Time for Food

This is the time of year when everyone starts talking about food. Gaby and Dina have been asking about our traditional Thanksgiving dishes and are going to share the Guatemalan holiday favorites. I'm already a big fan of their punch and am looking forward to making it again soon - maybe this week.

We're passing along recipes from Alabama to Texas to Washington to Guatemala for dressing and sweet potato casserole. Everyone makes their dressing differently, and it's hard to tell someone what YOUR recipe is. Once the cornbread is made, then you just start adding the chicken broth and veggies and herbs until it's like you want it. I'm sure I'll make it with a daughter this year, so we'll write down exactly what we do - this time.

Mike and I christened our new mixer last month with a delicious recipe - Pecan Cheesecake Bars - and since a few people have asked for it, I thought I would post it here. I even took pictures for the momentous occasion of my actually cooking something.

The recipe is from this cookbook.



Makes me want to go back to the Red Rooster and sew and eat and laugh and eat some more. On well....

Here is the unveiling of the mixer.



We kind of shared duties, but he got the fun part of putting things in the mixer while I was stuck chopping pecans.

The flour, brown sugar and butter are mixed with a pastry blender along with the pecans and patted into a pan for the bottom layer.


The cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and milk are mixed to make the center filling.






After this has baked and cooled, the topping of brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and eggs along with more pecans is added.

After another baking, this is what it looks like.

Yummy with a glass of milk.




PECAN CHEESECAKE BARS

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar, divided
1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups finely chopped pecans, divided
2 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup butter
3 large eggs, lightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Press mixture evenly in bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking pan; bake for 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add milk and vanilla, beating until well combined; pour over cooled crust. Bake for 15 minutes; remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter and eggs. Stir in 1-1/2 cups pecans. Pour brown sugar mixture over cream cheese mixture. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until center is set. Makes 2 dozen.

I'm going to go wait for the thunderstorms I was promised by the Weather Channel.

Just to Keep Life Interesting

I'm a bad blogger. I do remember to take some pictures, and I do have things I want to remember, but I just forget to sit down and record them. So this morning since I woke up first and had some extra time, I thought I would cause a little havoc.

I was packing the children's Christmas boxes for our church and just couldn't resist. When Mike wakes up, he pretty much stumbles to the coffee area, and it will be interesting to see his reaction. It's bound to help get rid of a little grumpiness.


Boxes packed and ready to go.



I have a lot of pictures that I downloaded this morning, so this will be random.


We have a long way to go on getting the house the way we want it, but Mike has attacked the yard, and it's coming along. I took this picture of my pitiful side door plants at the end of a summer of neglect.


With just a little work, we've improved that area. The "bricks" are neat plastic/rubber-type rectangles from Home Depot that are light and easy to work with. We'll probably use them again somewhere in the back yard.











Just no time. I'll do more tomorrow.

Daughters and their cats

A message earlier from Elise: Mountain lion makes his way across several counties near & around Lubbock within the last several days. More news at 10 on Channel KCBD. The kitty crew will not venture out this evening due to sheer terror experienced by their mother on hearing the news.

Later we heard the critter had been spotted near Shallow Water, TX, which is a safe enough distance from the kitties.

And a picture on my phone from Emily earlier today asked, "What doesn't belong in this picture."
It was too small to figure out on the phone, but she sent an email just now, and it was easy to see Jack practicing his Halloween stare.

These two items arrived the same day. My Medicare card and my Smart Phone. I guess that says something, but I'm not quite sure what. I guess I'm kind of proud of being a senior citizen and still being able to maneuver my way around this phone.

At first, I refused to change phones, just wanting to settle for my old flip phone but one with a back this time. I've been carrying around a backless phone for months now, but it worked fine and dialed the correct numbers and rang decisively, so what more could I have expected.

I just didn't know.

Until my Evo came. I probably know about 1/100 of what you can do with one, but it has been fascinating. I'd still prefer to read and write email and do internet things on my big computer, but when I'm on a trip or just curled up on the couch and don't want to leave the room, I just get out my cute little phone and explore.

There are many things that I don't know what to do with and never will, but so far it's been a world of fun. It's now possible for me to download books from the library onto my Kindle - which is on my phone also now - without even leaving the house. I can also download audio books from the library. There are things I can do with coupons and grocery shopping, but that's all confusing right now. Mike has a matching one, and he's passed me in knowing what he's doing, but he's had a Blackberry for years and knows his way around a little bit.

Another good thing is that I've caused our children endless amusement with my learning process.

Elise: "Mom, you texted me this cryptic message just now. It must have been meant for someone else." I've now found the punctuation marks, so they should all be thrilled with my texting now.

Emily: "No, Mom, it's not a Droid. It's an Android. No, not an I-phone. An Evo." "Ryan's shaking his head." Hey, no mother-in-law jokes. I could be asking how to use a DVD player. Wait. That's over? I guess I missed that. I went from VCR tapes to whatever it is that's going on now with TVs.

Speaking of TVs and couches, when I moved here, I arranged my having-seen-better-days furniture around a rug in front of the fireplace. Cozy. And where is the TV in this picture?




Behind those doors. Behind the couch. For a person to watch TV, they would have to either lie on the couch or sit in the chair and try to see over the couch. So I just didn't watch TV for 5 years unless someone came and helped me rearrange the furniture temporarily for a football game or something.

But now that Mike is here, we thought we might find the TV and turn it on - with pretty dismal results. I saw a room redo in Southern Living yesterday, laid the magazine down, and proceeded to move all my furniture around.

Excuse the props of ladders and vacuum cleaners, but I do think this is more practical. Not so cozy - kind of disjointed - needs a big coffee table - but maybe it'll work. This is just the rough stages. The TV is now accessible right across from the couch and main chair.


I'm open for suggestions and decorating ideas. And some shows on TV worth watching.

I've just come in from the 2nd pruning expedition.
We worked nicely for about 30 minutes, and then the differing of opinion started. We were flagging down passersby asking for names of marriage counselors. I gave permission for the 20-foot "shrub" to be chopped down at the ground. Easier than arguing.

Live Goes On - and Very Nicely

For months, I never wrote anything because the same thing happened this year that happened last year - spring came, things bloomed, I complained about the heat and lack of rain during the summer, fall made me happy, and then I complained about the cold weather when winter came. The dog got out/learned a new trick/did some cute things. The cats were cats. I worked and went to the grocery store and post office and sometimes the fabric shop. I regretted so little time or inclination to sew. A few times a year, I would go someplace or eat lunch with a friend. I talked with my family and visited them sometimes. Took Mama to the beauty shop and Wal-Mart every Friday and to church on Sunday. Worked, it seems, all the time.

But times have changed, and life is fun again - or most days anyway - since Mike's moved back. He didn't take well to retirement the first month, but just yesterday he realized how much fun it was to work at your leisure in the yard with no deadlines to be back at work on Monday morning, to take a walk in the middle of the day, to sit on the front porch with a cup of coffee. We're working hard, doing some cooking, lots of laughing, a few meltdowns on both sides, playing with our new phones and his new computer. And most of all enjoying the nice weather.

I don't have time to do pictures today, but I have a few and will be back more often hopefully. The trouble with doing a lot is not having time to sit down and post journal entries and download pictures. We (mainly Mike) have spent the week on cutting back and cleaning up our front and side yards. I don't have any before pictures, but maybe I can do some after ones. We went to my godson's beautiful wedding in Jacksonville Beach and have pictures from there. I'm going to add this blog entry of Sherry's, the mother of the groom. She has some sweet pictures of the wedding plus some quilts. I'll add some more later.

My mind is so full of things I don't want to forget.

Just a few hurried pictures taken when I was trying to cheer up the inside of the house a little bit.

The napkins need washing, so I don't have the napkin rings on yet, and one placemat is upside down, but it makes me happy, especially with pumpkin spice candles and cinnamon roll coffee to lift your spirits.

So life is good for the most part. My father-in-law is still feeling bad and needs prayers, so please remember him, that he will be feeling stronger and able to enjoy life a little more. Also prayers for our friends in Guatemala who are battling devastation from flooding. E-mail from Gaby: "The rain started a week ago and we haven´t seen the sun again. Please pray for us, pray to stop the rain."

Rainy Night

Nice rain tonight. Good soaking rain that's way overdue.

The thunder scared Darby so we let her come in, and she enjoyed cleaning out the cat bowls in the kitchen and then relaxing with an after-dinner chew stick.

We're cleaning out cabinets and drawers and the garage and just about everything for a possible yard sale next weekend. The pet cabinet yielded a few interesting things: A dog Halloween costume and a few cat hats that Elise talked me into - which never stayed on a cat head for more than 3 seconds.

Good dog. Patient and long-suffering dog.




This is Darby maybe 6 years ago when she was too young to protest. They'll go into the yard sale along with various other things that haven't been used in that long.

The cat toy box was full of odds and ends of amusements, but Stella was not impressed by any of them. She stared at the mice and even tolerated one on her head but would only give them a bored look before she fell asleep under their gaze.






I took a lot of pictures when we went to South Carolina last week, but I'm too tired to sort them tonight. I'm ready to hear more rain.

Settling In - Sort of

Thanks to everyone for the comments. There is still some glitch that won't allow me to respond to them, but I do appreciate them.

The final resting place - I hope - for the calendar. It looks much better here, I think.

This was another area to be dealt with - and was. The cutest little computer came in that box. Mike's not sure the screen is large enough for viewing his massive amounts of correspondence, so he may not keep it. I'm kind of hoping it comes my way. I sure don't mind hand-me-downs.


New kid on the block. The $4 Wal-Mart mixer I bought last Christmas after burning my other one out on cookie dough has competition.


Although the little one didn't do such a bad job on mashed potatoes yesterday.


This was a gift from our children and has been sitting on the floor of Mike's closet for weeks. I was not allowed to open it for the reason mentioned above. We may have to savor it in the box another day or so before we can enjoy it.

Before-and-after time. Just to prove that retirement is working.

We both worked this morning on the pyracantha. This is how it looked last week.


I mainly pushed the wheelbarrow to the street, clipped the lower branches, and hyperventilated when the loppers tried to get too close to the fence. If the main gardener had had his way, there would be a small stump there now and no berries.

Much better.

The heat was pretty fierce, and I didn't get to enjoy the other improvements, so I concentrated on another inside job.

This is a nice little pantry that was just a catchall and a place for Mama to keep all her things.




I spent a little time on it, and it looks better. At least now I know where some things are.


Before the floor got swept.

That will probably be all that gets accomplished this week, but I'm happy with it. Can't work all the time. We're going to S. Carolina on a "business trip" this week, so I should get some knitting and embroidery done. Then Sunday, I'm going to meet Barbara at the quilt shop to see what's new at Kudzu Blossom. Just looking.

I wonder if there are any quilt shops on the way to Greenwood.

Marking Our Territories

Well, now that we're a household of 3, it's going to be interesting to see what kind of adjustments we make. Right now we're circling each other, testing the waters, seeing what's going to be tolerated, and where we're all comfortable.

Mike wasn't home 3 hours before I found this.


My first thought was No WAY that's going to hang on my cabinet. Why do we need a calendar anyway? And then I noticed the retirement article. I think he's had it on his bulletin board in TX for years, but now there's no "thinking again." It's still there, but I'm looking for another home for it.

I'm finding things taped in unlikely places, things on the floor at the back door, rubber-banded stacks of "stuff" everywhere.

It's kind of overwhelming. When Mama moved in with me 5 years ago, we kind of combined things and weeded them out gradually, but we still have more than we need. And now there's going to be a 3rd set of "things" to sort through and integrate.

I decided to start on the coffee area this morning since we all drink coffee and have 3 distinct areas for making it. It was just me in the kitchen, so I took the liberty of cleaning out the cabinet and leaving only the cups/mugs we use plus a few sentimental ones on the top shelf. Mike's out of town today, but I'm sure that's going to be met with, "WHAT? You got rid of that?" "Where's my _____?" And the Splenda packets that are now nicely in a plastic container will be inspected, probably counted, to make sure I didn't throw any away. In fact, he's probably reading this on his Blackberry and doing a U-turn to come back and rescue his things.

Hoarder meets minimalist. It's not going to be pretty.

These are most the mugs Mama brought with her, plus some of Mike's. She takes a few down at Christmas to use every year, but other than that she uses only 2 or 3 for her tea and coffee. I've left them down for sorting and will be keeping my fingers crossed I don't have to put them all back up.

So much better. If only it would be that way tomorrow.



The takeaway spot on the floor by the back door just will not work. It might have worked living alone in an apartment without a dog, but last night I noticed Darby tip-toeing, as only a dog can do, with something in her mouth. After running after her and checking, I saw that she was gently carrying a shrink-wrapped container of jerky (meant for a gift) to her area to check out alone.

I'm on my way to start on the glasses next and then maybe the small pantry.

Your Paper is in the Microwave

The rains from Hurricane Lee finally reached us during the night. I woke up to a nice pounding rain and just smiled at the thought of all that nice soaking we were getting.

As I picked up the newspaper in the driveway, it was pretty heavy. I was laughing about with the nice couple who walk the 2 yellow labs by here, and she said, "Put it in the microwave." I was thinking hairdryer, but that sounded like a good idea. It worked fine.

Only slightly curly.


My recipe: Cook for 1-minute on each section. Repeat 3 times or until done.

The bonus was that I saw a column by one of my favorite writers, Rheta Grimsley Johnson and read it while I waited.

Mike is crossing the Mississippi this morning with no rain yet. He left Lubbock yesterday at 5:30 a.m. just ahead of a little rain there and drove all day until he ran into I-20 slowdowns because of a wildfire in Kilgore, TX, and/or LSU football traffic. He only made it as far as Ruston, LA, and spent the night. Unfortunately will probably become a Storm Rider as he crossess Mississippi and Alabama. His whole route has tornado warnings until early evening.