave me the Cooking Like A Jewish Grandmother Cookbook in the swap and this family could use a little Jewish Penicillin right now!

Some months back I bought myself Family Tree Maker 2011 and I've been entering all my documented genealogy information into the program. (I did some research back in the late 1980's and early 1990's before we all had personal computers.) With Family Tree Maker I received 6 free months of Ancestry.com but I've been waiting for things to calm down a little around here before I activated it. I'm starting to think that there's no time like the present, so I'll activate the Ancestry.com subscription this weekend. Last night I decided to set up a second blog just for genealogy. (What was I thinking??? I don't even have time to post on one blog very often and now I'll have two!) All the catchy little names were taken like "In Search Of My Roots" or "Climbing My Tree." Oh well, I tried. I settled for "My Trip Back In Time." It will probably be dormant for a while, but it's there for when I get a little ambitious.

Oh yes, and after this summer's drought our house now needs some more interior piers. That will mean ripping up carpet and my beautiful brick kitchen floor, bringing in jackhammers and drilling through the concrete, digging out the dirt, and putting in the piers. Yes, it will be a big mess. We're thinking about what we're going to do right now, but there really isn't anything to think about. It has to be done at some point. I just dread the whole thing. We watered around the slab with soaker hoses all summer long, but we do have some nice big trees in our yard and they soak up a lot of water. Such is life in Texas.

Note: This is not our home. Our home really doesn't look crooked to the naked eye. I'm just exaggerating a little here.

Did I tell you that I'm old and tired? That's my usual punch line these days.

Tomorrow I'm going to start taking down the Christmas decorations. It's time and I really want it all down before Easter. I brought most of the boxes and containers over from the storage place yesterday. The one cat keeps climbing the tree. You can only tempt them for so long.

Alphabe-Thursday..."I" as in Baked INDIAN Pudding

2012-01-18T16:22:00.002-06:00

Once again, it's Alphabe-Thursday time. This week we are studying the letter "I" as in Durgin-Park Baked INDIAN Pudding.

Durgin-Park is a well known restaurant in Boston, MA. I've never been there, but would like to go someday. My maiden name is Durgin and I have an old tape recording of one of my grandfather's sisters claiming that we're related to the Durgin that started this restaurant, but to my knowledge that's never been documented.

Durgin-Park is well known today for their Yankee recipes and sassy waitresses. According the their website, it started out in pre-revolutionary times as a small dining room in a large market house along the waterfront. It catered to market men and the crews anchored in Boston Harbor. Around 180 years ago it was purchased by Eldridge Park, John Durgin, and John Chandler. Mr. Park and Mr. Durgin died within a few years of the purchase and Mr. Chandler named the place in their memory. Mr. Chandler and his family ran the restaurant for 63 years. Over the years it's been sold a few times and is currently owned by the Arc Restaurant Corporation.

Some years back I was in Tuesday Morning and saw the Durgin Park Cookbook.

Of course, I had to buy it.

One of their better known recipes is Baked INDIAN Pudding.

DURGIN-PARK BakedIndian Pudding

1 cupyellow granulated corn meal

½ cupblack molasses

¼ cupgranulated sugar

¼ cuplard or butter

¼teaspoon salt

¼teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs

1-1/2quarts hot milk

Mix all the ingredients thoroughlywith one half (3/4 quart) of the above hot milk and bake in very hot oven untilit boils. Then stir in remaining half (3/4 quart) of hot milk, and bake in slowheat oven for five to seven hours. Bake in stone crock, well greased inside.

I must admit that I've never made this recipe. To be honest, I don't have a crock and I wouldn't want to have to hang around waiting for it to bake the remaining 5-7 hours after it boils!

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's Alphabe-Thursday participants.

Alphabe-Thursday..."H" as in Holiday Cranberry Chicken

2012-01-11T15:14:00.001-06:00

Welcome once again to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "H" as in Holiday Cranberry Chicken

Yes, I know the holidays are over, but I had to come up with a recipe using the letter "H" and I was desperate. I couldn't think of anything else except this chicken recipe. It calls for cranberries and in case you haven't frozen some for use throughout the year you'll have to wait until next Thanksgiving/Christmas so you can buy them. I always pick up a few bags in November and stick them in the freezer. I love cranberries!

I know I've posted this recipe before and I was hoping I had a picture, but I don't. I've got to start remembering to take pictures whenever I prepare one of my favorite recipes. Then I'll always have pictures available.

Just pretend my Ginny dolls are making Holiday Cranberry Chicken in their Easy Bake Oven. (I hate to do a post without a picture.)

I know I originally found this recipe somewhere online, but I no longer remember where so I can give proper credit.

Holiday Cranberry Chicken
(I make it year round.)

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup flour
1 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper
3 T butter
1 ½ cups whole cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 c. firmly packed brown sugar
¾ cup water
1 T flour
½ t. cinnamon
¼ t. salt
¼ t. allspice
¼ t. cloves
2 T. cider vinegar

Rinse chicken with cold water and pat dry with paper towels. In dish, combineflour, salt and pepper. Coat chicken with flour.

In large nonstick fry pan, melt butter over medium heat. (I use Pam instead.)Add chicken. Cook, turning once, to brown on both sides (about ten minutes).Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add cranberries, brown sugar and waterto pan drippings. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Insmall bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Slowly stir into cranberry mixture.Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until sauce thickens and comes to a fullboil. Boil one minute; then reduce heat to low. Return chicken to skillet.Cook, turning once, until chicken is done and fork tender (10 to 15 minutes).Serves: 8; Cooking Time: 30 minutes.

Be sure to visit Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants and for information on how you can join the fun.

Photos from the cruise...

2012-01-11T09:43:00.000-06:00

Reid is on a cruise this week. One of his friends is getting married on the ship later this week. Yesterday the ship docked in Key West, Florida. From there they're going on to The Bahamas and returning to Galveston on Sunday.

Here are a couple of photos that he sent to me yesterday. They were taken with his cell phone.

This one is self explanatory...

I was glad to see that Reid is experiencing culture on this trip. I think he said this sculpture is in front of a museum and is called daydream. That's not Reid on the ground...that's part of the actual sculpture. He explained to me that the guy is supposed to be daydreaming. Maybe I should have this one as my blog header? You know, DayDreamnWorld and a picture of someone daydreaming?

WOW! Unbelievable...

2012-01-08T11:32:00.002-06:00

Yesterday we went to the playoff game at Reliant Stadium in Houston. We're season ticket holders and this was the Houston Texans first playoff appearance in team history. The team's first season was in 2002, so this was a long time in coming and a very big deal!

This season the unofficial team motto has been "next man up" since many of our starters have gone down with injuries...some season ending injuries. We're on our third quarterback and he's a rookie and a fifth round draft pick. However, the team rose to the occasion yesterday and beat the Cincinnati Bengals. This game had all the excitement that a loyal fan could ask for and more. How about a defensive lineman scoring a touch down? The final score was the Houston Texans 31 and the Cincinnati Bengals 10.

I'm still hoarse today from all the cheering and screaming. Next week they go on to play the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore. It seems like most of the "experts" do not expect them to win, but the players and fans are hoping they'll be proven wrong. Win or lose it's been a great season for the Houston Texans and their fans. I'm hoping they'll be playing again at Reliant Stadium in a couple of weeks.

We enjoyed the game with 71,715 of our closest friends.

We park in The Medical Center and take the train to the stadium. Then we walk past the old Astrodome to Reliant Stadium.

The stadium was all decked out for the occasion.

If you don't like crowds and lines...don't ever go to a playoff game. This was where we stood on line to go through security.

It's been ten years since 9/11 and the NFL and the Houston Texans finally have metal detectors so we don't have to be patted down before each game. When I heard they would have metal detectors this season I thought they'd be the kind you walk through. No, they have to do this to 71,715 people. (Note to the NFL and Houston Texans: Come on...you can afford the walk through kind.) This is my husband getting the once over.

Finally we got into Bud Plaza which is a fenced in area that has different pre-game activities, but it was kind of crowded so we just got on the line to go through the turnstyle.

It became more and more crowded because the turnstyles weren't supposed to open until 2:00 PM. I thought it was kind of funny when the band had to push their way through the crowd to get into the stadium. Everyone was in a good mood, so even though we were kind of squeezed together there were plenty of laughs.

They let us through the turnstyles a little before 2:00 and then we made our way up the escalator. It really didn't take us too long to get to our seats.

We're in "nose bleed country," but we love our seats and have a very good view of the field. This is the team coming out of the tunnel and being introduced before the game. I heard later that on NBC the players all introduced themselves and gave their names and the colleges they attended, except for the offensive line. They stated their names and the elementary schools they attended. You can hear those introductions here. I'm sure there were a lot of excited elementary school students when they heard their schools named.

During the National Anthem they also had a huge outline of the United States that looked like an American flag. I was a little late taking the picture and the people holding it were already starting to fold it up. There was also a color guard with an American flag, but they were just about off the field when I snapped this picture. (I thought I should wait until the National Anthem was over before I took a picture.)

Although it was really warm outside they had the roof closed so fan noise would help the team. I always have a radio with ear phones, but I could barely hear the radio with all the noise.

After the game the place exploded with excitement. Some of the players went to the middle of the field for some Tebowing.

We left and squeezed on the train for the ride back to our car.

Everyone on the train was happy. It was definitely a party-like atmosphere.

It sure would be nice if they beat Baltimore and we get to go to another game at Reliant Stadium this season!

After Christmas Update...

2012-01-05T07:39:00.010-06:00

Things have been a little crazy around here the last few weeks. It seemed to take me forever to get all the Christmas stuff put up which is why I have no intention of taking it down for a while. I normally leave my decorations up until the Epiphany in January, but this year I'm leaving things up even longer.

Although our winters aren't cold here...they are a little gloomy. I like to come out in the morning and light up the tree. It makes winter seem a little less gloomy to me.

Right before Christmas Reid had a PET scan and a doctor's appointment at MD Anderson. His one lymph node lit up slightly on the scan. If it was you or me they'd probably ignore it, but because of his history of Hodgkin's they have to keep an eye on it. The doctor has told us before that even a scratch on his arm could cause that to happen. It's not unusual. If he had to put odds on it he'd say there's an 80% chance it is not Hodgkin's. He'll have a CT scan this month and we'll see what that shows. He went down last week for the clinical trial IV. He likes to joke that cancer doesn't take holidays off.

Jim also had an appointment before Christmas and in spite of the injections he's been receiving his PSA went up. He's been put on an oral medication and will begin receiving a different injection this month. He's been feeling fine, so I suspect the oral medication is helping. Meanwhile, he's looking forward to the Houston Texans playoff game on Saturday! (I'm looking forward to it too!) We'll try and get down to the stadium early and beat the crowd.

On Christmas Day we went down to the Hotel Galvez in Galveston for their Christmas buffet. I meant to bring my camera but forgot! That's OK...it probably would have been a series of blurry pictures anyway. The food was delicious and we ate like pigs. It was nice to see Reid eating well this Christmas since he spent the last two Christmases feeling yucky from chemo.

We came home and opened packages. Troy was "Christmas Boy" again this year. It's a family tradition that one member of the family is chosen (AKA stuck, coerced) to bare this title and hand out the gifts. Of course, he had to wear the official Christmas Boy hat.

Can't you see the joy on his face?

Of course, Zoom was excited and couldn't wait, so she began before the rest of us.

We didn't forget the cats. They received a sock monkey bed which went perfectly with my sock monkey collection that I placed beneath the tree this year. Ashley is actually sleeping in the bed, but it's kind of hard to see him in the picture.

Jim had a Houston Texans Christmas this year. He now has a very large Houston Texans wardrobe including a new hat, shirts, Snuggie, etc. He got just about everything except Houston Texans underwear.

This is the only picture of Reid and Keith that didn't turn out blurry. They were actually happy on Christmas Day, but you'd never know it by this picture.

While we were in the other room Ashley was busy. I came into the kitchen and found a bump under the tablecloth.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.

Happy New Year!

GO TEXANS!! (We're all fans around here.)

Alphabe-Thursday..."G" as in GOOD Food

2012-01-04T13:01:00.007-06:00

OK, so I'm really grasping at straws here because I was totally unprepared for Alphabe-Thursday up until a few minutes ago. We're already up to the letter "G" and I had to quickly come up with a post. Then I dug into one of my recipe boxes and came up with a GOOD recipe for Rice and Vermicelli. For more Alphabe-Thursday posts head over to Jenny's blog, Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."

I haven't been around lately reading blogs or answering E-mails, but things were kind of hectic over the holidays. I came down with a cold on Christmas Day, our oldest son and his cats were temporarily camping out in the computer room, and time just seemed to fly. Then Reid gave me season three and four of The Amazing Race on DVD for my birthday and I've been watching those episodes in my spare time.

I'll have a family catch up post soon, but for today I wanted to post another recipe and decided on "G" for GOOD tasting food and GOOD for you. This is a pretty simple recipe and we have it often as a side dish with chicken. It only takes a few minutes to put together and then you just pop it in the oven for 30-45 minutes. I always use brown rice in this recipe and it has only one tablespoon of butter which makes it healthier. I found this recipe somewhere online around ten years ago.

Rice and Vermicelli

1 cup rice (I use brown rice)

½ cup thin spaghetti broken in 2 inch pieces

1 chicken bouillon cube

2 cups hot water

1 Tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a casserole dish melt butter on stove (I spray the casserole with a little PAM first); add rice and spaghetti and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes. Add water and chicken bouillon cube and stir until cube dissolves. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes (45 minutes for brown rice). Serves 4

I don't have a picture, so you'll have to use your imagination.

Now head over to Jenny's blog so you can visit some other Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Christmas time birthdays...

2011-12-23T13:11:00.007-06:00

...should be recognized. Today my "older" sister turns 68.

She has a few more candles on her cake now. Happy Birthday Carol Sue!

Alphabe-Thursday...those crazy days of Christmas

2011-12-20T11:54:00.010-06:00

I thought I'd jump in here today with an Alphabe-Thursday Christmas break post. We're taking a couple of weeks off from our regularly scheduled alphabet related post and posting a holiday link. To visit other participants head over to Ms. Jenny's blog, Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."

My holiday decorations are starting to drive me crazy. I spent the better part of two days trying to get the lights to work on the wreath for our front door. You know how it can drive you crazy when one light goes out and then a bunch of others go off with the burnt out one? Well, I decided to buy one of those Light Keeper Pros. It said on the package that you could fix light sets quickly and easily. I bought mine at Target, but I noticed on Amazon that it got a lot of really good reviews. I enlisted Murphy to help with this project.

I took the wreath down and tried the first thing the directions suggest which is to plug an empty light socket into the Light Keeper Pro and pull the trigger up to 30 times. The set is supposed to light up and the burnt out one will remain off and be obvious. I tried a few different sockets and then decided to try the second method which is to take out the bulbs one by one and test them in the bulb tester located on the top of the Light Keeper Pro. I quickly realized I'd have to mark each one with a Sharpie as I tested it or I'd lose track since the string was wrapped around the wreath randomly. So, I spent two hours testing the unlit bulbs. When I got back to where I had begun I realized that now more lights were out. That's when I gave up!

I'm sure the Light Keeper Pro works great for other people, but for me it was a bust. Please blame the operator and not the Light Keeper Pro. I ended up taking the light string off the wreath and buying a new one. Of course, that was no simple task since most of the stores were now out of white lights. I drove from store to store and finally found some at Walgreens. The wreath is now completely lit and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way until after Christmas.

Then this morning I was sitting in the den reading the newspaper when I happened to notice the Christmas tree shaking. I know it shakes a little when the cats walk under the tree, but this time it was shaking way too much. That's when I discovered this...

My first instinct was to grab the camera. My second instinct was to grab the cat. I think Zoom was glad when I grabbed her because she was having a hard time trying to figure out how to get out. She kept trying to go to the end of the branch, but the branch kept bending.

I hope everyone has a good holiday. Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah!

To visit more Alphabe-Thursday holiday posts head over to Ms. Jenny's blog.

Alphabe-Thursday..."F" as in FOOD I like...

2011-12-13T19:39:00.017-06:00

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." For a list of this week's participants and information on how you can join in the fun just head over to Jenny's blog. It's never too late!

I don't know about you, but this is a busy time of the year for me. It's taken us forever to get our decorations up this year. I find myself quickly running out of energy. Around here a lot of people take their trees down the day after Christmas. I think that might have started many years ago when the only trees available were live trees which quickly dried out in the Texas heat. We never did that growing up in NJ and I don't recall anyone else doing it either. Now we always have an artificial tree and I like to keep it up way into January. Once it's up I enjoy seeing it every time I walk through the room. So, our decorations will be up for at least a month. It's a lot of work putting them up, so we might as well have time to enjoy them.

They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder and I would say that's definitely true with our tree. No color theme, no fancy ornaments...just a tree full of memories. My mother saved some of the Christmas things I made as a child and I saved most (if not all) of the Christmas things our kids made. So, our tree is decorated with a lot of faded, torn construction paper.

I always tease Reid about our Styrofoam ornaments. I wrote my name in cursive and he scribbled. I always hang them next to each other. Of course, I was probably ten years old at the time and he was in pre-school. I made the Santa Claus on the left sometime in the 1950's.

I love this reindeer that Reid made. The antlers are his little hands. I made the snowflake in school. Interestingly, it's made out of a pot pie pan that says Swanson on it. We must have had pot pies in the 1950's. I would have thought they came later.

I colored the Santa Claus in school and Keith and Troy made the pine cone elf in Cub Scouts.

Keith made the tissue paper stars on the left, Reid made the canning jar lid ornament in pre-school, I made the red ornament with the orange, I think Reid made the strung orange macaroni. Beneath those ornaments is the Christmas tree sponge made by Keith, the clothespin Santa made by me (he's definitely seen better days), and another one of the pine cone elves. Some things are dated, but most just have names on the back.

Troy made the Santa on the left and Keith made the tree on the right.

One time my mother washed and ironed some old handkerchiefs and sent them to me. I didn't know what to do with them, so I had a lady make angels out of them. This angel is made with an Eastern Star handkerchief that belonged to either my Grandmother or mother. I no longer remember what my mother told me.

Troy made the Santa Claus head and I took a Chicago White Sox key chain that I had given my Dad and converted it to an ornament by hanging it on the tree. Dad was an avid Chicago White Sox fan for most of his life.

Here are a couple of Santa Clauses made by Reid and the stocking was made by Troy.

Just so you can date some of these "beauties" I'll be 66 this month, Keith is 42, Troy is 41, and Reid will be 36 next month. That helps explain the condition.

With all the decorating going on I haven't really had time to think too much about Alphabe-Thursday this week. I've been putting up a recipe each week and I couldn't think of anything for the letter "F" except FUDGE and I don't have a FUDGE recipe. So, I decided to go with FOOD that I like to make and eat. I can't remember where I originally got this recipe for Toffee Bars, but I've had it for a long time. I don't really think they're bars...they're more like candy to me. I guess you could calls these snack food. They're really great in the morning with a cup of coffee, but that's just a personal thing. They're hardly breakfast food!

Toffee Bars

1 box graham crackers (it doesn't take the entire box)

2 sticks of butter

1 c. brown sugar

12 oz. chocolate chips

Line 15 x 10 cookie sheet with foil. Cover pan with one layer of graham crackers side by side. Melt butter and brown sugar in small sauce pan. Boil three minutes STIRRING CONSTANTLY. Pour over crackers IMMEDIATELY and spread mixture evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. Remove and sprinkle chocolate chips over top. Let soften a bit then spread evenly. Refrigerate 45 minutes then break into uneven shaped pieces. Store in sealed container in refrigerator. OPTION: Can sprinkle with chopped nuts after spreading the softened chips. I like to use pecans.

Enjoy!

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday "F" posts.

My Secret Santa Can Read Minds...

2011-12-09T16:25:00.006-06:00

WOW...let's talk about amazing. My Secret Santa can read minds. Somehow she knew I love Reeses and I don't think I ever mentioned that on my blog. I especially enjoy them frozen, so I put the bag she sent right into the freezer after I took this photo.

When I opened the package I knew exactly why she chose the gifts she chose. She definitely did some research on my blog and knew a few things about me.

She knew that I like cats and she sent a cat card with a nice note. (Oh dear...I didn't think to put a note in the package I sent.)

I've mentioned in the past how much we enjoy "hot" food and she sent an adorable jalapeno apron and some bottles of hot sauce. YUM!

In one of my past posts I bemoaned the fact that I do not have a Jewish grandmother to teach me how to cook. I was thrilled with the How To Cook Like A Jewish Grandmother Cookbook. It was perfect and full of great sounding recipes. I can't wait to try some. It will almost be like having a Jewish Bubbe.

And see the cowboy boot? It's now hanging on my Christmas tree. Tucked inside was a Colorado Lottery Ticket. I won $5,000!!!

Not really, but I did have fun scratching it off and checking to see if I had won. Suzanne had asked on the Secret Santa form if there was something we'd like and I said a lottery ticket. I'll remember my Secret Santa every Christmas because I tucked the ticket back inside the boot before I hung it on the tree. It will be packed away after Christmas with all the ornaments and every year I'll remember my special Santa when I hang it on the tree.

Opening that package really made my day. Thank you so much Secret Santa. I can't wait to find out who you are!

Thank you Secret Santa!

2011-12-08T19:19:00.004-06:00

OK...tonight I opened all the packages from my Secret Santa. All I can say is that this Santa really did their homework and obviously did some research on my blog. This person knows me quite well and by now might even know my maiden name, place of birth, and how much my first born weighed. I'm going to make you wait until tomorrow to see what I received. Hopefully, I can clear away some clutter (yes, I'm still working on getting Christmas stuff up) and take some pictures in better light. I was thrilled with everything and can't wait to show you!

Thank you Secret Santa

2011-12-08T12:27:00.005-06:00

I ran over to the storage place again to bring back some more containers of Christmas stuff. As I was unloading the car UPS pulled up. I thought that was kind of strange since I hadn't ordered anything from Office Depot, but he handed me the box and left. I continued unloading the car and assumed it must be something for my husband since I didn't recognize the return address. When I got inside I saw it was addressed to me. I was still puzzled, but quickly opened the box. That's when I realized it was from my Secret Santa.

I'm off to run some more errands and will open the packages when I get back. Sophie sure was curious about the contents and I decided I'd better put it up just in case there was a fruit cake in there.

Photos will follow...if not tonight then it will be in the morning when there's better light.

Thank you Secret Santa!

Alphabe-Thursday..."E" as in EGG and Sausage Casserole

2011-12-06T18:52:00.010-06:00

Welcome once again to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Today we are studying the letter "E" as in EGG and Sausage Casserole.

Things have been a little hectic around here lately. We were going to put the Christmas tree up the weekend after Thanksgiving, but couldn't find it. That's when we remembered that we had trouble with the lights last year and must have decided to pitch it when we took it down. Of course, neither one of us could remember actually doing it, but since it's no where to be found that must have been what happened. So, I ordered a tree from Home Depot and it arrived in less than a week. Reid put it together and we left it so the cats could get used to it for a while before we did any decorating.

Ashely quickly discovered the tree. Reid took this picture with his cell phone.

That was before I got all the branches spread out, so now it would be a little more difficult for him to get up there (I hope). Anyway, on Monday we finally got the tree decorated. There are still boxes and plastic containers all over the place and I need to get the rest of the decorating done and the packages mailed. Just wasn't time on Tuesday because Jim had to be down at MD Anderson for his appointment and that took most of the day. It's been busy around here, but I guess everyone is busy this time of year.

I went looking for a picture of EGGS online and found these EGGS in a pretty basket. I used to weave baskets, but haven't woven one in years. This kind of got me to thinking about weaving again. Perhaps one of these days when there's more time.

I got this recipe for EGG and Sausage Casserole from a lady in a book club I belonged to back in the 1980's. It's a great breakfast casserole because you make it the night before and just bake it in the morning. We've enjoyed this casserole on many Christmas mornings over the years. I wish I had a picture, but I didn't get around to making the casserole for this post. You'll just have to use your imaginations.

Egg and Sausage Casserole

1 1/2 pounds pork sausage (Jimmy Dean)

2 1/4 cups seasoned croutons

4 eggs, beaten

2 1/4 cups milk

1 can mushroom soup

1 can mushrooms (I omit because my kids think I'm trying to poison them if they see pieces of mushroom.)

3/4 t. dry mustard

2 cups shredded cheese

Grease a 13" x 9" x 2" pan.

Cook sausage - brown and crumble.

Spread croutons in bottom of pan.

Spread sausage over croutons.

Combine eggs, milk, soup, mushrooms and dry mustard. Mix well and pour over sausage.

Refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Remove from refrigerator and let sit for 30 minutes.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Spread cheese evenly over top and bake five minutes longer or until cheese melts.

Optional: garnish with cherry tomatoes, green onions, and parsley.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants.

Secret Santa...Update

2011-12-03T21:01:00.003-06:00

BINGO! My sincere thanks to the U.S. Postal Service for their assistance in making this top secret delivery.

Secret Santa...Hint #3

2011-12-02T19:57:00.004-06:00

It's 60 degrees here and 19 degrees there. I should have sent matches and firewood.

Secret Santa Swap and another hint...

2011-12-01T10:14:00.003-06:00

Oh dear...the poor package is used to the warmer temperatures we have here. Is it really 27 degrees and lightly snowing today where it's going? Brrrrrrr!

I know who you are, but you don't know me. I'm not telling...my lips are sealed.

Christmas Swap

2011-11-30T14:57:00.005-06:00

I'm participating this year in the Secret Santa swap organized by ColoradoLady. Shhhhh...I've been sworn to secrecy and cannot reveal the person's name. However, I just got home from the post office and her package is on its way.

I thought about driving and delivering it in person, but it would take 18 hours and 12 minutes to get there from here and I really don't have the time. Besides, I have very few winter clothes.

More hints to follow...

Alphabe-Thursday..."D" as in Day After Thanksgiving Dinner

2011-11-29T20:36:00.014-06:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "D" as in DAY after Thanksgiving DINNER.

A few years ago I was browsing the web looking for something to make with my left over Thanksgiving DAY turkey. I came upon a recipe that sounded good on recipezaar and it's been a family favorite ever since. I went looking for the recipe today so I could post the link and discovered that recipezaar is now food.com. It took a little searching, but I finally found the recipe here. The recipe is printable from the site and is called DAY After Thanksgiving DAY DINNER.

It's stuffing balls made with stuffing and mashed potatoes and baked until crisp.

Then a sauce is made with leftover gravy, chicken broth, and diced turkey.

It's then poured over the stuffing balls. Here it's shown with leftover asparagus and Cranberry Casserole.

The only changes I've made is that I bake my stuffing balls for 25 to 30 minutes instead of the 15-20 indicated in the recipe. I think that's because my stuffing is probably a little more moist than most stuffings. I also only add a dash of thyme to the sauce. It's just not one of my favorite spices.

I have some turkey and stuffing frozen, so we'll probably have this once again before the end of the year. I'll just use some of those frozen potatoes that you microwave and mash. We really like the leftovers this way!

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's site for a list of this week's participants.

Busy Days...

2011-11-29T19:06:00.007-06:00

I'm having my annual after Thanksgiving Day panic. I feel like I have so much to do between now and Christmas. This year I had it all planned. We would go over to the storage shed the day after Thanksgiving and bring back the Christmas ornaments and the tree. Then everyone would help me decorate the tree that day and I could slowly put out the rest of the decorations at my leisure.

So, Jim, Keith, Reid and I went over to the storage shed on Friday. We weren't the only ones not shopping. There were quite a few people doing the exact same thing. We don't like to keep our decorations in the attic or garage because the heat and humidity really takes a toll on them. It's kind of a pain having to load up the truck and bring them over, but they last longer that way.

We found the containers with the ornaments right away, but we couldn't find the tree! We dug and looked behind things, but there was no tree. Then Jim and I remembered that we had trouble with the lights last year and were never able to get one section of the tree lit. Although neither of us remembered doing it...we must have thrown the tree out.

So, on black Friday I went looking for a tree and found one I liked at Home Depot. Of course, they had none left except for the display. We quickly checked online and found the same tree on their website for a cheaper price and free shipping. So, I ordered the tree. I got an E-mail saying it would be delivered by UPS on December 1st. I guess I'll be decorating the tree alone again this year. Darn...I thought I had them all manipulated into helping me the day after Thanksgiving. Oh well, there's always next year.

Today I put away all the Fall decorations and got the wreath hung on the front door. I also got the garage a little organized. It needed some work. I've almost fallen a few times on some of the clutter, so while I was pulling out the outdoor decorations (which we keep in the garage because they go outside anyway) I did a little clean up. Tomorrow I hope to get at least one package to the post office and then bring some more Christmas stuff over from the storage shed.

Over Thanksgiving weekend I finally turned on the heat. I'm worried about my family. They've lived here too long and have become real wimps when it comes to cold weather (which is anything below 60 degrees). I was making tacos this past weekend and they came into the kitchen to let me know they were cold. Can you imagine what it would be like if they lived in Alaska or Michigan? It was probably 70 degrees in the house at the time.

Jim said his hands were cold...

We turned the heat on. It's official...fall is here. However, I'm sure we'll have the A/C on again soon. We kind of go back and forth between heat and A/C for a while.

I always forget to take pictures. I took a "before" picture of our Thanksgiving dinner and then I was going to take an "after" picture of everyone sitting at the table with empty plates. Well, I forgot. So here's the before picture. You can see the half painted dining room. I haven't told my husband yet, but I'm going to repaint the woodwork. It's too dark. When he reads this he'll find out. I haven't told him because I didn't want him to try and talk me out of doing it over. Check out my gourd turkey. Isn't he cute? I found him at a craft show earlier in the month.

I wrote a note to myself and left it on the kitchen counter. It said, "Take a picture of the family together." Of course, I forgot. When my parents were alive and used to come for visits I'd always forget to take pictures, so I'd snap photos of them at the airport when they were leaving. I now have a bunch of pictures of my parents waving as they left. At least I was forgetful back then too, so I don't have to worry now.

I woke Reid up on Monday morning and had him pose with Keith as he was getting ready to leave for Austin.

They both had bare feet. How cold can it be?

Thankful for this DESSERT

2011-11-22T19:54:00.013-06:00

Note: I already had this post written before I realized we'd be skipping our usual Alphabe-Thursday this week. Ms. Jenny suggested we write about a memory, something we're thankful for, etc., and since this recipe had a memory attached to it (and I'm always thankful for DESSERT) I decided to go ahead and post it. I'll have something else for the letter "D" next week.

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny Matlock at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "D" as in Thanksgiving Day DESSERT.

I'm typing this post on Tuesday evening and plan to get up early tomorrow morning and begin preliminary preparations for Thanksgiving Day dinner. Of course, no big meal would be complete without DESSERT, so I plan to begin my day making Pumpkin Crunch for DESSERT. That way I'll be able to include a picture when I publish this post on Wednesday afternoon.

I've mentioned before that I love pumpkin, but not pumpkin pie. I don't know why...I guess it's the texture that bothers me. Anyway, about ten years ago a lady brought Pumpkin Crunch to a bible study I was attending. I believe every single person asked for the recipe, so the following week she brought printed copies. I've since tried variations of this recipe, but this one is the best! It's very simple to make which is an extra bonus. You don't even have to get the electric mixer dirty. By the time some of you read this post it will be Thursday and I'll have already pigged out on Pumpkin Crunch for DESSERT!

PUMPKIN CRUNCH

1 (12-oz.) can evaporated skim milk

1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1 box yellow cake mix with pudding

1 cup chopped pecans

2 sticks melted butter

Line a 13” x 9” pan with wax paper. Mix together evaporated milk, pumpkin, cinnamon, and sugar. Pour into pan. Sprinkle cake mix over top and gently pat. Sprinkle chopped pecans on top and gently pat. Dribble melted butter on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Cool completely. Turn onto plate and remove wax paper. (Note: I don’t have a plate big enough, so I usually cover a cookie sheet with foil and turn the cake onto that.)

ICING

1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 cup powdered sugar

1 (8 oz.) Cool Whip

Mix together and frost cooled cake. (You could use an electric mixer for this part and cream the cream cheese first. I don't bother.)

Here are some pictures of the Pumpkin Crunch I baked this morning. You just stir the pumpkin, milk, sugar and cinnamon together with a spoon.

Pour in the wax paper lined pan and sprinkle on the cake mix. Pat it down a little, add the pecans and pat again. Drizzle the melted butter over the top. Bake.

Cool thoroughly and turn over onto a plate (I use a cookie sheet) and peel off the wax paper. Frost with the Cool Whip mixture. Keep refrigerated.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! To read more Alphabe-Thursday Thanksgiving Day posts head to Ms. Jenny's blog.

Alphabe-Thursday..."C" as in CHILI pie

2011-11-15T21:48:00.010-06:00

It's time again for Ms. Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday and this week we are studying the letter "C" as in Ken Rogers' Mexican CHILI Pie.

I really enjoy it when the food section of the Houston Chronicle publishes recipes from their readers. They really don't do it often enough anymore. It seems most of their recipes now come from Good Housekeeping or Redbook, or they feature some chef's recipe and I don't even recognize some of the ingredients. Of course, the newspaper business has changed and the food section is now usually only four pages. I guess I should be grateful that they still have a food section!

Some years back I clipped this recipe out of the paper and we all liked it. It's become another family favorite, but it's spicy. If you like less spice you could always cut back a little on the chili powder and leave off the jalapenos. We have iron stomachs and like things hot!

Ken Rogers’ Mexican CHILI Pie

1 ½ pounds ground beef

1 tablespoon chili powder

½ teaspoon garlic salt

¼ cup sliced black olives (I use ½ a small can of chopped black olives)

1 cup sour cream

1/3 cup minced onion

1 (8 ounce) jar salad dressing (such as Miracle Whip)

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls (8 rolls in each)

2 tomatoes, thinly sliced (I use 3 large tomatoes)

2 cups grated Cheddar cheese

Sliced canned jalapenos to taste

Sprinkle ground beef with chili powder and garlic salt. Cook in a large skillet over medium heat until meat loses pink color. Drain off fat. In a small bowl combine olives, sour cream, onion, and salad dressing.

Unroll crescent rolls. Flatten and line the sides and bottom of a 13 X 9 X 2 inch baking dish with all the rolls; pinch seams together to seal. (I lightly spray the pan with Pam first.) Spread all the meat mixture on top of the dough. Layer with one-half of the tomato slices, one half of the cheese, and one half of the olive mixture. Repeat layers. Top with jalapenos. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until crust is golden brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. (I usually bake it for 20-25 minutes…just keep an eye on it so the crust doesn’t burn.) Makes 6 to 8 servings.

I'm adding the pictures again at the bottom in case anyone would like to copy and paste just the above recipe into a Word Document. Besides, you don't need pictures...you all know how to read and my pictures are lousy. Here they are anyway...just in case.

Here are the crescent rolls in the bottom of the pan.

The ground beef and chili powder are simmering.

Here's the before...

...and here's the after.

Be sure and visit Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants.

I'm either crazy or brilliant!

2011-11-15T19:07:00.010-06:00

You make the call. We were supposed to have a new dining room floor put down a year ago this past September, but that's when my Dad died and Reid relapsed. The company had already ordered the tiles, but they said they'd hold onto them and put the floor down whenever we were ready. They told us not to worry because we had enough to worry about already. (Aren't people nice?) So, they waited and when Jim was diagnosed with cancer this October I decided we'd better go ahead and get the floor down while the going was good.

I finished packing up all the dishes and glassware and we moved all the boxes over to the storage place where we keep our Christmas stuff. They came in and put down the floor. It was actually the entryway and dining room and the old floor had to be taken up and the furniture moved. It took about a week to get it all done.

We've lived in this house for 20 years and we've never painted the entryway or dining room. The wallpaper had become dated and this area of our home was long overdue for an update. However, with Thanksgiving right around the corner we've run out of time! I need to get the dishes unpacked, but we haven't painted yet. I don't want to unpack just for Thanksgiving and then pack them all up again so we can move the furniture to paint. What was I going to do?

This is where the brilliant part comes in...or perhaps the crazy part. I've decided to paint just behind the furniture for now. That way I can unpack the dishes and move the furniture into place. Then we'll throw plastic covers over the furniture and paint the rest after Thanksgiving (hopefully) or maybe the beginning of next year. Granted, it will look kind of odd for a while...especially since we're changing colors.

Today I started washing the woodwork to prepare it for painting.

There's a lot of wood and I've only done three walls for now. I'm hoping to patch holes where pictures were hung tomorrow. And I bought another dining room hutch at an antique store so I'll have more room to store dishes. The hutch I bought isn't antique, but it goes well with the furniture we have. I really wanted an antique, but this hutch holds a lot more and I need the space. Tomorrow I'm going to get Reid to take me in his truck to pick it up. Then I'll hopefully get the painting done before the end of the week and we can bring the dishes back over this weekend.

Does it sound like a plan? Would a sane person do it this way? Sigh...I wish I was 30 years younger. I get tired just thinking about painting.

Meanwhile, I did have time for a little fun. I won two Muffie dolls on eBay a while back. I never had a Muffie as a child. I was (and still am) a Ginny doll person, but over the years I've tried to surround the Ginnys with a few different faces. These Muffies were definitely in need of help and the price reflected that need. Here they are right after they arrived and getting ready for a bath and shampoo.

And here's the blond after her makeover. It was her first day of school.

And here you can see more of her curls. Her outfit was made by Susan Dart. She's adollsewloved on eBay.

The second Muffie still needs some work. She might have to wait until after the dining room.

A Public Service Announcement...GERMS!

2011-11-14T09:17:00.008-06:00

I've been meaning to write this post for a long time. Reid would tell you that I've become phobic about germs, but I would disagree. However, ever since his stem cell transplant we've become much more diligent about fighting germs. Since we're going into cold and flu season I thought I'd share with you what we've learned.

Germs are everywhere, but I haven't had a cold in two years. Jim had one last Christmas and Reid had one right before the stem cell transplant (his immune system was definitely depressed at that time), but other than that we've stayed cold and flu free.

Our best friend is hand sanitizer. You can even find coupons here for Purell hand sanitizer. We have a bottle in every vehicle and carry a small bottle with us at all times. The hand sanitizer has to have alcohol and we buy sanitizer with at least 62% alcohol. Granted, we live in an area with a lot of humidity so the hand sanitizer isn't too drying on our hands. I would imagine it would be very drying in the colder climates, but you could always carry a little bottle of hand lotion too. The hand sanitizer usually contains some moisturizer, but I notice here on less humid days my hands feel dry. Of course, I also clean my kitchen counters constantly with Clorox Clean Up With Bleach and that is partially responsible too.

I don't have any small children, but I still remember the constant runny noses in the winter. I have bought in Office Depot very small bottles of Purell hand sanitizer that hang on a plastic clip and can be attached to a belt loop, back pack, lunch box, etc. The little bottle can be refilled. They have them right on the counter by the register or use the link above to order online.

When you start thinking about germs you start noticing where they are located. At Kroger I buy First Aid Antiseptic Rubbing and Massaging Wipes that contain 70% alcohol. It's Kroger's own brand and I use these wipes for my cell phone, the regular phone, computer keyboard and mouse, TV remote control, light switches, toilet handle, faucets, door knobs, etc. Just anyplace in the home that everyone comes in contact with. I don't wipe these things daily, but I would if someone had a cold.

You can't just carry that hand sanitizer with you. You have to use it all the time! Every time you get back into your vehicle get in the habit of using the hand sanitizer. Whenever you walk out of a store use your hand sanitizer. Think about all the things you touched in the store...including the door handle...that everyone else touched.

Don't get me going on filthy shopping carts. I personally think Target has the dirtiest shopping carts, but it could just be because the dirt shows up more on the red carts. Kroger's carts are gray...the color of dirt. Back in the 1970's I shopped at A&P in Virginia. I used to see them power washing the carts on a regular basis. I have never seen that done since and I can't help but wonder how often (if ever) the carts are cleaned. I always use the sanitary wipes that the stores usually supply at the entrances. If they're out I go to customer service and ask them to replace them. I recently heard on the news that there's more e coli germs on shopping carts than on toilet seats. We put food in those carts!

Any store with a pharmacy is loaded with germs. That's where sick people congregate. The counters, door handles, etc. are contaminated. You can't ever forget to use your hand sanitizer there!

Do you ever charge something? Yes, use your hand sanitizer after using the pen that everyone else uses. Think about all the things that are touched by everyone...escalators, ATM machines, parking meters, vending machines, gas pump handles, etc. When you start becoming aware you just automatically reach for the hand sanitizer.

When we arrive at a restaurant we put a bottle of hand sanitizer right on the table. As soon as the waiter collects the menus we use hand sanitizer. I don't think too many places ever clean the menus. I recently read that germs like hard surfaces like menus. Think of how many people touch the menus. Three people before you might have had a cold or wiped their nose while looking at the menu. Gross...huh? And we always use the hand sanitizer after touching any condiments on the table. Yes, everyone touches those too. If you go to the salad bar...use your hand sanitizer. Everyone touches the spoons, ladles, etc. The same thing with a buffet. Use the hand sanitizer as soon as you return to the table.

Speaking of restaurants...I absolutely hate it when they put the bread on the table with a cutting board and knife. Everyone at the table ends up touching the loaf of bread while they cut their slice. That's a pet peeve of mine. I skip the bread.

Reid pointed out to me the balls that kids play in at fast food places. Actually, all the stuff kids play on at those places are full of germs. Yes, they should definitely wash their hands thoroughly or use hand sanitizer before eating their food!

Washing hands is the best option, but not always convenient. However, when washing hands I always sing Happy Birthday to myself silently two times. That's a good thing to teach kids. You want those hands thoroughly washed. Be sure and use antibacterial soap. When leaving a restroom I use a paper towel to grab the door handle and then use my hand sanitizer too. I hate it when they don't have paper towels or they don't have a trash can by the door. Ken Hoffman is a columnist for the Houston Chronicle. He says that if there isn't a trash can by the door you should throw the paper towel on the floor. He claims the next time you visit that restroom there will be one there. I don't necessarily endorse this practice, but you can carry the paper towel with you until you see a trash can. Throw it out and then use your trusty hand sanitizer.

Church...a germ haven. Why do so many churches have everyone shake hands at some point during the service? And the minister...he/she is full of germs. Everyone shakes hands with them. Do not forget your hand sanitizer on Sundays. The church I've been attending keeps bottles of hand sanitizer and boxes of tissues on the pews. Great idea! I'll be honest...communion now concerns me a little. There are individual cups for wine, but the bread worries me. Did the person handing out the bread use hand sanitizer? I've decided that at the height of cold and flu season I'll probably skip communion.

OK...am I phobic? I used to believe that you had to be exposed to germs in order to build up resistance. I never used hand sanitizer until Reid was having chemo and the stem cell transplant. Among other things, the hospital stressed washing hands and using hand sanitizer.
I'm now a firm believer.

You get sick mainly by touching your face, rubbing your eyes, etc. We all absentmindedly touch our faces way more than we realize in the course of a day. I think germs are spread more by our hands than by being in the vicinity of someone coughing or sneezing. (However, I always try and move away from those people as quickly as possible.)

So, wash those hands often and use that hand sanitizer!

Alphabe-Thursday..."B" as in Beer Butt Chicken

2011-11-08T20:25:00.013-06:00

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny Matlock over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "B" as in Peggy's BEER BUTT Chicken.

Back in the 1990's I used to enjoy weaving baskets. At that time (and I think it might still exist) there was a Basket Board on AOL that I used to participate in. There was a core group that exchanged posts almost daily. We'd exchange information on classes, patterns we liked, weaving techniques, the trials and tribulations of daily life, etc. From time to time we'd have basket swaps.

One of the ladies was a gal named Peggy Koch who lived in upstate New York and was raising a baby monkey named Davey. He was eventually going to be trained to assist a handicapped person, but he was still too young for training and lived with Peggy and her husband so he could learn socialization skills. Eventually the day would come when Peggy would have to give him back to the organization responsible for his training. Peggy would often post funny stories about Davey that we all enjoyed.

Sadly, Peggy was a diabetic and died quite suddenly of some medical complications. We were all shocked and didn't know what to do. One of the ladies who designed and wrote basket patterns came up with a pattern to honor Peggy's memory and help raise funds for the organization that would be training Davey. We all purchased the pattern and wove baskets for each other in the next basket swap. Some of us also wove a second basket for some of Peggy's friends that were also raising monkeys for the handicapped.

The lady who designed the basket was Laura Lee Zangler. She's a very talented lady and this pattern along with many of her other designs are available here. Her twill basket designs are wonderful!

Here are a couple of pictures of the basket I wove for the swap. (These are old pictures that I scanned and the colors are faded.) If you look at the second photo you can see Davey woven into the bottom of the basket. The colors are actually teal blue and navy.

After Peggy died another lady on the board shared Peggy's recipe for BEER BUTT chicken. She told us to smile and think of Peggy whenever we made it...and I do. We really enjoy this recipe and it's become a family favorite.

Peggy’s Beer Butt Chicken

2 3 pound whole chickens

1 tbsp. paprika

2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional, but I always use it)

½ tsp. garlic powder

1 tbsp. brown sugar

2 12 oz. cans beer

1 small onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Trim fat from chicken, rinse and pat dry.

In a small bowl combine all spices and mix well. Rub about 1 tsp. of mixture inside each chicken, and the remainder of the mixture on the outside of the chickens.

Open cans of beer and pour out half of the beer from each can. Drink if desired. Stuff the onion and minced garlic into the cans…half in each.

Ease the “butt” of each chicken over the beer cans, feet down until the chickens rest on the beer cans and their legs. (Note: I use metal holders made for this type of recipe. The beer can sits in the center and the chicken fits over the whole thing. They’re now sold at grocery stores, but when I first started making this chicken we didn’t have the holders. You just have to be more careful so you don’t knock it over. Beer cans must remain upright.)

Scatter handful of soaked hickory chips over hot coals and place chicken on beer cans directly on grill. (Note: We have a gas grill and put the chips in a box made for smoking. It sits on the grill. We bought our box at Home Depot.)

Close grill lid, but leave vents open and grill for about 2 hours. Add briquettes to fire as needed (not necessary with a gas grill).

Our grill can be lit on either side. We light the grill under the box of chips and not directly under the chickens.

Can also be placed in a pan and baked in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours. Beer cans must remain upright at all times. (Note: We always cook them on the grill and I've never cooked them this way.)

I'm going to post all the pictures below the recipe so you can copy and paste just the recipe in a Word Document if you want to save it. I did a search the other day to see about putting one of those print buttons on my recipe posts, but I'm scared I'll mess up the blog html if I try to add it... and then I won't be able to fix it again.

Here are the beer cans in the holders...

The chickens ready to go on the grill...

The chickens on the grill with the metal box with the wet chips...

The cooked chickens two hours later...

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for more Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Lazy Weekend

2011-11-07T19:55:00.007-06:00

Early Saturday morning we were all relaxing and taking it easy...

...when there was a knock at the backdoor. It was Keith! He decided to surprise us by driving over from Austin for the day. It's a 3 1/2 hour drive each way, so we were surprised.

I think he really wanted to see for himself how Jim was doing. Since he's been feeling a whole lot better lately we took Keith to our favorite German restaurant for lunch. (I wish I had remembered my camera.)

He left around 3:30 for the drive home. I managed to get Jim, Reid, and Keith to pose for a picture.

And then he was off!

Alphabe-Thursday..."A" as in APPLE Bites

2011-11-02T12:13:00.012-05:00

OK...I'm going to try and keep up with Alphabe-Thursday this time, but sometimes real life gets in the way and in spite of good intentions I don't get a post written in time. I'm starting with A and I'm hoping to finish with Z this time!

I want to thank our teacher Ms. Jenny Matlock for sponsoring this event. For information on how you can participate and for a list of this week's participants head over to Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent."

One evening I was reading some of the blogs on my reading list and came upon one that was participating in one of these weekly events. (I don't remember which blog.) I became interested and decided to click on the blog that was hosting it. (I no longer remember this blog either.) From there I started clicking on links and came across a recipe for Bite Sized APPLE Bites at a blog called Lady With The Red Rocker. She in turn said she found the recipe on a blog called Cookin' Up North and that lady said the recipe came from Taste Of Home. OK...did you follow all of that?

Anyway, I've now made them twice and we love them! I made them again this morning just so I could post a picture of Bite Sized APPLE Bites.

Here they are about to go in the oven...

And here they are fresh from the oven...

If you want to see beautiful photographs and step by step directions click on the links to those two blogs. If you think you can figure it out without beautiful pictures and step by step directions just follow the below recipe.

Bite Size APPLE Bites

1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. of cinnamon
1 pkg. (14.1 oz.) refrigerated pie crust (let stand out for about 15 minutes or so)
3 tbsp. melted butter, divided
2 medium tart apples, each cut into 8 wedges

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon, set aside 1 tbsp. On a lightly floured surface, unroll the pastry. Brush with 2 tbsp. melted butter, sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture.

Cut each sheet into 8 one inch strips, about 8 inches long. Wrap one strip around each apple wedge, placing sugared side of pastry against apple.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Brush tops with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 13-15 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve warm. Makes 16

Note: I soaked some raisins in a little warm water while I got the apples sliced and added a few to each of my APPLE BITES. I found it took 18-19 minutes in my oven. DON'T skip the parchment paper!

Another Note: One of the above ladies said that it was easy and only took her about 20-25 minutes to make. Well, I will agree that they were easy, but it took me a whole lot longer than 20-25 minutes. Perhaps I'm a slow worker in my old age. Cleaning up the mess and doing the dishes took me almost 20-25 minutes. :)

Now head off to school and visit with the rest of the classmates listed on Ms. Jenny's blog.

Pumpkin Time

2011-11-01T17:59:00.006-05:00

If it's Fall then it must be pumpkin time. I love anything pumpkin except pumpkin pie. Don't ask me why, but I've never been a fan of pumpkin pie. This is the time of year I head to Sonic for a pumpkin milkshake, Einstein's for pumpkin bagels, I-Hop for pumpkin pancakes, etc. The list goes on and on.

Back in 1998 someone shared a recipe for Crockpot Pumpkin Dessert on an old AOL recipe board. It's low fat, easy to make, and something I enjoy. I guess it's kind of like a pumpkin pudding. I thought I'd share the recipe here.

Crockpot Pumpkin Dessert

16 oz. can of pumpkin

2 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 -12 oz. can evaporated skim milk

¾ cup sugar

½ cup reduced fat Bisquick (I use Pioneer Low Fat)

Egg substitute to equal 2 eggs (1/2 cup)

Spray inside of crockpot with non-stick cooking spray. Beat ingredients together until smooth with hand mixer. Pour into crock pot.

The original directions said to cook it on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours. I have never cooked it that long. I’m sure cooking time varies from crockpot to crockpot, but I cook it on low for two hours and then I check it every fifteen minutes or so until a knife inserted in the center comes out looking a little moist, but with none of the pumpkin adhered to it. (Yesterday it was probably 2 1/2 hours.)

I like to eat it warm with some fat free whipped topping. I keep the leftovers in the refrigerator and then reheat it in the microwave.

I haven't been very good lately about keeping up with correspondence or reading blogs. Things have been a little hectic lately and then I spend Monday and Tuesday evenings watching Dancing With The Stars. Is anyone else disappointed with the show this season? Personally, I thought Maks was abusive towards his partner in the clip they showed last night. I'm disappointed in the producers and ABC for even showing it. Instead, they should have dealt with the situation immediately. That kind of conduct should never be tolerated. (OK...I'm off my soapbox now.)

Last week Reid was down at MD Anderson and got the results of his latest CT scan. I thought he wasn't going to be scanned again until December, but I had forgotten about the scans he must have for the clinical trial. They only had the CT scan of his neck and abdomen. They were still reading the chest CT scan. Since we haven't heard anymore we're assuming it was OK. They went ahead with the clinical trial anyway, and I don't think they would have if there had been a problem. In the past the results have always been ready the next day.

Meanwhile, Jim has also been going down to MD Anderson for treatment of his prostate cancer. We were told that his case is unusual in that you wouldn't expect the quantity of cancer in relationship to his PSA score. Last month he received two injections to stop the cancer and begin to shrink it. It seems to be working and today he received another injection. We still don't know if he'll eventually have surgery and/or radiation. The doctor didn't want to commit to the exact treatment yet. He had a bone scan and an MRI last week. He does have some tiny spots of cancer in his back, neck, rib, and some nodes. We're hopeful that the injections will clear up the cancer in those spots.

While we were down there today we went ahead and bought our Christmas cards. We've actually been buying the MD Anderson Children's Art Project Christmas cards since we first moved here in the 1980's. They've really expanded over the years and in addition to the cards and ornaments they sell jewelery, iPhone covers, dishes, etc., decorated with the children's art. Funds raised are used for various programs to help benefit patients lives.

I also went into the gift shop and bought an adorable Christmas street lamp that will be perfect for a Christmas doll scene...assuming that I ever get around to setting up a new scene. I still have my dolls set up in some scenes from last Christmas. I never got around to taking them down.

We've also been getting in touch with our German heritage lately. Some months back we discovered a German restaurant in the next town. Actually, we saw it right after they opened, but it was located in an industrial type building behind a car wash. I know that seems like a strange location, but we looked online and found their menu and decided to give it a try. We have really enjoyed going there. Once you get inside it's got atmosphere and the food is delicious. They don't advertise because the place has become so popular and now they're expanding the building. In September the Houston Chronicle did an article about businesses that are a combination car wash and something else and they wrote about our German restaurant. We were afraid the place would get even more crowded!

Recently Reid and I decided to drive down to Galveston for Oktoberfest and a little more German food. We enjoyed it, but decided the place in the next town is better. I should have brought my camera and taken pictures, but I didn't feel like lugging the camera around. Maybe next year!

We've been able to turn off the A/C off a little lately, but this evening I turned it back on again to get the humidity out. I'll probably turn it off before we go to bed. It's really not that warm. It's probably only in the 70's right now. Did you see the snow in the northeast? I was envious!

Can I ask you to vote?

2011-10-24T11:50:00.004-05:00

Can you help? It will only take a few minutes. Tragedy struck the Berry family of Houston, Texas this past summer. While returning to Houston from a vacation in Colorado another vehicle veered into their lane and hit the Berry mini van head-on. Josh Berry, 41, and Robin Berry, 40, died and their three young children were injured. Peter, 9, and Aaron, 8, both suffered spinal cord injuries. Their sister Willa, 6, was less severely injured.

The children are now living with their uncle and his wife. Their babysitter and family friend Tessa Gerral has put her life on hold to stay with the children and help support their physical and emotional needs. She has been nominated for a Jewish Community Heroes Award, but first she must garner enough votes to move onto the next level.

You can read about Tessa Gerral and vote for her here. You'll be able to vote once every 24 hours until November 10th.

I try and vote every day and it only takes a few seconds. Just bookmark the page and you'll be able to return daily.

Thanks for your vote.

Updates...

2011-09-30T15:49:00.010-05:00

I know I've been absent lately, but things have happened and I haven't been able to post on my semi-regular basis. More about that later.

Around six or seven years ago, I found an old childhood friend's E-mail address on our high school's alumni site. Brigid and I had known each other a long time. We were in Brownies together and I believe we actually met for the first time in Kindergarten. That would make it around 60 years that I've known her. We even played Ginny dolls together. In fact, Brigid wanted a Ginny doll so badly and went snooping around the house before Christmas one year and found the Ginny doll her mother had bought. She would play with it in secret and then wrap it back up before her mother got home from work. On Christmas morning she acted surprised when she opened the package.

This is Brigid probably around the time we met. She's on the left...

Since Junior High she has called me Durg and I've called her Boh. For some reason we called each other by the first few letters of our last names. I can no longer recall how that happened, but when we reconnected we picked up right where we had left off. I was Durg and she was Boh.

Brigid was the class clown all through school. She had a very quick wit and I can remember laughing so hard my sides would hurt. We fooled around way too much and neither of us were very good students. However, whenever the teacher would try to catch us by asking a relevant question about what we were supposed to be studying Brigid would always know the answer. The teacher could never catch her. She was so smart. Sometimes we would have to stop her in mid conversation to have her tell us what a particular word meant. She had quite a vocabulary. To say she was an under achiever is putting it mildly.

At the end of our Junior year Brigid announced that she wanted to go to college. She went to the guidance counselor and asked to be allowed to repeat her Junior year. We all thought she was crazy. "Come on Brigid, stay with us and graduate next year." No, Brigid had made up her mind. She always thought everything through and she knew this was what she wanted. So, she ended up graduating in 1965 instead of 1964.

I know I posted this picture not too long ago. This was one of our many excursions to the Jersey Shore and Brigid is the one in the middle. Poor Boh...she had red hair and very white skin. If she wasn't covered up she'd burn to a crisp.

After high school we stayed in touch and for a while she and I both worked part time at a local grocery store. She was a full time student and I had a full time office job, but she was saving for college and I was buying a Mustang. Then in 1968 she sailed for Europe as part of her studies and a few days later I got married. Eventually, we lost touch with one another. Then maybe six or seven years ago I found Brigid's E-mail address on our high school's alumni page. I quickly wrote and she quickly replied. She still lived in New Jersey and I now lived in Texas, but we did manage to see each other a couple of times over the years.

Brigid had finished college, worked for a while, and then went on to law school. She told me one time that her mother had read in the Ladies Home Journal that law was a good career for a woman in the early 1970's. While I had kids and raised a family, Brigid had practiced law.

She had also battled breast cancer and received a stem cell transplant as part of her treatment. Needless to say, she was a wonderful support system for me the last two years as Reid battled cancer and also had a stem cell transplant.

Brigid retired almost ten years ago. She was a lawyer for the Federal Government working in the vicinity of the World Trade Center. She was working from home on 9/11 and shortly thereafter decided to retire early. I think cancer and terrorism factored into her decision.

I always enjoyed her E-mails. She was the voice of reason when I expressed my fears about Reid's treatment. She stood by my side. She never let much time go by without writing and asking how Reid was doing. Her caring E-mails and loyalty meant so much to me. I can't even begin to express how much I appreciated her support. She was there when I needed her the most. That's a very, very special friend.

All of a sudden I didn't hear from her. I wrote and never heard back. I knew she and Brian often took off on trips or cruises, so at first I wasn't too concerned. On occasion a couple of weeks might go by without any word from her, but then she'd write and say they had gone to Florida, Las Vegas, or on a cruise. When the hurricane was headed up the east coast in August I wrote again and asked if she was ready for the storm. I never heard back. I was starting to get a little concerned, so I E-mailed her last week and told her I was worried. Still no word.

Last night something told me to google her name. I did and pulled up her obituary. She had died on August 15th of a heart attack at home. The obituary said she died peacefully. For that I'm grateful, but I'm heartbroken too. I miss her. I'm glad we were able to reconnect for a while. I just wish it could have been longer. I no longer have anyone in NJ that would have seen the obituary and recognized that she was my friend, so I didn't know. Today I found Brian's business E-mail address online and wrote to him to let him know how sorry I am right now. He's certainly in my thoughts and prayers.

This is a picture of Boh taken in 2004. She's meeting my travel doll, GinnyFaith.

Good bye Boh. I'll miss you more than you'll ever know. Thank you for being such a special friend.

Now on to a couple of updates. Reid had his latest scans a couple of weeks ago and this time he lit up on the PET scan in a lymph node under his right arm. However, it was very slight and the doctor told us that it can happen to anyone with a cold, sore throat, cough, or even a scratch on the arm. Normally, it wouldn't mean much but because of his history of Hodgkin's they will keep an eye on it and he'll be rescanned in three months. He continues with the clinical trial, but we're fairly certain he's getting the placebo right now.

The same week Reid got his scan results my husband had a biopsy. He's been diagnosed with prostate cancer. On Monday we meet with his Urologist out here to see what he recommends and on Tuesday he'll be seen at MD Anderson for their take on the situation. We really need to get some kind of treatment started soon as he hasn't been feeling well at all lately.

This week we had a new floor put down in the dining room and entryway. I had ordered this floor a year ago and then my Dad died and Reid relapsed and the company was so nice about waiting. We're enjoying the new floor, and I'm glad to have it down before Jim starts any treatment.

I think I'll probably be hit and miss around here for a while. I'm hoping to catch up on some blog reading this weekend if time allows.

Alphabe-Thursday..."U" as in United We Stand

2011-09-07T15:05:00.001-05:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Today we are studying the letter U.

The first thing I thought of was the motto:

"UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL"

I think it's sometimes forgotten lately and I find that really sad. According to Wikpedia the basic concept is that unless the people are united, it is easy to destroy them.

Almost ten years ago we were united as one during one of the saddest days in our history.

United We Stand was also a song back in 1970 and sung by Brotherhood Of Man. When I looked at the You Tube Video I couldn't help but wonder what they must think now of the outfits and hair styles they wore forty years ago.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants and for information on how you can join in the fun.

Welcome Fall

2011-09-06T19:19:00.000-05:00

The last couple of days have been wonderful! Very low humidity and the temperatures have dropped into the 80's and low 90's. Granted, we still have to run the A/C, but the low humidity is a real treat.

I had already decided that I'd put up some fall decorations in early September. After the 100+ temperatures I wanted to pretend it was fall. On Saturday I ran to Michael's and bought what I needed to make a new wreath. The silk leaves have a tendency to act like blotters and absorb moisture from the air. In no time they mildew, but I still use them for a while. Real leaves aren't perfect, so I figure the black spots are OK for a couple of years. It was now time for a new wreath and some new leaves.

Here we have our artificial fall foliage, artificial pumpkins, artificial gourds, etc. I've given up on the real stuff...it rots too quickly. And our leaves don't turn pretty colors. They just dry up and fall off over the winter. They need cooler temperatures to trigger the pretty colors. So, we use pretty make believe leaves.

I know it will get hot again, but for now I'm enjoying what we've got. I just wish we'd get some desperately needed rain to put out all the Texas wild fires. It's really getting bad.

Flag Of Honor for 9/11

2011-09-05T14:18:00.007-05:00

Have you seen these flags? We got our 9/11 flag at Lowe's. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but then I read that a portion of the proceeds will go to The Voices of 9/11 Museum at Ground Zero, the Flag of Honor Fund, and the Wounded Warriors Project. This is just a quick scan of the folded flag.

It's an American flag with the names of everyone who perished as a result of 9/11 as the stripes on the flag. We also purchased the yellow banner that says Honor & Remember. I'll fly it on the 10th anniversary this year and then every year afterwards.

With the 10th anniversary approaching I'm finding myself a little down in the dumps. It makes it all seem as if it just happened again. I'm flipping channels and seeing some of those awful images again. I'll never forget, but I think this flag and banner will help make me feel like I'm doing something to honor and remember the people we lost that day when I fly it each year.

I do have a problem with companies and individuals profiting from this tragedy and I realize the flag company will be making some money. It is an American company however. Anyway, I have mixed emotions. How do you all feel?

Update on Ridgefield, CT

2011-09-03T16:24:00.003-05:00

On a follow up to my previous post you'll be glad to know that 84% of Ridgefield, CT now has power. By Monday 99% should have their power restored. Those of us who have been through hurricanes before would probably say they're very fortunate. I hope they remember to thank the kind people that came to their assistance.

I found something written by a lineman for Center Point Energy in Houston who worked at restoring power for people after Hurricane Ike in 2008. It was very interesting to read how things were from his perspective. For three weeks he worked from 5:30 AM until 9:30 PM every single day. After that he worked 12 hour days for two weeks. He said he was just as anxious as every one else to have all the power restored so he could go back to normal working hours.

He did have to deal with one angry man and some fool that called the electric company and said a child had touched a live wire only to find that it was a ruse to get a crew there. He also spoke of how much it meant to him when a group of people showed their appreciation and an elderly lady gave him a hug.

You can read his account of events here. It's a very interesting and informative read.

We sure take electricity for granted until it's gone. I think the people that work long, hard hours after hurricanes and other natural disasters deserve our thanks and appreciation.

Ridgefield, CT...what is your problem???

2011-09-01T19:55:00.006-05:00

I couldn't believe what I heard on NBC news tonight. The people of Ridgefield, CT are upset because their electricity isn't back on yet since the hurricane. The electric company linemen are receiving police protection from the angry citizens. You can see the story here:

NBC Nightly News With Brian Williams - Crews Still Working To Restore Power In The Northeast

I just hope the story is incorrect or there's some reasonable explanation.

It hasn't even been a week! After Ike in 2008 we were without electricity for a week and other residents of our community even longer. Our next door neighbors had their electric meter torn off the house by a tree that went down. They had to get an electrician to repair the meter and then wait for the electric company to come back, so they went another week or more without electricity.

What really upset me was seeing trucks from Pike Electric Company of Mt. Airy, NC in the background of the news report. This is the company that came here after Ike and worked for weeks in the heat and humidity restoring electricity. We welcomed them with open arms and they didn't need police protection. After all they left their homes and families to come and help us and we were grateful.

I noticed it was 75 degrees in Ridgefield this afternoon. I'm assuming it goes below 70 at night. They need to try sleeping in 90+ degree weather with high humidity and no A/C.

Someone needs to explain to the citizens of Ridgefield that this is what's called a natural disaster. Perhaps someone from New Orleans can explain to them what it's like to lose not only your electricity, but everything else along with it.

Please excuse my rant. The fine people from Pike Electric deserve better. I will always be grateful to them.

ALPHABE-THURSDAY..."T" as in TREES

2011-08-31T08:58:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Today we are studying the letter "T" as in TREES.

In Texas we are in the middle of a drought. I know that's probably hard for the folks along the east coast to believe, but in Texas it is dry! We've also had record high temperatures. I guess in the last 25 days or so we've had one day where it didn't go over 100, and that's because we actually got a little badly needed rain that day. We've had temperatures as high as 109 and then when you factor in the humidity it feels even hotter.

It's really started stressing the water supplies. We're fortunate in that our town has voluntary water restrictions. We can water every other day during certain hours. Some of the surrounding towns have very strict water restrictions.

All of this is hurting lawns, shrubs, and TREES. I water as much as I can, but it's never enough. Over the years I've been trying to grow a forest in the backyard with seedling that were given away on Arbor Day. Some of the smaller ones are a few years old and they're suffering the most. Can you see the little one in the center of the picture? It's only a couple of feet high and it's losing leaves. I guess it's competing for water with the big Live Oak in the background.

And one of my little Pine TREES is starting to droop...

Our last water bill was $400!

I don't have St. Augustine grass back there because of the shade. It's just monkey grass that I let grow all over the yard along with the weeds. Monkey grass is normally used as an edging around the base of TREES and along flower beds and grows kind of tall. I leave it tall around TREES and beds and then mow it short every place else. Right now the yard needs mowing, but I'm waiting for the temperature to go below 100 before I mow. I have someone that mows the front, but I do the back myself. For the most part I've managed to keep the grass and shrubs green.

Anyone that's every flown into Houston will tell you how green it is when you look down from the plane, but it's not as green this year. In parks and natural areas large trees are dying. I try and give my large trees a deep watering every once in a while by leaving the hose run slowly under the tree for a couple of hours.

All over the area TREES are dying. I went to a local park today and took some pictures.

There are areas a lot worse, but it was over 100 and I didn't want to stay outside too long taking pictures. I've noticed a lot of pine TREES dying, but I read in the paper that when they're stressed from the drought the pine bark beetles move right in.

The good news is that the temperatures are expected to drop towards the end of the week...all the way down into the 90's! Brrrrrr. They also say it may even rain. I sure hope so because I'm tired of watering. I also want to get outside and do something. I'd love to take a nice long walk. I find myself avoiding going places because of the heat. I've been putting off regular grocery shopping and running into the store for one or two items at a time. I just don't feel like lugging a lot home in this weather.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's for a list of this week's participants and for information on how you can join in the fun!

CRAZY WEATHER

2011-08-28T17:34:00.007-05:00

I'm always glad when a hurricane doesn't come this way and then I feel a little guilty for wishing it on someone else. Actually, I wish this crazy weather would leave everyone alone.

Last year it seemed like most of the tropical storms/hurricanes headed off into the Atlantic. I'm wondering if this is some new weather trend. Time will tell. It's usually in September and October that the storms start popping up one after the other.

It looks like a lot of flooding along the east coast, but things weren't as bad as originally predicted. Thank goodness. Sadly, there was loss of life, but I guess it could have been so much worse.

Right now there are many people without electricity. I know the electric companies are very good about helping each other out. After Ike an electric company from Mt. Airy, NC came and got our lights turned back on within two weeks. Last week crews from here left in a caravan for the Washington, DC area. Hopefully, electricity will be restored along the east coast quickly.

I was concerned for the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area. It is densely populated with roads that were never meant to handle the traffic that they do on a normal day. All things considered it appears evacuations went fairly well.

I remember trying to evacuate the Houston area for Rita. In 19 hours we traveled 45 miles and finally turned around and went home. This was right after Katrina and everyone was still on edge. City and county officials were on the air telling everyone to get out. Then the hurricane took a turn and we didn't even get a drop of rain. Fortunately, lessons were learned and now they tell only the people in mandatory evacuation areas to get out. The rest are told to shelter in place so the ones that need to get out can move away from the coast. The Houston area has a lot less people than New York and New Jersey, so I was concerned about how things would go for the folks up there.

As you can tell from this picture we had no traffic when we turned around and went back home. We were home in 25 minutes! The moral of the story...never tell an entire metropolitan area to evacuate.

My husband says he'll never evacuate again. I never say never, but probably won't either. We are in a mandatory evacuation area for a four or five, but our home has never flooded although a lot in our neighborhood have in the past. Our block and one other have never flooded in thirty years, but we're at the highest point.

I'm wondering what the insurance companies will do. Here they refused to insure against hurricanes after they had so many claims from Katrina and Rita. You pay your premiums for years and then when they have finally have claims they pull out. Doesn't seem fair, but that's how it works.

On Saturday we tied the record for the hottest day since they started keeping records. It was 109 degrees in Houston. In the last 25 days or so we've only had one day where it didn't reach 100 and it rained that day. Thank goodness! The drought is really taking a toll on the trees and shrubs. I've put out an extra water dish for the wild creatures and every morning it's bone dry. I'll be glad when winter comes and it finally cools off here. We have two seasons...a long summer and a little bit of winter.

Good news...

2011-08-19T18:42:00.003-05:00

I'm on my blogging break, but I just received some exciting news and had to post. Today, the FDA gave accelerated approval for Seattle Genetic's ADCESTRIS for the treatment of Hodgkin's Lymphoma in patients that relapse after an autologous stem cell transplant.

Right now Reid is participating in their clinical trial, but for people that aren't in a trial and relapse this will give them access to the drug too. Over the years there hasn't been a lot of research done since Hodgkin's is a rare cancer with a normally high cure rate. It's when people relapse that the options are limited and this is a cancer that effects mostly young people. It's my understanding that this is the first new drug since the 1970's that's been approved for Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Thank you Seattle Genetics.

Alphabe Thursday..."P" as in Penmanship

2011-08-03T08:52:00.020-05:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored my Ms. Jenny at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Today's assignment is the letter "P" as in PENMANSHIP.

Is PENMANSHIP becoming a lost art? So many things are going by the wayside with computers. Even the post office is in trouble because mail volume is going down due to E-mail. How often to we drop someone a handwritten note?

I was reading about vintage autograph books that Cheryl over at My Sister's Cottage had and it prompted me to go looking for my grandmother's autograph book. Back in the 1980's I became interested in genealogy and worked on it for quite a while. My mother would find pictures and other memorabilia that she thought might help me in my quest to learn more and I guess I somehow became the official family historian. One of the things she sent me was my grandmother's autograph book. I've recently become interested in genealogy again and I'm slowly but surely entering all that 1980's information into Family Tree Maker and hope to eventually jump onto Ancestry.com to try and learn more. All of my research was done before I had Internet access. Meanwhile, I'm also digging out my mother's old notes and the little treasures she sent me.

You can click on the pictures below to enlarge them...

Here's my grandmother's old autograph book and some examples of PENMANSHIP. Sadly, as I was scanning some of the pages the cover fell off. I'm afraid that was inevitable considering the years. The first autographs were written in 1905. I have no idea what the April dates on the left hand page mean. I think Willie Volz might have been her cousin. Perhaps those are the dates her cousin and Uncle John died? Maybe I'll discover something when I dig into the family roots again. I think the book might have been a gift from her Momma?

Here's another page from June 15, 1905.

And the page on the right is from my autograph book and written by my sister in 1954. Obviously, that poem had already been around for a long time. Do children still have autograph books today? If so, they might be still writing this poem.

I found this page from my grandmother's book interesting. In the poem she talks about dipping her pen in the ink. I'm afraid that's something that's long in the past now.

And this was written by my grandmother's cousin. I did know that one of her father's sisters was married to a man named Grode and this must have been their daughter.

I was also surprised by some of the artwork people took the time to include with their autographs. (In the first picture that's a real four leaf clover that my grandmother had between the pages of her book.)

I also came across a newspaper clipping my mother had sent me. It was from my grandparents wedding on January 1, 1919. (You'll have to click on the article in order to enlarge and read it.) The article talks about the PRETTY wedding.

And here's their PRETTY wedding.

I think I'm going to take a vacation from posting on Blogger for a couple of weeks. I'm having trouble putting pictures in posts since Blogger made the changes to Blogger In Draft and I went back to the previous version. For some reason my pictures will no longer appear in the post where I put the cursor. When I upload them they appear at the very top of the post and then I try and drag them or I have to go into the html version and copy and paste where I want them to go. It's also messing up the spacing and although I fix it I find that when I publish it's still sometimes wacky. It's taking way too much time to put up a simple post with pictures, so I'm taking a break in hopes that things will magically improve while I'm gone. I had intended to show more pages from my old autograph book, but decided to save it for another time when things might be working better.

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog and visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts!

Alphabe-Thursday..."O" as in what is OLD?

2011-07-26T20:04:00.011-05:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "O" as in OLD.

What is OLD?

When I was ten I thought OLD was 13. I couldn't wait to be 13 years OLD because then I'd be a teenager. I was pretty sure that would be the magic age. I'd suddenly look more mature instead of so baby-ish. I'd probably find myself busy going to dances, talking to boys on the phone, etc. I packed away my beloved dolls because I was too mature for them now (AKA too OLD) and then waited for the boys to come calling. I waited and waited.

Next I waited to be OLD...OLD enough to drive. In New Jersey that meant 17 years OLD. At 17 I could finally get a learner's permit. Yes, I couldn't wait to be OLD. On the morning of my 17th birthday I arrived at the DMV with my birth certificate in hand and was issued a permit. After a little practice I went back for the driving test and somehow managed to parallel park successfully for the very first time on the test! Yes, I was OLD and it was great.

Then I looked forward to being OLD again. I grew up in New Jersey only a few miles from the New York state line. The drinking age in New York state was 18. It was 21 in New Jersey. Yes, I wanted to be OLD enough to drink in New York state. I pictured myself perched on a bar stool with a drink in hand looking very OLD and mature. My mother had no idea. She was strict and would have had a hissy fit if she had known about my desire to be OLD. On my 18th birthday I went "up state" as we used to call it and had my first drink. It was official. I was finally OLD enough...or so I thought.

Of course, then I wanted to be OLD enough to vote and drink in New Jersey. At that time you had to be 21 for both. I couldn't wait to be OLD. I turned 21 on December 29th and was able to have a New Jersey drink right away, but I had to wait almost a year until I could vote the following November! Still, this getting OLD stuff was pretty good.

At 22 I decided I was OLD enough to get married and at 23 I gave birth to my first son. My second son arrived almost 17 months later. Now I was actually starting to feel a little OLD. Just a little bit.

Then I started dreading 30 a little. For some reason that really sounded OLD to me. My third son was born a month after I turned 30. Wasn't that kind of OLD to be having a baby? Remember, those were different times.

OK, we all know 40 is OLD. Hallmark lets us know. Those black balloons they sell at the grocery store let us know. I've even seen black roses and black icing on birthday cakes. You don't have to hit me over the head. Yes, 40 is definitely OLD. My mother sent me a dozen red roses on my 40th birthday. It's something I'll always remember. I loved getting the roses, but turning 40 not so much.

Then I started dreading 50. Yikes, 50 really sounded OLD! And to make it official AARP found me. How do they do that anyway? For the first time I noticed wrinkles and gray hair. Yes, 50 really sounded OLD.

It seems like I no sooner turned 50 and it was time to dread 60. YIKES! Doesn't 60 sound really, really OLD? I was starting to feel it too. Little aches and pains started creeping in, but I laughed them off.

How about 70? Does 70 sound OLD to you? Not to me. I'm OLDER and wiser now as I get closer to 70 years OLD. I'm starting to think 70 isn't all that OLD after all. None of us are guaranteed tomorrow and I'm much more appreciative now of the time I've been given. Life experiences will do that to you. In a little over 4 years I'll be 70 years young!

Time marches on, so hurry over to Ms Jenny's and visit other other Alphabe-Thursday participants.

Catching up...

2011-07-26T08:02:00.010-05:00

My family came home yesterday afternoon from Comic Con in San Diego. They all seemed to have a great time with their 130,000 closest friends. Lots of people, but they said there wasn't really any pushing or shoving. The only complaint Reid had was the lack of places to sit. He said people would try sitting along the walls, but they'd come along and chase them. He does tire more easily than he did before the transplant and it would have been nice to have been able to rest more often. They all said the convention center could use more places to sit, but other than that they had a lot of fun. They bought lots and lots of souvenirs!

I had planned on getting so much done while they were gone, but it never seemed to happen. I wanted to work some more on getting all the genealogy information I accumulated during the 1980's into the Family Tree Maker 2011 program I recently purchased. I haven't touched the genealogy stuff in over 20 years and most of the information is in manila folders. So, I've slowly been scanning documentation and adding information to the program. I get six months of Ancestry.com with the program, but I'm waiting to activate it until I get all the information I currently have entered. It is taking a lot longer than I had anticipated and the five days they were gone seemed to fly by. It seemed I always had other things to get done.

The mother feral cat and her kitten were up on the garage roof the other morning. I went out with the food and the mother jumped onto a branch and came down the tree. The kitten must not have been paying attention because she had no idea how to get down. It was still kind of dark when I took these pictures and I tried to lighten them up a little, but it didn't help much. In this picture you can see the kitten's eyes glowing. She's at the corner of the garage roof trying to figure out what to do.

Meanwhile, she/he knew the mother was eating the food

Finally, (as I held my breath) she/he took a leap and jumped from the roof to the the ground. She picked herself/himself up and trotted down the path to the food.

I'm not sure this story will have a happy ending. I'd like to trap both of them and have them fixed, but my other cats chase them off when they see them and that will make it difficult to catch them.

Since I gave up blogger in draft I have had trouble inserting pictures in a post. Instead of going where I put the cursor they always appear at the top of the post. Then I have to go into the html and copy and paste the picture information where I want it to go and then delete it from the top of the post. It works, but it takes a lot longer and seems to mess up the spacing between paragraphs. Anyone else having this problem?

Alphabe-Thursday..."N" as in NEW JERSEY!

2011-07-20T16:12:00.005-05:00

Welcome to this week's version of Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week we are studying the letter "N" as in NEW Jersey or just plain Joisy to us natives and NEW Jersey to the rest of you.

However, first things first. I had an excused absence last week, and if my mother were still here she'd write a note for me. I thought I'd quickly throw up an "M" word and the only thing I could come up with in a pinch was the MARTIN family. Here are all the MARTINS once again.

This one also appears on my sidebar because we rarely are photographed together. Since this photo was taken in 2004 Troy and his significant other have broken up, but the rest of the picture is still the same. We haven't aged a bit. :)

Now on to "N" as in NEW Joisy.

Although I live in Texas now I grew up in Joisy. That's what the natives call it. Just Josiy for short. Yes, we sometimes talk funny although I've been told that my accent has faded over the years. However, if I go back to Joisy for any length of time I can hear the old accent creeping back in.

It's funny how things are different between here and there. In Texas women carry purses, but in NEW Joisy we carry pocketbooks. To this day my husband will say, "Don't forget your pocketbook." I have to remind him that we're not in Kansas anymore. Whoops, make that NEW Joisy. At one time I carried a pocketbook just like this one.

Another difference is that in Texas people go to the beach, but in NEW Joisy we go "down the shore." Again, different terminology for the same thing. I don't think you can grow up in Joisy and not visit the shore. My friends and I spent a lot of time at the shore. We'd go for holiday weekends and then rent a place for a week each summer. I'm pretty sure our Joisy shore wasn't anything like the TV show. I've never actually seen the TV show, but I did see The Situation on Dancing With The Stars. That's as close as I've ever come. Here are a couple of pictures of some of my friends down at the shore circa 1964.

That's Peggy Calligan, Brigid Bohan, and Maryanne Baretta.

And this is Mary Schumeyer.
For some reason I still had these pictures. I'm pretty sure they were taken with my Kodak Brownie camera. (There's one on eBay right now if you'd like one of your very own.) It's nice to know that my pictures were blurry back then too.

I grew up in Westwood, NEW Jersey which is in Bergen County and a suburb of New York City. (Almost all the way to the end of the Garden State Parkway.) My mother was born in Westwood and my dad moved there when he was three years old. Weswood is a pretty little town, but there's lots of traffic. I'm a nervous wreck driving there because it's a different type of driving. Here we have lots of traffic on the freeways, but in Joisy it's lots of cars on roads that were never meant to have that many cars and it's a lot of stop and go driving. When traffic lights turn green people immediately start honking their horns. You have to have a lot of patience because it takes a while to get anywhere. NEW Joisy is the most densely populated state in the country.

It bothers me that people always think of Joisy as being Newark. (No offense to Newark.) Most people only see Newark Airport (now called Newark Liberty Airport) and think that's Josiy. I'm here to dispell that notion.

This is right down the street from where I grew up. It's called Bogert's Pond and there's a waterfall and at one time there was a mill. (Not during my lifetime.) George Washington didn't sleep here, but he and his troops did stop and rest. (I'm not sure how they know that, but there's an historical marker saying it's so.

There's a lot of history in NEW Joisy since it was one of the 13 original colonies. Some key battles of the Revolutionary War were fought there. (We've all seen the picture of George Washington crossing the Delaware in history books.)

In Texas most people hop in their cars and drive to work in bumper to bumper traffic. One thing Joisy has is mass transit and it's wonderful. Right in Westwood there's a train station.

You just hop on the train and ride to Hoboken and from there cross into New York City. Just sit back and leave the driving to someone else.

In the area of Texas where I live most of the houses would be considered new in New Joisy. Most of this area was developed starting in the early 1960's when the Johnson Space Center came to town. In New Joisy there are many older homes. This is the house I grew up in. My parents had it built and I was three when we moved in. It's still there, but the people that bought it raised the roof and completely redid it. I've only see the outside, but it looks very nice. This is how I'll always remember it.

This is the house my mother grew up in and was probably taken sometime in the 1930's. It still looks pretty much the same.

This is where my Dad grew up. Many years ago the street was paved and the house has been remodeled over the years, but the basic structure pretty much looks the same.

In Texas they have barbecue and in Josiy they have Taylor Ham which is also known as Pork Roll. Instead of barbecue joints they have diners in NEW Joisy and I really miss them. There's nothing like a gooey, runny egg sandwich with Taylor Ham.

At one time our local Kroger had Taylor Ham, but I haven't seen it in a while. You can order it by mail from Jersey Pork Roll if you'd like to try it out. There are also some recipes here.

I miss diners so much that I set up a diner scene for my dolls. I call it Jeff's Jersey Diner and there's even Taylor Ham on the menu.

See the window above the diner booth? You can't see it in the picture, but I put a photo of the Westwood Train Station behind the window so it looks like that's the view out the window.

Growing up there was a soda fountain called Conrad's in Westwood and it's still there. On one of my trips back to Joisy my friend and I went to Conrad's for old time's sake. This is Peachy enjoying a milkshake.

I used to get chocolate Cokes at Conrad's. I love chocolate Cokes and there was actually a hamburger joint in Seabrook, Texas that made chocolate Cokes, but unfortunately they never opened again after Hurricane Ike. Now I make my own chocolate Cokes and I'm sharing my secret recipe with you.

Open one can of Coke. Pour it in a glass and add ice. Add 2 teaspoons of Hershey's chocolate syrup and stir well. YUM!

OK, "youse guys" get over to Ms. Jenny's now so you can visit some more Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Edited: 7/20 - I am having trouble leaving comments on blogs that have the little pull down menu where you indicate how you want to leave a comment. I always choose my google account, but for some reason it keeps asking me to sign in (when I'm already signed in anyway) and then when the sign in screen appears and I sign in again it keeps asking me to do it again and again. I'm sorry, but I can't leave you a comment. I've had this problem with around five different blogs today. I'm hoping tomorrow things will clear up.

What's going on...

2011-07-15T20:09:00.000-05:00

Reid was down at MD Anderson for a good chunk of Tuesday having all the scans and tests. Then on Wednesday he had a blood draw, a pulmonary function test, and his appointment with the stem cell doctor for the test results. Later in the afternoon he had the clinical trial drug/placebo and that ran late. So, we left the house at 6:00 in the morning and didn't get home until 7:00 or so in the evening. It was a long day.

The results were inconclusive. He didn't light up on the PET scan which means they didn't see any active cancer. That's good. However, on the CT scan an area in the mediastinum increased a little in size. The doctor called it very unusual. The area can't be biopsied because it is difficult to reach and would require major surgery. So, he's going to wait and see. Reid will have all the scans and tests again in two months.

On Wednesday Seattle Genetics (the company running the clinical trial Reid is in) announced that the Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee recommended unanimously that the FDA grant accelerated approval of ADCESTRIS (the trial drug) for patients who relapse with Hodgkin's Lymphoma after an auto stem cell transplant. This is based on very promising results to date. You can read about it here. Usually the FDA follows their recommendation and I believe something will be known by the end of August. This is big news in the Hogkin's Lymphoma world.

From what I've read this is the first new drug for the treatment of Hogkin's Lymphoma since the 1970's. Hodgkin's is a rare cancer with a normally high cure rate. However, when patients relapse it's not so good, but there is not a lot of research done like there is for other cancers. So, the news from Seattle Genetics is very exciting to us.

This is how I understand things, but remember I'm no scientist. In order for a person to be diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma they have to have cells called Reed-Sternberg cells. They've been present in all of Reid's biopsies. That's what makes it Hodgkin's. Seattle Genetics' ADCESTRIS seeks out a certain marker in the Reed-Sternberg cells called CD 30 and latches on to the cells and destroys them without damaging a lot of other cells like regular chemo does.

This is the first time I've heard the drug called ADCESTRIS. I'm glad they gave it a name that I can pronounce. It's been called brentuximab vedotin in all the previous things that I've read. Seattle Genetics is a relatively new company and this will be their first drug to make it to the market.

So, if Reid relapses (and he's been given the placebo in the trial) they will be able to give him ADCESTRIS. This is true even if the drug doesn't get the fast track approval from the FDA, which it probably will. This is the big incentive for being in the trial, and I feel Reid is very fortunate.

So, we are hopeful that the thing they saw in the CT scan will not amount to anything, but we've got ADCESTRIS in our back pocket for now thanks to Seattle Genetics. I feel an overwhelming sense of gratitude to this company that I hadn't even heard of a few short months ago.

Jim, Reid and Troy leave for Comic Con in San Diego on Wednesday. This is the trip we planned for them many months ago before Reid's stem cell transplant. I know they're going to have a great time. Well, Reid and Troy will anyway. I'm not sure it's really Jim's thing, but he'll bring his Kindle along and that will keep him busy.

Meanwhile, I'm going to work on a few projects. Don't worry if you don't hear from me. It just means I'm busy getting things done.

Blogger In Draft And An Update...

2011-07-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

Anyone else use Blogger In Draft? They've made some changes recently and I guess it will just take time to adjust. It seems as if everything is different now, but in time I might like it better.

I haven't been reading or posting much lately, but I purchased Family Tree Maker 2011 and I'm trying to enter all of the genealogy information I've had in manila folders since the 1980's. With so much online now I'd like to take up where I left off a couple of decades ago. I've been slowed down because I entered some information incorrectly and I'm trying to figure out how to fix the mistake before I move on.

I was also recently contacted by someone who might be a relative. Her grandfather was listed in the 1900 Census as being a brother of my grandfather, but my mother told me that he had lived with the family for a while and then returned. She didn't think he was ever adopted by them and she didn't know if he was related. The person that contacted me had been told something completely different. She had always been told that he was my great grandparents' biological child and they weren't able to keep him. A mystery to be solved.

Today Reid is having all his scans and tests down at MD Anderson. Jim took him down this morning for his first appointment at 6:30 AM and I think the last one is around 3:00 this afternoon. Tomorrow he has to be down there by 7:00 AM for a blood draw, a pulmonary function test, and his appointment with the stem cell doctor. We'll both be with him when he gets the results. By all outward appearances he seems to be doing well, but we never know until he gets the results. Afterwards he has an appointment for the clinical trial drug/placebo, so it will be another long day. Your prayers are appreciated.

Another feral cat had been showing up at mealtime. I had seen this cat over the last couple of years and assumed it must have been a male because it never appeared to be pregnant, but I never could get close enough to get a good look. Then we brought our other cats inside while we had a tree taken down and slab work done. I still put food out for the feral cat and when I went out one morning I saw a kitten run under the deck. Guess I was wrong about "Blackie" being a male.

This is Blackie eating in the garage:

The kitten is like a ghost and there's no way I can get close enough to take a picture. I tried taking one through the window, but it's not very good.

The kitten looks older...maybe three months? We'll get the trap down this weekend and put it on the deck so they can get used to seeing it. If they're still around in a few weeks we'll try and catch them and have them fixed and vaccinated. I had hoped there would be no more kittens after we had the others fixed a year ago, but I'm afraid there are a lot of ferals we just never see. If only people would spay and neuter their pets.

Take care...

Alphabe-Thursday..."L" as in too many LAWYERS

2011-07-06T15:43:00.002-05:00

Welcome to Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Check out Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants and information on how you can join in the fun.

Yes, I've been following the Casey Anthony trial. Mostly I've had the TV on as background noise and then I'd rush in during breaks in the trial and listen to the TV LAWYERS dissect everything that was said or done. I have mixed emotions about trials being telecast. Yes, I do enjoy following them, but I hate to see them turned into a media circus.

I'm really tired of all the "expert" LAWYERS giving their opinions. There's just too much of that going on. Personally, the LAWYER I dislike the most is Nancy Grace. I caught a few minutes of her show after the verdict. Yes, the verdict was disappointing to most of us, but Nancy Grace really likes to get people fired up and she'd better be careful. There are plenty of nuts in the world and it doesn't take much to get some of them riled up. The last thing we need is some crazy person taking a gun and shooting a lawyer, juror or an Anthony family member. I heard Casey's parents left the courtroom quickly after the verdict because there have been death threats made against them.

Since the verdict I've heard comments made about the jurors too. My personal favorite is the one LEGAL "expert" that feels the jurors were victims of the Stockholm Syndrome because they sat across from the defense table and formed some kind of relationship with Casey. Then Nancy Grace commented on how they wouldn't even talk to the press and got on the bus and left town. Of course, it was said with sarcasm. I believe they've been away from their families for weeks and with the press stirring up emotions it's probably not safe for them to be identified at this time anyway. I don't agree with their verdict as I would have liked to have seen Casey convicted of 2nd degree murder and sentenced to life in prison, but I wasn't on the jury and they were. I respect their opinion even though I disagree. The talking LAWYERS on TV shouldn't be listing some of their flaws on television juror by juror. Have you seen that done? At least these people showed up for jury duty and didn't try and get out of serving like many citizens in this country do. I don't believe they went into this case with the idea of getting Casey off. They listened to the evidence presented and didn't believe the state proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.
Yes, I've had it with LAWYERS on TV.

If you're called for jury duty don't make up an excuse and try to get out of serving. That's another one of my pet peeves. I believe we should all be honored to serve. The American system of justice isn't perfect, but I believe it is the best in the world and we should all be willing to do our part when called. I had a friend that told me she'd never tell me again how she got out of jury duty because I made her feel guilty with my little lecture. She had breast cancer many years ago and would see her Oncologist once a year for a check-up. When called for jury duty she'd tell them that she was under the care of an Oncologist and they'd excuse her every time. She wasn't exactly lying, but she wasn't exactly telling the truth either.

Let's honor Caylee's memory by showing up for jury duty and proudly serving. That's something constructive we can all do.

Now go pay Ms. Jenny a visit so you can visit other Alphabe-Thursday posts this week.

Edited: July 7th, 2011 - I just realized I had inadvertently written "Let's honor Casey's memory..." when I meant Caylee's. It's Caylee's memory we want to honor and I've changed it in the above post. It's was definitely a typo.

HAPPY PINK SATURDAY-HAPPY 4th OF JULY TOO!

2011-07-02T08:10:00.001-05:00

Today I'm joining Beverly over at How Sweet The Sound for Pink Saturday. For a list of participants and information on how you can join in on the fun head over to Beverly's blog. This week we're showing pink and/or July 4th pictures.

I don't have any pink to show, but I do have some pictures I took at our local parade on the 4th of July in a previous year. Yes, I actually took one of my vintage Chatty Cathy dolls to the parade.

She was all excited...

She couldn't wait to join in the fun...

She proudly joined the parade down the main street of town...

Ooops...

She decided it would be better to just sit and watch...

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!

Alphabe-Thursday..."K" as in I need a Jewish Grandmother

2011-06-29T15:31:00.001-05:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday sponsored by Ms. Jenny over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." Head over to Ms. Jenny's blog for a list of this week's participants and information on how you can participate too.

This week we are studying the letter "K" as in KUGEL. I don't have a Jewish grandmother, but there are a couple of Jewish dishes that I enjoy and one of them is Noodle KUGEL. (The other one is Matzo Ball Soup.) Lacking a Jewish grandmother I did the next best thing and used grandma Google.

I came upon this site called Feed Me Bubbe. Bubbe is the Yiddish word for grandmother. If you have time take a look at one of the videos of Bubbe cooking some traditional dishes. She's adorable and her grandson helps her with the site.

After much research I came across a recipe for Noodle KUGEL on another site and after a couple of adjustments came up with this:

Noodle Kugel

1 pound egg noodles

½ cup butter, melted

8 eggs

1 c. sugar

2 cups sour cream

2 cups small curd cottage cheese

1 t. cinnamon

Topping

9 cinnamon graham crackers

3 T butter, melted

Directions:

Cook noodles and drain. In a bowl toss the noodles with the ½ cup of melted butter and set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat the eggs, sugar, sour cream, cottage cheese and cinnamon until well blended. Stir in the noodles.

Transfer to a greased 13 inch x 9 inch x 2 inch baking dish. Put the cinnamon graham crackers in a Zip Lock bag and crush them with a rolling pin. Combine the cracker crumbs and the 3 T of melted butter. Sprinkle over the top of the noodle mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F. for 50-55 minutes or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees F. Let stand for ten or fifteen minute before cutting. Serve warm or cold (I prefer warm).

Note: You can always use No Yolk Noodles for a healthier alternative. This should delay the heart attack by approximately two months.

However, if anyone has a real Jewish grandmother I'd love to have her recipe for Noodle KUGEL.

Sometime I'll share my recipe for Matzo Ball Soup too, but I'm pretty sure I'm not doing it correctly since I'm cooking my Matzo Balls in Chicken Noodle Soup and I'm pretty sure they're supposed to be cooked in chicken broth and then added to the soup. I do it my way and they clean their bowls, so I must be doing something right.

Now on to another "K" word...KILLING. The drought is KILLING trees in the Houston area. I'm seeing well established trees and shrubs dying. Soon it will be like Christmas for the tree removal companies. I believe it's mostly trees and shrubs that aren't native to this area that are dying off. They've told us to deep water the trees by putting a hose under the canopy of the tree and running it very slowly for a couple of hours. That way the water will soak into the ground and not run off.

Something KILLED one of the trees in my yard, but it wasn't the drought. This one started dying last year and I think it might have been hit by lightening. It had a huge crack down the trunk last year and it finally died this year.

Click on pictures to enlarge and use your browser back button to return to this page.

This is a picture of the crack in 2010. It became much wider this year.

Look at all the ferns growing around the base of the tree in 2010. They didn't come up this year due to the drought. The yard was much prettier last year.

We had the tree taken down yesterday. I was concerned that a hurricane or storm would knock it over and it would take out another tree with it.
It was interesting watching them work. This is our poor tree marked for removal. It had three large branches, but one was up by the power line that runs along the back fence.

The branches went pretty high up. The electric line didn't show up in most of the pictures, but it's there.

They threw rope up over the branches of some of the other trees in the yard and then used them to help lower the branches of the dead tree. They kept cutting it into slices as they lowered it.

Here's one of the men throwing a small orange rope over a branch. The orange rope had a weight to help bring it down on the other side. This particular tree is a distance away from the dead one.

Then they attached a heavier blue rope to the orange one and brought that one up over the branch.

They'd tie one end to the dead branch they were cutting and then they'd pull while it was cut. There would be more than one line attached to the branch and the men would be positioned around the yard so they could slowly lower the cut branch and guide it down. In this picture you can see how far away the one man is from the tree they're cutting down.

And the branch is lowered.

They got those dead branches to fall exactly where they wanted them. I have a bunch of smaller trees that we've been nurturing for a few years. They were seedling that were given away on Arbor Day. They didn't hit a single one. The last branch was the tricky one. It was right by the power line, so one of them had to climb up, tie the rope on, and then cut. He'd cut and then slide down a little only to repeat the same thing again.

In this one if you look closely you can see the power line. It's even with his left foot.

They were here and gone in two hours. Here they are almost done.

All gone!

Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog so you can visit more Alphabe-Thursday "K" posts!

Tuesday's Show and Tail...Ash and Zoom

2011-06-28T10:03:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Tuesday's Show and Tail sponsored by Angela over at West Virginia Treasures. For a list of this weeks' participants head over to Angela's blog.

This week Ash managed to beat the other cats to the basket. It's on a table right under a lamp and they all enjoy sunbathing. To be honest that's why I've left it there. They take turns.

Meanwhile, Zoom is up to her old tricks...

Never a dull moment.

Working on some family projects...

2011-06-25T13:33:00.001-05:00

I've been thinking about working on genealogy again. I originally did some work back in the 1980's BC (before computers). At that time we even visited some of my relatives in New York cemeteries. By doing so I even found where a great-great grandmother was buried next to a great grandmother and no one in the family ever knew it.

A few years ago I became interested in learning more about the Ziegfeld Follies since my great aunt had been a Follies Girl (as they were called). She performed in the Follies and the Midnight Frolic. This is a picture of her from the Ziegfeld Frolic and I believe this was called the balloon dance. From what I understand gentlemen could pop the balloons.

I came across a site called Find a Grave and decided to add my great aunt's information in case a relative of another Follies Girl stumbled upon it. Then I forgot about it until a few weeks ago when I decided to take a look at the site again.

My Dad died this past September and I was surprised to find his information entered on the site. I assumed my sister or someone in her family had probably stumbled across the site and decided to add it, but to my surprise they hadn't. It was someone I didn't know, so I clicked on the name. It was a man who lives in the next town and does volunteer work for the site. He gathers information on local deaths and enters them so they'll be available for research. I contacted him and he turned the listing over to me so I could update the biography. That's when I decided to start adding information on my mother and other relatives. I'm only adding the ones that I have first hand information about...either the cemetery plot information or graves I've personally visited in the past. If I haven't documented it myself I don't add it. I'm still not finished, but work on it whenever I have a little extra time.

I've also started going through old photos and writing on the back who the people are, where the photo was taken, etc., and then scanning them. Does anyone know if there's a program that I could put on my computer for old photos? I'm finding I can't list all the names, dates, and locations when I save the scans to my computer. The titles would be much too long.

I enjoy old photos. Here are a few I've come across:

Both sets of my grandparents together.

My second grade class. I'm the little girl with the glasses in the second row at the front of the class. The little boy at the front of the third row told me there was no Santa Claus in Kindergarten. I've never forgotten.

My Grandma Durgin with Hilda Sims in 1932 in Washington, DC. I believe Hilda must have been a cousin since my grandmother's maiden name was Sims.

This is my Grandpa Morris' Christmas card. He owned a gas station in Westwood, NJ.

Have a good weekend...

Alphabe-Thursday..."J" as in JIM, JEM, and JOY!

2011-06-22T16:51:00.000-05:00

It's time again for Alphabe-Thursday over at Jenny Matlock..."off on my tangent." This week's assignment is to study the letter "J." For a list of this week's participants and information on how you can participate head over to Ms. Jenny's blog.

We were having dinner one night this past weekend when my husband said, "This coming week is the letter "J" for Alphabet Day (he was close) and that means "J" as in JIM. Yes, his name is JIM.

I enjoy old photographs and lately I've been trying to get them all organized and scanned. I figure in ten years I'll be done. Click on these pictures to enlarge and use the browser back button to return to this page.

Here's Big JIM (his father) and Little JIMMY (yes, that's what they were called) in October 1948.

JIMMY and his car in July 1948. I wonder if he was impatient with other drivers back then?

This is one of my favorites. It's Cynthia (I'm not sure who she is) and JIMMY in October 1948. I think they look like Russian immigrant children just off the ship.

This is Aunt Anna, JIMMY, his sister Marge and his mother Marge in August 1952.

This was also taken in August 1952 and it's JIMMY with Marge and all their Martin cousins and their mother. JIMMY is in the second row on the left. Marge is in front of him.

This was Christmas 1952 and JIMMY and Marge got new bikes for Christmas.

We have a cat named JEM. He was one of the kittens that a feral cat brought to our yard with his three litter mates when they were about five weeks old. The mother cat came and went for a while, but now we haven't seen her since March. I know other people were feeding her too, so I'm not too concerned. I think she was ready to leave her kittens and move on. They're a year old now and have gotten pretty tame around us. (I had the mother and all the kittens fixed and vaccinated for rabies.)

JEM is the adventurous one. Can you see him up in the tree?

I know I've shown this one before, but this was the day JEM had a little snake.

JEM enjoys looking inside to see what we're doing. He and our indoor cats often visit.

JOY! JOY! JOY! It is finally raining today. The first significant rain since January.
At first it just teased us. Scout didn't even bother seeking shelter.

And then we got a little more.

Oh JOY! I think it only rained here for about four hours, but it was a light steady rain that had time to soak in instead of run off. It was all over by 2:00 PM. I'm hoping for more tomorrow.

That's about all I could come up with for this week's class. Now head over to Ms. Jenny's blog and visit some other Alphabe-Thursday posts.

Blog Question...anybody know??

2011-06-22T09:23:00.000-05:00

HELP! I wanted to move my labels from the sidebar to the bottom of my blog. I can do it, but the font is white instead of blue like the rest of my blog. I have no idea why. You can scroll down to the bottom of this page to see what I mean. Meanwhile, I've also kept the labels on the sidebar for now. I'll have to keep them there if I can't figure out how to get rid of the white font. Thanks for any help.