Hello out there in Blogland!

I really should apologize for my long, long hiatus - but I don't think I will. I have been so busy living life that my journaling was set aside for a time. I think that there are sometimes in life that some things become "less important" to us. Not that my blog is not important, I just refocused for a while.

My dear mother-in-love has been visiting us from St. Louis. We have had such a good time - Went on a museum tour, the local carnival, out to eat, for drives and walks. Good times.

God has been so good to us. We have purchased a new car. Well, not brand new, but new to us. Honey's younger daughter is in need of good transportation and so we will be giving her our current car. It is still a good car and will last for a good while longer. Through God's grace and Honey's relentless pursuit, we found a really, really good deal. We will go pick it up next week or so.

I have thoroughly enjoyed yesterday and today - no set schedule, just the natural rhythm of things. Time spent cleaning, visiting, cooking, resting - very enjoyable. Peaceful. Time spent with family. Comfortable time. Loving time.

As I had to work on the 4th, we had our holiday dinner last night. We had:
Brisket, cooked in the slow cooker until it was just falling apart - served with BBQ sauce on the side.
Fresh sliced tomatoes, the first we have had this year, sprinkled with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Potato salad, my Mom's is the very best I think.
Corn on the cob, oh-so-sweet and dripping with butter.
Baked beans, cooked slow in the oven with onion and little bits of smoked brisket.
Fresh cucumbers and Vidalia onion in Vinegar, so refreshing.
Fresh Bing cherries and cantaloupe.
Pickled baby beets, jewel-toned and sweet-sour.
Cheese cubes - Colby and pepper jack.
Coleslaw with vinaigrette dressing.
Deviled eggs, my SIL's specialty.
Watermelon, juicy and sweet.
Iced tea, liquid amber coolness, sweet and fresh.
No bake cookies - just the perfect ending, crumbly chocolatey goodness.

Sorry for no pictures, DS has my camera just at the moment.

I am going to leave you with my recipe for:

Cucumbers and Onions in Vinegar
Fresh cucumbers - I bought small ones at farmer's market
Vidalia onion - I bought a 10 pound bag from the Shriners when they had a sale **
Sugar
Salt
Apple Cider Vinegar
Water
Fresh ground pepper

Scrub your cucumbers well. I used regular Kirby cucumbers, the kind used for pickling, the ones with the bumps. Just slice off either end. A good way to check them to make sure they are not bitter - stick your tongue on the cut end. You will be able to tell if they are bitter, I guarantee! Anyway, slice your cucumbers fairly thin. You can do this with cucumbers from the store, just peel them first.

Slice your Vidalia onion thinly. I used about half an onion to 4 smallish cucumbers, use more or less to your taste. My cucumbers were probably 5-6 inches in length, maybe 1-2 in around?

Put cucumbers and onions in a bowl.

In the bottom of your liquid measuring cup, mix together about 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and about 1-1/2 tablespoons sugar - more or less of these to taste. Then for the amounts listed above, I used 1/2 cup vinegar and 1/2 cup water. Mix until salt and sugar are both dissolved. Pour over the cucumbers and onion. Sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper. Refrigerate and let flavors mingle, preferrably for a couple of days.

These are so refreshing in the summer. Low cal. Fat free. I like to put them on some bread and butter and make a sandwich - great at tea time.

**Tip for storing onions: I leave mine in the mesh bag and store them on the floor of my basement or garage, out of the light. They stay fresh a long time that way.

Well, I must be up and about, living and loving. Much love to you all - Raquel

Wednesday This-n-That

Not sure what all I will put on here today . . . Just random things I guess.

We got SNOW last night! Only about 1/4 of an inch, but it was still snow. I was excited, if no one else was! It was so pretty coming down, big fluffy flakes.


This is taken on our back deck.

Dad just called and I guess we are going to cook our spiral-cut ham for Christmas. I was planning on a beef roast. That is ok, I can do the roast for New Year's. The sides I had planned for the roast will go well with the ham. So ham for Christmas and beef roast and chicken (ds does not eat beef) for New Year's.

I cannot find my Christmas cards! I put them somewhere and now I can't remember where! So frustrating. I hope I find them this next week or I will have to go and buy some - Ugh.

I have decided that whoever wallpapered this house was an idiot. I am talking overlap of 4-5 inches. And then wonder why the glue does not hold - DUH! I did manage to get one part of the loose border re-stuck down, working on the other part.

My poor husband doesn't know what to think. I cook all manner of things he is not used to eating. He does not care for squash unless it is summer squash. I love squash of all sorts. He does not like beans - I love them. It is funny, I can always tell when he doesn't care for something - he will eat it in big mouthfuls and eats it all, first thing. He will eat it, tho, brave boy. Last night I fixed this dish that I loved and Honey - well, he ate it in big mouthfuls first thing. I tried telling him how good dark orange veggies are for you but he said it was like having cowboys and indians in his stomach. I settled him down with a rhubarb cookie (recipe tomorrow).

Butternut Squash with Leeks and Bacon

1/2 of a small butternut squash, peeled and sliced fairly thin
a knob of butter
a handful of sliced leek
2 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
cajun seasoning or whatever you like
a bit of chicken broth

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. Fry squash, turning once. Season well. Toss leeks in towards the end and give everything a good stir. Pour a bit of chicken broth, maybe 1/3 cup or so over all and let it cook until almost totally gone. Top with crumbled bacon and serve.

Zucchini Supreme

I am one of those strange people who actually like zucchini. When it is of an edible size. It is so versatile, you can make so many different things with it. I like it raw in a vinagrette pasta salad. I like it in cake or bread. I like it in a stir-fry.

But probably my favorite way to eat it is as described below.

Zucchini Supreme

1 small zucchini, sliced
1/4 of an onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 of a green pepper, diced small
knob of butter
1 cup crushed tomatoes
Italian seasoning, salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Melt butter in sauce pan. I use about 1-2 Tablespoons for 1 zucchini. You can also use a bit of olive oil. Toss in zucchini, onion, pepper and garlic. Saute until zucchini begins to brown a bit. Add tomatoes and seasoning - We have pizza seasoning with salt and that is what I used. Let cook until the tomatoes thicken up a bit. Top with cheese.

This is a quick, easy side dish that can be made year 'round. It goes great with a steak or chicken.





Some folks asked about locusts earlier when I posted a picture of the shell - here is a real one! I think this one had just come out of a shell and was drying his wings off. They are kind of a pretty color, but such a nuisance.

Corny

Some things in this life are just . . . corny. My son loves to come and tell me corny jokes, always has. One of those little things that I treasure down in my heart of hearts.



We live in corn country. Well, sorta. Actually I think they grow more soybeans around here. But we live in the heartland, the bread basket of America. Fields of corn that go on forever! While on vacation in Nebraska, that was practically all we saw. Corn. The corn grown there is soooooooooo good! While we were there, we had corn on the cob at my brothers. Ohh, steamy hot, dripping in butter, crunchy and delicious!


As you can guess, we like corn just about anyway you can fix it. (I don't particularly care for creamed corn, but I fix it once in a while anyway) While at our Eatin' Meetin', our pastor's wife made this salad. Ohhh, yummy! And Soooooo easy! Sorry, no pics again!

Mary's Corn Salad

2 cans whole kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup green and red bell peppers, minced
1/2 cup onion, minced
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup mayonnaise (I never said low fat!)
1 bag Chili-Cheese Fritos, crushed

Mix first 5 ingredients together in bowl. Chill. Just before serving, stir in Fritos. Done! This is best eaten the day it is made, as it does not keep well. If you have problems eating it all that day, see me!

Happy Monday!

Well, it is definitely Summer here! We had 108F on Saturday and are expecting 110 today. With about 90% humidity. Ugh!

As for myself, I would prefer to live up north, where it gets 85-90 for a high and then cools down at night. I like cooler temperatures. Heat just makes me cranky!

We have been doing some crockpot cooking, which is nice, but every once in a while . . . I like to make something on top of the stove. We had ham the other night and I was looking for a different side dish . . .

Here is what I came up with:

Corn Fritters
Serves 4

Note: These are a savory corn fritter, you can make sweeter ones, I will post about that in the winter! Those will be out of my Nero Wolfe Cookbook - that man knew all about eating!

11 ounce can of corn, drained
1 small onion, minced
1/2 tsp. chili powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of salt (I used hickory smoked)
1 egg
Fresh ground black pepper
4 Tablespoons cooking oil

Buzz corn in the blender a few seconds. Stir everything together except oil. Heat oil and drop mixture by a heaping spoonfull. Spread it out a bit. Fry about 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.



You could add some jalapeno to these . . . or maybe some cheese . . .some ground coriander or cumin . . . Maybe use some zucchini . . . there are a lot of possibilities here.

I served these with Thai Sweet Chili Sauce - Wow, what a taste-a-pooloza!

Country Cookin'

I am a country girl at heart! They say that you can take the girl out of the country, but you can't take the country out of the girl! (Not that I am anywheres near out of the country.)

I like to eat fancy now and then. But when it comes to certain dishes, plain ol' country cooked is how I like them.

Like green beans. Now I have eaten them several different ways. But my favorite will probably always be like this.

Country-Style Green Beans
Makes a "big ole' mess"

6 slices bacon
1 onion, diced fine
2-3 potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
Chicken broth
Garlic powder to taste
Fresh green beans, a big colander full (probably about 1/2 gallon)

Saute your bacon until almost crisp. Set bacon aside. In bacon grease, saute onion until limp. In a large pot, put your snapped beans. Now for this many beans, you might want to use 2 cans of chicken broth (apx 1 quart). Pour the broth over your beans. Season well. Add the onion and bacon, stir. Cook over low-medium heat for at least 30 minutes. Check beans for tenderness. If they are not fork tender, cook them some more. Throw your potatoes in and let them get tender. Add mushrooms last. Now get you a bowl, sit down and eat.

This reheats well.