iPhone Blessings

Here I am at the grocery store, picking up a few things, when it occurred to me that it was going to be freezing cold and rainy on Monday. And after a full day of work, I'm going to want dinner to be quick and warm and delicious. Tortellini Zuppa! Perfect. I've made it many times but couldn't remember all the ingredients and I certainly wasn't going to want to go to the grocery store on Monday, late and tired, in the rain to pick up that one forgotten item.

So, I got on my iPhone (love my iPhone!!) and went on line to my daughter's "food blog," Busy Mom's Culinary Club. I clicked on "soup" under Categories and found the recipe instantly. Knew what I had at home and picked up the rest. Monday is soup night with enough left over for a couple of lunches. I have bread and cheese and some ice cream for dessert. Mmmmmmm.

Thanks, (T) !! Love your blog.

Beer Bread anyone?

Delicious. Easy. Fast.

You can mix this in 2 minutes and then put it in the oven to bake while you prepare the rest of your meal. Warm bread with dinner tonight? What a treat!

3 1/2 cups self rising flour

1/3 cup sugar (I find Baker's Sugar works best, but regular granulated is good too.)

1 egg

12 ounces beer (Use regular beer. The cheap stuff you don't like to drink.)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

Bake in a greased and floured loaf pan at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until the bread is golden brown or until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.

Cool slightly and remove from pan. It slices easily with a bread knife even when warm, so go ahead and get yourself a nice warm piece and spread it with some butter! Enjoy...

Pumpkin Dump Cake

From my Facebook Friend, Noëlle Rábago Boesenberg.

I made it to bring to Sacramento on Halloween for moving day. Very easy. Smells wonderful! Delicious...

1 (29 oz.) large can pumpkin

1 (13 oz.) can evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 cup sugar (ok to use less if you want)

1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice

1 box yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans

1 ½ sticks butter (melted)

Mix together pumpkin, milk, eggs, sugar, spices. Beat well. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 inch glass pan.

Sprinkle cake mix over pumpkin mixture, then sprinkle on the pecans.

Pour melted butter over the whole thing.

Bake 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Watch closely at end. It burns easily.

Serves 12-15.

Scarf for Clifford, the big red dog.

I was visiting in Sacramento.

little 6 year old granddaughter wanted a scarf for red stuffed Clifford. I told her I had yarn but no knitting needles. Very sad Nonna. Very sad little girl. Can't disappoint my little girl! :-(

Now what?

Son-in-law (daddy) overheard and asked what knitting needles look like?

"Sticks with points on the ends," I told him.

"Hmmm," he said. And went to the kitchen. He returned seconds later with a set of chopsticks.
Clifford is getting a scarf. :-)
happy little girl.
ingenious son-in-law

Now she wants me to make him a shirt! That's going to be another story...
The end.

The Best Birthday Gift

She doesn't usually know who I am anymore. Or, at least, she doesn't appear to know me. She doesn't even recognize her own home and often wants to leave so she can "go home" when she's tired and wants to go to bed. She even walked out of her house, down the street and around the corner, with the TV remote in her hand, escaping from her very frightened caretaker, only to be found a few minutes later by some very kind neighbors and my sister...

But she's always happy anyway and loves visitors. So I went to see her on my birthday last month. We sat on the love seat in her living room and she was just looking at me with a kind of blank look in her eye. Staring.

Then, suddenly, an awareness came across her face. She looked at me as if she hadn't seen me in a very long time. "You're my daughter!!" she said. "You're my daughter!!" over and over and over. So excited her hands were shaking! "Yes, I am." was all I could say. She hugged me, telling me that I was her daughter. So happy to see me. It was my birthday and my mother knew who I was!

The best birthday gift ever...

Spa Day?

It all started because I needed a routine colonoscopy. Now this isn't something that I look forward to, but necessary to be done every 5 years if I want to remain healthy. I've already had an experience with cancer and will do whatever I need to prevent it from occurring somewhere else, thank you!

I purchased my nice box of medicine to start the cleansing process. 2 mild laxative pills and a 2 liter container with powder to mix with water and flavoring. I was a little nervous to be going to school/teach that day, but I was told I could continue with my regular routine and that I wouldn't be interrupted with any sort of emergency situation. Only clear liquids from the time I wake up and no solid foods or dairy products or red colored liquids. I had gone shopping for chicken broth, yellow gatorade, and apple juice. I'm ready to go...

I took the 2 pills at noon, drank my 16 ounces of chicken broth, and continued on. Drank tons of water and sipped on my gatorade all day. No problem. Went to my voice lesson after school. No problem. I thought, "this is easy." Then about 10 minutes into my lesson, I looked at my teacher (a woman, thank goodness!) and made a mad dash to the bathroom. Whew! made it! 

Ok. Let's try this lesson again. Singing, singing..... Mad dash to the bathroom! Whew!!!! made it! Sang for 5 more minutes because I needed to go through a couple of pieces with her, ended lesson and went home. 

The evening sessions, drinking my 2 liters and spending lots of time in my pretty blue and white bathroom, was interesting. When I told my daughter about it earlier in the day, she had said I should turn it into a "spa weekend." So my bathroom had the candles lit and a pretty vase of baby pink roses on the shelf. I also added a nice basket filled with interesting reading materials, pencil and paper, things that could occupy my time. It helped. It also helped to be able to go out into my hot tub when it was all over at 11 p.m. and soak in the 103 degree bubbling water out in the beautiful cool evening. I went to bed and slept peacefully.

The procedure went smoothly and my gentle husband held me close as he walked me, wobbly from the medication, out to the car. I walked up the walkway to our house and he commented about me looking "like I had been drinking." Wobbly from the meds, hungry from not eating since 2 days ago, happy to be home.

Well, I continued with the spa feeling and made myself the most delicious, healthy drink:

unsweetened almond milk, one whole banana, frozen blueberries, and a splash of 100% cranberry juice. Put all in the blender and blend till nice and smooth. Pour into a large, pretty glass. It's the most beautiful blue color and tastes delicious.

Then I sat in the "dapply shade" on my back porch with my basket of reading and my computer. Lovely. Suddenly getting hungry and with my husband gone to work, I prepared my lunch:

I put 2 large tablespoons fresh tomato salsa on my plate

(mine was mild, but you can spice it up if you like)

Then I put 2 eggs, fried in olive oil, on top of the salsa

(it warms it up a little. nice.)

and made a slice of french bread toast with butter.

My dessert was a cup of sugarless apple sauce and a hand full of nuts.

Water, water, water all day, of course.

Feeling wonderful. Spa weekend? You bet!