Stone Soup

Remember the story "Stone Soup"? That's exactly what I felt I was making today.

I started with an amazing recipe from my friend Marsha who borrowed it from her mom.

I gathered what I thought were all the ingredients but as I got up to my elbows in chopped veggies I realized I was missing one important ingredient, ground cloves.

I knew exactly who to call ~~ Deb!

Deb came to the rescue with her fire breathing dragon son Erik.

Now this is what I call a good friend. They dress up to drop off missing ingredients!
This is not a picture of my Mulligatawny Soup but let me tell you, we ate
this delicious goodness by the bowlful. Even the 13 year old boys loved it!
The best part? It was a recipe built on friendship and love.

No Fail Cinnamon Rolls

I have finally figured out the secret to perfect cinnamon rolls. Don't stress!

I mean it. I mixed up my dough as usual. I put it in a bowl to rise. Somehow, in the midst of a very busy afternoon, I forgot about it. Oh well, I punched it down let it rise a few minutes and then rolled it out. I spread it with all the yummy goodness, rolled it, cut it, put it in the pan and then proceeded on to laundry etc.

After a fashion I popped those babies in the oven and pretty soon every 13 year old boy in the neighborhood was hanging around for cinnamon rolls!

After they were iced...well, everyone in the neighborhood could have lined up for them.

Thank you LaVonda for your recipe. I couldn't have done this without you :-)

It Was a Good Day...

We had a really good day today. At around 11:00 a.m. Emily, Tyler, Jordan and I headed out for the Harvest Festival held at Steele Winery in Kelseyville. The wine tastes were disappointing but we had fun sampling the wares of all the vendors. I was less adventurous than the rest of the group. I kept my tastings to the "unfried" variety. The smells, sights and tastes were enough to fill our senses for quite some time. I bought a jar of almost hot pepper jelly to serve with cream cheese and crackers. Then at another booth I bought a sampler of soup and dip mixes that will carry me through this Holiday season.

As is our birthday tradition, Emily bought me a beautiful glass bead to wear on my favorite chain that belonged to my Nana.

So, top this good day off we have Barry Manilow on PBS! I can just hear all of you gagging right now~~but wait a minute! Back in 1978/79 he was really popular and we managed to get front row tickets at the Concord Pavilion to see him in person! He was and still is an amazing performer. The costumes, the songs, the lights....We were within spitting distance but, alas, Barry lip synced back then and now.
Even that can't ruin my good day!

Apple Crisp

I distinctly remember my first taste of Apple Crisp. I was invited to my friend's house for dinner. We were great friends (can't remember her name). We sat right next to each other in Mrs. Monroe's 5th grade class. She had a really cool ski parka that all us girls wanted to have. So...that Christmas, many of us received one from "Santa".

So that was Christmas. Fast forward to Spring. We all made Chinese Jump Ropes out of rubber bands. I saved all the extras from my brother's paper route. We shed our ski jackets for some other fashion of the day.

My friend invited me over for dinner. I found out she was adopted. Her room was so very clean and she had all the latest educational advantages because her adoptive parents were college professors. We had a great dinner and then...warm apple crisp with cream poured over the top!

Well, I decided right then and there that I should be adopted so I could have really smart games to play and Apple Crisp for dessert!

A Sad Night

This is a sad night for me. I just found out that Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary has died.

Mary gave up her battle with Leukemia and is resting in peace.
Our children were raised on the principles of:
Loving One Another more than yourself.
Whenever possible ~~ Give Peace a Chance. You never really know what can happen when you put your own desires aside and seek to live in accord with your neighbor.
Give Back ~~ no man is an island. We live to serve one another (thank you Al)

They can all sing Peter, Paul and Mary songs verse by verse. They know "by heart" what it means to feed the hungry, pray for peace and love their neighbors.



We can all "Light One Candle"

While I'm At It...

I just can't seem to do one thing at a time. I think it may be some sort of personality flaw. O.K. I heard one of you snicker "ADD" under your breath. I prefer to call it "multi-tasking" if you please.

For instance, this morning I was putting clean sheets on the bed. As I made my way around the bed I stopped to put the Tums back in the nightstand drawer, then straighten the books and dust off the lampshade on my side of the bed. While tucking in the sheets on Al's side of the bed I put away the clean laundry that was stacked on top of the dresser. Then there were the random shoes I kept tripping over so they just had to be put away.

Hold on, I'll be right back...

O.K. so I'm back. The washing machine was on the rinse cycle so I added fabric softener and on my way back I noticed Bella needed fresh water and I had to check the date on the water bill to make sure it isn't late and...

Like I said, I'm beginning to think I have some sort of personality flaw :-{

Oh My...

So, for the second time in my Math/Blogging history I have dropped an online math class. I'd like to think I'm not dumb. I'd like to think that figuring out recipes, shopping lists, gas mpg ratios etc...has given me some sort of a "math brain" but alas, no.

Truth is, I can't figure out anything online. Give me paper, pencil and a really smart teacher and I can spit out most of the right answers. Given a book and an online program and I am reduced to your regular barnyard animal.

That's o.k. I know my limitations. I will sign up for this class (in the classroom) sometime in the near future. As for this semester~~Ouch, I don't have a clue!