Birthday This and That

I am a whole year older now, Whoopee!  It was a very nice weekend and birthday all in all.  Except we decided to stay in town the past weekend because I had a meeting on Saturday.  Well, the meeting was pushed to the next weekend because the dear lady, Dian, who's house it was to be was in the ER.  Dian is a gem of a sweet person, in her early 80's, even though you would never know it.  Found out yesterday that her spleen had RUPTURED!  OMG, how does that happen unless you are in a car accident or fall.  Poor thing.  Sure hope she recovers.  Scary.

Birthday weekend started with a drive to south Tulsa to see an old cabinite friend.  I had not seen Peggy's new house that she and Tom had moved too.  She was having some lighting issues and of course Robert was on call to help.  Peggy lost her hubby, Tom, our friend a few months ago to cancer and we told her we were there for her if needed.  True to his word we went to help.  Turns out it was a switch she didn't know about...LOL! Happens.  It was a wonderful visit (love her house and little pool!)  Then, since we had nothing else to do he took me for a cheeseburger (my fav).  We also went to dinner for sushi, another fav, all for my birthday.  Saturday I hung at home and painted some watercolor and Sunday too.  Later in the evening girl two brought her family over for some grandkiddo kisses.  

Happy Birthday to me.

Next week this little guy is to have a heart cath to determine his lung function, open the aortic arch...the lung function hopefully shows he is ready for surgery #2 (if not then he will be put on a heart transplant list.)

Last night I went to my "birthday club" .  The birthday club is four friends (includes me).  We have known each other for over 35 years and gotten together for our respective birthdays and more for those 35 years.  They are my closet friends and we are dear friends who are all of the same mindset.  That is so refreshing.  We first met at church so long ago, they still go, I do not.  I love them dearly and they mean the world to me.  It's not about the birthday or gifts, it's about the thoughtfulness of their love as a friend, their compassion, their caring, our caring for each other.  They are my true best friends.  I have surrounded myself with true friends and distanced myself from those who do not feed my soul.  I am rich with friends.  

One more thing, I did cook my own birthday dinner and I'm so okay with that since we had gone out on Friday evening and lunch that day.  Even had a friend text me that they were going to make my meal!  

Chicken thighs

new potatoes

marinated olives (Whole Foods olive bar)

Olive oil

Lemon juice and slices

Rosemary ( from my garden)

Salt & Pepper

Toss all on the olive oil and bake about 350-400 degrees for 45-60 minutes till chicken is done.

Man, it was so yummy. Had roasted asparagus too. Almost forgot the drumsticks for dessert.

Nothing But Food/Cooking

No one’s perfect...Tuesday's dinner was a bit of a fail on my part because of seasoning, undercooked noodles and (blaming) frozen green peas that were harvested late in the season and tough as a boot. I saw somewhere a recipe for hamburger gravy and this was my attempt.

1 lb. lean hamburger meat

1-2 tsp olive oil salt/pepper

1-2 tsp thyme (or fav seasonings)

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

Garlic

1-3 Tbls. flour (more or less)

1 cup (more or less) milk (it’s for like a gravy so depends on how much to get right thickness)

Mushrooms (I had a small can)

1 Tbls. tomato paste

1 Tbls Worcestershire sauce

Milk (amounts vary depending on thickness wanted)

Brown hamburger. When almost brown add onion and peppers and cook till tender. Add tomato paste in a little cleaned out space in the skillet and let it kind of cook to get rawness out. Add flour and cook on medium heat till the raw flour taste is gone. Add milk and thicken to your liking. Some of the recipes called for cream, I didn’t have any. You could also use beef broth or stock. Cook a few minutes then I added the peas and small can of drained mushrooms. While simmering I cooked the noodles (obviously not long enough!)

UPDATE: Okay, the hamburger gravy on Thursday turned into hamburger soup. All I did was add a can of petite diced tomatoes and lots more salt and let it cook for about an hour and it turned out delicious. I also added in about 1/2 cup of leftover pesto potatoes (see below) leftovers and I think that added bit of pesto made the soup even better.

SUCCESS-Squash Soup:

Tuesday's lunch I made squash soup. Every Tuesday Af & Nick have a baby doctor appointment and I get to fetch Minerva to hang with me a bit. I wanted to feed them when they came to pick up Min as they usually are famished when they come in the door, so I fed them, it’s what I love to do.

In my fridge and pantry I had:

vegetable stock

1/2 onion

2 cups cubed butternut squash

a can of pumpkin purée (NOT pumpkin pie filling)

ginger

fresh sage from my garden

salt/pepper

red pepper flakes

real maple syrup

I sautéed the chopped onion in olive oil and vegan butter. When translucent I added the cubed squash , salt and pepper and a splash of the syrup. Stirred it around for about 5 minutes then added the can of pumpkin purée and entire box of vegetable stock (I think 2-3 cups.) I covered an simmered for about 20 minutes till the cubed squash was tender. Then I added three fresh leaves of sage, red pepper flakes and about 2 tsp of ground ginger. Again let simmer about 20 minutes to release the flavors. When done I took out the sage leaves and used my immersion blender to smooth the soup. OMG, there was a smidge of heat from the red pepper and ginger and it is YUMMY! So satisfying and great for lunch the next day.

Thursday's dinner was nothing exceptional, EXCEPT for these potatoes!!!!

Pesto Potatoes

I was reading on the back patio Thursday afternoon and of course I think many things at once including cooking, as I’m digesting a good book. We were going to have tilapia and I needed to make it interesting, via the sides. I had a new container of pesto, a couple potatoes and a lemon. I searched pesto and potatoes to find I could put the two together, and use the pesto on the fish too. I sliced the potatoes thinly and tossed in some of the pesto, a splash of olive oil, squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper. Roasted on cookie sheet in 350 oven till tender, about 20-30 minutes. I cranked the oven up to 400 stirring the potatoes around and cooked for about 10 minutes to crisp a bit. Then I made a space for the seasoned fish, another splash of oil, lemon squeeze and cooked 6-10 minutes till fish done. YUM YUM YUM! Those crispy potatoes with a bite of fish were devine.  These potatoes were the ones I added to the remake of the soup above.  I cut them up a bit too before adding to the soup.

Painting, Prayers and Play

The past week was kind of a blow. Seems the OKC doctors and Tulsa doctors are on a different page concerning baby Max. It is going to be a weekly thing now as we get closer and closer to his due date (Jan 7.) We are now in the phase of really stepping up to watch little Min while they go to the plethora of doctor/specialist appointments. Lots of prayers please that the doctors are all wrong, that the tumor shrinks and goes away and he is just perfect, honestly he is perfect. Pray, pray, pray.

We had a nice weekend away to the cabin. It was even cool enough to have a fire in our outdoor fireplace. Can't have a pit fire because of the burn ban but our fireplace is perfect! Had a group again at the wigwam for a painting session. I brought pumpkins and mini corn to paint. Really enjoyed it.

Also captured a few snaps for future paintings. I've got a commission I need to get to this week, a horse named Big Red for a high school classmate that I haven't talked to in nearly 50 years. She found me and we've been emailing like crazy.

This weeks fun dinner was a play on a cross between lasagna and chicken tetrazzini. It came to me in a dream, yes I dream cooking. In my pantry I had a half a box of lasagna noodles, a ja of Alfredo sauce, 4 chicken thighs in the freezer, 1/2 white onion, lemon, 2 stalks celery, garlic cloves, salt, pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning, cottage cheese, egg, frozen broccoli, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese and 1/2 box of chicken broth.

First I poached the chicken thighs in the chicken broth, water, onion, celery, lemon, garlic and seasonings. When it was done I took the thighs out then strained it and was left with some broth I froze for later use. I shredded the chicken and added the jar of Alfredo sauce. The cottage cheese (didn’t have ricotta, CC is good replacement) was mixed with the beaten egg and a bit of Parmesan cheese.

Now it was time to layer:

A bit of sauce in casserole dish. Then lasagna noodles, chicken mixture, cottage cheese mixture, mozzarella, broccoli, repeat with last layer of noodle and top with mozzarella. Kind of use your imagination. Cover with foil and bake in preheated 350 degree oven for about an hour till hot and bubbly. Take foil off and top with Parmesan and return back to oven about 10-15 minutes. Let stand for about 10 minutes to set.

It was yummy and would have been nice to serve with small salad if I had the fixings for it. He thought it was great.

Negative vs Positive

Good Monday Morning.  Am I really doing this again on a Monday morning, well, yes I am.  It has been a quiet weekend around here.  The plan on Friday was to have Snicklefritz all weekend with us as Af was having her girls weekend at the cabin.  Snicklefritz came and we had a nice Friday evening watching television and just hanging out.  Saturday morning I was up at 5 am, as is usual and I went outside to enjoy the early morning somewhat cooler temperatures.  It was honestly very pleasant even though we don't have a "screened" porch like the cabin.  I fight the mosquitos the minute I walk out the door but I have a thing called a Thermocell I light up and it certainly helps.  I told The Hubby this spring that if he wasn't willing to put in a swimming pool I would like to at least have one of those mosquito systems.  Do I have one yet, NO!  Back to what was about to happen.  As the sun rose I heard The Hubby awake inside getting his coffee and breakfast and he popped out to ask me to wake Snicklefritz so they could go to the flea market.  I got her up, fed her breakfast and dressed then I was back outside to read and journal.  She joined me waiting for him all ready to go.  All of a sudden he popped his head out the sliding door with a mask on and said, "I'm positive."  Well, just SHIT!  I immediately texted Snicklefritz's momma and said come get her.  I then went in to test myself.  Hmmm, I tested negative.  As the day ran on I stayed outside and finished my book and just enjoyed the patio while he sat inside on his laptop and watched television.  I wore my mask inside as did he and we avoided each other.  

Later in the evening I wanted to fix something different, something I've never done before.  I fixed beef short ribs.  I of course did my research on how to cook them and found you cook much like a pot roast.  OMG, so yummy!  I served them over a plate of buttered noodles and he loved it.  When done I filled his plate and he took it in the front dining room and ate and I ate in the kitchen.  He also slept in the front guest bedroom.  

Beef Short Ribs

Yesterday I again got up early and went outside to wake up with the sun.  Nothing much changed but I did fix him breakfast and I told him to just sit at the table.  We went through the day much like before.  I forgot that Saturday he did go into the office to work on invoicing because it is the end of the month and we need to get that out.  I will go in sometime this week and type, Friday is payroll.  He texted our employees and told them he would be in the office masked, but if they needed to come in to mask and just step in the door.  If they really needed him to call his cell.  As yesterday dragged on I began to feel not great.  My head was like full and felt like a head cold but I not to drippy, almost allergy feeling and I could explain that away because I've been spending so much time outside.  Yesterday afternoon I tested again and again it is negative.  This morning, I feel worse, in my head worse only.  I'm going to test again with another brand and we will see but I can almost bet it will be positive.  We'll see.

Lemons, Limes and Everything Wicked Weather

The weekend started for me on Thursday.  I had to work in the morning but then I was OFF traveling.  I almost waited till later in the day because of the impending weather but decided to head off anyway!  We were hosting 10 guests Saturday night for dinner, a Cinco de Mayo dinner.  I also had plans to clean out, clean out the liquor corner, the buffet, the pantry, and anything else that needed to be done.  

I was so happy to get so much done along with the hosting thing.  We invited a few new people (the old group were all gone) and I really wanted to make the night go off without a hitch.  The menu I planned was Barefoot Contessa's Tequila Lime Chicken, refried beans, cilantro lime rice along with a layered dip (from friend Lesa), chips and various dips for appetizers.  

I also saw this lemon cheesecake recipe on Facebook and it looked simple so I decided I would try my hand.  I had a springform pan, thank goodness so I dove in and tackled it.  Cheesecake is not something I have ever made even though I had the pan.  With the chicken and the lemon cheesecake I was a citrus squeezing fool!  My hands actually hurt today.  I really needed more lime but that's okay, the marinade was just fine.  The cheesecake was delicious (I also made homemade whipped cream I've never done.)  The evening went so exceptionally well and it feels good to be back in the saddle again. 

Almost forgot the drive to the cabin was a bit dicey with the weather.  I really wasn't too scared, usually my gut twists when it gets weird and I was fine.  But that drive towards that shelf cloud, whew, it was kind of awesome.

Looked like I was driving into the mountains!

Luckily the road I was traveling was void of any traffic so I just stopped and snapped pictures, lots of pictures.  

 

Sunday Grumbles

 Well, well, well, the great thaw of 2021 has begun.  Today is 2-21-21.  You know March is just around the corner and SPRING!!!!!  OMG, I can't wait.  Also, being March I have to sign up for Medicare.  Not looking forward to delving into all that. 

I've been busy at home painting as you can see and quite successfully too.  THAT feels really good.  Hopefully this next week, wait, maybe the next week I will be back in the studio.  I'm taking my car in for the body work tomorrow and they said it will take 3 days, so I will be without wheels for those 3 days, stuck at home, again like the PAST TWO WEEKS!  Yes I will have The Hubby to take me into the office if needed and in fact I will drive there tomorrow and then we will drop off my car and then back to the office to catch up on over a weeks worth of mail and catch-up stuff.  I'm good with that.  

A little bit of a kerfuffle her this morning.  Actually it started yesterday morning when I asked The Hubby if he wanted me to cook him breakfast.  I do it a lot on Saturday mornings, especially at the cabin but of course we are not at the cabin and may not be for a few weeks.  Because of the big freeze, there is no water there.  Anyway, I offered, but he said no, because he was going to go to the flea market.  Well, okay then, maybe tomorrow (Sunday).  It is Sunday morning and frankly, I DON'T WANT to cook this morning.  I have cooked every single meal lately as I  ALWAYS do and I don't want to cook this morning.  Last night when I was cooking chicken and noodles and he was an arm chair cook telling me to not put too much chicken in like last time, and don't overdo adding the  noodles...blah, blah, blah!  Yup, pissed me off.  AND after dinner he piped off that I made too much chicken noodles.  I can not win here.  I said, "well, because you come home for lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY I have to have something for you to eat.  You constantly text me to ask if there's anything for lunch and here you go, CHICKEN AND NOODLES for lunch!"  DUDE!  Do you not see a pattern here and a frustration. 

GOOD GRIEF!  He is cooking breakfast, or at least trying to cook breakfast.  He has come in here no less than three times to ask questions, "Where's the good butter."  "Where's the hash browns."  "Don't we have biscuits."  It might have been easier if I had just done it myself'!

"After the Floods-Rebirth"

9x12 oil

"Sunday Drive"

12x16  oil

Friday night we also had lots of company. The Grand-girls came, one stayed for the entire weekend.  Oh GOSH, how much I love these babies.  The are my night and day, my all encompassing love.  I fixed 3-way (Mini had marinara and pasta -vegan) and my floors were totally cleaned up by sweet Clayton.  There was a slight accident because we have a toddler wondering around the house but that is to be expected.  She is all over the place and all of a sudden she stopped by the wine bottle area and pulled out two bottles of my red wine out and of course they were heavy.  Both crashed down, one broke all around her bare feet and the scream was terrifying.  I was worried about a large cut or broken toe but it wasn't too bad.  She had a few little surface slices on the bottoms of her feet, not even a tint of blood, thank goodness.  Poor baby, scared her to death and us adults.  It's just the curiosity of a toddler and you have to be on top of them constantly.  The Hubby said we needed to baby proof the house and I agree on the under cabinet stuff but I'm not going to completely put everything up.  They never learn to respect any house they are in if you do not teach them the limits of what not to touch.  I never childproofed after Snicklefritz or even my own girls (except for CHEMICALS!)  Anyway she is fine and full on spaghetti here and we had the most wonderful time.  Snicklefritz is a great, big cousin, carting Mini around and playing with her.  I know she wanted to have just me for the weekend, you can sometimes see the green-eyed monster briefly but in reality she LOVES her cousin and an evening of fun for all is perfect.  

A Reading We Will Go

 Set off for the cabin this weekend with Snicklefritz in tow.  She actually gave up a sleepover with friends to hang with us old people for the weekend.  We still have pull that we are fun, helps we have a golf cart she can drive.

It's what you do on a cold Saturday morning with #1 granddaughter comes for the weekend, sit by the fire and read with a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows and a sidekick, Clayton by her side.  Snicklefritz is mastering chapter books and I could not be prouder of her.  My favorite memories are going to my great-grandparents in Jay or camping with the family at the lake and inhaling books.  Mother always said "teach a child to read and they can accomplish anything in the world they want to."  Mother was a huge advocate for reading and my siblings and I carry on the tradition of being voracious readers.  The next generation is continuing.

I read this book for book club and started yet another one so I got a lot accomplished this weekend too in the reading category!

There weren't any of the ladies on Friday night except Snicklefritz but I still fed the "guys."  I picked up Papa Murphy's pizza, an easy feed, and fed four of the hubby's friends, they were much appreciative.  Saturday, without planning on it I fixed 3-way (chili, spaghetti and beans) and had enough that I again fed the man-crew with an added couple, girl-company!  It works out pretty good, especially if I fix food for The Hubby's friends and he cleans up.  I woke up Saturday to have the kitchen sparkling!  

That dog, oh that dog.  Clayton woke up before 5 both Saturday and Sunday, yet this morning when the alarm went off, when I HAD to get up, the little bugger would not wake up.  No, he was still sleeping until just a few minutes ago, 5:30 and The Hubby HAD to wake him up to feed him.  ARGHHHH,  why can't he sleep in on the weekend when we want to.  Oh well. 

Aaaaa CHOOOoooooo!

"Ho-Ho-Ho, Merry Christmas"
14x11 oil on linen

Yup, I have a COLD, a head cold.  Thank you The Hubby!  I guess too much kissing.  

Yesterday we went to an open house in which an appetizer was requested to bring.  I was going to make a sandwich kind of thing but realized I had used up my bread for another party this weekend and I JUST COULD NOT go to the store again, at least for a few days.  Soooo, to the fridge and pantry I went digging around for ideas.  What I came up with was cream cheese, sour cream, black beans, Rotel tomatoes, canned corn and cheddar cheese.  I softened the cream cheese and drained the beans and corn, not the tomatoes and mixed it all together.  I didn't have taco seasoning but added cilantro and cumin.  I didn't have any tortilla chips but had pita chips which worked fine as it was heavy dip.  After I mixed it all up I put it a baking dish (a deep pie dish) and put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20-30 minutes till hot.  I was a HUGE hit!  Not all was eaten so I brought about a fourth of it home.  

Tonight for dinner, in between trying to swallow on a sore throat and sneezing I thought about making The Hubby take me out but I just didn't feel like getting out again.  I don't really feel bad, which is good.  I had chicken tenders thawing in the fridge and some egg noodles of which I was going to make some chicken and noodles but needed a PIZAZZ and thought of that leftover dip.  I added the dip and man oh man sooooo good!  Kind of a creamy spicy chicken and noodles.  

Mr. Santa up there I painted today at the office.  

Fa-La-La-La-La-La-La-La-La

Yesterday I was on a mission.  I got a lot accomplished but let me back up a touch...

Friday, I picked up Snicklefritz from her Momma at the place where B's Alliday Show was about to begin.  It was about 10:30 and B was going to be interviewed by a noon news channel and Snicklefritz was going to be a problem.  So off I went to gather her up and to lunch at our favorite Friday lunch haunt, Bangkok Thai Buffet.  She loves to eat there too and cleaned her plate of pad Thai, rice, broccoli, and green beans.  That kiddo is a champion eater!  Run a couple errands and then we were home for the weekend.  Actually, she was only there for overnight.  

Back home I was faced with a dining room that was full of pantry stuff that HAD to be put back.  I was planning on cleaning out the pantry in January, but with the possibility of cutting a hole or RIPPING out my pantry from the hot water leak, that time table was pushed.  Cleaning out the thing though I saw I had enough to make my famous White Fruitcake so that was on the agenda too.  So, first up was fruitcake, with Snicklefritz as sous chef.  It was so cute to see her expression when we began to beat egg whites to stiff peaks.  She was amazed to see the transformation.

I got 10 small loaves out of the batter mixture and we put them in the oven and let magic happen.  Mind you this recipe takes 90 minutes and when the smell began wafting through the air she kept asking if we could take the cake out.  Finally, when out she wanted to eat immediately, but again, her patience was tried as we waited for some to cool.

Then....... 

She really did love it and crammed that last piece in her mouth.  We had a great time but I still had LOTS to do.  The first batch was Friday night and Saturday after she went home I HAD to finish the pantry thing.  

Threw tons out, revamped, moved foil, wax paper, ziplock bags to a drawer that I cleaned out and more space!  It took me all afternoon to finish and then I made yet another batch of fruitcake, 20 loaves in all.  We've already eaten two and given away one to Snicklefritz to take home.  My feet and knee were killing me by the time I finally got in the hot tub and then in the shower.  I still have a few things to do but it is done basically.  Now I have to wrap packages for Christmas.  I also have to go BACK to the post office Monday or Tuesday morning as I shipped A's Christmas leaving one out of the big box by mistake.  RATS.

'TIS THE SEASON

Monday Ramble

Definitely going to ramble today...hang on!

Sold 4 paintings since last weekend! SCORE!  Nice when that happens.

Daddy fell.  Yes, last Friday afternoon I guess he was taking some limbs to the curb and he said he slipped and fell.  Face planted on the drive and using his hand to break his fall, breaking his hand and busting it open.  CAT scan and stitches and a removable cast and he is good.  No surgery for the broken hand, THANK GOODNESS!  Sadly, I did not know about it because we were at the cabin and cell phone reception is bad so I usually turn my phone off.  I turned it on Monday morning to get the pictures and text message from my brother.  They spent hours till about 10:30 p.m. in the ER.  Bless all their hearts, including my sister-in-law who endured the time too.  I'm afraid we are going to have way too many times like this more often now.  He was more upset that he could not use his computer.  Really,   I feel bad that Bro has had to take the brunt of taking care of Daddy lately as I've been out of pocket and watching Rio.  She will be in school sometime and that can make it better.  

I had an incredible HANKERIN' for Momma's fried chicken last week so I busted out the cast iron skillet, one mine, one granny's.  I bought a whole chicken because I also wanted to cut it up myself.  Sadly I realized that my knives were very lacking so the next day I went out an bought a couple for the next chicken.  I cooked it just like Momma used to with salt, lots of black pepper, flour and oil.  She would cook it pretty hot and fast to get the color then turn the heat down and put a lid on it, soft crust fried chicken!  PERFECTION!  I also had mashed potatoes and gravy.  

The next night I wanted to try something new I saw on Facebook.  It was from MyRecipes.com and called Cajun-Style Shrimp and Grits.  OH MY GOSH they were so easy and so very good.  The only thing is I did NOT add the tasso ham.  

I was on a roll last week with cooking.  It felt good.  I love to cook but just don't have time to put into intense meals.

Brother-in-law is hurting and I wish I could help.  Had surgery and the results are not as expected and the places they went in are not healing.  He's on my mind.

Friday was National Wear Teal Day to increase awareness of Ovarian Cancer so I wore this shirt in remembrance of my friend Jamie who lost her battle a couple of months ago.  

Yesterday the niece spent the day in the ER because she apparently was bitten by a brown recluse spider in her bedroom!  Let me tell you she posted the picture on Facebook and it gave me nightmares.  Plus she posted that they had to put her IV in her neck because of her drug use caused her veins to be to small.  Luckily she is still clean but she is still having a ton of issues in her head and life.  She has lost yet another job and of course it is not her fault.  I so hope she can get her life together but I'm not too keen on helping her anymore because she has burned me a couple of times and you just don't know when she is telling the truth anymore.  Lying is just second nature to her and I don't even know if she can tell the difference.  So sad.

On a good note, I finished a couple of books I enjoyed, Still Foolin'  'Em by Billy Crystal and The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins.   

Also a couple of paintings finished: