An Almost Springtime Walk

It has been a long winter and I've been housebound most of the time because of ...oh, shall I list all my ailments?  Let's not.  Suffice it to say I have to avoid bright light.  But today shortly after noon (a forbidden time of day for me to spend time outside) I had to run to the car in search of a lost item. The air held such an irresistible scent of promise that I risked a short walk.  I donned two pairs of sunglasses and a sunhat, and off I went.  My dog was ecstatic; it has been a long winter for him, as well.  He plowed right into the lake, belly deep, for his first refreshing swim of the season!  I imagine the water was pretty cold because he came right back out again, but I welcomed this additional sign of approaching warm weather. 

Everything is still brown and lifeless, but birds are singing and the air has warmed. And, when I looked closely, there were some signs of green showing beneath the dead grasses.  The blessings of fresh air and sunshine must have trumped possible ill effects, and I returned home feeling uplifted.

It's almost spring!

The Week That Was, 2-11-19 to 2-17-19

Clockwise from upper left:  When I realized I had not provided my son with a matching cookbook to the one I prepared for our daughter when she married, I got right to work on compiling recipes.  Upper right:  This is our 3 year old grandson, with his VERY OWN box of chocolates on Valentine's Day morning.  Bliss!  Lower right:  Our weather this week:  snow, sleet, some more snow, and more sleet...  Lower left:  Our 3 year old granddaughter sent us a Valentine that she painted herself.  

Because of weather, I stayed inside all week and feel a little bit stir crazy, but when I was counting my blessings this morning I realized I have nothing to complain about.  Many of my friends and family would have loved to switch places with someone who can arrange her schedule to stay home when the weather is nasty.

I found a project to occupy my time.  I was talking with my son one day a few weeks ago and was directing him to a recipe, "I'm sure it's in that cookbook I made for you," I said.

"You didn't make a cookbook for us, Mom," he said.

Oh dear.

Sure enough, when I checked the archives I found several file folders of family recipes, compiled as I had begun work on a loose leaf binder of recipes for our son and his wife at the time of their marriage.  I'd never finished the project.  They have been married for seven years.

To quote my good friend, Grover, "I am so embarrassed."

Well, better late than never.

As I've sorted and organized recipes, I kept tagging those I wanted to make again soon. Winter days make me hungry anyway, and spending several days sorting recipes made me feel like cooking.  Here are a couple I tagged to make this coming week for just Farmer John and me, as we weather this winter weather together:

Grandma Irma’s Sausage and Rice

“Easy and Good”

Brown:

·      ½ pound sausage with

·      ½ cup chopped green pepper and

·      ½ c. onion, chopped, and

·      ½ cup celery

Add 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of water, cover and cook until rice is done. 

***

Grammy’s Hot Chicken Salad

4 cups cooked, diced chicken (4 to 5 chicken breasts)

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2/3 cup slivered almonds (may be toasted)

¾ cup mayonnaise

1 cup grated cheddar

2 cups finely chopped celery

 1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1 teaspoon minced dried onion

1 can water chestnuts, drained and chopped

1 and ½ cups crushed potato chips or corn flakes

½ teaspoon pepper

¾ teaspoon salt

Mix all ingredients except cheese and chips.  If it seems too thick add a cup of chicken broth. Place in baking dish (9x13) and add cheese, then chips, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

****

I made the following recipe for just John and me on Valentine's Day, such a splurge and so good!  I believe I got the recipe from our daughter, Melinda--it is egg and dairy free.  

Brownie Pudding Cake

1 cup flour

2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup milk (can use rice or oat milk)

3 Tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1 and 1/2 cups boiling water

Preheat oven to 350.  Stir together flour and next three ingredients, along with 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a large bowl; stir in milk, oil, and vanilla.  Spread batter in a 8 inch square pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  

Combine brown sugar, cocoa, and remaining 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a smaill bowl; gently pour over batter in pan smoothing with spoon.  Gently drizzle 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water over batter, being careful not to disturb layers.  

Bake at 350 about 25 minutes or perhaps longer (depending on your oven and metal versus glass pan) until cake layer forms on top and springs back when touched.  A pudding like filling forms--don't think it isn't done when the fudgy goodness spills out as you serve the warm cake.  Serve with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.  

The Little Things

I must confess that although I know better, during these dark winter days I have lapsed to discontent with my lot in life. The beginning of a new year is conducive to this kind of sin; we want to do better and accomplish more this year than last. And, for those of us who are older, there is the feeling that we might not have a lot of time left in which to get a move on toward the ephemeral "How I always thought things would be."

It's human tendency to look past treasure that is right in front of us, and I'm no different.  It's an ongoing challenge not to feel panic when my house is a mess, even if there is a precious grandchild standing right in front of me.

But...when I looked back over photos from the last month I was able to let my disorganized closets and unpainted woodwork slip back into their proper places: low on the priority list.  Parenting taught me that precious childhood years don't last very long at all.  I hope I've gained wisdom as a grandparent to enjoy the precious "little things" with whom I've been so blessed in this season of my life!

Pastor Paul teaches our two youngest grandsons during children's time. 

January 12 Snow

January has catapulted past, fueled by end-of-year bookwork and short days filled with bird feeding, house cleaning, and careful treks over slushy country roads and once, through dense, melting snow-fed fog, to visit Mom at the nursing home.  But the morning of January 12 was beautiful, and deserves the time I've spent today composing this post.  I want to remember this day.

I am no longer able to go outside during bright sunlight because of rosacea and ocular rosacea, but the morning following this snowfall was overcast with no wind, and so I pulled on my snow boots as in days of yore and spent a precious hour taking photos of the snow that coated every surface.  It was wonderful.

Farmer John does not appreciate snow because of the difficulties it poses to his commitment to take good care of his livestock, but even he seemed to appreciate the beauty on this day.  A magical moment occurred when a large white-tailed buck stepped out and stared at me from 200 feet away.  I had only my phone camera and so his rack doesn't show in the photo above, but it was lovely nonetheless.