July is peeking around the corner!

Monday, yup it's Monday. It's been a good day though, even for a Monday. I worked at school this morning, trying to get the remainder of my school things out of my old room and into my new room so that my friend Sarah can make my old room her new room. Got that?? Still a bit to do, I'll try to finish up tomorrow so that I can begin to make sense of my unorganized explosion in my new surroundings. My one comfort is that my computer is plugged in and when I don't know which way to turn, I can always sit down and feel at peace. :-)

A wonderfully gifted young man named Jeremy Scott was trying to make it to the Olympics in pole vault and didn't make the height he needed in his jump yesterday. He tied for 6th place and needed to be in the top 3 to be a contender. I admire Jeremy so much! He graduated with my son James, and they have continued to be great friends even though the miles have split them far apart. They stay connected playing video games online, they are lucky to have such a great friendship. I've never met anyone that is a better role model for today's youth. Jeremy works so hard and has such a wonderful attitude, I'm proud to call him a friend. Only 4 more years until you can try it again Jeremy!

Today I'm going to share a recipe for Calico beans. Sometimes is nice to have this meatier version of a baked bean. This was really popular about 15 years ago, so maybe some of you youngsters haven't tried this. ;-) Instead of baking it in the oven, you could throw it into a slow cooker and let it marry on a low setting for several hours.

CALICO BEANS

1 lg can pork and beans, not drained
1 can kidney beans - drained
1 can butter beans - drained
1 can butter beans - drained
1/2 lb bacon, cut up
1/2 lb ground beef
1 small onion - diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp salt

In a skillet brown the bacon, ground beef and onion, drain off any fat. Stir in the four cans of beans and pour into a 9x13 baking pan. Combine ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and salt - pour this evenly over the beans. Bake 1 hour in a 350* oven. (If you are using a slow cooker, fold the sauce directly into the beans and stir it occasionally)

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Where did my picture go? When I viewed my blog - the picture on the right hand column was absent! Do you know what happened?? I hope this is temporary and it will show back up, and then I'll just feel silly for posting this. :-)

In God's hands.....

We went to Lincoln Friday night to stay with Heather. We took our dog Maddie along on the road trip. She sniffed up air at 65 miles per hour and was terribly excited when we got to our destination. We woke to an "egg bake" breakfast and went off to the farmers market to find treasures! We picked up an asiago pesto bread that is sooooooooo good.

The day was fun, we found a men's suit store Emsud’s Clothiers and met the best tailor in the world! He moved here from Bosnia after being held 3 months in a concentration camp. He reminded us many times, "Trust me, I am tailor!" He has the most beautiful suits (don't mention polyester to him) that are wool and other high end quality fabrics. He told my husband that every suit in his store would fit him, because he can tailor it perfectly. It was a most enjoyable visit, also the guys all left with lots of socks (5 pair each!) compliments of Emsud. Now Mike has a suit that will be perfect for the wedding coming up in September.

I shopped a bit at VanMaur, I did not find a tailor that could make any dress fit me. I am still in search of a wedding outfit. I'm not sure where to go, but I had better decide pretty soon.

We went to have supper at my son's apartment, he offered to cook for us. James is quite the entertainer, he likes to fire up the grill and whipped up some wonderful burgers.

We had just arrived at the apartment when I received a horrible phone call. A Bible study friend was desperately searching for a parents phone number because something awful happened. It was a birthday party and a group of kids were swimming. One of the little boys was found in the deep end of the water, no one knew how long he had been there. Two life guards, parents, kids, all keeping a careful watch - and yet something can happen so quickly. The child was pulled out, CPR was administered, and praise be to God.....he was brought back. I was told he had no pulse, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. He went to the ER and God has healed him, he's home tonight. Please offer up a thank you prayer on behalf of this beautiful boy who will be in first grade this Fall. Also pray for healing for all of those who were there to witness how fragile life is, none of them will ever forget what almost happened.

Today we were home for church, home to greet our new teacher and his wife that moved here from Wisconsin, home to do laundry and other mundane jobs that didn't seem so bad. Home is a good place to be.

I'm looking forward to the 4th of July weekend. Lots of relatives will be in town so there's going to be some fun cooking! I'm not posting a recipe today, but I'll make up for it later in the week.

Be safe!

CHEESE, it's what's for dinner.

I've been in the land of cheese, rubbing elbows with real live cheese heads! I just returned home last night from a leadership conference in Waukesha, WI. It was very worthwhile, and I have many ideas for the new school year.

Water was a popular topic everywhere we went....levies breaking, roads flooding, soggy basements being emptied and left by the curb for a garbage man to haul away, all very sad! We were forced to take different roads and could not get on/off the interstate in some places.

On Tuesday night we were invited to my brother's house for dinner. My sister-in-law Ruth is a great cook, she makes it look so easy! We have an ongoing tradition that I'm supposed to give her a new summer salad each year, she said that I didn't deliver this time. We did have a marvelous spinach/strawberry salad that was over the top! She even used home grown strawberries.

For dessert Ruth made this little jewel below. She has made them for years, and I had only heard about them - never experienced it first hand. She explained the process and I did not write anything down. As a result of my laziness I came home and googled the ingredients and found what I think is very similar. I hope she'll let me know if I've gotten it close enough. I'm making these tomorrow so I'll give you my own review very soon.

Marshmallow-Cinnamon Crescent Rolls

1 tube crescent rolls
8 large marshmallows
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Melted butter or margarine
Icing glaze

Mix cinnamon and sugar together. Dip marshmallow in melted butter; roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture and place on wide end of the crescent roll. Fold wide ends over marshmallow; then roll up to the point end. Pinch edges together as needed. Place in greased muffin pan. Brush with melted butter. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes.

Remove from oven. Cool about 5 minutes; then remove and place on wax paper to cool. Swirl into an icing glaze. Top with a few nuts, if you desire.

***Ruth did not frost her puffs, I think she may have brushed more butter and cinnamon sugar on the sealed crescent before baking them. She also used a 9x13 pan not a muffin pan.

Pack it, tape it, stack it

Today is supposed to be a very productive work day in my classroom. I have a mountain of flat boxes that need to be taped together - and an entire classroom to squeeze into them. So far I have 6 filled, only hundreds to go. Alas, I am so easily distracted.....here I am posting!?! I blame my short attention span on my vocation, when you work with 3-5 year olds you have to keep things fun and entertaining.....we move from one thing to the next at a moments notice. Easily understood in young children, not so lovable in an adult.

I met my friend Kristin at our downtown local coffee place this morning at 8:30. She shared pictures they took at the baseball game on a recent vacation. The prize photo is their family with Joba Chamberlain - pitcher for the New York Yankees (X Husker pitcher :-) !!!!). It's a sweet shot, they all have the biggest smiles on their faces. He asked if they had brought the entire town of Norfolk with them.....he knows this part of the country well. It was good to sit and relax and laugh. That's what my goal is for summer, to laugh a lot! Oh right, and get my room packed!

I found a recipe from a friend that did Relay for Life with me a couple of years ago. It's a fun sinful punch that you might like to pull out of your hat for special friends. Hope your day is great, looks like rain again here. I'll still squeeze in a few laughs to keep things interesting.

Chocolate Mocha Punch

7 cups water
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
2 cups powdered milk
1/2 cup sugar
dash of salt
1 quart chocolate ice cream
1 cup chilled whipping cream
ground nutmeg
1/2 can Hershey's chocolate syrup

Heat 1 cup of water to boil, dissolve coffee in hot water. Stir in rest of water, powdered milk, sugar, salt and chocolate syrup. Mix and chill 3-4 hours or overnight.

Beat whipping cream till soft peaks form and fold in 3-4 tablespoons sugar one at a time until dissolved.

To serve: Put ice cream in a punch bowl, be sure to break it up into smaller pieces not just a large block. Pour coffee mixture over and top with dollops of whipped cream. Sprinkle a small amount of nutmeg over whipped cream.

This makes 16 - 3/4 cup servings. Probably better make 2 batches!

Do I smell peanut butter?

What a week it has been. I anticipated with much anxiety my dentist appointment on Thursday for a root canal, gulp. I tried to keep very busy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get it off my mind, didn't work. Mike was on vacation this week - so that helped a little. Anyway Thursday morning at 10:50AM I bravely marched into the office with a really fake smile on my face. I went to a dentist who graduated just a year ago, I'm not sure he even looked like he was old enough to buy beer now that I think about it. I sat in the chair for more than 2 hours, praying and gripping my hands together while he proceeded to drill through my beautiful porcelain crown. It really was far to expensive to have to put a hole in it! Then the slow and tedious process began, of finding all of the roots and doing whatever they do. I left with a temporary filling and the hope of a much happier mouth. The numbness wore off and the throbbing began. This morning I was gifted with a fat face, puffy lower jaw that has gotten larger as the day progressed. I have been online reading everything I can find about what to expect after a root canal, I have found no answers. Sadly it is Friday night and there may be no help for me until Monday morning. I was given no antibiotic, I wonder if I should have had one? Anyway now I am taking 800mg of ibuprofen every 6-7 hrs. I pray that the pain subsides tomorrow, this is NO fun. Any dentists out there that have advise for me??? Don't forget that there is a place to send me messages on these blogs, I don't have much feedback from my friends that read this stuff!!

We have plans all weekend, so I will have to 'suck it up' and try to function as if all were feeling normal. I'm also heading to Wisconsin in 9 days to attend a teachers' conference. I hope to be healthy by then.

Since I'm eating soft foods these days, I made a dessert pre-root canal that is easy to chew when I have a moment of fairly pain free bliss. It's very similar to a peanut butter cup. Have a good weekend everyone!

Peanut Butter Cup Bars (No baking!)

2 packages of graham crackers - crushed (there are 3 in the box)
3 Cups powdered sugar
2 sticks margarine - melt
1 1/2 Cups peanut butter
Combine with electric mixer and put into a 9x13 pan
top with:
12 oz milk chocolate chips melted together with
1 Tbsp peanut butter

D-licious!

Sunday in the park

We had a farewell meal today for good friends. It was a wonderful time, we had great food - great entertainment - a few tears and lots of hugs. It's fun to hear so many people say nice things about people that you care about.

After that we went to the lake/park to the Christian concert going on all day today. We heard Ron Brown speak (Husker VIP) and then listened to some music. We're home for a quick break and then we're going back to hear Casting Pearls and Aaron Schust.....and then FIREWORKS!!! Woo-hoo. The neat thing about it is that it's an entire day of entertainment and it's all free. But who doesn't feel like they want to throw a little cash in the free will offering buckets?? It was pretty hot this afternoon, but tonight should cool off beautifully.

I'm going to give you my taco salad recipe that I took to the pot luck today. I've looked all over for one that I like and this one is the best yet. It's an easy light meal for a hot summer night.

TACO SALAD

1 1/2 lb. lean ground beef 1 envelope taco mix 1 head lettuce, torn into bite size pieces 1 lg. tomato, chopped 3-4 green onions chopped including much of the stem 1 can mexi corn - drain 2 cups of grated Mexican flavored cheese 1 bag (12 oz.) corn chips crushed slightly DRESSING (The secret ingredient that makes the salad.) 1 c. salad oil 1/3 c. ketchup 1/2 c. sugar 1/4 c. vinegar Brown and drain the hamburger and add the taco seasoning - use package directions. Cool while you put together the salad. Layer the lettuce, tomato, onions, corn & cheese in a large bowl. Save the corn chips to add when you are ready to eat. I let each person put on as much as they want. Combine all of the dressing ingredients together, shake well and pour over salad to which the hamburger has been added, toss slightly. Remember to add the dressing just before you are ready to eat because the lettuce will wilt rather quickly. I really love this dressing so much better than Catalina, or french, or anything else on a taco salad. You should try it!