HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

For those of you who don't know, I am the Holiday Queen. I love holidays, and decorating for them. I will unabashedly admit to three tubs of Halloween decorations, and well, many, many more for Christmas, lol. I have one for Easter and Thanks giving each, though I suspect I will have to expand both this year. Even a small one for Valentine's Day, lol.

In other words - HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Enjoy, as I will. Garden stuff tomorrow, most likely, haha!

:)

Still At It...

Maybe. Sorta. Well, I mean, I am still trying and I think there's the smallest possibility it's getting better. Still not the whole 24 hours though. I must be one unhappy person, lol.

One of these days though. You all mark my words. One of these days...

:)

Pumpkins Part Deux!

As promised, here's more on the pumpkin mystery tonight, ha ha!

If you don't know, there are two types of pumpkins - carving pumpkins and pie pumpkins. Now, when I make anything with pumpkin, I usually just use the canned stuff from the store, lol. And every year I get a carving pumpkin that I don't carve. (I love pumpkins. I just keep it around until it starts to go bad, usually about 4 months later. I know... lol.)

Carving pumpkins can very well be cut up and cooked! I do know that. But I've always been curious about the cooking pumpkins, that are smaller, but also supposed to be softer and a little sweeter. When one of the grocery stores had them on sale, I snapped up a few to try out.

Here they are - aren't they cute? Especially with my Halloween table runner?  :D

So they needed cooking! All the websites I consulted said to basically cut them in half, scoop out the goop and the seeds, and place them face down in baking dishes. Cook for approx. an hour and ha half, scoop out the cooked pumpkin, and viola!

Here is what I imagine all cooked pumpkins should look like coming out of the oven.

Here are the cooked insides, unscooped as yet.

Now let me warn you... None of the websites I looked at said to grease, butter, or otherwise alter the backing dish. So against my better judgement, I did none of those. *And* the first pumpkins *may* have been cooked a little too long...

The result? This icky black mess that I can't seem to get off for love or money. I'm going to soak them more and see. I didn't have enough pans to cook all three pumpkins last night, so I did two, got the goop... Trying to get one cleaned took scraping with a knife, I kid you not. So the picture of nicely browned pumpkin from above is from tonight, lol. 

The others didn't really burn, not the insides and there's plenty there. It all looks good to me! And when I cooked the other pumpkin tonight, you better believe I used cooking spray to coat the dish, lol.

Given that it's late now, and was last night, it hasn't been bagged yet to be frozen. Tomorrow for sure though! 

One more time, just because
they're so dang cute!

And there you have the great pumpkin adventure, lol.

:)

Pumpkin!

Well, it's that time of year, after all, lol.
Here's a picture of this year's pumpkin (the big one) along with a smaller counterpart. More on those tomorrow and what I did with 'em. I just liked the picture for now.

Hope you all had a good weekend!

:)

Post Card Saturday!

Yes indeed, that time again! Post Card Saturday! On time and everything, too!

As promised, another "set" among the cards I have. At this point, you can likely guess what I mean by now, lol. All the cards are of the same picture on the front. Different cards, mind you, so they weren't all purchased at the same time, I just find it fascinating that they all ended up in this same batch!

Here they are again, a little closer. Notice the one that is "colorized". 

They appear to be from Switzerland, as both "Luzern" brought up "Lucern, Swizterland" in a quick search. And written lightly in pencil on one of the cards is "SWITZ" (you likely won't see it on the picture of the backs of the cards). 

Here are the flip sides. As you can see, only one has been written on and sent. 

The language of the printing has both German and French. And another has a pencil mark saying "Oct. 9, 1931". Odd, no?

Here is the card that's actually written on. The postmark is hard to make out, 1916 or possibly 1918. The date doesn't have the year. And the address isn't the US. A hotel in Valois, I think? (According to Wikipedia, it is a county in Northern France.)

But here's what it says, written in pencil: 

Lucerne    July 2        3:45 pm
Just arrived & now for my call. I have not conversed since Lausanne! The sky has become overcast. I think I shall have to call you up once more - tomorrow.  Thursday of about 7 p.m.  H. I. P.

Another interesting happenstance in this post card adventure. With again, questions I don't think will ever be answered. Still fun though, don't you think?

:)

Time for That Cookin'!

Last night I promised some new cooking adventure, and I aim to please.  :)

So it came up for me to cook something "American". And it was also suggested that I do sausage gravy and biscuits. Now - despite living most of my life in Tennessee, I had never tried to make them. I know, it's a failing on my part, but I had always heard that it was difficult to make.

But I promised I'd try, and so I did. Hit the Internet, as usual, and came up with recipes that were similar in their ingredients and prep time. There were variations, of course, so I picked the one that looked the best to me.

The test batch was - a hit! An unqualified success. And the stuff I prepared for my classes? Well, let's just say I was beating people off with a stick. I'll take that as a compliment.

In other words - here are the recipes I used, along with what I had to do to adapt. As all good cooks know, it can take a bit of tweaking to make something work for you.

7 Up Biscuits

Here is one version of the recipe. They are all pretty much the same. I didn't change a thing about it, but I will say that all the yields on all the versions I looked at were really small. I ended up with almost twice as many biscuits as any of them said I'd get.

But here's a picture of a pan of 'em. They are yummy, for sure!




Sausage Gravy

There are a gazillion versions of this, but none of them seemed all that difficult. Click Here for the one I started with, but I did have to make a few adjustments.

First - I did not realize sausage came in two sizes. So I got the 16 oz. size. When I realized that, I ended up with a couple other slight adjustments.

Second - I swear to you, my sausage was not leaving grease in the pan. It wasn't - none! So, well... you need the drippings to make the gravy with. To make up for it, I added a couple of glugs of canola oil as I made it. No joke - *no* drippings!

Third - One of the reviews said they didn't have whole milk (and neither did I). So I added probably a couple of Tablespoons of butter to make up for the extra sausage and 1% milk. I also used a heaping quarter cup of flour rather than an even one for the same reason.

Fourth - The salt I used was this pink stuff that you gotta grind. I have no idea how much of that and the pepper I put in. I just went along until it seemed right, haha!

Otherwise, I followed the directions just as the recipe says. I was making this for my classes so I ended up making three batches of the stuff, two at one time and one other. I made it in a large cast iron skillet (that was only big enough to double, hence the two different batches that were mixed).

Here's a picture of them all mixed together. It microwaves really well, trust me!




I know there's not a lot of pictures here, but they are what I have for now. Everything was really easy to make, though, so hopefully that will help if you decide to try this classic Southern dish. Really - it's easy!

:)

It's Gettin' Hot In Here!

Well, it *is* South Florida, after all - ha ha!

I've been doing some more cooking - Woot! But it took all afternoon, and tonight was Trivia (we came in third, btw. Not bad.). In other words, I'm headed for bed. Tomorrow, however... Ah yes, tomorrow I will have some pictures and tell you all about my adventures in the kitchen.

Until then - Hope you had a great Wednesday, too!

:)

More Cuteness Abounds

I have several pets and all of them are beautiful, of course. (I got super lucky that way). But Penny does find herself in some of the cutest positions ever. Had to share this one.

Hope all two of you who read this had a good Monday!

:)

Holy Moley Guacamole!

Heck yeah, it is!

If you read this blog ever, then you know that a few days ago one of the whole two avocados on the tree finally came down.

Here's a picture of that bad boy if you don't remember:

And I did indeed mash that baby up for guacamole! Take a look - Yum!

How did I do it, you might ask? Turns out guacamole is really this simple. Take a ripe avocado. Cut up a ripe tomato (size depends on how much you like tomato. I used one medium, but figured two mediums would be too much. One large would have worked.) Juice from a couple of limes, ground black pepper (don't ask me how much, I just kept grinding until it looked right, lol), a dash of salt and Bam! Guacamole!

Served with chips, on top of enchiladas, in a taco, really anywhere. This stuff is gooood!

:)

Post Card Saturday

And it's still Saturday! Woweee!

As you look at this fine offering, however, you might (understandably) wonder who these dour men might be. I will tell you. Apparently they are English historical figures. 




One of them sounded vaguely familiar to me when I read about him but... I digress, ha ha!

Here are their names...

In amongst the cards I've been given, I find what I must figure to be "sets". Or at least an odd grouping of similar cards (another of these "sets" next week, in fact). Usually the stacks aren't organized in any way, but as I look through them, I find them.

I found these three while looking through my cards. They are similarly laid out, seem to have the same sort of card stock, from the same place... All that made me think the same person had these once upon a time. No one should ever assume, but I sort of am here, lol.

Back in the day, before everyone had little computers with cameras with them all the time, it was harder to get pictures of some things. Even now, a lot of places don't allow flash photography with historical places and artifacts, because it can harm the pictures, objects, etc. This was another void filled by postcards. If you wanted a picture of something, then you bought a postcard of it to keep. That's all I can guess on these. 

Why these three, I don't know. Here are the blurbs about them on the back. (As always, apologies for the bad photography, lol.)

As you see (or maybe not, I guess), none of these cards was sent, or even written on, so that's another reason I have my theory that these were keepsakes of someones and not meant to be mailed. I will freely admit it's only a working theory, however, lol. Another of those questions that will never be answered.

In the meantime - Enjoy! I know I am. Another Post Cart Saturday next Saturday!

:)

Still Trying...

Yesterday I saw this on Facebook, and shared it. I really liked the message and it sort of embodied what I wanted to try.


So far - no luck.

No one is perfect. No one has all the answers. Sure people like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, even Einstein seem to have a better handle on things. But I'll bet you a dime to a hole in a doughnut that every one of them at some point slapped their foreheads and exclaimed something along the lines of, "D'oh! What the heck was I thinking?!"

I have a lot of those days. It would be nice if I could just come to those conclusions myself, but more often than not, I only notice when they come to bite me in the derriere. Now mind you, someone is usually ready and willing to kindly point such instances out to me, which only makes it better. (Not really, lol.)

But does that mean I should give up? No! I keep telling myself that anyway. It's just even more difficult when any attempts to make up for my boneheadedness are met with resistance and denial. And honestly, that's not meant to be a complaint, just a statement of fact of more of what's been getting me down. Of course, that's all my perspective, too, lol.

No more, I tell you! I'm going to be positive if it kills me! Ha ha! 

And I'm going to keep posting that picture until I make it 24 hours without complaint. Wish me luck!

:)

Reflections on a Semi-Wasted Week

Periodically, I get a week off from my job. It's not paid, but a week off is a week off, right? If I must have it, I want to do something with it. I always start off with a huge list of things I want to get done.

You probably know where this is going.

It is Thursday already, and I have less than half done that I wanted to. Probably less than a third. Maybe a quarter... Errands that shouldn't take much time end up taking an hour longer. A workman has to come to the house so I have to take care of that. Those pesky naps that insist they be taken carve out a chunk of time... ha ha!

Sure, all that is to blame. I've also noticed that I've been letting some happenings and some people get me down more than I ought to. I'm an adult, after all, in charge of my feelings, and no one can really make me feel bad or annoyed or like I'm not doing the best I can unless I let them. 

That's gonna stop today.

Today is gorgeous, as close to real fall as we get here in South Florida. There are a few crunchy leaves, the air feels and smells like fall... I'll take it. These pictures were taken just a little while ago outside, so you can partake of the gorgeous weather that we are experiencing in this part of the country. 

Today I'm getting lots done, including posting to this blog that has also been victim to the down-bringers of life. I have a feeling that nothing I get done today will actually show all that much except to a few people. But *I* will know I got it done, and that's all that has to matter anymore.

I hope you also have a great, productive, enjoyable day today!

:)

Quick - Look There!

Quick - look at this picture! What do you see?

Haha - No, not Lily, though she is gorgeous, of course. No... look closer now...

Here's a better one in case you can't see...

Yes Ma'am! Or Sir! That, my friends, is an avocado lying on the ground under the tree. It was still *in* the tree yesterday, so it's as fresh as it's going to get, I reckon. 

The poor avocado tree gets flush with flowers in the spring (what passes for spring here, haha!) but this is the first year for *any* avocados. There were three. The first fell off when it was really small. The second one I pulled off (it was eye level). Well, I tugged and it came free, so I figured it was good to go. 

Then this last one hung there forever. And finally, here it is! Guacamole for dinner, I tell ya'! 

Yum!

:)

More 'Maters

Tomato update! There's good and there's bad, as always.

Bad - this one. It was an heirloom variety, and never seemed particularly inclined to live. I tried to give it tomato love and such anyway. But it didn't take long for it to get like this. 

Here are the other two. They are hybrids bred for heat and clearly it seems to be working. They are doing much better, and growing. Always a great thing!

I had a long conversation with my sister this past weekend, about the state of my garden. She made some awesome suggestions, pointed out what problems I could likely fix. Problem is, it would take more money and work than I might be willing to put in, lol. I don't know though, I'll give it all a thought.

In the meantime, mixed results so far for the rest of the garden overhaul. I'll work on updates as I go along. Wish me luck!

:)

Post Card Saturday/Sunday

Today is another installment of my own personal postcards! Nothing historical, but these are super cool anyway. I think so anyway, ha ha.

This is a closer look at the last batch from The Most Excellent Mail Carrier on the Planet. I posted when I got them, and now I've done a little more closer up. I am still humbled and excited that she took both the time and trouble to send these to me, knowing about my collection! Her vacation to Puerto Rico netted me this awesomeness.

There are seven of them, so it was hard to decide how to get them all here. As you see from above, I've combined them to make it easier to see. 

If you also notice, they are all numbered  :D  I think that's so awesome. So above you have Cards # 1-4. And here are the backs in relative position.If you look closely, you can see the numbers.

Here are the second set, numbers 5 and 6, and one with no number. I'm guessing that's the extra for the pot like when you cook, lol. 

And here are the backs.

How awesome is all that? Pretty dang amazing if you ask me. 

:)

Quickie Update!

Just a quick one tonight. I'll update about the garden in more depth over the weekend, but here's one for now.

Basil!

If you recall, I replanted some in pots. It's just growing like crazy and I have no idea what to do with it all. But here's the picture from last weekend.

And here it is now. Yep, it's growing nicely. There's another couple of pots out by the garden that are full of tiny little basil sprouts. What the heck am I going to do with it all?!

More this weekend!

:)

Pot Pie Part Duex

As promised, I will try to reproduce the recipe for the Chicken Pot Pie I made yesterday. No guarantees, but I'll do my best. Shakespeare might have said that the course of true love never did run smooth. Well, mostly neither does my cooking *sigh*. At least the end results are tasty, even if gotten there in a more roundabout manner. 

First off - the Crust.

Several months ago, I made these quiches that were really good. And I had found this amazing cheese crust for quiche recipe. (To see that recipe, go Here). I ended up with some extras, but liked it so much, I froze them. I decided to use those for the crust for this pot pie.

Problem was, the fridge might be too cold, because when I wanted the crusts (that had been in there a couple of days), they weren't thawed. Which meant I tossed them in the microwave, and it gave them a really funny texture. So I added some Bisquick, kneaded them some, and *then* rolled them out. You might want to just try a more conventional crust, lol..

So the gooey stuff...

This is the recipe I started with. Why yes, yes that is. Right out of the plain ol' Betty Crocker cookbook. I just didn't like any of the recipes I found online. I figured this would give me a place to start and I'd wing the rest. See for yourself how it turned out.

Yeah, this sort of grew by leaps and bounds. I misread the first ingredient, and for some reason was thinking of ten ounces *each* of peas and carrots. So I eyeballed that much. First mistake, but okay, not too bad. I used more butter than it calls for, because I knew I had more chicken broth, cream, and chicken. 

One whole stick was melted and a chopped half of a small onion sauteed in it for a few minutes. Then as the recipe calls for, I added the pepper, salt, flour, and let it get bubbly. I added cream (instead of milk) and chicken broth. Cream was closer to a cup, and the chicken broth about 2 cups. 

You see why this stuff outgrows the original when I cook... :D

Then add the chicken. Several months ago when I went on my crazed chicken cooking and broth rant, I ended up with several zippered bags full of chicken. This recipe calls for 2 1/2 to 3 cups, and I probably had 3 1/2. Not bad, given all the extra stuff I had already added... lol.

Put it all together, made my slits. Here it is before it goes in the oven.

For some reason, I also didn't read the temperature it was supposed to cook on. So the crust was getting really done and not the insides. I looked again, saw the discrepancy, and turned it up. (That's why the crust on top is so brown. But it was still really good!)

Here's the inside of it. You can sort of see it anyway. 

So anyway - for those few of you who actually read this *and* cook, I don't know if that was helpful or not, lol. But I promised it, and so here it is. Enjoy!

:)

Cooking Patience is a Virtue

This was dinner tonight! It's homemade chicken pot pie. It's late, and I'm a little sleepy tonight, so I'll go into the particulars and the "recipe" I followed tomorrow. Just wanted to give a quick word on something I realized tonight.

Impatience.

No, that's no surprise to anyone who knows me. I'm probably one of the most impatient people on the planet, lol. But I realized tonight as I was rushing to get this put together that - I didn't need to rush. What was the big hurry? I have no idea, but I've been noticing myself do that a lot lately. Or rather, that I've always done stuff like that.

I have a few theories on that, that I won't bore you with, lol. But my point is - I like cooking and creating, for example, so why am I always in a hurry to get it done? Unless there's a deadline I'm about to miss, and there are precious few of those I really have.

Patience. I need to get some, slow down and enjoy. Yeah, we'll see how that works, ha ha!

:)