And Summer Goes on......

This week has been pretty humid, but great conditions for the garden....I made more salsa this week, pickled banana peppers, freezer pickles,dille pickles, and my first batch of canned tomatoes!

I came up with a new recipe the other day. I wanted something for dessert that was cool and fruity so I made a Mandarin Orange Cake....It was very moist and very tasty....Here is the recipe for my Mandarin Orange Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

2sm cans of mandarin oranges
1 can crushed pineapples

1/2 c of applesauce

3 eggs

1 box of lemon pudding

1 small container of cool whip

water

mix cake mix, eggs, applesauce, water per cake mix directions, and one can of mandarin oranges together with mixer on low until well blended. Pour into cake pan and bake according to directions on cake box. When the cake is cooled, mix pudding with crushed pineapple, add 1/2 can mandarin oranges cut up in small pieces, and the cool whip. Spread over cooled cake. Use remaining 1/2 can of mandarin oranges to garnish cake. refridgerate until ready to serve!

This week was the Abingdon Fall Festival....on Thursday night was the Chicken and Pig Scramble....Derek and Emily were in the pig scramble...Derek gave the pig a run for his money and Emily got the Pig!! Emily got $10 for winning the pig!

Emily was in a class of about 10 eight year old girls. They are in a closed in area and there is one little pig running around. When they blow the whistle all the girls run and try and catch the pig..oh and the pig is all soapy and the grass has been wet down....Emily was determined to get it! Once you catch the pig, you have to drag it to the middle of the area and you and the pig have to be in the huge tire...

Derek tried real hard and almost got the pig!!

After the Chicken and Pig Scramble, The kids got arm band and rode rides with Sharayah, Crystal, and Emily J.

The kids had a great time and really enjoyed riding rides. I'm glad the weather cooperated with us. I remember from years before, sometimes it is so hot and humid, it made you sick just being outside....but this year the weather was perfect!

Still Summer.....

The temeratures have really soared into the 90's this last few days, reminding us that it is still summer. The kids are anticipating school registration, the first day of school, and the fall festival that is coming to town this weekend. Derek and Emily will be in the pig scramble on Thursday!! The basement is getting closer to being finished, and John is still working on a lot of cars. The fresh veggies are still coming in and I'm still doing a lot of canning. Of course the big hit with the kids this week were the ooey, gooey, chocolatey frosted brownies that I made on Monday!!

I found another great recipe this week.....Mexican Bubble Pizza.......

It was a big hit with the whole family....I thought I'd share this recipe.....

1 lb ground beef

1 pkg taco seasoning mix

3/4 c. water

1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed tomato soup

1 can Grands Homestyle biscuits

2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

shredded lettuce

diced tomatoes

sliced ripe olives

1 container sour cream

sliced green onions

salsa

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375*

brown and drain ground beef, add taco seasoning mix, water and tomato soup...bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally....remove from heat

add in grands biscuits that have each been cut diagonally into eight pieces stir and pour into a 9x13x2 casserole dish....

bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown...sprinkle with the cheddar cheese and bake for 8-10 minutes longer or until cheese is bubbly....cut into squares and top with remaning ingredients...

Even thought it's small this year, our vegetable garden has been very generous......we harvested about 20 lbs of yukon butter gold potatoes, crisp aromatic green peppers, and lots of firm cucumbers,......We've also had a lot of beets, green beans, tomatoes,and banana peppers

Mom stopped by the other day with some great treats for us.....Fresh cantaloupe, a giant watermelon, and peaches and cream sweet corn.......It was all very good, fresh and tasty!

When John was growing up, he was extremely close to the neighbors next door. The Culvers were the kind of neighbors that you would die for.....and John became very close to Toren and his Mom, Carol....otherwise known as "Mom" to John. Carol made a Norwegian cookie called Kringla....it is a light pastry type cookie that John loved. Recently he was finally given the recipe. I made it and it turned out great. John took one bite and had an instant grin on his face. He said, "It taste just like when I was younger!"

I think it's great to have childhood memories. They are somewhat comforting at times. I sometimes sit and wonder what my children are going to remember from our household when they get older. I wonder what stories they are going to pass on to their children. I hope they are happy memories. I hope they are about when Grandma Lonas lived in Phoenix and came on a plane to visit and how excited they were to go to the airport and pick her up. I hope they are about Christmas dinners, gifts, new clothes, and the yearly cheesball that I make every year. I hope they are about school shopping and the first day of school. I hope they are about going to Lake Story a couple times a year and how we always take a picnic and the dogs with us...they always come home with some treasures that nature left on the ground. Maybe they will remember how hard we worked on all the houses we ever lived in...not because we needed something to do or something to spend money on, but we wanted them to have the nicest place possible and to be proud of their home. Or maybe they will remember when Aunt Teri or Aunt Sheri came to visit and slept in their room and how much fun they had by making pallets on the floor, jumping with Libby and Hallie on the trampoline all day, and sitting all over the house eating some wonderful recipe they we made just so we could share new recipes.. I hope their memories are as funny, happy, sentimental, and comforting as mine are.

All in the Kitchen...

Funny picture Wednesday....Our cat (the stray that adopted us) Fluffy, or Purdy cat as John calls her. I seen her sitting on the step outside and you know me, I never miss an opportunity to take a picture! If she could see this I wonder if she'd be saying "Will you please call Jenny Craig?"
Emily really is a wonderful helper in the kitchen....Today with her help, We made 11 containers of freezer pickles, 6 quarts of dill pickles, 5 pints of Salsa, and 4 quarts of pickled beets!! Not to mention supper...We were in the kitchen literally all day....from noon until almost 8:00pm!!
My first batch of Salsa turned out Fantabulous!!! Can you even imagine how yummy this is going to taste????
For supper tonight I fixed one of Ieshia's favorites! Poor Man BBQ's

Here is my Poor Man BBQ Recipe

1 lb ground beef (browned and drained)
1 can of corned beef hash
3/4 C. of Ketchup
1/4 C. of brown sugar
3 tablespoons of grape jelly

Put all ingredients in a crockpot on LOW for 3-4 hours stirring occasionally.


My Garlic beets turned out perfect!

All you do is saute' the beets in a little olive oil, about 2 tablespoons of minced garlic and 1/4 cup of steak sauce....A1 works best...and of course salt and pepper....

Debbie is a great help in the kitchen.....She is my "clean-up crew"....it really makes things go faster when she's cleaning up the whole time.....If she's told me once, she's told me a hundred times....She says, "Since you do all the cooking and canning...I will help with the clean up!"

John has been letting Derek help him when he mows the yard! Derek is thrilled....He has been asking to help mow the yard for a few years. I just wanted him to be a little taller....so I guess this is the year for him to learn! Now, we all know that next year when it comes time to mow the yard he'll probably whine about it!It looks like he's been doing it for years!

Veggies, Recipes, and canning...

Well, this week I have been in the kitchen a lot trying a few new recipes, doing lots of canning, and enjoying all of the fresh veggies from my garden. I really do love this time of year and can't wait until next year because John and I are going to put in a larger garden....I am going to have a raised herb garden also. So I'll be doing a little research on cooking with fresh herbs and what I want to plant...I was given some fresh basil today and WOW it smells so good....I never realized how different it was from buying dried herbs at the store. Well, the picture below is one that I love....it shows fresh tomatoes from my garden and I just love how it looks in the kitchen this itme of year...

Below is a picture of my counter right before canning some more dill pickles....

THE HARVEST

Plowing, Tilling, preparing the land

Planting the seeds, sown by hand

Watering, hoeing, pulling the weeds

Watching the plants grow from little seeds

Seems like forever before they grow

When they'll be ready, you'll never know

Finally it's ready, cucumbers to pick

green peppers so shiny, tomatos so slick

Carrots, green beans, and ruby red beets

All these fresh veggies make for good eats!

I have so many cherry tomatoes this year and they are really big and plump and so very sweet. I was looking around for recipes calling for cherry tomatoes. Even tho' we eat them like candy, on salads, pasta salads, and anything else we can think of, I thought I' d like to try something new with them.....I ran across this recipe and made it tonight for supper! I loved it....it gives a different twist to fresh tomatoes.....

Garlic and Herb Tomatoes

3 tablespoon of good olive oil

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

2 pints of cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil

2 tablespoons parsley

2 teaspoons thyme ( I used ground thyme)

salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan, large enough so the tomatoes fit in a single layer. Add the garlic to the oil and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, basil, parsley, thyme, salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5-7 minutes tossing occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to loose their firm round shape. You can garnish with fresh chopped basil and parsley...

This dish can be served warm or refidgerated.

Doings at our home....

Happy Face snapshot for Saturday is Emily! Due to the flood in our basement, most of the kids' things have been in storage. Yesterday Emily got several of her stuffed animals back and is sitting here with them....She's like a kid in a candy store! She's such an animal lover......live or stuffed!

I love capturing pictures of my kids with their grandparents. I think it's very sweet. I don't remember having many if any pictures of me with my grandparents. Here is a picture of Emily and Grandma Keller.....Grandma Keller is showing Emily how to sew the tail of her lion. In this picture you can see the family resemblance...

Debbie got a new box springs and mattress for her bed. It was long overdue since her other one was 15+ years old and used when she got it....She's really happy with it!

On Friday night, John and I took Derek to the Maple City Cruise In....Wow ! There were over 2,000 cars and over 25,000 people! It was beautiful weather for the cruise in...around 78 degrees. We seen a few people we knew, a few cars we had seen before, and a lot of nice cars...below there is a picture of a truck like Johns that he is restoring.....towards the end of our long walk of 3-4 miles....Derek started complaining about his feet and legs hurting so John (Big Brave Dad) decided to give him a piggy back ride! He carried him up there for 2 whole blocks! That's one brave caring dad!

Even Ronald McDonald was there....lol

John has been busy the last few days working in the garage. Since we go from project to project, the garage gets the brunt of the mess. We pick up a little and then start something else and the garage never completely gets cleaned. However, today it looked pretty good....just a few more things to find a place for....Kudos to John for all the work he did cleaning and organizing his garage!! We are ready now for a new project!

My very first car was a 1972 VW Super Beetle...I LOVED that car! Over time it fell apart, I moved and my Dad got rid of it. But I always thought that if I had a chance I would get another one......That day finally came when a friend of Johns had one to get rid of. Of Course it was not "driveable"....It had some body work done on it and all the parts are there....they just aren't where they need to be. Since he has never worked on one....this is going to be a learning experience for John, but at least he's up for a new challenge. It was put in the garage tonight and John, Andy, and Derek started to take it apart and start the long process of restoring this 1970 VW BUG for me.......Hopefully is will be the sunburst orange bug that I want! I will post update pictures from time to time.....