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!

Rhuberry Bluebarb...Raspbarb Blue something.....

I spent the morning with my friend Shannon working on a surprise for a fellow teacher who is moving to Wisconsin. We will have a going away dinner on Sunday and share fond memories and stories that are mostly true. Tim has taught here for 23 years, there are many stories to tell, where will I begin? Things will feel much different next Fall when school begins with a new principal, but we are set for the challenge and ready to welcome our new staff members with open arms.

The weather is very stormy tonight. Tornado sightings here and there and somehow we have managed to miss it all. Another blessing that often goes unnoticed.

For supper we had brats and a lettuce salad with greens picked fresh from our garden! After we ate I started peeling rhubarb for my special jam that I make only once a year. It's one that my kids really seem to like, I do like the flavor quite a lot. It came from a country school cookbook that has the cutest illustrations, they are all drawn by the children. Anyway, I'll get right to it.

Rhubarb Blueberry Jam

5 cups rhubarb, peeled and cut fine
1 cup water
5 cups sugar
1 can blueberry pie filling
2 3-oz packaged raspberry jello

Cook rhubarb in water until tender, just a few minutes. Add sugar and cook for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add pie filling and cook 8 minutes more. Remove from heat and stir in jello until completely dissolved. Pour into jars with screw on canning lids. Store in freezer of refrigerator. This fills 5 16-oz jars.

A whole new world....online

I've made a fabulous discovery....I always knew that TV shows were available online, but I have never pursued that venue. I missed the finale of Grey's Anatomy and thought I would check it out and OH MY!! I was able to watch both episodes and now am caught up on the drama. To bad I have to wait until Fall to find out what will happen next, blast those cliff hangers!

I went to my classroom this morning to start packing things up. I'm getting ready to move to a new classroom and it's going to be a good thing. Time to sort out 16 years of "stuff" that have accumulated. There's "stuff" hiding in my closets, filing cabinets, shelves, etc.... I'm looking forward to being more organized and having a different room equipped with a bathroom for my little people.

I want to share something with you today besides a recipe. My friend Shirley sent me this email and it should be shared with many more people... like YOU! Read this and think about who packs your parachute.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, or thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason.

Charles Plumb, a US Naval Academy graduate, was a jet fighter pilot in Vietnam. After 75 combat missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb ejected and parachuted into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison. He survived the ordeal and now lectures on lessons learned from that experience.

One day, when Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant, a man at another table came up and said, "You're Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Vietnam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!"

"How in the world did you know that?" asked Plumb. "I packed your parachute," the man replied. Plumb gasped in surprise and gratitude.

The man pumped his hand and said, "I guess it worked!" Plumb assured him, "It sure did. If your chute hadn't worked, I wouldn't be here today."

Plumb couldn't sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, "I kept pondering what he might have looked like in a Navy uniform - a Dixie cup hat, a bib in the back, and bell bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said good morning, how are you or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was just a sailor."

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent on a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn't know.

Now, Plumb asks his audience, "Who's packing your parachute?" Everyone has someone who provides what they need to make it through the day. Plumb also points out that he needed many kinds of parachutes when his plane was shot down over enemy territory- he needed his physical parachute, his mental parachute, his emotional parachute, and his spiritual parachute. He called on all these supports before reaching safety.

His experience reminds us all to prepare ourselves to weather whatever storms lie ahead. As you go through this week, this month, this year...recognize the people who pack your parachute!

As you can see my friends Shirley and Doug gave our neighborhood a physical thank you for helping to pack their parachute! It still hangs on our tree 2 weeks later, and will be there until something unforeseen tears it down. I smile each time I pull into my driveway and think of my wonderful neighbors who in turn are helping pack MY parachute.

God bless those who have gone before us

Today is Memorial day, I just looked online to find out about events happening in the cemetery's to honor fallen soldiers, but found nothing. Sigh. I guess we'll take a drive through the cemetery and admire the carpet of flowers and decorations, stopping by a few loved ones to pay our respects. Mike's dad and sister Margie, our next door neighbor Norm, our dear friends Ann & Dave's son Aaron who tragically drowned last June. It really makes me choke up when I think about what a tough walk Aaron's family has had this last 11 months. I pray for them often and hope their hearts are able to focus more on wonderful memories than the tragic event. He was an example of a fantastic young college student growing into adulthood with dignity and a smile on his face each time we saw him. He is missed more than words can explain.

I am going to be better at posting this summer....really! Mike was off work Thur, Fri, and today so it's been an unusual schedule for us. We went to Lincoln on Friday and found the perfect dress for Heather to get married in. Guess what... it's white and sparkly!!! I may have found something for the mother of the bride, but I'm keeping my options open yet at this point.

Saturday I drove to graduations at NELHS in Waco with my friend Kristin. It's a high school that our church supports and I knew several of the graduates there, 3 of them were preschool alumni. Wowser! It was a very fun day, I saw tons of people that I knew, my favorites were my Bible study sister/friend Carol from Texas! Hug hug hug. It ended on an off note for two reasons, #1 I sat on a dark chocolate something and had it all over the rear end of my light tan colored pants!! # 2 I started to get a horrific cold which has overtaken me last night and today. I'm all congested in my chest, and I feel like typhoid Mary....great.

It was a weird night sleeping with this cold, I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror and my hair that was straight and slightly turning under when I went to bed was flipped up quite uniformly this morning like someone broke in and styled my hair in the night! Even in my weakened state I couldn't help but laugh when I looked in the mirror, how strange! Mike and Maddie both say they did not do my hair, I'm not so sure. Hmmm.

I've been thinking for days what I should be posting for a recipe. See, just because I'm not writing doesn't mean I'm not thinking of all of you! We have cooked beer can chicken, salted nut roll bars (April 8th post), bacon wrapped smokies (Feb 3rd), boursin cheese spread, spaghetti salad, ham salad, oatmeal crunch bars, yada, yada, yada. I think I've decided, OK here it is:

Spaghetti Salad

8-10 oz spaghetti
8 oz bottle Italian dressing
chopped onions
chopped tomatoes
chopped cucumbers
black olives sliced in half
2-3 T Schilling Salad Supreme (don't skip this )
a hand full of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti as directed (I always break mine in half); rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly. (Don't rinse or the dressing doesn't stick to the noodles as well) Immediately stir in the salad dressing and chopped vegetables. You can add or subtract any veggies that you like. Stir in the salad supreme and Parmesan cheese, mix well. Chill a couple of hours before serving. Easy cheesie!