Post Card Saturday!

Look! Post Card Saturday, and it's still Saturday! Woot!

This is probably one of the oldest in my collection. I haven't cataloged them all (should I do that, do you think?) but this is the oldest I remember seeing. Yep, look at that date - 1903! How's them apples for ya'? 

And you can see the message is on the front. But here's the full back first where it says that one side may be used for communication but in the British Isles only! How funny is that?! lol. 

Just the address across the whole thing. No zip code, but it does have a country this time, lol. And the post mark over the stamp says '03, so that's something. Man... even older than I am, ha!

The message, short and sweet.

Manchester - Eng.
Dec 2- 1903

Dear Mabel,
I am so cold this morning I cannot talk to you so I am writing a letter (as usual)
Love to all - L.

Since this was coming to the USA, clearly it's not the British Isles and the communication had to go on the front, hahahaha! I wonder if they would have held the card if she'd written on the back...

Hope you enjoyed!

:)

RIP Spock

Today is a sad day. An icon has passed from our world. I know Leonard Nimoy was not literally Spock, but it's hard not to associate him with his most iconic role.

Thoughts for his family, friends, and all his legions of fans who have lost a part of their lives.

:)

Quotable Thursday!

Thursday again, already. Time just flies, even when it's been... a week, lol. Or really, more like a month. I"ve had to do some things, make some choices, and while they were the right ones, did not mean that I liked them. Or even having to make them. 

But that's life, right? And apparently I have something that fits that in my Quote Book. Again, I know I should have something more pithy to say about the chosen quote for the week, especially in regards to what's up in my life. The quote, however, speaks for itself, I think. As do most of them, or else why would I choose them? ha!

So here we go. It's from a book... Well, one of the times I went to England, my friends were really into this TV show there, sort of like a mini-series as it was from a book of the same name. So I watched it, and liked it. And when I got home, I read the book. Still have that book, too. 

"There's no choice that doesn't mean a loss."

--Jeanette Winterson 

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit

Short and sweet and well, exactly to the point. I had to make some choices, and I've lost... a lot. I will handle it, of course. I'm an adult and in the big scheme of things, most would consider it all small potatoes. But a loss is... a loss. Just sayin'

:)

Another Experiment

I don't generally find the need to post things baked from boxes here. (And I don't bake a lot of stuff from boxes.) After all, most everyone can make stuff from a box, right? Lol. But these were interesting enough... As you see, for Christmas, I was gifted this lovely cupcake mix. For those of you who don't know, Reese's is about my favorite candy, ever. So this was pretty intriguing to say the least. That and my mom kept asking if I'd made them yet.

So last night I made dinner for company, and decided to try these out for dessert. They seemed pretty standard... here are the cupcakes right out of the oven.

Now - the filling proved to be a little more problematic. You're supposed to mix it up, they give you a little sleeve thing to fill the cupcakes with... It worked for the most part, but either I didn't get enough filling in the cupcakes themselves (very likely), or there's way too much there. It sure tasted good when I licked it off my hands, hehe. 

Topped off with some chocolate frosting (also store bought, I'm ashamed to admit), served with some vanilla ice cream, and there you have it! Dessert!

My rating here - pretty dang good. Other than the mess with the filling (which I feel was probably some failing on my part, lol), they baked up easy, and are pretty tasty. Now, nothing can beat homemade and we all know that. But for boxed stuff - yep, mighty good!

:)

So Far So Good...

Remember a week ago or so, I said I was pretty sure I had an honest-to-goodness eggplant growing? Well here it is! I was right - it's an eggplant, all right. Actually looks like one and everything. This is from the front of the tub, the only place I ever look because, well, that's where I saw all the flowers.

So imagine my surprise when I saw this bad boy! Heck yeah, it is - another one! This one was hanging down the back, and I totally missed it in the dark when I was looking before. And picking beans. It's even bigger than the other one, though it's hard to tell that from the picture. 

Still, I think they will both be ready close enough together to make something good. My thoughts are leaning toward eggplant parmesan. Now, I don't want to truly count my eggplant before they hatch, er... finish growing, but a girl can dream, can't she?

(And no, just like the squash, it's not my favorite thing in the world. But the taste is subtle, it soaks up flavor from what it's cooked with, it's good for you, and all that jazz. So yep - I'm going to load those babies down with cheese and stuff and bake 'em, Lol!)

There you have it - another update. More coming this week. Really. I mean it!

:)

Post Card Satu... Um,. Sund... er... Monday!

I know, I know, I've missed two in a row. That's why tonight there's a post card bonus! That's right - two post cards tonight, and from my own "personal" collection. 

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the gag postcard a friend sent me from Serbia. He also sent a "real" one, which is pretty dang cool all on its own. This is it, obviously, ha!

Here's the back, where you can see the odd non-stamp postage again, that all postal services seem to employ these days. Good thing I'm not a stamp collector, eh? Lol

And the message, of course. He said he mailed the gag postcard almost as soon as he got there, and this one the day before he left (nearly two weeks later). This one still got to me first, though almost two weeks after it was mailed. And the gag one came several more weeks after that. How funny!

Now Bonus Post Card - just got this one, and it's still in the fridge position. (I always keep my latest post card on the fridge, until I get another. Then the one on the fridge goes in the book.) This one is from Portugal, as the front so beautifully proclaims.

And this one is from Amazing Andy! Take a look at that. I didn't even know he was going until I saw pictures on Facebook, lol. Then I contacted him and here I have this awesome post card! On my fridge and everything.  :D

So hopefully this makes up a little for missing two Saturdays in a row. Shouldn't happen again. I certainly hope not! Also working on a cool garden thing to post tonight as well. 

Thanks! Hope your week is starting off well!

:)

Last One - I Promise

Last excuse post, at least for a while, hopefully, lol. It's been a long, odd, just... yeah, a weekend. It's not often I say that, either, because usually they are pretty dang good.

But tomorrow I'll make up for it! Pictures and post cards and updates, oh my!

Hope you all had a good one.

:)

Quotable Thursday!

Short and sweet tonight, because this quote pretty much sums it up for me. It's been another not-so-great day, another long one, and well, here we go, lol.

Life is one long process of getting tired.

Samuel Butler

Sums it all up pretty well, I think. Hopefully next week will get me some much needed rest, lol.

:)

Confirmation!

It's on the right this time,
so that make it different, right? :)

Unfortunately, not pictoral yet, lol. I am having to reuse this picture, because when I got home half an hour ago, it was way, way, after dark ,lol. And while that didn't keep me from looking with the flashlight on my phone, I didn't figure it would take a good picture. 

Anyway - point is - EGGPLANT!

It sure as heck is an eggplant!A little tiny eggplant, but one nonetheless. Another super long day tomorrow, and tomorrow is Quotable Thursday anyway. But Friday I hope to get a picture of it.

Though this leaves me with the same dilemma as the squash... what to do with it, lol.

:)

Late One

Bunny ears, for spring... Get it?

Another late night for me, but not too many more of them. And hey, the weather is good! All of you frozen people, come on down and I'll take you to the beach where we can wear flip flops. I miss seasons, but I'll take the no-ice-storms part of living here. 

Stay warm and safe! And if you're bored, let me know what you're doing to alleviate it. Because remember - spring is coming. Maybe? Hopefully? lol

:)

Better Late Yum Than Never

This is from a couple of weeks ago. A friend came over for lunch, though her request was all breakfast foods. Sure, I suppose it could be brunch, but it was later afternoon and I'd already had breakfast, lol.

The menu was short and sweet: pumpkin pancakes made in my awesome barnyard animal pan, maple sausage, and thick cut bacon. Yes, you read that right - sausage *and* bacon. And why not? We both love bacon and sausage! And pancakes, of course.

It was very yummy, by the way. Note the Valentine's tablecloth and glass. If you haven't heard by now - I decorate for pretty much everything, lol. 

Hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did - three day weekends are always awesome!

:)

UPDATE: Just realized I posted about this already. It still looks yummy though, right?  :D

What. A. Week.

So last week was tough. Like really, really tough, physically and emotionally. I know I missed Quotable Thursday and Post Card Saturday and most days last week. Things seem to finally be shaking out some. I won't say settled down, exactly, lol. But I'm ready to start this new week and get back to the fun stuff.

Meaning - I'm back at it this week! All the minute gardening and food details you could want, as well as the two Feature days. Keep your fingers crossed that nothing goes nuts this week, too, haha!

Thanks and Happy Late Valentine's Day!

:)

May Be Another One...

Take a look at this picture. Any guesses what it might be? If I tell you I took it today of my eggplant, er... plant, maybe you can guess! I mean, I've never seen an eggplant growing before, but it looks like a purple ball sticking out of one of the blossoms! So... I'm hoping it's an eggplant, lol. Keep your fingers crossed and I'll update as I can.

:)

Sorry For The Delay

Here's some Lily and Phil love in the meantime.

This week and next week are going to be kind of hairy. Something's come up work-wise which is going to make it difficult to post every night. I'll do the best I can, but no promises! In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great week. Take it easy if you can!

:)

It Was Good!

Here's another quickie for tonight. This is a picture of the squash from the garden all cooked up! Olive oil, onions, black pepper, and sauteing is all it was. Along with a pork chop, it was awesome! More on the other garden stuff later.

:)

Post Card Sunday

As yesterday's short but sweet post said, I was just a little under the weather yesterday. So tonight I'm making up for it! And first up - Post Card Saturday. Only on Sunday...

This is, obviously, one from my personal collection. As in, post cards that people actually send to me. I have loads of 'em, and that's kind of how this all started... But I digress, lol. Check out the Post Card page for links to all of that.

As you can see, this post card says Miami on it, in huge letters. Which of course, a locally sent post card is awesome, as well! Only... hehe, it's not.

Take a look at the back. Can you see it?

Here's the postmark... Got it yet?

A friend of mine at work is originally from Serbia. He went to visit his parents there over Christmas, and naturally, I asked him to send me a post card from Serbia. How cool would that be, right? I didn't have one. 

Now I have two! He sent a "real" one, that I will show next Saturday. But this was clearly meant to be a joke, and it's a fabulous one, don't you think? He actually carted a post card from Miami and mailed it from Serbia, LOL!

The ironic thing in all of this is that I got the non-gag one first. I was super pleased with it, until we got back to class and he asked about the joke one. And I really just got the funny one last week. So here it is!

Enjoy!

:)

Saturday...

Yeah, not feeling quite up to snuff tonight. Apologies, but Post Card Saturday is going to be Post Card Sunday this week. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

:)

Friday! Woot!

Heck yeah - Fantastic Friday once again! Hope you had a great week, and are looking forward to an amazing weekend.

:)

Quotable Thursday

Short and sweet tonight, and even early. There's a story why, of course, but does it matter? Lol. The important thing is that it's Quotable Thursday and I have a great one!

And I've also done a quick Google search, giving me conflicting reports as to who actually said it. So I will give you the quote, the two possible authors, and let the words speak for themselves.

"Nothing is easy to the unwilling".

Now, when I first saw this, it was attributed to Nikki Giovanni. Looking now, I see it is also attributed to Thomas Fuller, who lived long before she did. It wouldn't be the first time someone quoted something and then got the reputation of being the originator. I can't find any history on that, but maybe some time when I have more time.

For now - I think we can all understand the sentiment. You can't do it if you don't try. Something I need to remind myself of often... Lol. And how many people do we all know who prefer to sit and whine rather than get up and keep trying? Yeah, I thought so... We can all use the reminder.

Hope it helped, or that you at least enjoyed. Another next week!

:)

Sort of Recipe...

On Monday, I took huge pans of chicken and dumplings to work because I got a baby in the Rosca de Reyes... Yeah, go look at Monday's blog for that story, lol.

Anyway, I promised a recipe of sorts, so here's what I did. 

As usual, I started off looking at recipes online. Then... I made it. haha!

I started with sauteing some onion in a little olive oil. Then I added chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, cream of onion soup, and a bay leaf. Also some freshly ground black pepper. I cooked all that a while, then added the shredded chicken and turkey (it's what I had, and I needed volume, you know? lol). Then added some frozen peas and frozen carrots, and let it cook.

Now, with such big pans, I let it cook in the oven. People generally make this in a Dutch oven or some such on the stove. But I let it cook awhile, until it seemed it was time for the dumplings.Oh, and it seemed really soupy so I added a little flour and milk mixture to thicken it up.

Oh yeah, I also couldn't believe there were Americans there who didn't know what dumplings were... But I digress, lol.

Made dumplings from the recipe on the Bisquick box. A lot of 'em, of course, lol.

So these are my estimations to make one "regular" batch for one meal.

1/2 chopped onion
olive oil to cover the bottom of the pot
2-3 cups of chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of onion soup
1 bay leaf
pepper (and salt?) to taste
1/3 cup each frozen peas and carrots 
2 cups or so of shredded cooked chicken (or however you might make an equivalent if you don't have any pre-cooked). 

Dumplings - one recipe's worth from the Bisquick box

And well, cook it all until it's done, lol. I don't know if this was helpful at all, but there it is, as promised.

:)

Another Comfort Food Yum

I have to say I was amazed and astonished today. Like... really. But I'll get to that, lol. For now, for those of you who remember... I found a baby in the Rosca de Reyes on 3 Kings Day. You can click Here to read about it, if you like. 

But what this meant was that I had to bring food to work today. I decided on something nice and traditional, comfort food and all that. You know, share American culture. So I made Chicken and Dumplings. That's a picture at the top, of the finished product. Here's one of just adding the dumplings before cooking it more.

Yes, usually this is made on the stove in a Dutch oven or something. But since I had to feed a bunch of people, I got these aluminum pans and did it in the oven. Don't ask for the recipe because I only have a vague notion of what I did, lol. Maybe tomorrow I'll give it a stab though, if anyone really wants to know. Most people probably have their own recipe as it is.

But here's the shocking thing. Like, I thought at first they were joking. But two American teachers had no idea what dumplings were. Well, one of them kept referring to the ones at Chinese restaurants and Korean food. The other - nothing. I kept saying "chicken and dumplings" and they had no clue. How is that possible? This is pretty classic American comfort food. I just... yeah.

Anyway, the stuff was a hit, thank goodness, since I'd never really made it before, lol. There's some left over (I made two huge pans of it), so I guess I'm also going to find out how it freezes...

So yeah, tomorrow I'll do what I can by way of a recipe. Any other comfort food lovers out there?

:)

Down and Dirty

Or... not, lol. Just a quick note for tonight. Did you realize that if you go to Wal-Mart during the Super Bowl, almost no one is there?!  :D

On that note, I'm off. More tomorrow when I have something cool to show - I hope, ha!

:)