An Oklahoma Granny

Something Fun to Do

2012-01-31T09:20:00.000-06:00

Remember photo booths?

They seem to be making a comeback.

Seems to me you used to be able to put a quarter into the slot and come away with a strip of 4 small photos. Nowadays I've seen costs of anywhere from $2 to $5 for those same 4 photos.

And if you're like me you were/are never ready when the flash goes off. That makes for some funny shots for sure.

A day or so ago while doing a quick scan of Pinterest I found www.photoboother.com. You can choose one of 6 frames, upload 4 of your photos, hit the "develop" button, then share, download to your computer and/or place an order.

Of course I had to check it out. Here's what happened.

Fun, huh?

Where, Oh Where . . .

2012-01-24T10:53:00.000-06:00

. . . has Oklahoma Granny been?

Well, I've been around. I've been visiting my favorite blogs, sometimes leaving comments, sometimes not.

It just seems there isn't enough time in the day to get everything done that NEEDS to be done and do the things I WANT to do too.

Is it like that for you?

I haven't even taken many pictures lately, hence the header you see above. It's from 2011. I don't mean to mislead you. We haven't had any snow at all this year unless you count the few flakes that fell last week - or maybe it was week before last.

With the exception of a handful of days that you could say it was truly cold, we seem to be having a very mild winter. That's kind of nice right now for those who don't care for the cold but I'm afraid we'll have a ton of bugs this summer.

Oklahoma needs rain! We have a good chance for some of the wet stuff tonight and tomorrow.

Rainy and/or cold weather is the best time for comfort food, don't you think? I bought a new cookbook a couple of weeks ago. It's one of those marvelous church cookbooks that translates to tried-and-true recipes.

This one is filled with lots of recipes that are new to me and I've picked out several to try.

I'm going to share one with you that I have already made. Both AD and I really liked it. It's called Goulash but it's not like any goulash AD and I have ever had. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Goulash

1 1/2 pounds hamburger
1 onion, chopped (I used dried onion because AD isn't a fan of onions)
1 box Macaroni & Cheese
1/2 stick of butter or margarine
1 can chili (no beans)
1 can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
1 can Ranch Style beans
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)

Brown the hamburger and onion and drain well.
In a separate pan, cook the macaroni and drain it well. Stir the butter into the macaroni and then the packet of cheese that comes in the box.
Mix the mac & cheese into the hamburger mixture along with the chili, Rotel tomatoes, bean and drained corn. Heat through and enjoy.

NOTE: When AD and I talked about the dish we decided it might be good to kick it up a bit the next time by adding a bit of taco seasoning or some diced jalapenos.

Inquiring Minds May Want to Know

2011-12-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

A BIG Thank You to those who voted for you favorite gingerbread house.

To the Stitchin Schoolmarm and Lynn - AD and I had already tallied the votes and the grand and consolation prizes had been given out on Christmas morning before I read your comments. Not to worry though. It didn't make a difference for the grand prize winner.

House #1 was the big winner and was designed by G1. He received a gift bag containing a box of HoHo's and a box of Ding Dongs with a tag that read, "Ho Ho from your Ding Dong Granny."

Ok, well I thought it was funny. . . .

Second place was House #2 and belonged to G2. If this had been one of the boys' dirt track races the announcer would have said something like, "G1 edged out G2 by one car length" when the checkered flag fell.

In 3rd place was House #4 was designed by G2's girlfriend.

G1's girlfriend's house came in at #4.

The consolation prizes were a package of Reese cups, a package of Hershey bars and a box of Skittles. The runners up got to choose their favorite in the place where they came in. G2 chose the Reese cups, his girlfriend chose the Skittles and the Hershey bars went to G1's girlfriend.

**********

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Ours was a little hectic but a very good day and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We were at AD's mother's home in the afternoon for lunch. Her home is very small and with 32 people in attendance the good weather made it possible for the kids to play outdoors.

*********

Did anyone venture out early this morning for the after-Christmas sales?

We haven't done that in years. This year though we decided we really needed a new tree for next year. (My family prefers artificial trees. Does that make us a "green" family? You know, because no trees are harmed in the decorating of our home.

Anyway, I'd checked out all the local stores a few days before Christmas and found the one that would work best for us. This morning we drove into town and when the doors were opened there were still some available so we're all set for next year.

Of course I had to look around in case there were a few more bargains to be had. I picked up some wrapping and tissue paper, a few bags of candy (who cares if they're wrapped in Christmas colors?), a couple of Oklahoma University ornaments for AD and the most beautiful angel tree topper. Instead of sitting atop our new tree next year though, I think she'll be sitting on top of one of our bookcases.

**********

As 2011 draws to a close I'd like to thank each and everyone who drops by my blog for a visit. I so enjoy reading comments that are left.

I also want to say how much I enjoy visiting you in your blog-homes. I feel like I've made some wonderful friends I never would have met otherwise.

Wishing each of you a very Blessed and Happy New Year!

You Be The Judges

2011-12-24T00:01:00.001-06:00

G1, G2 and the girlfriends were up for a bit of gingerbread house decorating.

I told them I would post pictures of their creations on my blog and ask readers to vote for their favorite.

I also told them there would be a small prize for the winner.

Below are pictures of the houses with a brief description of each.

House #1

Santa is apparently visiting this little house at the moment. His sleigh is visible up on the roof. There is a pile of pretzel logs sitting beside the house just waiting to be put in the fireplace. Notice a path has been cleared of snow to welcome visitors.

House #2:

This darling little cottage features a fenced yard and is all decked out with Christmas decorations including a tree, a snowman and candy canes leading up to the front door. The lamp post on the left side of the door lights the way for visitors.

House #3:

The children that live in this house have been busy building a snowman and an igloo. On the right side of the house and just at the base of the statuesque angel, a fire has been built in anticipation of roasting a few marshmallows with neighbors and friends.

House #4:

The final gingerbread house features a chocolate door and windows along with a roof decorated for the Christmas season. The owners' beautiful Christmas tree beacons visitors to stop in for a visit and the licorice gumdrop chimney promises them a warm place to sit and chat for awhile.

There you have it - our 4 gingerbread houses for 2011. Please leave a comment today (Christmas Eve) with your favorite - #1, #2, #3 or #4.

G1, G2, the girlfriends and I thank you for helping choose a winner.

2011 Christmas Tree

2011-12-16T09:47:00.000-06:00

As I was cruising around blogland this morning there were many bloggers sharing photos of their Christmas trees so I decided to post the above photo of ours.

The couple in the photo is G2 and his sweet girlfriend.

By now you probably know I'm hooked on Pinterest and all the interesting ideas that are being shared. Earlier this week I was able to get those 2 to come over and let me try a couple of the ideas I've seen recently. The above photo was one of the results.

I think it's my favorite of all.

Today is also one of those extra-special birthdays for G2's girlfriend.

Wishing her an extra-special Happy Birthday!

Frog and Traffic Jams

2011-12-13T09:16:00.000-06:00

What was your first thought when you read the title of this post?

(My mind would not have gone to something I'd spread on biscuits or toast.)

Anyway, when we took our second trip to Muskogee to see the Nina and the Pinta we also had lunch at the Amish Country Store for the first time.

Oh. My. Goodness! I'm pretty sure we'd make another trip down there just to eat.

While we were waiting for our order to come to the table I decided to do a little shopping in the store. I looked and looked and looked.

They have lots of wonderful items to purchase - jams, ciders, snacks, candies and cookbooks to name a few.

I was so busy shopping that our thoughtful little waitress came and got me when she served our food. She said she didn't want my plate to get cold. Wasn't that the sweetest thing to do?

AD and I both chose the open faced roast beef sandwich that came with two sides. One of the sides we chose was something called Amish Casserole. That was a new dish to me and I had to ask what it was.

It's sort of like chicken and noodles but not really. The gravy/sauce is some different and there's also corn and peas in the dish. I don't know if they serve it as an entree but I could have eaten a whole plateful of that casserole and been wa-a-a-y happy!

I did ask if the recipe might be in any of the cookbooks that were for sale but unfortunately it isn't. Must be a trade secret, you think?

If anyone knows of a similar recipe I'd sure appreciate you sharing it with me.

After we finished our lunch I went back and picked out several goodies to bring home with us.

F.R.O.G. jam for one. Have you ever heard of or had F.R.O.G. jam? It's a blend of figs, raspberries, orange, ginger and the rest of the ingredients that make it a jam.

And it's mighty tasty! I only bought a small jar because I wasn't sure how well it would go over with my grape-jelly-only-loving husband. But he even admitted that it was pretty good stuff.

I think Son's kiddos will get a kick out of the name too.

I was also intrigued by another jar with the name Traffic Jam on it. Although the one we brought home with us has yet to be opened I'm sure it's a winner too. The list of ingredients includes peaches, strawberries, red raspberries, cherries and cranberries.

Yum!

Hmmm. Now I'm hungry and I haven't had breakfast yet. I think I'll go fix me some toast.

Enjoy your day, everyone!

Only 12 days to Christmas.

Have You Been to Any of These Places?

2011-12-06T23:10:00.001-06:00

Every month or so one of the guys from my graduating class sends out an email with upcoming classmates' birthdays, what some of them have been up to and usually he adds one or two funny stories.

Tonight I received on of those emails and thought these few paragraphs might bring a smile or two to some of you.

HOW MANY OF THESE PLACES HAVE YOU VISITED?

I have been in many places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone.

I've also never been in Cognito. I hear no one recognizes you there.

I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport; you have to be driven there. I have made several trips there, thanks to my friends, family and work.

I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump, and I'm not too much on physical activity anymore.

I have also been in Doubt. That is a sad place to go, and I try not to visit there too often. I've been in Flexible, but only when it was very important to stand firm.

Sometimes I'm in Capable, and I go there more often as I'm getting older.

One of my favorite places to be is in Suspense! It really gets the adrenalin flowing and pumps up the old heart! At my age I need all the stimuli I can get!

I may have been in Continent, and I don't remember what  country I was in. It's an age thing. . .
                                                                                           -Author Unknown

This 'n That

2011-12-06T09:10:00.000-06:00

It's cold here today. I'm thinking of baking some cookies from a recipe I found on Pinterest.

Do you do Pinterest? It's addictive!

******************

I'm gradually getting our Christmas decorations put out. Usually that's done by now.

On the upside - All the the Christmas gifts we've purchased have been wrapped.

That may not sound like much but it's a BIG deal around here. Christmas Eve usually finds me scrambling around getting everything wrapped and under the tree.

*******************

G1 got a new puppy.

Elliott trying to figure out what's up with this pup.

His name is Bassett. You're probably wondering why an English Bulldog is named Bassett. It is kind odd unless you know us.

All of our dogs and Daughter's family's dogs have names related to racing.

It started out with NASCAR names - Elliott, Smoke, Dani (Danica), Mikey, Earnhardt, Kasey and a few others.

Now the names have branched out to car parts - Holley (carburators), Hoosier (tires) and Bassett (wheels).

G1 brought Bassett over the other night to visit for the first time.

I took 61 pictures of the little guy in the span of about 40 minutes. That number even surprised me!

The photo above is one of the few where Bassett was awake.

Most of the time he looked like this.

Ahoy, Mateys!

2011-12-02T22:58:00.000-06:00

Replicas of Columbus' ships, the Nina and the Pinta are currently docked in Muskogee.

AD and I made a trip down to see them today.

Actually we made 2 trips - yesterday and today.

That's a lot of driving miles but it was well worth it.

Yesterday we did some shopping in Owasso and Claremore as we made our way to Muskogee. And because we didn't know exactly where we were going, by the time we got to where the ships were, everything was shut down and it was, well, it was dark.

I was very disappointed.

AD said we could try again on Saturday. But after listening to the weather forecast he said we'd better go today as there is a 90% chance of rain tomorrow. So we drove back down today.

There were lots of school children there to see the ships and learn a bit of history.

That was a very good thing because we were able to listen to the guides too. Those kids sure had some great questions too!

The ships are in Muskogee through the 7th, then they'll be sailing off to Florida.

If you ever have a chance to see these replicas, my advice is to do it!

Black Friday Shopping

2011-11-28T09:36:00.000-06:00

Were you among the shoppers on Black Friday? Did you find what you were looking for? I hope so.

AD and I ventured out but much later than many folks. We found most of the things we went after and missed a few too. That's ok though because the stores got more than their fair share of our hard earned dollars.

The first place we stopped was Staples for a couple of things we needed for our own use. AD zipped in and out of there in no time. The next stop was our local mall. It's a small mall and we were happily surprised that it wasn't all that busy. AD wanted to go to Sears and I had to return a gift I'd already purchased a couple of weeks ago. UGH!

Those who know me well know that I HATE returning things. I will do most anything to keep from returning merchandise. But there was no way around it this time. And I have to say, the folks at American Eagle really made it easy on me. I can't tell you how much I appreciated the two clerks that helped me. I was able to exchange the item I was returning for something that is sure to make someone very happy. And I was in and out in a flash. Seriously! On Black Friday of all days.

Then we were off to Tulsa. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect. The first huge wave of shoppers were probably home taking naps by then. There was some traffic but not nearly as bad as we'd expected.

I was periodically checking my email as we made our way from store to store. When I read one from Best Buy that said they had iPads on sale I remembered AD's youngest sister mentioning on Thanksgiving that she was looking for one but there weren't any in the newspaper sale ads that she'd seen. I told AD in case he wanted to pass that information along.

Well, guess what?! The next thing I know we're headed to Best Buy. AD let the iPad out of the bag so to speak. He told me Santa was planning to bring me one for Christmas. So that jolly old elf caved in and gave me have my gift early. Santa can expect extra special cookies left out for him this year!

Oh, and that kaleidoscope picture of AD at the top of this post - I've already been playing with my iPad.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-24T00:01:00.014-06:00

Ok, so I set up a post to wish everyone who stops by my blog from time to time a very Happy Thanksgiving.

I set it up to automatically post at 12:01am on Thursday, November 24.

When I called up my blog just now I was surprised to see my 'noodle post' pop up.

I'm sorry about that!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving and made some wonderful memories.

Blessings to you all.

I Knew I'd Forget Something!

2011-11-22T13:32:00.000-06:00

I had a question with regard to my post yesterday about my homemade noodles.
Wouldn't you just know I'd leave something important out?!

After the noodles are cut they are left to dry at least overnight, sometimes even a few hours longer. They are ready to cook then or be frozen for future use.

After the ones I made the other day were all nice and dried, I put them into a freezer bag and popped those babies in the freezer.

Thursday morning they'll come out of the freezer just as soon as the chicken broth has come to a nice boil. Then into the pot they'll go.

I can almost taste them now.

Note to Driller: I've often said that if we had to limit our Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner to just the bare essentials, our family would unanimously choose to have chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and homemade hot rolls. Everyone in the family, with the exception of myself, tops their mashed potatoes with their chicken and noodles.

Homemade Chicken & Noodles

2011-11-21T10:15:00.000-06:00

Last week I had some questions on how I make my noodles.

Over the weekend I made up a batch and froze them in preparation for Thanksgiving.

We're expecting 18 to 20 people and all of us are pretty fond of our chicken and noodles. So I needed to make a big batch.

I started with 8 large eggs. (Please pardon the scratched up bowl I use. It's seen its share of noodle dough over the years.)

Then I added some salt and pepper. Sorry, but I didn't measure those but it was about 10 turns of the grinders.

The eggs were then beaten with a fork.

A couple of cups of flour went into the eggs.

This is what the dough looked like after the 2 cups of flour were mixed in.

Then 2 more cups of flour were mixed in. The dough became fairly stiff.

I dumped the dough out onto about another 1 and a half cups of flour and kneaded it in.

I have to say here that sometimes it takes more flour than that to get a good stiff dough. I'm not sure but maybe the weather has something to do with it.

The dough was then rolled out as thin as I could get it. (I have a big table!) I use a heavy rolling pin now but years ago, before I had a rolling pin, I just used a heavy glass.

That's where the noodle cutter comes in. It's just like using a rolling pin except that it cuts through the dough. Because I can't reach all the way across the table, I cut one side, then went around to the other side and lined up the noodle cutter with the lines that had already been cut.

Then I use a pizza cutter to cut the strips of noodles going the other way. Some people like long noodles, some like short noodles, but we like ours kind of in-between. They're probably about 3 1/2 to 4 inches long.

Tomorrow I'll cook the chicken. I do that in a pressure cooker but boiling it is also fine.

The chicken will be taken off the bone, shredded and refrigerated. The broth will be cooled and then go into the refrigerator too.

On Thursday morning, the broth will be put in a large pot along with several cans of Swanson's chicken broth - probably 6 or 8 for this size batch. The liquid will be brought to a boil and the noodles will be added in handfuls, stirring after each.

Once all the noodles are in the pot, the chicken will be added. The noodles will cook for at least a couple of hours because we like the broth to thicken.

I do stir the noodles every once in awhile while they're cooking and add more broth if needed because the noodles do absorb some of the broth.

Oh, and as they absorb the broth, they expand. That's the reason for using a big pot.

Tribute to a Fallen Hero

2011-11-15T15:54:00.002-06:00

On Saturday, November 12, just one day after our nation celebrated Veteran's Day, Sgt. Christopher Gailey was laid to rest in Ochelata, Oklahoma.

Chris was a 26-year-old member of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

He, along with Sarina Butcher, 19, of Checotah, Oklahoma were killed on November 1 in Afghanistan’s Paktia Province when a bomb went off near their military vehicle.

AD and I were proud to be among hundreds of people who stood along the funeral procession route from Bartlesville to Ochelata to show our gratitude to and our respect for Chris and his family.

I couldn't begin to count the number of vehicles that passed by honking, waving and giving a big thumbs-up. It was a very emotional time and one I won't soon forget.

At this time of year especially, I would ask that you pray for those who serve in our military and their families. And if you happen to see someone in uniform while you're out and about, thank them for their service.

Noodle Cutters and Lumberjacks

2011-11-09T08:37:00.000-06:00

When AD and I visited Silver Dollar City last month there were two main things on my agenda.

Daughter wanted a new noodle cutter. We make a lot of noodles in our family and we love the noodle cutters from Silver Dollar City. I, personally, have 3. The first one I bought was back in 1976.

It cut many a noodle and after many years of use one of the blades (for lack of a better word) somehow got a nick in it. I could still use it but I had to go back and cut each place where the nick went over the dough.

So when Daughter got married 20 years ago, I bought her a noodle cutter and a new one for myself.

Last month this gentleman made our new ones.

It always amazes me when I watch the craftsmen at Silver Dollar City at their work. They make each of their crafts look so easy.

During this year's Fall festival there were a couple of lumberjacks showcasing their skills.

The pole shown above was 40 feet tall. The crowd was told that normally lumberjacks compete climbing poles that are 60 feet in height.

They can shinny up and down those poles in less than 30 seconds. WOW!

There were also sawing demonstrations as well as axe throwing.

But the competition I really wanted to see was log rolling. These two guys did some of that but my photos didn't turn out very well.

Here they were running from the shore across several logs out to that platform.

They both fell in a few times.

Oh, I think I forgot to mention that the temperature that day was in the high 40's and there was quite a wind blowing across the water.

Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

At one point one of the lumberjacks just stayed in the water until he absolutely had to get out. AD said he was probably warmer staying in the water.

All I know is I was freezing and if I hadn't wanted to see that demonstration so bad I would have been inside somewhere drinking a nice mug of hot chocolate.

'tis the Season for

2011-10-31T08:59:00.000-05:00

Display at Silver Dollar City. The larger pumpkins aren't real.

Pumpkins and lots of things made out of pumpkin.

Like Sonic's Pumpkin Pie Shakes.

Which are very good, by the way.

Sorry, I don't have a photo of one.

Then a couple of weeks ago I had one of these.

A Dairy Queen Pumpkin Pie Blizzard.

It ROCKED!

Actual bits of pie crust swirled throughout the Blizzard.

I. LOVED. IT.

The following week AD and I took our trip to Branson.

There's an Andy's Frozen Custard in Springfield, Missouri.

Well, maybe more than one. But we pass right by this one on the way to Branson. You may remember because I've written about it before.

They had a sign that read: Pumpkin Pie Concrete.

We didn't stop right then but I knew we would on our return trip.

(Note that there is an Andy's in Branson too. It's just that I look forward to stopping at this particular one when we're over that way.)

Anyway - and this is just my humble opinion - Andy's Pumpkin Pie Concrete blows Sonic's and DQ's pumpkin ice cream treats OUT. OF. THE. WATER!!!!!*

There was a sign that said each Concrete contains a slice of pumpkin pie. I'm a believer too. Because:

1. The smell of pumpkin pies baking was coming from inside.

2. I saw one or two (small) chunks of pie in my Concrete.

'Nuff said.

If anyone has enjoyed an Andy's Pumpkin Pie Concrete, I'd love for you to leave your opinion in a comment.

If you haven't I'm truly sorry. But still leave me a comment. They'll be my virtual treats for the day.

Which brings me to Halloween.

I did buy Mikey a little get-up for Halloween but didn't get a picture.

So, I'll leave you with this picture from the late '70s of my two young'uns.

Son, this one's for you.

Next year maybe you won't tell me how sorry you feel for Mikey that I dress him up for Halloween photos.

He does get treats you know.

*Disclaimer: The only tie I have to Andy's (or Sonic, or Dairy Queen) is that I am a customer, period. They don't know me from Eve. And I would never turn down a Sonic Pumpkin Pie shake OR a DQ Pumpkin Pie Blizzard.

Someone Might Wonder. . .

2011-10-22T09:28:00.000-05:00

. . . where this Oklahoma Granny has been or what she's been up to lately.

Busy is the only word that best describes it. Lots of things going on around our house lately.

One of the most important things was

Girlie's 5th birthday.

Her party was last Saturday (a week ago today) - wow! it's already been a week. The days just seem to be flying by!

Son put together a fabulous 'Fancy Nancy' soireè (that's a fancy word for party) for his daughter.

It was a spa party and he had some friends help by giving the girls mani/pedi's and doing their 'make-up' and hair.

Then each little girl had her photo made in this little setting. There were acrylic frames for the girls to gussy up - that's not a 'fancy' word. It's an Oklahoma term for decorate them to be really fancy. LOL! Then each of the photos were put into the frames as party favors.

Isn't that Fancy Nancy on the wall cute? It looks like Son painted it on but although he could do that - he's talented that way - it's actually a repositionable sticker. Umm - stickers that all go together and actually look like the wall has been painted. Even up close!

There were lots of goodies for the girls to enjoy. There were chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, dainty little cucumber sandwiches, fruit and yogurt parfaits, DARLING sugar cookies in several shapes, cake pops, Hershey's Kisses, M&Ms, Jelly Bellies and pink punch with raspberries.

It was a fun party and one I'm sure Girlie will never forget.

Because there would be so much going on at the party, Girlie opened our main gifts the night before. Are you familiar with Precious Moments? They have a birthday 'train' set for little girls that is made up of the Disney Princesses. AD and I gave her the first two pieces, the Prince that leads the train followed by Snow White.

Girlie's mom and dad gave her the rest of the set up to age 5.

**************

That was one busy weekend! Besides the party, there were also soccer games to watch the morning of the party. Then I had to leave the party at 4:00pm and drive like a crazy woman to get back home to watch G1 and G2 race that night. I drove straight to the track - no stopping by the house.

Once I finally got home I had a couple of days to rest up before AD and I left on Tuesday and went to Branson for a few days. More on that later.

One last thing. While Son and I were out and about doing errands for the party (did I say I went down a couple of days early to help out?) we tried to go to Nic's Grill for lunch. Wouldn't you just know it - Nic's was closed last week.

So instead, we ate at Smashburger. Have you ever heard of that franchise? Their burgers are great! The one shown above is the Oklahoma. It has fried pickles, pepperjack cheese, haystack onions, lettuce, tomato and buttermilk ranch dressing and comes on an egg bun. There were sweet potato fries too. I just couldn't pass those up and they were delish!

Maybe someday I'll make it to Nic's.

Anyway, I've gotta run. I have to go into town, pick up pictures from the party, get by the bank before it closes at noon, then make it back home just in time to head to a race track that's about and hour or two away. Special races tonight.

Another busy weekend. I will get some pictures posted of our Branson trip here in a few days when things have slowed down some. Like they ever do . . . . sigh.

More of a How To Than a Recipe

2011-10-03T09:21:00.000-05:00

There's a recipe making the rounds on the internet for Cinnamon Roll Pull Apart Bread. It's a simple recipe and would be good for a special weekend breakfast with the kids or if you are having guests.

I wanted to try it last week but I was the only one at home since AD had already left for work that day.

So I tried it using a single hard roll.

Basically what you do is slice the roll (or round loaf of bread if you're serving several people) in roughly 1/2 inch cuts going one way. Don't slice all the way through - just slice until you get fairly close to the bottom but the roll (or loaf) is still connected.

Spread honey butter (I have included my recipe for honey butter below) on all the exposed bread between all the cuts.

Now turn the roll (or loaf) 90 degrees and slice the other way. Spread honey butter between the new cuts.

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar liberally between all the cuts.

Wrap the roll (or loaf) in aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes (or 30 minutes for a whole loaf).

After removing the bread from the oven, unwrap, move to a plate or serving tray and drizzle with a simple glaze made of powdered sugar and a bit of milk. It might be nice to add a drop or two of vanilla to the glaze.

For the roll I used one spoonful of powdered sugar and stirred in just a couple of drops of milk - just enough to make a thin glaze.

It was a sweet treat on a cool morning.

Honey Butter

1/3 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup powdered sugar
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon

Whisk all ingredients together until smooth and keep refrigerated. Serve at room temperature.

Me - from A to Z

2011-09-27T08:23:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged much lately for a couple of reasons -

1. Not much to blog about right now.

and

2. I've been busy.

A week or so ago I saw this on a couple of blogs I follow and thought I'd give it a go. Read on if you want to know more about me. If you don't, I understand.

A. Age: 61 as of last Sunday.
B. Bed size: King. It gives AD and I plus our 3 Yorkies more room to be comfortable, although I still sleep on the very edge of the bed because Smoke sprawls out all over. Yeah, I know, he's spoiled.
C. Chore that you hate: DUSTING!!!!!! Makes you wonder why we moved to the country, doesn't it?
D. Dogs: Elliott, Smoke, Dani and Mikey
E. Essential start to your day: Checking my email and reading blogs. You can do that when you're retired.
F. Favorite color: Blue
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5' 4"
I. Instruments you play: Would a kazoo count?
J. Job title: Retired - yea!
K. Kids: 1 son. 1 daughter. 5 grandsons. 1 granddaughter.
L. Live: Oklahoma
M. Make of car: Ford Explorer
N. Nicknames: Mom, Granny, Dear
O. Overnight hospital stays: Once for a broken arm (I grew up in the 50's/60's), 2 times having babies and 1 time for gall bladder surgery.
P. Pet peeves: People who park their shopping cart in the middle of the aisle and walk away. People who seem to go slower while getting in their car if they know someone is waiting on their parking place. (Yes, I spend a lot of time at Wally World.)
Q. Quote from a movie: Allie: [lying in the middle of the street] What happens if a car comes? Noah: We die. (from The Notebook)
R. Right or left handed: Left.
S. Siblings: 2 sisters, 1 brother.
U. Underwear: White cotton
V. Vegetable you hate: black-eyed peas
W. What makes you run late: things like cows in the road, trains, farmers on tractors
X. X-Rays you’ve had: remember that broken arm? and x-rays of my teeth
Y. Yummy food that you make: Chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and homemade rolls.
Z. Zoo animal: It's too hard to pick just one. I like the elephants, giraffes, monkeys, lions, tigers, seals and the list could go on and on.

PS. Happy 13th birthday to Google. I don't know what I'd do without you.

Why Grandparents Go Gray

2011-09-19T10:03:00.000-05:00

This past weekend God was certainly watching over G2.

He was at the Texas Motor Speedway dirt track racing and had a horrible wreck during his heat race. His car was destroyed.

Below is a video that has been posted on YouTube. There are actually 2 wrecks shown on the video. G2's was reportedly the worst wreck of the weekend and is the first one on the video clip. He is in the blue and orange car. The wreck is shown once as it happened and then following that it is shown again in slo-mo.

Note that he does wear a HANS device and was NOT hurt other than a few scratches.

Just as any other grandparent would be, we are very thankful he was not hurt.

PS. AD and I were not at the track. It is probably a very good thing.

The Season Is A-Changin'

2011-09-18T17:11:00.000-05:00

We were headed into town this morning when we caught sight of this flock of Canadian geese flying south.

I Have to Apologize!

2011-09-08T17:21:00.000-05:00

To G3.

You see, today is his birthday.

His 11th birthday to be exact.

And I didn't get to post birthday wishes on my blog until now (late afternoon on Thursday).

I could tell you what happened but it's a long story that involves a cell phone problem that started back in July. I won't bore you with the details.

Some of you may remember that G3 is my "riddle" buddy. He calls me from time to time with a new joke or riddle. I hardly, if ever, come up with the right answer. I have riddles for him from time to time too. He however, being the super smart kid he is (no brag, just fact), comes up with the right answers on many occasions.

So, late as this may be - in honor of G3's birthday, here are a few birthday riddles I found online.

What do birthday invitations say? (if you give up, the answers are below.)

If you have 11 birthday candles and you light all of them at the same time, which one will burn up first?

Why do we cut the birthday cake?

Why do we blow candles out on birthday cakes?

Give up? Here are the answers -

Invitations don't say anything - you have to read them.

None of them. Candles burn down.

Because cakes don't have zippers.

Because, if you threw water on a birthday cake it would ruin it.

Happy Birthday, G3! I hope your day was wonderful!

Love, Granny

Gourds Gone Wild

2011-08-30T07:00:00.001-05:00

Last year we planted some gourd and pumpkin seeds that we'd saved from the year before.

This year AD didn't want to plant anything.

But we had a volunteer - or is it really volunteers - come up.

I took these photos on Sunday and they are looking kind of droopy.

But we had some rain early Monday so they are happier now.

There are lots of flowers on the vines and I spied this almost fully grown gourd already.

You know what all this means don't you?

Fall is just around the corner. Yea!

More Weekend Celebrations

2011-08-29T10:11:00.000-05:00

Following G1's birthday on Friday, we continued celebrating on Saturday night when he won not 1, but 2 feature races at the local dirt track.

He wins in his turf car pretty regularly and is the currently the leader in the points.

Saturday night he won his very 1st B Mod race.

While his car is technically a Sport Mod (one step below a B Mod), he races with the B Mods because the track doesn't race a Sport Mod class.

It was an exciting night to be sure!

Son, G3, G4 and Girlie were there too making it a real family celebration.

L to R: G4, Daughter, Girlie, G3, AD, G1 and a track official

Not to mention a pretty good early birthday present for Daughter, G1's mom.

She's celebrating a pretty special birthday today. It's not one of those that ends in a zero.

It's the one where her age is exactly double of G1's.

In the Words of Kenny Chesney . . .

2011-08-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

. . . "Don't blink . . ."

Today is G1's 19th birthday!

I can hardly believe it.

Where has the time gone?

It seems like it was only yesterday that we were sitting in the hospital waiting for his arrival.

That day the television was filled with news of Hurricane Andrew as it made its final landfall in Louisiana.

Today we are watching as Hurricane Irene approaches the east coast of the U.S. Please keep those in Irene's path in your thoughts and prayers.

On a lighter note, my blogging friend, Leilani Lee's, latest post on her blog, Ozark Oddments, included a funny little birthday dittie in honor of her husband's birthday. It's from a local kiddie tv show she used to watch from back in the day.

I don't think she'll mind that I include it here to share with G1.

It's hard to imagine that this is G1's last year to be a teenager!

Like Kenny said, "Don't Blink."

Gymnastics, Donuts and Cookies

2011-08-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

Girlie participated in her 1st gymnastics meet last Friday.

Her scores were very good.

Everyone received a medal and scoring sheet.

Although there was no mention of 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, et cetera, from the order that the participants' names were called we're pretty sure Girlie placed 2nd.

We are very proud of the ability she is showing in this sport.

The next morning she asked to go to "Christmas" Kreme for breakfast.

It's fun to watch the donuts going down the conveyor .

It's even more fun eating them.

Then we were off to the Williams-Sonoma store.

They've just come out with Super Hero cookie cutters and were hosting an event to raise money for the "No Kid Hungry" program.

Spiderman even made an appearance. Girlie and G5 weren't too excited about him being there so Spidey, being the considerate super hero he is, kept his distance.

Each child could decorate 2 cookies from the collection. G3 did an outstanding decorating job, don't you think?

This Granny and Spidey gave everyone a big "thumbs up"!

Fair and Rodeo Week

2011-08-16T07:00:00.003-05:00

August 6-13 was Fair and Rodeo week in Coffeyville, KS.

Joe Nichols on stage

This year's concert headliner was Joe Nichols. AD knew I'd want to attend the concert and so he bought fair passes for the both of us.

When we headed to the fairgrounds the sun was shining and it was hot.

The opening band was late coming on stage although I don't know why. They were from Texas and they were pretty good.

The sun went down and the weather started to change. There was lightning in the distance but no thunder.

We stayed in our seats hoping Joe Nichols would come on stage before the weather turned bad.

Unfortunately that didn't happen. He was supposed to hit the stage at 9pm but it was 9:45 or so before that happened.

Joe was about 1/3 of the way through his first song and the sky opened up. Everybody scattered. I really felt sorry for the poor sound guys trying to get all their equipment out of the weather.

We stayed underneath the stadium for a bit but the rain continued so we left along with everyone else.

On the upside the rain was badly needed.

Jr Ranch Rodeo Branding Competition
(A real branding iron was not used.)

On Sunday AD and I attended the Junior Ranch Rodeo. We watched several events but it was very hot and I began to feel bad so we left.

On Tuesday night there was a demo derby. AD has attended almost every year. This was my first time to go with him.

We went to the rodeo on Wednesday and Saturday. It had rained quite a bit so the arena was pretty muddy.

The little mutton busters were fun to watch. Most of them fell off their rides so they came away pretty muddy. But they had soft landings.

My favorite event has always been the bull riding. Those guys are incredibly brave! So are the bull fighters a.k.a. rodeo clowns.

I took a lot of photos over the week. This one was hands down my most favorite of all. It was taken just as the sun was setting over the stadium during the demo derby.

It was a fun week with lots of memories made.

Racing Thru Summer

2011-08-15T14:02:00.000-05:00

Most of you know that G1 and G2 race dirt track.

I haven't talked much about their accomplishments this summer.

Both have won several mini-sprint/turf car races at the local track and G1 is currently the points leader there.

This summer G2 was offered the opportunity to race a Southern Sport Mod in the NCRA series.

He won his first Sport Mod race on July 30. Not bad for a 16 year old.

Weekend before last both boys raced in the

I-44 Riverside Speedway Mini Sprint Nationals in Oklahoma City.

G2 came away with the win in their class and G1 placed 3rd.

The boys are really racing through their summer.

A Kansas Landmark

2011-08-09T10:36:00.000-05:00

When we took Son and the Grands to see Tow Tater in Galena, Kansas the other day, we were also fairly close to where Big Brutus resides just outside of West Mineral, Kansas.

Daughter and her husband had taken G1 and G2 to see this humongous piece of equipment a few years ago and we thought Son's kiddos, especially the boys, would enjoy seeing it too.

For those who aren't familiar with Big Brutus, I dare say he is the biggest attraction in southeast Kansas. While his working days are long past he stands as a tribute to the mining heritage in this part of Kansas.

He is the second largest electric shovel in the world.

L-R: G3, G4, Girlie and G5 standing in the dipper.

His dipper capacity is 90 cubic yards. If that's about as clear as mud for you like it was for me, that's roughly 150 tons! In ONE scoop!

According to the brochure Big Brutus stands 16 stories (160 feet) tall and weighs in at a mere 11 million pounds. His maximum speed is/was .22 miles per hour.

He didn't actually dig the coal but removed the dirt and rocks covering the coal seams. Then other equipment was brought in to remove the coal. Eventually the high cost surrounding the use of Big Brutus forced him into retirement.

Today the land has been reclaimed and returned to a useful purpose. The mining company donated 10,000 acres of land surrounding Big Brutus to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.

Another Cafe Along the Mother Road (Route 66)

2011-08-04T18:11:00.001-05:00

A couple of weeks ago AD and I made a trip to Oklahoma City to watch G3, G4 and Girlie play ball.

I've been wanting to stop by a particular little cafe that's located on Route 66 for sometime now but it had just never worked out.

It finally did on our trip home.

For those of you from Oklahoma, do you recognize it?

How about now?

The Rock Cafe is not only famous for the fabulous food on the menu

or for being located on Route 66.

The owner, Dawn, was also the inspiration for that cute little blue Porsche, Sally, in the movie CARS.

Not only that, The Rock Cafe has been featured on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

And it's no wonder! Did I say the food is out-of-this world good?

So, if you decide someday to take a trip down (or up) Route 66, I can highly recommend the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Oklahoma and 4 Women on the Route (see my last post) in Galena, Kansas.

Getting Our Kicks on Route 66

2011-08-01T23:05:00.002-05:00

Our Oklahoma City Grands came for the weekend last Thursday evening

They came on Thursday so that we could get up on Friday morning and make a trip to this little gift shop / cafe in Galena, Kansas. Galena is a very small town (the population is reported to be just over 3,000) and is filled with really friendly folks.

The draw for us wasn't just to have lunch. It was mainly to visit this guy.

Does he look familiar? Maybe you're familiar with his animated alter ego, Tow Mater from the the Disney Pixar movies, Cars and Cars 2.

The Grands were really excited to see Tow Tater* in the ~~flesh~~ rust.

Son was pretty excited about seeing this guy too. Maybe even more excited than the Grands. That's a pretty big grin on his face.

Photos were taken from all angles. Notice the sign. It announces to visitors that Tow Tater* was the inspiration behind the very popular Tow Mater.

Melba is one of the owners of the gift shop / cafe. She'll come out to greet those who stop by and invite them in to tell Tow Tater's story and show you a couple of books which substantiates his story.

If visitors are in need of sustenance after their trek to Galena, they'll find that the cafe menu is pretty typical. The prices aren't so typical though.

The meat on each single burger contains is .6 of a pound of beef. That's a pretty good sized burger considering the price. I ordered the cheeseburger and fries at a cost of $4.75 (plus tax). Both the burger and the fries were excellent.

I should say here that this isn't 'fast food' like Mickey D's or other chains. There was a bit of a wait - not too long - but that time passed quickly as we visited with other folks that were there for lunch.

AD totally enjoyed talking to some of the guys in the cafe as he chowed down on his $6 double cheeseburger and fries. That $6 burger we see advertised on t.v. from another chain doesn't hold a candle to the one he had.

A sweet surprise was in store for the Grands. A local couple that happened to be in the cafe that afternoon came back to our tables after paying for their lunch and let us know that they were seeing to it that the kids could each choose an ice cream treat - as long as they ~~cleaned their plates~~ finished their lunch. I told you those Galena folks are friendly.

The kids got right on it. And they really enjoyed that ice cream, especially G5.

Other fun activities went on throughout the weekend and posts of some of them are upcoming. They're going to have to wait until AD and I get back though. We're going to take a few days off and make a trip to Branson.

See you soon!

*According to Melba and the documentation in her scrapbook, Tow Mater's inspiration truck had to be christened with a slightly different name due to copyright laws. A contest was held and a little girl's idea of 'Tow Tater' was picked as the winning entry. Now that's a story she'll enjoy telling to her children and grandchildren someday.

A Special Race

2011-07-25T16:03:00.000-05:00

Did you know that last Saturday was National Hot Dog Day?

It was.

At least that's what I read.

A week ago Saturday G1 was asked if he would participate in a 'hot dog race' during intermission this past Saturday night.

I'm not sure if the race was scheduled for National Hot Dog Day or not.

But it was a lot of fun to watch.

G1 running to the table

One driver from each of 4 car classes was asked to participate.

G1 thought he had had an edge over the other guys because his turf car is easier to get into than a full body car. (He goes in through the top of the car.)

So here's what was SUPPOSED to happen. The guys' cars were parked side by side on the front stretch. The drivers were lined up along the fence.

'Eating' the hot dog

When they were told to 'GO!' they were to run to the table, unwrap a hot dog, EAT THE WHOLE THING AND SWALLOW IT, then run to their respective cars,

G2 and a 'judge' helping G1 get buckled in.

get in, BUCKLE IN, put on their helmets and race once around the track.

G2 helping his brother exit his car.

After they got back to the starting point, they had to UNBUCKLE, take off their helmet,

Downing a bottle of water.

run back to the table, DOWN a 16 ounce bottle of water then run to the finish line.

Have you noticed that there was only one other participant in the photos? One of the drivers decided at the last minute not to race. I didn't hear why he chose not to but I'm sure he had a good reason. Like he knew the craziness that might come down?

The 3rd driver in the 53 car didn't even make it into his car before G1 and the driver in the blue fire suit were driving off.

From the looks of this picture, who do you think won the race?

If you guessed G1, you're right!

While the other driver is farther down the track, it was G1 that broke the finish line tape first.

As it turned out the competition turned into a 'no-holds barred' race. I'm not sure if the guys were listening to what was supposed to happen or not. See how G1 is picking his teeth? That's because he still had some hot dog (or bun) in his teeth.

He told me later that he initially took a bite of hot dog and started to chew but then he saw the other guy stuff the whole thing in his mouth and run. So G1 followed suit.

The other guy got into his car and was off before G1 was able to. G1 DID buckle in before he took off. We all wondered how that happened. The mystery was solved when we found out the other driver hadn't actually buckled in.

It wasn't too much of a safety hazard because this was all in fun and after all, there were only 2 cars on the track.

So the other guy got back to the starting point first but G1 was close behind and I wish you could have seen the sliding stop he made. It was pretty cool! Almost a 'Dukes of Hazard' type thing.

So he jumps out with the help of his brother, ran to the table, opened his bottle of water but admits to squeezing the bottle so there was more water gushing out than was actually going into his mouth. After the race was finished I did see one of the ladies at the table pour about 1/3 of the water out of the bottle that the other driver had been drinking out of.

So all things were basically on a level playing field - even though neither of the guys followed the rules. And you've got to remember this was all in fun. Just intermission amusement for the fans.

When it really came down to it the only real advantage G1 had was that the other driver ran the wrong way when trying to get to the finish line. Otherwise I'm sure it would have been a photo finish.

G1 accepting the trophy

Before the race started the announcer asked the guys why they agreed to participate. G1 shrugged his shoulders and said he didn't really know.

My guess is because there was a TROPHY involved. And there's nothing that inspires both G1 and G2 more than a trophy.

The Hot Dog Race was so much fun to watch! I hope they do it again.

Trying to Beat the Heat

2011-07-18T10:21:00.000-05:00

This is what this week's weather forecast looks like for these parts. It's much the same as it was last week.

Last Wednesday someone clued me in on froggtoggs Chilly Pads. I drove directly to our local Hibbett sporting goods store* and bought one for G1 to use under his fire suit when he races.

I went back the next day and bought 2 more - one for AD and one for G2 to use when he races.

On Friday I decided I needed one too. So back I went to the store. They were almost sold out.

No wonder with the heat we've been experiencing.

AD and I used ours Saturday night at the races.

It was really hot and that chilly pad really helped me stay cool. Well, not like air-conditioning cool, but way cooler than I would have been without it.

AD said his helped him. G1 didn't try his out though. Silly ~~boy~~ young man!

I haven't talked to G2 to see if he used his. (He was in Hutchinson, KS racing on Saturday night and in Muskogee, OK racing last night.)

So now the 3 that's at the house have been rinsed out, rolled up, put in plastic bags and they're chillin' in the fridge until tomorrow night. We're on our way to OKC to watch G3, G4 and Girlie participate in their baseball/t-ball games.

I'm ~~pretty sure~~ 100% we're gonna be needing them.

*When I checked for stores in Oklahoma that carry the Chilly Pads I found that Academy and Bass Pro also carry them.

A Week's Worth of Happenings

2011-07-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

I've been really busy the several days. Did you wonder where I was or what I was doing?

It all started a week ago yesterday (Friday). I was up early to go to a weekend crop at my local (30+ miles away) scrapbook store. The hours were from 10am to midnight on Friday. I only stayed until 10:30pm because I had that long, dark drive home.

Saturday I got up early again, drove back to the store and cropped until 3pm when it ended.

One of the ladies brought me some fresh corn-on-the-cob and some cucumbers from her Farmer's Market stand.

I made the drive home, put the veggies in the fridge until I could get back to them, took a short nap and then headed to the race track.

G2 took home his 40th - FOUR-TI-ETH - turf car career win that night. Just think of all the trophies he has. Not just from his 40 turf car wins but from his kart wins and pure stock wins too!

So AD and I got home about 1:30am. Caught a few z's and were up by 7:30am on Sunday to drive to OKC

to celebrate G5's 3rd birthday.

I made the cupcakes. I realize they were pink but that's because they were fresh strawberry with fresh strawberry icing. G5 didn't seem to mind. Real boys eat pink cupcakes, doncha' know.

G5 mainly enjoyed everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to him and ~~spitting~~ blowing out the candles.

I'm really GLAD I chose to make cupcakes!

Note that no other cupcakes were harmed as the candles were ~~spit~~ blown out.

He's practicing on getting 3 fingers up now.

Later we went to a splash pad that's near their house. It was a great way to cool off in this Oklahoma heat.

From the photos I took I think G5 was the one that enjoyed it the most.

When we got home Sunday evening AD and I collapsed.

But then Monday morning came and we were up ready to meet the new week.

One of my projects was to make lime pickles from the cucumbers I'd gotten on Saturday.

They are YUM - MMMM - MY!!!!!

Wednesday saw me back at the scrapbook store cropping some of the photos I'd taken over the weekend.

Yesterday the Bartlesville Area History Museum held an event where people in period costumes came to speak about various times in history. It was mainly for kids but I had to be in Bartlesville anyway and thought it might be interesting to drop by.

Now through October the museum has a "Mom and Pop" Grocery Store display up.

Boy, did that bring back the memories.

Especially the photo of Dean's Belle Mead Grocery and Market. It was just down the street from my house at the end of the block. I remember spending much time in the store pondering over just what candy to choose from the "penny candy box." Those were some tough decisions for a little girl to make.

This grocery advertisement was just a few years before my time but it was very interesting to check out the prices from December, 1942.

My how things have changed!

And they just keep right on changing at an ever increasing rate of speed.

One of the reasons I was in Bartlesville yesterday was to get a new cell phone. An Android.

I've been wanting one since I saw G1's.

And the learning curve begins yet again.

Sigh.

I'm so glad G1 and G2 are around to help me!

What Does This Oklahoma Granny Do . . . .

2011-07-07T09:55:00.000-05:00

when her #2 grandson slices his thumb open and

(WARNING!!!!!!! The following photo is graphic)

(this photo was taken by his mother at the doctor's office)

has to have 1) a tetanus shot, 2) and shots to deaden his thumb so

3) the doctor can close it up with 8 stitches?

Why, she gets out her measuring cups, measuring spoons, mixer

and all the ingredients

to bake him up a batch of his favorite

chocolate chip cookies.

No brainer!

Happy Birthday, U.S.A.!

2011-07-04T00:01:00.001-05:00

(all fireworks photos taken 6-2-11)

Wishing you

and your family

a very happy

and safe

4th of July!

Enjoy all the fireworks

and festivities!

And remember

the reason we celebrate.

An Oklahoma Granny

It's HOT! But I Can't Wait for August

2011-06-27T12:32:00.000-05:00

And here's why.

HOMEMADE Butterfingers.

Yep. That's right. I said Homemade.

I found the recipe here.

Note that the original recipe calls for the ingredients in ounces. After researching those amounts, I have converted the recipe to read in the terms of cups for 2 of the ingredients.

Although Steph posted it last November I just came across it last week.

I can't remember exactly how that happened but I'm glad it did.

And I still had an unopened bag of candy corn from last Fall.

Candy corn? Yes, that's right. It's one of the THREE ingredients that this recipe calls for.

Candy corn, peanut butter and chocolate candy melts. Put them altogether and you get homemade butterfingers.

Here's how you do it.

Pour 2 and 1/2 cups candy corn (I used Brach's) in a microwave safe bowl that has been coated with non-stick cooking spray. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Stir. (I also sprayed the spatula I was using to stir the melted candy.) Continue microwaving at 15 second intervals and stirring after each 15 seconds.

Once the candy corn is totally melted, stir in 1 and 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter. (I personally used Jif because it's my favorite.)

Pour the mixture into an aluminum foil-lined 8x8" pan that has also been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. (I used a 9x9" pan because that's all I have and it worked out fine.)

The candy will harden - not totally hard, just very firm - as it cools. Anxious to see how the candy would turn out, I put the pan in the refrigerator to cool. But because I was doing other things, time got away from me and the candy was in there for a couple of hours or so.

Once the candy is cool, take it out of the pan and cut into individual pieces. Melt 16 ounces of chocolate candy melts per package directions and dip each piece, coating completely. As you are dipping the pieces, let the excess chocolate drip off each one before placing it onto waxed paper to harden.

I'm telling you - these candies taste exactly like the store-bought kind! While they don't have the "dry, flaky" texture of store-bought, once you start chewing a piece, it definitely has the crunch.

Besides the taste, it's that crunch that just blows me away. It's exactly like eating one of the store-bought candy bars!

So why can't I wait for August to get here?

I checked several stores and couldn't find candy corn in any of them right now - at least reasonably priced candy corn. I did find some in a mall candy store but I just couldn't justify spending $10 a pound for it. Then I asked around and found out that candy corn usually starts making its appearance on store shelves sometime in August.

You can be sure I'll be stocking up. I think boxes of homemade butterfingers will make great Christmas gifts.

Pictures in the Clouds

2011-06-21T08:56:00.000-05:00

click on each photo to enlarge it

I can't remember a time that I didn't like to look at the clouds and find images within the fluffy billows.

I was doing just that last weekend, passing time, waiting for some races to get underway.

Do you see any images in the clouds above?

Look close. I'd be interested to know what you see in those clouds.

Now I'll tell you what I saw.

Mark Twain with a puppy on his shoulder.

Here's a close-up of the puppy image I see.

Still don't see them?

I've added the words eye, nose and moustache here for Mr. Twain. Do you see him now?

And here I've marked the puppy with the words eye, nose, mouth and paw.

Whether you see the images I see in the clouds or something different, I think it's a fun way to pass the time.

Artwork

2011-06-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday AD and I made a trip to Wichita, Kansas.

I reminded him that I wanted to pull over when we got to the metal sculptures that are located just a bit east of Augusta, Kansas on Sculpture Hill.

As we've driven by over the years I always wanted to get some photos but could never seem to remember until we were right there and in a hurry to get where we were going. This time stopping was in our plans.

If you check out the website you'll find that the artist, Frank Jensen, has a Master's Degree in English and taught for many years. Plus you can read about each one of his creations. I encourage you to take a look.

These deer have just cleared the fence. The artist titled it "Mule Deer".

(Please click on each photo to enlarge.)

The name of this one is "Red Bone, the Running Bison."

And this one is titled, "Morning Sun."

"Riding to the Meadow"

"Whistling Boy Bringing Home the Cow"

"Sheep Killer"

All of the ones before this one are spectacular works of art but this one and the next two are by far my favorites.

Because, you see, they represent one of the books I was required to read in high school. And it was one of my favorites.

Can you guess what piece of literature the windmill is from?

Maybe this will help.

If you guessed "Don Quixote" you were spot on.

And here's Don's sidekick, Sancho Panza.

There are more sculptures that we could see from a distance but I was unable to capture them on film. I would love to see all of them up close but unfortunately tours are no longer given.

So I'll just admire them from afar.

I hope you enjoyed them as much as I do.

One More for a Blogger Friend

2011-06-17T16:53:00.000-05:00

My blogger friend, Twisted Fencepost, commented on my last post saying, "I'm drawn to barbed wire fences, too. Well, just about any kind of fence gets my attention. Specially, the fenceposts."

So TF, this one's for you!

I Took A Walk

2011-06-16T08:44:00.000-05:00

around our place the other day. Mikey was going to go with me but his "buddy" from across the road showed up and off they went for their own adventures.

I have lots of photos of barbed wire fence. I just seem to be drawn to it.

We hardly have any trees but I sure enjoy the ones we do have.

Just after I took this photo a large fish jumped out of the water and made a big splash. Naturally. I have terrible timing.

I'm so glad I decided to take these photos. The following day the hay was hauled away for storage.

It's been pretty dry around here. We have a chance of some rain today. It would be a good thing.

Life goes on.

A More Pleasant Post

2011-06-09T13:58:00.000-05:00

Look what I found hiding underneath the leaves of our hydrangea leaves this morning.

The 1st blooms of the season.

They sure brightened my day!

Enjoy the weekend - whatever you have planned!

To All My Blogger FRIENDS

2011-06-09T09:35:00.002-05:00

And I did mean to cap the word FRIENDS. You know who you are. The ones that I've come to think of as my friends even though we haven't met in person. The ones that have visited me many, many times and the ones I enjoy visiting so very much.

I just want you to beware of new comments you might receive on your blog posts. Recently I've had some Spam-type comments slip through like wolves in sheep's clothing. Evidently the Spammers are finding ways around Spam control. AAARRRRGGGG!!!!!

In the past I haven't "checked out" those who've commented on my blog posts before publishing the comment. Maybe that's naive of me but I haven't - in the past.

But now, before I publish a comment - even those that appear quite innocent - from a new-to-me blogger, I'll be checking out their blogs first. If I find something I deem unsavoury about a particular blog/blogger I won't be publishing the comment.

I'm very sorry to have to resort to doing this because I truly believe the vast majority of bloggers are wonderful folks.

I sincerely hope no one takes offense to what I'm choosing to do. And I really don't think true bloggers will.

Catching Up

2011-06-03T23:26:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I've blogged. So much has been happening around our place!

The horrible storms that brought tornadoes into Missouri and Oklahoma for one. AD and I, along with our 4 dogs took shelter in our safe room for a little while one of those nights. That was an adventure in itself since Dani doesn't particularly care for Mikey. You know she thinks she's the boss and he's so much bigger than she is, I think it kind of unnerves her a bit.

The storms didn't do any harm in our immediate area though, thank goodness.

We had scheduled an appointment to have the carpets cleaned in our living room, dining room and our bedroom the Friday before the storms hit. Long story short, the technicians didn't make it until the following Tuesday. Because we had moved all the furniture, AD and I, along with the 3 inside dogs, stayed in our 5th wheel thru the following Thursday. It took awhile for the carpets to completely dry even with "speedy dry" fans blowing.

G3 pretending to race G1's mini-Sprint

Son brought his kiddos up from the city the following weekend.

G1's girlfriend was celebrating her birthday that weekend and I'd asked several weeks earlier if I could make her cake this year. I wanted to make her one of those topsy-turvy cakes. It was a fun cake to do.

I also made cookies (see some of them in the picture below), chocolate covered pretzels to look like lady bugs, and lady bug cake balls.

If you enlarge the photo above you'll see lady bug place mats that I made using black foam and red place mats that I bought at the dollar store. The special birthday hat was made using a glittered bowler, also from the dollar store, and the remnants of the black foam.

The flower balls were made by stringing ribbon through 2 holes of a wiffle ball and tying a knot, then hot-gluing flowers and leaves into the remaining holes. They were then tied to the chandelier.

When G4 celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago we gave him a Hex Bug starter kit and some bugs. Son told me the kids said I was the best Granny ever. Seems they all love the Hex bugs and have been adding to the collection.

They brought all their bugs and some of the other pieces to show us how they worked. It's pretty fascinating to watch all the little roach-type bugs move around the pods or whatever they're called.

When G3 and G4 were little I did a "My First Crush" (Orange Crush to be exact) photo shoot with them. I wanted to do a similar one with all the kids and this time use the title, "Orange You Cute."

This is one of the photos I particularly liked.

And this is another one of my favorites.

Girlie has some darling flamingo clothes. She wanted her photo taken with the turtle and snail in our front yard. It almost looks like the turtle is saying, "Listen, do you want to know a secret?" Ok. . . ok. . . I was a Beatles' fan back in the day and that's the first thing I thought of when I was going through the photos I'd taken. But it's a great title for a scrapbook page, don't you think?

We also made a trip to the Kiddie Park. The new photos in the header were some that were taken that evening.

So, that's what I've been up to recently along with the regular day-to-day stuff like laundry and cooking and mowing, etc. I know everyone is busy. It's that time of year. I'll be stopping by your place when I can and blogging here and there.

Have a great summer!

Need a Laugh or 2 to Get Your Day Started?

2011-05-19T08:49:00.001-05:00

My nephew and his wife, April, have 2 of the cutest little boys, Schafer and Anderson (aka Andy).

April also has a blog. If you need a few laughs today, you've just got to hop over and read her post from yesterday.

She also takes wonderful photographs of those darling little guys, don't you think?

Another Candle Added to the Cake

2011-05-16T13:27:00.000-05:00

AD and I went to Oklahoma City this past weekend for G4's 9th birthday party.

Being the Star Wars fan that Son is, he was extremely excited that G4 asked for a Star Wars cake.

There was light saber limbo. That's G4 going under the limbo saber and G3 preparing to. The little guy in the red cap was just too adorable!

Son made all the kids light sabers out of PVC pipe.

The "light" of each saber was made using duct tape. Each child got to choose the color they liked best.

They all really had a good playing with them.

Besides the cake and of course ice cream, Son made a couple of snack recipes using a Star Wars cookbook. (I took some photos and wanted to post at least one but for some reason blogger just won't bring it in.)

Happy Birthday, G4! Next year it's double digits for you.

Monday Night's Mowing

2011-05-10T10:09:00.000-05:00

When AD got home yesterday afternoon he said it would be a good time to mow. Between the two of us, we mow about three and a half acres.

With the mower gassed up, my hat and ear protection on, I proceeded to mow my area.

Usually, there's really not much to see except the grass. But not last night.

(click on the photo to enlarge it)

Not long after I started I caught sight of this little guy. Can you see him? He's just to the right at the top of my shadow. Although it doesn't look like it I'm really pretty close to him. He just kept running back and forth along the mow line and seemed to be looking for something, not caring that I was around.

Later I caught sight of this dead snake. He must have been in the path of my mower but not concerned that I was around either. I'm not a fan of snakes but if I'd seen him I wouldn't have intentionally run over him.

I don't make a habit of carrying even a small camera with me while I'm mowing. After all, what could there possibly be to take a photo of? When I saw Mr. Quail I did wish I had my camera. As I watched him it suddenly occurred to me that my cell phone was in my pocket so I was able to get a couple of photos of him. Not great, but better than nothing.

Maybe I should start carrying my camera with me after all.

Mother's Day Weekend 2011

2011-05-09T12:37:00.000-05:00

Remember how busy I was last weekend? Well, this weekend was every bit as busy and today I'm pooped!

It all started last Friday when the scrapbook store closest to my house held a weekend crop because Saturday was National Scrapbook Day. The crop started on Friday at 11:00am - ok, so I got there at 10:00 - and lasted until midnight. The crop continued on Saturday but I wasn't able to go that day because . . .

. . . I took a cake class in Tulsa. Did I mention that after getting to bed around 12:30, I had to get up at 6am to pack up my things for the drive to Tulsa?

Son drove in to Tulsa from Oklahoma City to take the class too. Since the first time we saw a "topsy-turvy" cake - you know, the ones that look like they're about ready to topple over? - we've wanted to know how to put one together and this class taught us how.

The cakes were actually supposed to be 3-tiered but Son and I chose to make 2-tiered ones because of the distance we had to travel back home with our cakes. Not to mention the actual size of the cake! What you see above is three 2-inch thick layers of 9-inch cakes and 3 2-inch layers of 6-inch cakes. Had we made 3-tier cakes the one you see above would have been on top of 3 layers of 12-inch cakes. And that's a whole bunch of cake!

The decorating design was left up to each student. I found a cake design online that I liked and tried my hand at it. I didn't think it turned our too terribly bad considering I was in a big hurry to get it done. I actually had to finish it after I got home -still in a hurry - but I had places to go and things to do.

Son made a "Angry Birds" cake. Do you know that game? I don't really know anything about it other than I've heard it can be addictive and I just don't have time. But I've seen pictures of the characters and Son did a great job on his cake.

Once home and the cake decorating was finished it was off to be the videographer for G1's turf car race. AD and I made it home about 11:30pm. Not bad for a race night but I was running way low on energy.

Yesterday, Mother's Day, was a day of rest. It had to be. I was dog-tired.

Daughter and her family came over for a little while in the afternoon and G2 surprised me with this bouquet of flowers. I've said before that he is one onery kid but then he'll do something like this and it just melts my heart.

Then AD took me out to dinner. What a guy! But then, he was probably thinking that if he didn't he'd just had to eat cake.

So that was my Mother's Day weekend. I hope yours was just as much fun as mine was!

P.S. Seems I forgot to mention that I made these cookies for the crop weekend on Thursday.

(For those of you who don't scrapbook and are wondering what those sparkly baby bottle-looking things are, they're supposed to be bottles of Stickles, a kind of glitter glue made for scrapbooking.)

Whew! What a Weekend

2011-05-03T14:56:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I drove to Oklahoma City for a visit with Son's family.

G3, G4 and Girlie had soccer games scheduled and there was going to be a Fancy Nancy party at the Borders bookstore in Norman.

I also thought I'd take the opportunity to take each of the 3 older ones, individually, out to eat. Kind of some one-on-one time with each of them.

G3 chose to go to IHOP for supper. We had a nice visit and he told me about things he was doing at school. He's in the 4th grade and they're learning to label a map of the US with all the states names. He told me that on his first attempt at the labeling he got 41 states out of 50 correct. I thought that was pretty good!

Saturday morning it was G4's turn. He chose to go to Krispy Kreme for a breakfast of donuts and milk. I asked if he'd seen any good movies lately. He told me ALL about Tron. I think he told me the whole movie, start to finish.

Because soccer games started at 9am, we really didn't have a lot of time but it was a good visit, just the two of us.

G3's game started at 9am. That's him kicking the ball. It was a cold, windy morning! I was glad I'd taken a hoodie along for the weekend.

G4 and Girlie's games were both at 11am. We sat in the car in between games to warm up.

The soccer fields were not far from each other so I was able to walk from one to the other to watch the action.

That's Girlie in the pink hoodie standing near the ball. Son says she's always excited to go to her games but she was just standing there watching everyone else play. Son was concerned about that but it just takes her a little time to get warmed up.

G4 really wanted to play goalie but his coach didn't play him there. Son says he makes a great goalie but I thought he did a really good job getting the ball down the field. And he almost scored a goal one time.

Back at Girlie's game, she's still thinking about getting into the game.

Almost there. See how's she's almost ready to try kicking the ball.

Not long after she was into the game. I told Son she'll be better next season. After all, she's only 4.

As soon as her soccer game was over we headed for Norman to the Fancy Nancy party. Son changed her out of her soccer uniform into her party dress in the car. He'd gotten a boa for her to wear so she'd be very fancy for the party.

As it turned out, the store had originally scheduled the party for 2pm but somewhere along the way the time was changed to 11am. The manager told us to just come when her game was over.

Girlie was the only one there when we arrived so she got individual attention. This nice lady read a couple of Fancy Nancy books to her, they both colored a crown and then decorated them with glitter and sparkly "jewels". There was even some chocolate cookies and a special "fancy" drink. It was fun to watch and Girlie had a good time.

Just as we were getting ready to leave another group of little girls showed up. It was probably just as well that the little girls came in groups because I imagine it was a lot easier to manage all the glitter and glue that way.

Afterward Son, Girlie and I went to lunch at her favorite place - Red Robin. Although I'd intended to take Girlie to lunch by herself, it just worked better for us all to go while we were there.

We'd also planned to do another photo shoot at one of the parks. I wanted some photos of Girlie in the other dress I'd gotten for her before Easter. She had a lot more smiles for the camera this time.

I'd made some mini sugar cookies to take along. We'd actually planned for one of her little friends to be there but unfortunately she wasn't able to do that.

Then it was back to Son's house to get ready for a Pampered Chef party.

Son is a Pampered Chef consultant (I hope that's the right word) and he'd invited me along. He was going to prepare a salad similar to one that he likes to order when he and his wife go to Charleston's. It was delicious and everyone loved it.

On Sunday I woke up to cold rain, thunder and lightening and it was time to head back home.

I'm sure glad that rain held off for the weekend!

Easter Blessings

2011-04-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Easter Photo Shoot

2011-04-21T14:01:00.000-05:00

Our daughter has a co-worker who is also a wonderful photographer. Last year he took family photos for us.

Since then, he has wanted to do a photo shoot with Girlie as his subject. Last weekend, we all met up at Woodward Park in Tulsa for Easter photos. It's the perfect place for photos!

Dennis was ok with me bringing my camera along too. The photos you see here are ones that I took.

Because I kind of like shots like this one.

I should say here that Son brought 4 dresses with him and I took 2. That way Dennis could pick the one(s) he'd like to use.

This is one of the dresses I brought with me and I loved the way it looked on Girlie.

We asked Dennis how he'd like her hair fixed. He didn't care. Girlie asked for 2 piggies. I must confess I was the one that put them in and I certainly didn't do a very good job with the part in her hair!

Her shoes looked great with the dress!

Here's Dennis in action.

Son was the "keeper and carrier" of Girlie's wardrobe. I just had to get this picture!

We walked all over the park. I think Girlie's feet were getting tired.

After an hour and 45 minutes, 4 wardrobe changes and almost 1,000 pictures snapped between Dennis and me, I KNOW she was tired.

I did make sure to bring lots of Easter treats with me though. She deserved them too!

Sometimes It's Hard to Get Home

2011-04-11T15:33:00.000-05:00

This morning I had to make a trip to town. Usually it takes me 30 to 35 minutes one way.

Today it took me a little longer coming home. I had to stop for these Volunteer Fire Department trucks on the highway. Yes, that is a highway. And yes, the term "highway" in this instance is used in a very broad sense.

This pasture fire was the reason. There's been a lot of those around here lately. Scary stuff, I tell ya. A little further down the road I had to pull over because another fire truck was barreling down the highway, sirens going and lights flashing.

I'm not sure if they were headed to the same fire or another one.

Our local volunteer fire departments are worth their weight in gold. We live equi-distant between 2. And we pay dues to both. Our thought is, belonging to both departments, we double our chances of getting help fast in case we should ever need it.

Once off the highway, I had to stop for this guy. He was out for a stroll. And stroll he did. Back and forth across the road a couple of times before he finally stopped long enough that I felt like I could get by him.

I know. I know. He would have moved for me if I'd kept going. AD tells me that all the time. I'm just scared I might come across a really stubborn cow sometime who wants to play "chicken" with me. And I'd hate to hit a cow. Just look at their big ol' eyes. Not to mention hitting one could do serious damage to my car.

Now at this point I was a bout 3/4 of a mile from home. You'd think there wouldn't be anything else to hold me up. Not so!

Just as I turned the corner on up the road there was a whole flock of scavenger birds feasing on the carcass of a dead 'possum. (I'd seen the critter laying in the road on my way into town and wondered how long it would last there.) No pictures for that. It was just gross!

And those stupid birds were NOT going to fly away. I'm thinking they were thinking strength in numbers. That, or they'd heard about AD hitting the wild turkey a few months back and they knew I'd be cautious so as not to hurt my car's grill again.

Finally, I'd had enough and honked the horn several times. They decided to give me the right-of-way and I made it to the house. Whew!

So, how's your Monday going?

So I've Been a Little Slow

2011-04-09T17:40:00.000-05:00

but I finally found some time to update my blog header for Spring.

Although windy, it's a beautiful day in NE Oklahoma.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

So Many Recipes . . . So Little Time

2011-04-06T22:35:00.001-05:00

Almost every single day while reading blogs I find at least 2 or 3 recipes I want to try. I copy them down and file them for future use.

Some days I have to try them that very day. Sometimes I even have to make a special trip to the store to pick up some of the ingredients. Not so though with the last couple of recipes I couldn't wait to try.

A few days ago I found a recipe for Cheeseburger Macaroni at kevinandamanda.com. Granted it takes more time than Cheeseburger Hamburger Helper but OH. MY. GOODNESS! It is SO worth the little bit of extra time it takes to make it.

Here's the recipe. Sorry, I didn't take any photos but you can click here to jump over to Amanda's blog to see her beautiful photos of the whole process.

************************************

Cheeseburger Macaroni
adapted from kevinandamanda.com

1 pound lean hamburger meat
1 package taco seasoning
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chilies (or petite diced tomatoes)
2 cups beef broth (or water)*
1 cup elbow macaroni

Brown and drain hamburger meat. Stir in taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat and cover pan. Simmer 12-14 minutes until macaroni is tender.

While the meat and macaroni is cooking, prepare the cheese sauce:

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese**
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking for 5 minutes until fragrant and light brown in color. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thickened. Remove from heat and stir in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.

Serves 4.

*I didn't have any beef broth and I wanted more flavor than what water would give so I dissolved 2 teaspoons of beef bouillon in 1 cup of water that I'd brought to a boil in a small saucepan.

**I was out of cheddar cheese but I did have Velveeta crumbles and used those as a substitute. They worked great!

***************************************

It was DE-LISH-OUS!!!!! Luckily, G1 and G2 happened by after we'd eaten. (No leftovers to tempt me the next day!) They hadn't had supper so they put the leftovers in the microwave for a minute or two. G1 gave it 2 thumbs up. G2 was too busy eating to offer his opinion. But by the way he ate it, I'm sure it received a passing grade.

Today I found a recipe for Root Beer Float Cupcakes at howsweeteats.com.

It just so happened I have Root Beer Concentrate in my pantry along with the rest of the ingredients so I made them tonight for a special treat.

To see Jessica's recipe click here. She also does an incredible job at photographing her process.

******************************

Root Beer Float Cupcakes
adapted from How Sweet It Is

makes 12 cupcakes

1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
1 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons root beer concentrate
1/3 cup root beer
1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk egg and sugar until smooth and no lumps remain. Add cream, butter and vanilla, and mix until combined. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredients together and add to wet mixture. Add root beer concentrate and root beer. Mix until batter is smooth. Line a muffin tin with liners and using a heaping 1/4 cup measure, add batter to each cup. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool before frosting.

Vanilla and Root Beer Frosting

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
1/4 teaspoon root beer extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter until smooth. On low speed, add powdered sugar one cup at a time, increasing speed to bring the frosting together. Add milk and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Remove almost all of the vanilla frosting, leaving behind about 1/3-1/2 cup in the mixer. Set vanilla frosting aside. Add root beer extract to remaining frosting in the bowl and beat until it comes together.

If you have pastry bags fill one with vanilla frosting and the other with root beer frosting. Alternately you could use Ziploc bags and cut a small hole in one corner to squeeze the frostings through. Or you can just use spoons and/or spatulas to frost the cupcakes.

Once the cupcakes have completely cooled, fill each one with root beer frosting much like filling a cream puff, then top with vanilla frosting. Top with hot fudge or cocoa syrup.

***********************

I did make a few substitutions but nothing earth-shattering. I used diet A&W root beer and light sour cream. I mixed the cupcake batter up in my KitchenAid mixer instead of by hand. Also, rather than use milk in the frosting, I opted to use heavy cream because I was trying to use up the last of what was left in the carton. And although I had hot fudge sauce in the fridge I didn't use it. Maybe next time. And there will definitely be a next time.

It did take my cupcakes about 20 minutes to bake but all ovens are a bit different.

AD and I each enjoyed one after dinner tonight. I'm taking a few to the scrapbook store tomorrow to share with friends and AD is taking the rest to work. I sure don't need those tempting, tasty little sweets at the house calling my name.

Do you enjoy finding and trying new recipes?

Did You Hear the One About . . .

2011-04-04T07:39:00.000-05:00

G3 is my riddle/joke buddy.

Yesterday he had this riddle for me -

Why did the bee itch?

I thought and I thought and I thought. I was focusing on a bee's stinger but I couldn't come up with anything.

That's because the answer is: Because he had hives!

So I had a little joke for G3 -

Did you hear about the 2 cannibals that were eating a clown? One said to the other, "Does this taste funny?"

I know it's a lame joke but it's all I had.

What I Did Last Night and a Big Crash! Oh, Elliott!

2011-03-23T12:21:00.002-05:00

Classroom at The Stock Pot

Last night I went to a cookie decorating class at The Stock Pot in Tulsa. They offer classes from time to time* and this is one I really wanted to take.

My place setting at the class

The instructor already had cookies pre-made for us to decorate but she did mix up a batch of sugar cookie dough and showed us her technique for rolling, cutting and baking the cookies. She generously gave us her recipe too - Yea!

Cookies I decorated with buttercream icing

Part of the class was devoted to the preparation and application of 3 different types of icing for decorated cookies: buttercream icing, royal icing, and fondant. The instructor prepared the buttercream icing, showed us how to use both it and fondant on cookies, and gave us tips on preparing the perfect royal icing. (She was going to mix up a batch of royal icing and show us how to apply it to cookies too but unfortunately the whisk attachment for the mixer she was using couldn't be located, nixing those plans.)

I've decorated cakes for years with buttercream icing so I was pretty familiar with that method. What I really I wanted to know more about was the perfect consistency of royal icing for outlining and then "flooding" the cookies to get a smooth finish. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to do that after hearing our instructor's tips.

Plus, I found a website on the internet, UniversityofCookie.com, with some video tutorials on cookie decorating.

Elliott's "accident"

After we got home last night I arranged my decorated cookies in the little bucket that I received at the class. I wanted the buttercream icing to have a chance to crust over before I put them in bags.

This morning I got up early, bagged the cookies up and put them back in the bucket. (You'll see the finished product at the bottom of this post.)

I was visiting some blogs as I was waited for the sun to come up (so I could take a picture of the cookie bouquet) when I heard a crash come from the kitchen. I could see the bucket - or what had been the bucket of cookies - from where I was sitting and Elliott's little tail ske-daddling off the counter. That little stinker!!!! He sure does have a sweet tooth but he didn't get any. I'm sure glad I'd already bagged those cookies up!

I said his name in a very stern manner and gave him that look. You know the look I'm talking about.

I went to check out the damage and it wasn't too bad. I put the cookies back in the bucket again and went to look for the little culprit. He was hiding under our bed.

Way back underneath our bed. As you can imagine I had to get down on my hands and knees to get these pictures.

He knows what he did.

So don't look too closely at the cookies or you'll see some smooshed icing.

I have plans to make some cookie dough today. Hopefully I'll find the time.

*If there's anyone in the Tulsa area who is interested in learning the fine art of making sushi, I noticed on the Stock Pot's list of upcoming classes that they have one scheduled for the first part of April. There's probably information about it on their website. I won't be there (not a fan of sushi) but thought I'd pass that along. Disclaimer: The Stock Pot has no idea I'm posting about the class last night or the fact that sushi class is scheduled. I'm just passing on the information.

Comfort Food: A Twist on an Old Favorite

2011-03-21T15:35:00.000-05:00

One of my scrapbooking friends mentioned that she'd tried this recipe from the Betty Crocker website.

Can you guess what it is? It's Pizza Tater Tot Casserole!

Now we like Tater Tot Casserole at our house (Son doesn't like it for some reason though) and we like pizza so I thought I'd give it a go.

I made a few changes to the recipe because #1 I didn't have pizza sauce but I did have spaghetti sauce, #2 I didn't have an onion but I did have dried onions, #3 I prefer my green bell peppers to be cooked through so I browned them with the ground beef and dried onion, and #4 I wanted to have some leftovers so I doubled the recipe.

Oh, there's a #5 too. I baked the casserole at 350 degrees F. because I was using a glass baking dish and I think I read somewhere when you do that you should lower the baking temperature by about 25 degrees. Whether that's true or not, my casserole came out perfect.

So here's the recipe as I made it:

Pizza Tater Tot Casserole
adapted from the Betty Crocker website

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 tablespoon dried onion
2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
2 cups spaghetti sauce
4 ounces (approximately 56 slices) pepperoni
1 bell pepper, chopped
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 (32 ounce) bag of tater tots

Heat your oven to 375 degrees F (unless you're using a glass baking dish, then heat to 350 degrees F. like I did.) Spray a 13"x9" baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion and green pepper over medium-high heat until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain any grease from the meat mixture.

Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the undiluted soup. Cook until mixture comes to a boil, stirring occasionally.

Spoon the beef mixture into the prepared baking dish. Spoon the spaghetti sauce evenly over the top. Arrange the slices of pepperoni over the sauce. Sprinkle with cheese. Arrange tater tots over the cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil.

Bake the casserole for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

AD and I both enjoyed the twist on an old familiar comfort food dish. I hope you will too.

An Irish Blessing for You

2011-03-17T07:00:00.001-05:00

May you always walk in sunshine,

May you never want for more,

May Irish angels rest their wings right beside your door.

Me - Stylish? You've Got To Be Kidding!

2011-03-14T17:39:00.000-05:00

Last Friday Kris, over at Simply Living, presented me and 14 other bloggers with the Stylish Blogger Award. I must say I was surprised and very much appreciative to be thought of in that manner.

The instructions I received were to:

Tell seven things about myself that you may not know and to pay it forward by passing the award on the 15 other blogs.

So I thought about that over the weekend. 7 things you may not know about me. I could immediately come up with one or two - but 7. I really had to think hard. So after much thought here's what I came up with -

1. I took tap dancing lessons when I was 5 or 6 (can't remember exactly). I really enjoyed it until my instructor (the owner of the studio) decided to put my older teenage sister in charge of the class. My sister was a very talented tap dancer but I wasn't crazy about taking lessons from her.

2. I dropped my Chemistry class in high school because I JUST. COULD. NOT. GET. IT. I was taking 6 "solids" and all my other grades were falling rapidly because I spent all my time TRYING. TO. GET. IT. Looking back I think the problem may have been more with the teacher than with the student. I may have to write more about that experience another day.

3. My favorite Beatle was Ringo.

4. I dream in color and on occasion have dreams that are continued the following night.

5. Back to the school thing. I was in the first graduating class of my high school. My classmates and I were actually upper classmen for 2 years. Those that were seniors when the new high school was opened remained at the old high school to finish out their high school years.

6. Back in the dark ages before ultra-sounds were around to let parents know if their bundle of joy was a boy or a girl, I knew the gender of my babies both times. There was never a doubt in my mind. Either time. All the way into the delivery room with my second baby the doctor, nurses and student nurses (yep - I was SO blessed to have a group of students in on the delivery activities!) kept insisting I was having a boy. It all had to do with the the baby's heart rate. I held fast that I was indeed having a girl. When SHE was delivered (a rather hilarious "Keystone Cops" story altogether but one I won't share on the Internet) the looks on everyone's faces was priceless. I LOVE it when I'm right!

7. I only bet on sure things. Well, there was this one time that some of my co-workers had a baseball pool going and one of the gals kept insisting I get in on it. Just to get her to go back to her desk I gave here the 50-cents and put my name on square. You guessed it, I won. But anyway, I've just always made it a practice not to bet on anything unless it's a sure thing. And there aren't many things that are sure things. But my policy came in quite handy when my kids were growing up and they would just insist that they were right and I was wrong about something. All it took was for me to say, "You wanna bet?" Then they knew they needed to back down because they would lose for sure.

Ok, that's it. If you made it all the way down to here, you most certainly deserve the Stylish Blogger Award yourself. So take it and pass it on. I know the rules but I sometimes walk to the beat of a different drum and this is one of those times.

And Kris, Thanks ever so much for my award. You made my day!

The Weekend Wasn't All Racing

2011-03-10T11:35:00.000-06:00

One of the things I wanted to do while we were in the Dallas area was to make a trip to the American Doll Store. Last year I brought Elizabeth home with me. It was a tough decision because I was torn between Elizabeth and Kit. This year Kit came home with me.

Are there more American Girl dolls in my future? No. I'm happy now with the two I have.

On the way to the AG store I saw these window washers. I have no idea how much window washers make but whatever it is, it's not enough in my book!

This car hauler passed us before I could get a good picture of all the old cars it was carrying.

As the driver went one way, we went another. Still not a great picture (I was taking it through AD's driver's side window - a trick in itself!) but you can kind of see some of the cars.

Later AD and I went to the Twisted Root Burger Company in Roanoke for lunch. Son and I had eaten there last year and I thought AD would enjoy it.

I love these stools!

This is the burger I chose - Green Chile, Guac and Pepperjack Cheese. AD chose a buffalo burger. We shared the 'Fried Ride' - a sampler basket of their fried appetizers - Green Beans, Pickles, Onion Strings, French Fries, and Sweet Potato Fries. He had a chocolate shake and I had the Amaretto Oreo shake.

Note to self: Don't EVER eat that much again or you'll get another awful stomach ache!

On Saturday AD, G1, his girlfriend and I went to the mall in Grapevine. We got our exercise before we went to lunch.

We wanted to go back to Roanoke and eat at Babe's. G1 and his girlfriend got their famous chicken fried steak. AD and I chose the fried chicken. M (G1's girlfriend) really liked the food so I'm not sure why she's making that face.

On Sunday G1 and M were clowning around before we left. He never did get her in that trash can. She's a tiny little thing but she's pretty strong.

It was a fun weekend!

Our Time at TMS (Texas Motor Speedway)

2011-03-09T08:09:00.001-06:00

G2 in his new fire suit

On Sunday, February 27, G2 climbed into his new 'ride' for the very first time. He'd never driven a Sport Mod before (also known as a 'Limited' Modified as I have since found out.) He took it around Outlaw Speedway a couple of times that day.

Last Thursday we all headed for TMS near Fort Worth for the 'Texas World Dirt Track Championship' races.

Thursday night he took the car around the track a few times and had fun throwing a little mud.

Mud! This is only a little of what was scraped off from underneath the car. (And his Granny brought a small piece of it home thinking she'll find a way to put it on a scrapbook page. LOL!)

G2's fans in the stands (that's me on the very left.)

Friday night was hot laps, a heat race to see where he would start in the A-qualifier, and then the A-qualifier race.

He finished 3rd in his heat and everyone was pumped!

The weather changed radically after his heat race (we actually felt the wind change and it immediately got COLD). That caused the track to change which meant G2's car didn't have the right set up and he finished 16th in the A-qualifier.

Only the top 7 cars were locked into Sunday night's A feature meaning that G2 would have to race in a B-qualifier on Sunday to see if he'd make it into the A feature race.

If he finished in the top 3, he would transfer up and be able to race in the A feature.

On Sunday night he led the B-qualifier race for several laps but fell back just a smidge. He did finish 3rd though and transferred to the A-feature. That meant he would race with the best of the best.

He was a very happy young man!

Again the track changed a bit by the time the A feature rolled around (not due to weather this time though. I still can't believe how cold it was!) and again his car didn't have the right set up. Just one of those racin' things but they're learning all the time. Still G2 finished 18th. Not bad for a 16 year old kid who'd only been in the car a handful of times.

His mom was pretty proud of him - just like we all were! We're excited to see what the new season has in store for G2. With a little more practice we're pretty sure he'll be "tearin' up the tracks" in a few states.

PS. I forgot to mention that there were 93 pre-registered Sport Mods for the races. I'm not sure if any more showed up or not. Like I said, 18th out of 93 isn't bad though!

We're Back!

2011-03-07T14:12:00.000-06:00

We had a GREAT weekend!

G2 did an AMAZING job in his new ride considering he'd only practiced in it once a week ago yesterday (Sunday) and then we headed to Texas Motor Speedway last Thursday.

I'll post all about the weekend in the next few days. Right now there's laundry to do and blogs to catch up on.

NOTE to Poohpa: I didn't see your comment about Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes until this morning. We'll definitely have to check it out next time we're down that way.

Off The Grid

2011-02-28T10:51:00.000-06:00

G2 with his new car

I'll be 'off the grid' so to speak this week. We'll be traveling to Texas Motor Speedway later in the week to root for G2 as he competes in his first Southern Sport Mod race. The whole family is so excited for him. This is a new class for him but we know from past experience he'll do a great job.

I have LOTS of things I need to get accomplished before we leave. See you soon!

Spring Is In The Air

2011-02-26T17:54:00.000-06:00

Well, at least these robins think so. This afternoon is a chilly one but AD hollered for me to come look out the back door. The yard was filled with robins! I ran to get my camera (naturally it was in the bedroom instead of in my hand where it should have been) but by the time I got back they'd flown away.

A few minutes later they were back. This time I had the camera.

I snapped away as fast as I could in case the robins took flight again.

Now I ask you - with that many robins around, don't you think Spring is just around the corner?

My Wednesdays

2011-02-24T07:00:00.002-06:00

On Wednesdays you can generally find me at my local (35 miles away) scrapbook store cropping with a good friend.

The store has started having layout contests again since Spring is coming. The store decides on a sketch to be used (kind of an outline for lack of a better word), then those who want to participate use that sketch to create a page. The store's customers then vote for their favorite throughout the month. When the voting time has expired, all the votes are tallied, the winner is announced and receives a small prize.

Prize or no prize, I just like entering the contests. It's fun to take a sketch and see what I can come up with. I used to sew a lot and, for me, going from a sketch to a scrapbook page is like taking a pattern (the sketch), selecting just the right fabric (photos and papers), buttons, etc (embellishments) and ending up with a new dress (page).

I created the page above last week from this month's sketch. Although I really liked how it came out, something just seemed off. According to the sketch there were only supposed to be 4 photos used but my page just wasn't coming together the way it should so I added a 5th photo. Now the store isn't really that picky about following the sketches exactly but I like to be as on target as possible. So that 5th photo really, really bothered me.

I just couldn't see where I went wrong. Finally it hit me. I had placed the top photo at the very top of the page and that threw everything else off. The photo was actually supposed to be placed down the page just a bit.

I could have let it go and entered my page in the contest but since entries weren't due until today I thought I'd give it another go when I was at the store yesterday.

The title of the page is "Lions and Rhinos and a Bear - Oh My!"

This is the page I put together yesterday and it followed the sketch exactly. I like both pages equally well and had a very hard time choosing which one to enter.

In the end I left my zoo page to be entered. I can't wait to see everyone else's entries! After the votes are cast and a winner is declared I'll let you know how my page fared among the others.

On another note and because it does relate to this post - a week or so ago I visited Emmie's Ramblings and just enjoyed Emily's blog so much I became a follower. Little did I know that I would be her 50th follower.

Because of that she sent me a wonderful little package of goodies! On Tuesday there was a card in our post office box telling us that we had a package for pick up (our box is very small). Emily lives in Florida and I live here in Oklahoma so it never occurred to me that the package might be from her. I didn't get to the post office until after it had closed on Tuesday so I had to wait until yesterday to pick it up on my way to the scrapbook store. The package held a sweet plaque, a lovely scented sachet, a little butterfly wind chime and some scrapbooking goodies (brads, eyelets, embellishments and ribbon). Thank you Emily!

NOTE to Emily: The package arrived at the PERFECT time! I'm glad it was Wednesday before I was able to pick it up because it was in my bag when I got to the scrapbook store. The little black brads that were included were exactly what I needed to complete my Zoo layout. How great is that!!!!! I've had another page in mind to do for awhile now. I'm just waiting to get the photos I need for it. The orange ribbon is going to be perfect on the page. It's almost as if you knew what I was thinking. Thanks again!

A Trip to the Tulsa Zoo

2011-02-21T18:23:00.000-06:00

L-R (back row) Son, G4, G3 (front row) Girlie and G5

Saturday was a beautiful day in Oklahoma. AD's mother has one big birthday party for all of her kids every February. AD's youngest sister's birthday is the end of January, his and his brother's birthdays are one day apart in mid-February and his sister that is just younger than him has a birthday the first part of March. Now that there are not only grand kids, but great grands too, it's kind of a zoo when the party rolls around.

But this post isn't about that "zoo", it's about the Tulsa Zoo. Son and his kids came up for the party and when it started breaking up, he, his kiddos and I went to the Tulsa zoo for a few hours.

The kids were on the lookout for flamingos and they thought they found some. But these are spoonbills. I tried researching it but couldn't find anything that said flamingos and spoonbills are related. These were pink though and they stood on their legs like flamingos. That pelican (I assume it's a pelican!) in the back on the left was pretty fascinating to watch too.

This alligator was another of their favorites.

That lump of hair is a sloth and his parents were high above him in the trees. I tried taking their picture but they were just too far away to get a good one.

The rhinos are what really caught my eye. They reminded me of another trip to another zoo years ago when Son and Daughter were small. That zoo was a drive-through and a rhino came right up to our car to take a peek inside. It scared the bejeebers out of Daughter!

The lions were sunning themselves on Saturday.

The chimps seemed to be posing for pictures

just like the black bear.

I think everyone had a good time. Next time though, we need to go earlier in the day so we can spend more time. We pretty much closed down the zoo on Saturday.

I hope your weekend was a pleasant one too!

So UNFAIR!

2011-02-15T09:07:00.000-06:00

At least Daughter and I think it's unfair. And most people we talk to think we're crazy.

This is G1. He's 18 1/2.

This is Daughter, G1's mom. She's - ummm - let's just say on the downside of her 30's.

And this is me with AD. I'm 60. He was 59 last Saturday.

Here's what is unfair. I have always wanted to sit on a jury. Daughter has always wanted to sit on a jury. Neither of us have ever been called for jury duty.

Last week G1 received a letter in the mail telling him he needs to report for jury duty at the end of the month.

How. Does. That. Happen? Well, I know how it happens, but why haven't Daughter or I ever received one of those letters?

PS. AD has been called before and actually sat on a jury. Long story short, someone stole a Winnebago and drove it across the state line. I just didn't have another picture of myself that I wanted to use.