The Next Regeneration?

The next Doctor?

Or a fashion show fueled by cabin fever?

It Has Been One Year Since

this blog was started.

Thankfully, it has not been as snowy this year!

The mild winter here has been an answer to prayer with all the traveling we have had to do

and will be doing again, quite soon.

I had originally started the blog

to show pa-in-law a slice of our daily lives and keep in touch

without having to clog his email account with gobs of pictures.

Even after he shuffles off this mortal coil,

the blog will continue.

Thank you and welcome to all you folks who visit this blog!

You've Come a Long Way

And you thought this picture disappeared when you moved south.

Pa-in-law, we still have it.

Looking at other family pictures, hubby and nephews have all inherited that big cranium from you.

Although I am a little sad that we don't have a cute little boy like this, I still don't regret not having to pass that enormous noggin,

especially since twins run in both your family and mine.

Rearranging Stuff

Pa-in-law announced the other day that he did not want to eat anymore.  He has bone cancer and probably will not live much longer, especially if he really meant the not eating part.  Youngest sister-in-law and her family made the trek to visit him a week or so ago.  She said he was not terribly interested in regular food, but somehow managed to snarf down an entire turtle sundae just fine.  Guess desert doesn't count as food.

Just in case ma-in-law wants to come and stay with us after he dies, I have been getting the guest room ready.  The closet is now empty.  It is amazing all the things that had accumulated in there.  It is a deep closet with room for a shelf behind where clothes can be hung.  I had been using it to store sewing supplies, patters, gift wrap, extra clothes, and stuff that just didn't seem to belong anywhere else.  Different storage places have been found for some of the things, but it has started a bit of a cascade effect of decisions on what to keep, donate, and throw away.

The question that comes to mind is,

"How did we accumulate this much stuff?"

No matter how it got here, the conclusion is obvious.

We have too much stuff!

So, What Are You Cooking Today?

This was the question the nurse asked

when I went in for my allergy shots today.

I replied, I'll probably make some split pea soup later.

Then she asked me what I had already cooked.

I asked why.

She said that my clothes smelled delicious.

It must have been the vegetable stir fry

that I made as a side dish to the catfish fillets and rice for lunch.

She has a very congested nose;

I was surprised that she could smell anything at all.

I must have smelled like a walking Chinese restaurant.

Now if someone could bottle the smell of stir fried

onions

garlic

ginger

vegetables (celery, mushrooms, napa cabbage, and bean sprouts)

soy sauce

and a little of Yoshida's stir fry sauce

(not normally in my kitchen - but part of the high sugar foods confiscated from mom's cupboards),

in a perfume,

it would be interesting to see how well it would sell.

Pumpkin Crunch

Ingredients:

Pumpkin chunks to fill a medium or 9x13 pyrex dish

a small handful of precooked crispy bacon pieces

a few tablespoons of brown sugar

Oil pyrex dish, fill with above ingredients, cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes or until the pumpkin begins to soften.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground allspice

1/4 tsp. ground cardamon

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 cup shelled hickory nuts or pecans 

2 eggs

3 tbs. non-virgin olive oil

Mix dry ingredients.  Whisk together wet ingredients and stir together until well blended.  If mixture is too dry, add a couple teaspoons water or milk.  Spoon topping over pumpkin.  Sprinkle a few more hickory nuts and cinnamon over the topping.  Return to the oven for another 30-40 minutes, or until the topping is slightly browned and crispy.  Serve hot or cold.  Refrigerate uneaten portions.

As mentioned yesterday, the pumpkin chunks in the picture are a little under done, so in the recipe given above I doubled the cooking time of the pumpkin before the addition of the topping.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Glop

Some of the two gallon bags of beans are gone from the freezer.

Now there is enough room to put some pumpkin into it.

It is rather handy that they can be stored for a few months

by washing the outer shells and

letting unblemished ones sit in a dry place.

When harvested, they looked a bit green.

This morning, three of them remained.

They have ripened a bit since October when they were picked.

Now there are two.

The largest one was the best candidate for cooking today;

it looked to be the most ripe.

It was still very juicy on the inside.

 Lots of keratin, vitamin A, and heart healthy fiber.

 It filled both roasting pans to make puree

and a medium sized pyrex dish to make some pumpkin crunch.

 I should have baked the pumpkin a bit longer before adding the crunch topping.  (Recipe will be posted tomorrow sometime.)

Not a bad yield for a 42 pound pumpkin,

six quarts of pumpkin glop (puree),

one pan of crunch,

and two quarts of juice to be used in making bread.

Hope the four year olds in Sunday school tomorrow

aren't grossed out by my orange hand.

Guess pumpkin also makes a good dye.

Wish I had a night game camera to see what eats

the peels when they're put on the compost pile.

We Awoke to the Sound of

a Leaf Blower!

But, it's February!

Really Jack is that necessary?

(Jack is our neighbor across the street.

He is extremely fastidious about his yard's appearance.)

I know the sky produced a dusting of snow last night,

but isn't a broom a better and 

more quiet

tool for clearing the sidewalk?

Or with patience, you could have waited

for the afternoon sun to melt it.

Snow, what snow?

The top 2-3 inches of the ground is getting squishy, and

Chloe is frustrated by the lack of clean snowbanks to eat.

After the last four years,

a little break from piles of snow has been a relief.

But I wish it was not at someone else's expense.

Winter had to go somewhere I guess.

Wish we could have Europe send winter back to us;

we have plenty of pellets to keep us warm.

Unfortunately, we have no control over where the weather goes.

Wow, Big Bird!

A Bald Eagle Just Flew Past My House!

At least there is one benefit to all the open water

on the river and lakes.

Wonder what it is planning to eat?

Maybe it is just out stretching its wings.

Hope the small dogs in the neighborhood are safe indoors.

Maybe the rabbit population will not be as large this spring.

Sorry, no pictures.

Taking pictures of flying birds is a bit like taking pictures

of aerobatic airplanes at an air show.

"Look at that tiny speck of dark in the big sky."

Rub the Tummy

 Oh the indignity!

I'm being turned upside down.

On second thought,

I don't care as long as you keep rubbing the tummy.

Pinky and the Brain

In case anybody is interested in updating their DVD collection,

Barnes and Noble currently has

Pinky and the Brain seasons 1-3 DVDs 50% off their original price.

Actually, it is probably a sale on all children's videos,

but what other kids videos are actually worth watching?

The Past

It is a bit strange to see pictures of

grandparents and parents when they were young.

That little ruffian on the right is my dad.

It is hard to believe that his hair was that blonde when he was little.

It turned black when he was older;

now it is gray.

Time keeps marching on, and people change.

Happy Valentines Day!

Hearts, flowers, and candy

Best of all - zero calories if you only look at the pictures

Old Fashioned Horsepower

Or Should I say Mule Power

Great Grandpa's Mule Team

Guess before men took pictures

of their favorite cars and engines,

they took pictures of their wagons, horses and mules.

Great Grandpa built and ran a sawmill in Missouri,

hence all the really big logs.

Suppose the modern equivalent would be a picture of a shiny pickup truck with a dual rear axle and 5th wheel hitch.

My dad gave me a disc full of photos from his side of the family.

Now I need a copy of the family tree to decipher who is who.

Most of the pictures are of people,

but I thought you might find these to be interesting.

The disc has over 1000 scanned photographs on it.

It took Aunt M. a long time to scan and caption the photos.

I am grateful to her for all her hard work.

There and Back Again

The trip down was rather rainy.

Thankfully, there was no snow!

On the other side of the smokies, it finally cleared.

 The way back.

There is a good reason why the primary crop

of North Carolina is trees.

Just look at all that clay soil.

 A stop for a few hours sleep at sister-in-law's house.

Gracie has settled in nicely.

She has bonded well with them,

and doesn't even seem to remember me.

Home again!

 Seriously, when I left this was full!

Thankfully, there was still some food left in the freezer.

 Thank you Lord that this snow did not happen yesterday!

Ugly Food

I made it back home safe and sound

but haven't had the time yet to download any pictures.

A week's supply of caffeine was consumed in a two day time-span.

So, being both wired and tired,

I have yet to gather my thoughts and impressions of this trip.

So instead, I shall digress to a recipe from my childhood.

Grandma K. made it.

Heck, my mom could make it.

(In case you hadn't guessed,

I love her dearly, but she's still a lousy cook.)

I call it ugly food.

Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes fame would probably say

"That looks disgusting!

But curiously if I close my eyes it tastes good!"

Ugly Food

Ingredients:

1 quart canned tomatoes

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 tablespoon flour

4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced

A large handful crispy precooked bacon pieces

Day old bread, toasted

Directions:

Pour off some liquid from the canned tomatoes into a glass.

Add the flour and stir until all the lumps are gone.

In a saucepan, heat the canned tomatoes and the sugar until at a high simmer.  Add the flour & juice mixture.  Stir until thickened.  Add the sliced eggs and 2/3 of the bacon.  Keep it warm until ready to serve.  Toast the bread slices, pour the sauce over it, sprinkle with a few pieces of bacon, and serve.

Note: If a heart healthier version is desired, substitute lean ham for the bacon.

Now it is time to watch some movies until my eyes finally slam shut.  Good night all.  Sleep Sweet.

Things Are Fine-ish

This will be a short post; it has been another long day.

Ma-in-law was feeling much better today,

so we took her back to the assisted living place.

The best thing is that now she has a prescription

for some really good anti-barf medicine for the next time her pancreas goes on the fritz.

We have been sorting through a lot of old paperwork at the house.

If you see a bright light in the sky tomorrow night,

it might be the glow of the bonfire.

There are some advantages to being out in the country.

Why shred the stuff when it is so much easier to turn it into ashes?

Hope y'all are safe and warm.

Good night.

Arrived Safe & Sound

Brother-in-law did all the driving yesterday.

We left Chicagoland around 4:30 a.m.

Thankfully, all the superbowl fans were probably still sleeping off their adventures or had not converged on Indianapolis bypass when we zipped through it.

Pa-in-law is in a lot of pain (terminal bone cancer),

but the increased pain medications are helping.

Today we took ma-in-law to church, out to lunch,

and then returned her to the assisted living facility for a nap.

We went back to the house to sort through some paperwork and then returned to the assisted living facility to sit with them at dinner.

Much to our surprise when we arrived we learned that ma-in-law had been taken to the ER with severe abdominal pain and vomiting.

Note the emergency medical contact is a neighbor;

the assisted living facility did notify her of the ER trip.

I stayed with pa-in-law during dinner while brother-in-law went to the ER to check on ma.  Pa-in-law barely ate anything for dinner; then went back to his room and went to bed.

Brother-in-law retrieved me from the assisted living facilty and we both went to the hospital to see ma.

Turns out ma has pancreatitis;

she will be spending the night in the hospital.

She has had trouble like this before,

but had not gone to the ER for treatment.

I guess it is good that we are here.

God is wise and knows everything.

I am glad that as a finite being,

I only experience one day at a time.

So how was your Superbowl Sunday?

Partway There

Stopped off at sister-in-law's house in Chicagoland for the night.  The second leg of the journey will be much longer.  My brother-in-law will be driving down in their family van.  Not sure if I will do any driving, but if I do I must remember to glue my left foot to the floor.  I think the last time I drove an autmatic was on a business trip in 2001.

Gracie says HI!

Good Night Gracie

Meow

Really, Good Night Gracie

Meow, Meow, Meow

(She still has to have the last word.)

On the Road Again

Over the river and through the woods

to pa-in-law's house I go.

The snow is melting too fast

to use a sleigh,

so a car will have to do.

Be back later with posts.

Hubby might do some posts in my absence,

but don't hold your breath.

Cooking Up a Storm

Sorry the blog postings haven't been as frequent lately.

I have been busy getting things arranged here

to take another trip visiting relatives.

Hubby and the dog Chloe will be staying home this time.

The last trip pretty much demolished hubby's remaining vacation and sick leave for a while.

The kitchen has been full of activity preparing provisions ahead so that hubby will not go hungry while I am away.

This is no small feat.

I don't know where he puts it all.

Will his metabolism ever slow down?

Seriously???

Some of the things that will be stashed away in the fridge and freezer for grab anytime meals will include.

Fresh Bread

Ham

Chicken with dumplings

Beef and Vegetable bake

Oh, and for desert - Citrus Cottage Cheese Pie

(Finally a picture before it disappeared)

So, Do you think he might still run out of things to eat?