Napping on the deck....
isn't this what summertime is all about???
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Gumbo-licious!
Today I'm going to my classroom again, I'll bet you are tired of hearing that. It's unimaginable how much there is to do. It is just so difficult to organize and put away because there are some old things to move out, and I don't have the shelving that I need. I'll just do what I can, I know there are things to pitch, or share with others. I'm in the process of joining a website called Norfolkfreecycle. You can go there and look at things that are free, or you can offer things to other people. What a great idea! I guess this is a nationwide organization, there is probably one where you live.
I've been promising this recipe to a friend and finally here it is. This is an alternative to a
tomato(y) sloppy joe, tavern, loose meat sandwich......whatever you call it! My friend Sue who lived by us on Jefferson back in the early days made this for her family. The only other sandwich I might like better would be the original tastee beef's that our local mom and pop restaurant on 1st street still makes. Give it a try and see how it rates at your house!
Sloppy Joes
1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup onion, chopped
10 1/2 oz can chicken gumbo soup
1 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs mustard
salt/pepper to taste
Brown hamburger and onion. Drain and add remaining ingredients, let warm fully through. Serve on hamburger buns with cheese and pickle slices.
I've been promising this recipe to a friend and finally here it is. This is an alternative to a
tomato(y) sloppy joe, tavern, loose meat sandwich......whatever you call it! My friend Sue who lived by us on Jefferson back in the early days made this for her family. The only other sandwich I might like better would be the original tastee beef's that our local mom and pop restaurant on 1st street still makes. Give it a try and see how it rates at your house!
Sloppy Joes
1 lb. hamburger
1/2 cup onion, chopped
10 1/2 oz can chicken gumbo soup
1 Tbs ketchup
1 Tbs mustard
salt/pepper to taste
Brown hamburger and onion. Drain and add remaining ingredients, let warm fully through. Serve on hamburger buns with cheese and pickle slices.
Monday, July 7, 2008
What color is your cheese?
The fourth of July was great! We had family & friends around us for more than 3 days....what could be better? My nephew had been married in Texas back in June. We had a reception for him and his beautiful new bride, it was fun to be able to see the dress on her instead of just in a picture. Because of that commitment I did have to miss a wedding of a dear friend, so Sarah if you get a chance to read this please know that our prayers and thoughts were with you!
Friends from Wisconsin came through Saturday morning. Daryl and Bridget are the kind of friends that you may not see for a year or three, but the minute you are together conversations pick up right where they left off. They have 4 BEAUTIFUL children that were so fun to be around, even the big ones! They should be very proud of the people they have created, God has blessed their family immensely.
Our city did the big bang boom on Saturday night - the 5th. We have a pretty good view of them from our front yard, so we often have people over. A friend (Kelly) gave me some recipes to try, I had time to put 2 of them together so I'll share, they both were delicious! I really enjoy getting recipes from friends that I know share my love for food. I don't believe in secret recipes as you probably guessed ;-)
I hope that you all have had time to rest from the big weekend and are having a marvelous Monday. I'm going to my classroom to start organizing my many boxes. Talk to you soon!
Blue Cheese and Toasted Pecan Spread **** (4 stars!)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz crumbled blue cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbs butter, softened
4-5 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley - I used fresh Italian flat leaf
1/4 cup milk, half & half, or whipping cream
1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped
Combine all ingredients except onions and nuts in food processor or mixing bowl. Add more milk/cream depending upon consistency desired. Fold in pecans and green onions. Chill 4 hours to overnight. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week. Remove from refrigerator 30 min. prior to serving for easier spreading.
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Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
3 cans chickpeas, drain and rinse
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper coarsely chopped (store bought in a jar)
3/4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp water
1/2 lemon - juice only
2 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
paprika and chopped parsley leaves for garnish
In the bowl of a food processor, place the chickpeas and red bell pepper. On a cutting board mash the garlic cloves with 1/4 tsp of salt to a smooth paste with the side of a knife. Add this to the processor along with the crushed red pepper, water, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and pepper. Process until smooth scrape down side as needed. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding salt & additional lemon juice if necessary. Transfer to a wide shallow bowl for serving. Drizzle with additional olive oil if desired and sprinkle top with parsley & paprika. Serve at room temperature with pita chips for dipping. Kelly also likes carrot sticks with this!
Friends from Wisconsin came through Saturday morning. Daryl and Bridget are the kind of friends that you may not see for a year or three, but the minute you are together conversations pick up right where they left off. They have 4 BEAUTIFUL children that were so fun to be around, even the big ones! They should be very proud of the people they have created, God has blessed their family immensely.
Our city did the big bang boom on Saturday night - the 5th. We have a pretty good view of them from our front yard, so we often have people over. A friend (Kelly) gave me some recipes to try, I had time to put 2 of them together so I'll share, they both were delicious! I really enjoy getting recipes from friends that I know share my love for food. I don't believe in secret recipes as you probably guessed ;-)
I hope that you all have had time to rest from the big weekend and are having a marvelous Monday. I'm going to my classroom to start organizing my many boxes. Talk to you soon!
Blue Cheese and Toasted Pecan Spread **** (4 stars!)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 oz crumbled blue cheese, softened
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 Tbs butter, softened
4-5 green onions, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley - I used fresh Italian flat leaf
1/4 cup milk, half & half, or whipping cream
1 cup toasted pecans, finely chopped
Combine all ingredients except onions and nuts in food processor or mixing bowl. Add more milk/cream depending upon consistency desired. Fold in pecans and green onions. Chill 4 hours to overnight. Store in refrigerator up to 1 week. Remove from refrigerator 30 min. prior to serving for easier spreading.
---------------------------------------------------------
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
3 cans chickpeas, drain and rinse
1/2 cup roasted red bell pepper coarsely chopped (store bought in a jar)
3/4 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp water
1/2 lemon - juice only
2 Tbsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
paprika and chopped parsley leaves for garnish
In the bowl of a food processor, place the chickpeas and red bell pepper. On a cutting board mash the garlic cloves with 1/4 tsp of salt to a smooth paste with the side of a knife. Add this to the processor along with the crushed red pepper, water, lemon juice, olive oil, cumin, and pepper. Process until smooth scrape down side as needed. Taste and adjust seasoning by adding salt & additional lemon juice if necessary. Transfer to a wide shallow bowl for serving. Drizzle with additional olive oil if desired and sprinkle top with parsley & paprika. Serve at room temperature with pita chips for dipping. Kelly also likes carrot sticks with this!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Let them eat cake!
OK, I am being very attentive to my sight this week. I'm going to cut right to the chase, I made a brand new recipe tonight that I think would be great for the 4th! It's a 4 ingredient cake that you can serve simply or jazz it up with garnish. Here we go!
Ruby Slipper Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
Beat together all of the ingredients for 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 of cake mixture into a well greased Bundt pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of a 3 oz. package of raspberry flavored Jell-O on top of cake batter. Carefully spoon on 1/3 more of cake batter and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 of gelatin powder. Add remainder of cake batter smoothing carefully to keep layers from mixing. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
When I sliced this it was beautiful with the pink swirls! I sprinkled each piece with powdered sugar and then topped it with a dollop of cool whip. It was really good! If I were serving this for guests I would probably want some fresh raspberries for a garnish. For the 4th of July raspberries & blueberries would be perfect. And of course, Paula Deen would throw in a sprig of mint. :-)
I'm tossing around lots of recipe ideas for the weekend. I'll be coming back with a more definite menu soon. Buh-bye.
Ruby Slipper Cake
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup water
2 eggs
Beat together all of the ingredients for 2 minutes. Pour 1/3 of cake mixture into a well greased Bundt pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of a 3 oz. package of raspberry flavored Jell-O on top of cake batter. Carefully spoon on 1/3 more of cake batter and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 of gelatin powder. Add remainder of cake batter smoothing carefully to keep layers from mixing. Bake @ 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Cool about 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool.
When I sliced this it was beautiful with the pink swirls! I sprinkled each piece with powdered sugar and then topped it with a dollop of cool whip. It was really good! If I were serving this for guests I would probably want some fresh raspberries for a garnish. For the 4th of July raspberries & blueberries would be perfect. And of course, Paula Deen would throw in a sprig of mint. :-)
I'm tossing around lots of recipe ideas for the weekend. I'll be coming back with a more definite menu soon. Buh-bye.
Monday, June 30, 2008
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)
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)
Sunday, June 29, 2008
??
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!
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!
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