Hello 2021

Hi there everyone. Well, this is the last day of 2020 and I am SO GLAD tomorrow is the new year of 2021. I do hope it will be much better then this year has been. I am sure other people have had it worse. But God, never gives us more then we can handle. Sometime I wonder how much more He will give us. I need a break from the health and financial problems we face. 

I have no plans for this new year, no goals, no desires. Although, I would like an Air Fryer, guess that is a want. I am not sure which one I will buy. Been waiting 6 months, but the money has never been there to buy one.....guess I will wait a little longer. Maybe when the stimulus $600 hits our bank account, then I will start looking. That is if we are allowed to leave our homes to shop....who knows what will happen when the changing of the guard takes place in the White House.

Not much happened today, I made some apple turnovers...that was fun, I might try cherry turnovers next. I bought a can of apple pie filling and a package of puff pastry. Cut it in 6 squares, brushed egg wash on each of the sides. Dropped some apple slices in the middle, folded them over and pressed them down with a fork, made 3 slices on top and brushed again with egg wash. 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Cooled then spooned icing on top. BAD MOVE, I COULD NOT STOP EATING THEM!!!!!!!

Made a pizza later on in the day. For JP, I made Lox and crackers with cream cheese, tomatoes and onions. JP's favorite. He usually likes bagels, but they are too hard for him to chew.

Well, now I am here, writing my last blog of the year, #25 today. Just a little lax in doing blogs this year, There was not a lot of good to write about. Hopefully things will be better in the new year. Just going to take one day at a time, one hour at a time, maybe even one step at a time, can't go no farther then that. Putting my trust in God the whole time, He knows best what is good in my life, I certainly don't. I've tried to do things my way and just made a mess of every thing. Guess now I will let Him make the calls. Who knows, this maybe the year that Jesus comes back for His church and OFF we go in a twinkling of an eye, what a day that will be.

You all take care and keep looking up, better days surely must be coming. Cheers ~ Louise

How Are You All Doing???

Hi there everybody....how are you all doing??? How is this quarantine treating you??? I think I have gained a few pounds....although I have not jumped on the scale for 21 days....not sure I want to for fear of seeing a gain of too many pounds. 

As you can see, this is going to be a food blog today. Been cooking up a storm this month. The spaghetti recipe below was really fun to make and delicious. "One-Pot Spaghetti" 

2 Tbsp. butter or veggie oil
1 lb. ground beef (I added one small chopped onion and 6 sliced mushrooms)
1 - 1 1/2 oz, envelope Spaghetti sauce mix
1 tsp. salt
1 - 6 oz can tomato paste
6 c. wter
1 - 8 oz. package spaghetti

Melt butter in a dutch oven over moderately low heat. Add meat; cook and stir over moderate heat until brown and crumbly. I cooked the onions and mushrooms with the meat. Add spaghetti sauce mix, salt and tomato paste and blend well. Add water and bring sauce to a rolling boil over moderate heat. Add spaghettis, boil gently, uncovered 10 minutes, or until spaghetti is tender and sauce is thick, Stirring occasionally. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Serves 4

With the spaghetti is some home made bread, toasted, and garlic spread topping it....mmmmmmm!!

Not sure if the bread in this picture is the garlic toast in the top picture.....may not be. Been making so much bread lately, I am losing track. The buns in the back became hamburger buns....gosh those were good hamburgers. This loaf of bread did not last too long....don't want it to get too old. Makes good toast with peanut butter on it.

I made a "sourdough starter" on Saturday....so now I have been making sourdough bread, buns, and waffles today....so good. Will have to do something sourdoughy tomorrow. I found a web-site that has 75 sourdough recipes....so I am all set to use my starter for quite awhile. 

Above is a chocolate cake I made on Easter Sunday.....nothing special....just a packaged cake mix with peanut butter frosting topped with crushed walnuts and sprinkles. It's all gone now. 

Made this apple pie on the 3rd of April....my favorite way to make....with the crumbly top. Along with that pie was some banana fudge ice cream....yummmmmm!!!

Made this scrumptious pizza pie along with the apple pie.....another pizza winner!!!

In the bottom picture is "Cheesy Rice" This was a good recipe...it did not last long. As JP gobbled it all down. It was soft and easy for him to chew and eat. 

I guess out of boredom I have been cooking more, looking up recipes that I have never tried and it can't be spicy or hard to chew, as JP has a set of bad teeth that all need to be pulled. One of these days out ship will come in and we will be able to take care of his teeth.

So according to my calender, I have been making a lot of things...Apple pie, pizza pie, Bean soup and British beans(that was good), cup cakes, focacsa bread, a loaf of bread and buns, cole slaw, fried cabbage and more bread. More beans and green pea soup more bread and sourdough starter. Sourdough bread and waffles. Someone need some sourdough starter???? I just hope I can keep up with this starter. Maybe after about a week I will be able to keep it in the fridge which might slow down the growth some.

Well, now that I have made you very, very hungry, I should close here. It's been a busy month for cooking....but we don't order out for food and I am just used to cooking at home. You all have a great rest of the month and keep looking up....better days are coming and we will no longer be under house arrest!!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Christmas Day is Right Around the Corner

Hi there everyone......whoever you are???? Are you ready for the big day???? I guess I am....I owe a few cards to people I did not send to, I will make some "Happy New Year" cards for them. Have a few gifts to wrap for JP and myself. But I can do that tomorrow....no rush!

JP received some money as a Christmas gift from the people he works with....that was a pleasant surprise. SO.....I was able to buy a 4lb Boneless Rib Roast (prime rib). I am so looking forward to making that on Christmas. I will take pictures and tell you how I made it.....very simple directions. The roast will cook in the oven at 500 degrees for 5-7 minutes then rest for two hours with the oven off. Guess it depends if I want it medium or rare. I'd like it pink.....but not mooing!!!

Made some "Peanut Brittle" and "Healthy No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars" tonight. There's a lot of sugar involved in these recipes. Here's a picture of the Brittle. No picture of the "Healthy No Bake Crunch Bars"

 The Peanut Brittle wasn't too hard to make. It's made in the microwave, poured on a cookie sheet, cooled and broken into pieces. Was fun to make. Going to give some to the Pastor tomorrow along with some Healthy Crunch Bars. He's a truck driver, so he likes lots of goodies in his lunch box. As does JP when he is at work.

 I made this Apple Pie a couple of days ago.....there is only one piece left....pies don't last long around here.

 Thought I would show you my little village. I added three new things to it this year. The background, the 2 new fences and if you can see it, a snowman water tower to the right of the church. I usually leave my village up till mid-January. It takes me all day to put it up and then all day to take it down. Below the village, is my manger scene....that's about 30 years old now.

Here's my little Christmas tree. I added some purple sparkly feathers....got them at Walmart. I think I will try and get some more, hopefully there will be some left for 50% off. I probably will leave my tree up till Valentine's Day....make it all red, lights, ornaments, beads and of course the elf stays. I usually put it in the corner, where my village sits right now.

Well, I guess I'll close here. Bad news, The Green Bay Packers lost 13 to 0 and the Chicago Blackhawks lost 4-1. Not a good night for both teams. So keep looking up, better days are coming.

Cheers ~ Louise

4 More Days!!!

Hi there everyone. Hope you are all enjoying this Christmas season. It's 4 more days till the big day!!! I am mostly done with everything. There's a few things I want to get. JP needs a new pair of shoes for work. But I need him to come with me to the store to try them on and buy them. He is not one for shopping. So after Christmas, and the big rush to return things is over, we'll go find him another pair of shoes for work.

I want to get a "Spring-form" pan.....so I guess that will happen after Christmas too. I am looking forward to making a few things in it, like a CHEESECAKE!!! I have an apple cake recipe that uses the spring-form pan, so I am looking forward to getting this pan.

In the picture below, is what I bought for ME....a Chicago Blackhawk beanie hat. I will wrap it and tag it from JP and Kylie. Their shopping is done!!!

This will keep my head warm during the winter months. My summer hat will be another Chicago Blackhawk hat also. Maybe something like this. 

Or maybe this one, I like that gold Chicago Blackhawk....pretty! Maybe I shall have to invest in both of them?

By the time summer comes, my hair will be long and I can wear a pony tail and stick it through the back of the hat. That was my style this past summer....was fine with me....a very easy style to take care of.

JP is also getting a large tin of pop-corn. He also wanted $$$ to buy apple juice at work, so I will give him a bunch of quarters to use for the machine so he can get "his apple juice addiction." Oh and I bought him a bottle of "Miracle Marvel Oil" for the car. He will be happy with that.

I want to make a special meal for Christmas....but I have to wait to see if we have enough money after paying bills. Maybe Sunday after church we will stop at Festival foods and buy a "Boneless Rib Roast" I saw a recipe on Facebook that made my mouth water.....I want to make it for Christmas!!! I told JP that the menu for Christmas will be prime rib, asparagus, maybe corn, and potatoes and some kind of dessert. BUT....it depends on how much money is in the check book. If not enough, we'll have to get a cheap steak (poor us) and mushrooms. Actually, that sounds good too.

I am making an apple pie tonight....I doubt it will last till Christmas...I guess by then, if it did last, it would be pretty old by then. My pies don't get very old when JP lives in the house!!!!

I am starting to make cards for Hospice, I have till January 26th before our next meeting. Least I can take my time to make them and not be rushed. I found a new technique using coffee filters. It's called "Tie-dye" using brushes or stamps. I saw a couple of different ways to do this....it should be fun trying to make and duplicate the technique.

So, I guess it is time to close here....no telling when I will be back. If I don't come back before Christmas....Let me just wish you a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your family and friends. Remember too, that we are celebrating Jesus's birth.....JESUS is the reason for this season. Have a great time and keep looking up....better days are coming!! Cheers ~ Louise

Saturday is 4 Dutch Apple Pie's

Hi there everyone.....how did your Saturday go?? Mine was quiet, still taking it easy from my hernia surgery September 3rd. I still tire easily, but at least there has been no gut pain, Hooray for that miracle!!!! I do sleep a lot....but maybe that is part of the healing process.

My exercise consists of walking Kylie every day around the block, shopping at the stores, walking around the house, getting up and down from the chair etc. One of these days I shall have to start doing some yard work and get the house and yard winterized for the long cold winter......uge!!!!

So today I made a Dutch Apple Pie.....found this recipe at www.cooks.com one of my favorite recipe sites to visit. My go-to for many of my recipes.

I usually use a pre-made crust....not very good at making real crust, not sure I have even tried, maybe one of these days I shall try.

The pie filling consisted of about 10 apples, a combination of Mollies, Cortland and about 4 McIntosh apples. (Mollies and Cortlands, we bought from the apple orchard last Sunday) Mixed them all together in some lemon juice so they would not brown. Then I drained them and mixed in 3/4 cup Palm sugar, 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg and 2 teaspoon cinnamon. Mixed the apples altogether by hand then poured them into the pie crust.

I over did it on the apples and had enough for a little pie.......sad to say...these two pies may not even last the week-end if JP has his way.

The crumb topping consists of 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup butter and 1/2 cup Palm sugar. Mix it altogether till crumbly....if more flour is needed, continue adding till the topping is crumbly.

Note: When I added Palm sugar, it is actually called, Organic Coconut Palm sugar, I bought it at Sam's club and have been using that in place of sugar and brown sugar....works fine.

So here is the final touch.....a little bit of Cool Whip on a cooled down piece of pie......yum, was this delicious!!!

After I finish this post, I shall head down stairs and do a bit of card making and stamping.....guess my mojo is coming back and "making things" is coming back into my life again.....Hooray for small miracles!!!

You all have a great weekend and Lord willing, I will see you in a few days. My week is pretty much open, guess that means another week of rest and getting my strength built up. Never realized how much surgery can knock one out......I forgot!!!

I have another order of Blue Apron coming this week.....this one should be fun, a gourmet pizza, mushroom tacos and a cauliflower  salad.....looking forward to these recipes.

You all keep looking up and better days are coming!!!!
Cheers ~ Louise

Finally.....Did Some Stampin'

Hi there everyone. Well, FINALLY.....I did some stampin' and marbling. After many moons, finally got downstairs and did something creative. It took me awhile to even get started, don't know why, maybe something in my brain is not firing, who knows what happens to the brain when you are put to sleep for a colonoscopy and hernia surgery, back to back. My motivation has been slow to fire up.....but tonight.....the juices were flowing!!!!

Here is the card I made tonight, kind of a fast one using the "Shaving Cream and ink" technique.  It was really lots of fun, once I got the hang of it. I think next time I may use alcohol inks....might be less messy.

Here's what my left hand looked like after playing with the shaving cream and inks.

Here is a sampling of the different papers. Made quite a few as you can see. I was able to use the shaving cream on quite a few pieces of card stock and got quite a few different colors.

Here's what my right hand looked like after playing the shaving cream and inks.....pretty messy?!?!?!? Oh but lots of fun!!!

What you do is, cover a paper plate with shaving cream then dab the shaving cream with dots of colored inks. Then swirl the cream with a stick to marble it. Lay the card stock on top the shaving cream and press down. Then pull the card stock off the cream. Lay it down on paper towel for a few minutes, then take paper towel and wipe off the cream from the card stock and you will get these lovely marbled pieces of card stock. I added different colors and more shaving cream to get the different affects......but as you can see.....my hands took a beating. Perhaps next time I will use rubber gloves.

Some of the tutorials I watched on YouTube said, alcohol inks would work, acrylic paints and food coloring.....I shall try those also, just to see which is less mess on the hands. This is an old technique, as I found it in a 2002 "Stamp It!" magazine.

I was going to make an apple pie tonight, but decided not to, as I was afraid the pie doe and apples would take on the colors that were on my hands. So I shall wait a day or so, just so the colors will fade from my hands. LOL.

I did manage to make that potato cheese soup this morning....oh yum, was it ever good. Guess I better write down the recipe....it was a keeper.

Well, it is getting late and I need to get some sleep.....I think I wore myself out tonight....did way too much. PLUS I straightened my stamping area and found some mouse droppings.....uge better get out the mouse traps!!!!

Have a good day and keep looking up!!! Cheers ~ Louise

Picked a Bouquet of Flowers 4 U

Hi everyone...hope your day was beautiful and full of little surprises along the way. I picked a bouquet of flowers for you all..........

Here it is, zennias, daisies and some small sunflowers oh and some lavendar to add a little splash of purple....so pretty isn't it??? For some reason I was not bringing the flowers in the house that much. Just enjoying them outside I guess. As you can see, the sun is shining....it was positively a beautiful day.

In this picture is a close up of the flowers.

Here is a picture of my hibiscus. The plant is about 4 years old now. I paid $1.50 for it at Walmart....it sure is a survivor. It seems to really like where it is growing. I my prune it down this year, which is something I have never done before, I think it might need it now.

In these next two pictures is a funny little monarch that fluttered around on my zennias, all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I thought that was quite an exciting thing...it must of loved those zennias. So, I decided to snap a few pictures of him or her.

Another picture on a different flower....I think he or she was just enjoying the sun and the smell of the flowers. I was just enjoying snapping pictures. I think when I can get more pictures made up free at Archivers, I will have these made and then frame them. I am also thinking of selling a few pictures in my Etsy store. Maybe a 5X7 for $5.00. Still thinking on that one, we'll see.

And........here again is my volunteer sunflowers. It has been fun watching them grow and watching the bees do their thing. I just could not get enough of these flowers...probably I will not see them grow like this again. I think they did very well volunteering themselves to grow in my garden. God is so good and He knows just what we need to make us smile. I hope the neighbors and passer-byers enjoyed them also.

Another shot of my fountain. I have planted some white, yellow and burgandy mums in urns and set them out in different places. The white mum is in front of the fountain....pretty isn't it?

Well, I guess this is the final white rose of the season....(sad face) I shall miss my roses....they were pretty this year, but I don't think it was a very good year for them. I have seen years when they went crazy with blooms, this year not so much.

And last but not least....my wonderful apple tree made some wonderful apples and here is one of those pies. I found a really neat recipe this weekend for apple pie. The base of the pie is a pancake. Heat the pan up in the oven, make a pancake batter and pour it into the pan, roll it around to cover the sides and stick back in the oven to bake a bit. Then add your apples and then I topped the apples with a crumble of butter, sugar and flour and spread it around. Stick it in the oven till browned on top. OH MY GOODNESS....then topped with whipped cream....that was goodness on a spoon, my taste buds were a dancing!!! (Happy, happy face)

Well, time to close as it is getting late and I need to get some sleep....this next week will be busy as we are having company from Chicago for the weekend. The flyer in the newspaper from Festival food says the Burgandy Spoon Roasts are on sale this week. Sooooo I think I shall make Roast Beef Sandwiches, chips, potatoe salad, coleslaw, relish tray and APPLE PE of course.

You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh!! Cheers ~ Louise

PS....an update on my garage sale...this past weekend, I made $8 for the three days. Weather was too nice, plus someone stole my "garage sale" sign and I had competition with Octoberfest. So not such a good sale. Depending on the weather I shall do another one as long as the stuff is set up....you just never know, the next one could be a bountiful day and I could unload some more stuff!!!!