Food Fun Friday- Oatmeal Cream Pies

oh man were these good!!!! (and there was no healthy way to make them!) They are pretty sweet... Mr. Produce likes them without the filling, but they are heavenly either way. Ummm yea and not on my diet, oh well.

Oatmeal Cream Pies
1 1/4 C butter, softened
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
3C uncooked quick-cooking oats

1. Preheat oven to 375degrees
2. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add egg and vanilla, beating well.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well. Add oats, stir well. Add to butter mixture; stir until well blended. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake at 375degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan, cool on wire racks.
4. Spread 1 Tbl Cream Filling over each bottom side of half of cookies: top with remaining cookies, right side up

Cream Filling
1/2C butter, softened
2 C powdered sugar
1 to 2 Tbl whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed until combined, scraping bowl. Beat on high until light and fluffy.



Yummmmy

Blogville- my blonde ambitions

There's a new blog I follow:
My Blonde Ambitions. herenow I can't get a pic of her header... so I'll show a couple of fun pics:

there's "Feeding the Maid" (where of course she is the maid and deserves some chocolate covered strawberry's! yum)
and check out her travel jewelry case tutorial!

and jewelery to use as a creative jumping off point...
It's a fun read!!!
Thanks

And FINALLY tomorrow I will see this little guy: It's only been 10 weeks and 5 days since I've held him!! (he was only 8 days old when I left!!!!! I can't wait

Wednesday Wisdom

you cannot control the wind,
but you can adjust your sails

Yddish Proverb

A visit from Long Time Family Friends

Ya know how families have best friend families... where the parents love to hang out with the other parents and bring the kids along... well that was the Gillespie family. My mom and Dad, Jim and Mary Louise, hung out with Alice and JB. They had 2 kids Jimmy and Susie. Susie was 4 years older than me.. and I always thought she was WAY cool! In this picture (circa 1970) Susie was a Senior in High School and going to Europe with Show Troupe. There's my dad (never without his camera.. and a rare photo of my dad since he was always taking the pictures) my mom, Louisa and me.
fast forward 40 years.... (wow)...
She got remarried a month after we did. Kind of starting out our new lives together. She then lost her mother (well she didn't lose her, Her mother died) and now my mom has kind of become more than an "aunt" and more like a mother figure in her life. SO...
She hasn't see her (or us) in 4 years and she talked her husband into taking a quick weekend trip up to WA (from Calif to Seattle). They saw a friend in Seattle on Friday and drove out from Seattle to lil' ole Sequim on Saturday. We had a fun time showing them the town!
Here's my mom!!!(ok she didn't know I took this picture... (sneaky!)
We took them out to 3 Crabs Road (you know where the Dungeness Crabs come from)
Here we are 40 YEARS LATER, oh my GOODNESS, HOW DID WE ALL GET SO OLD
me and the man!!!
Susie and her man!
It was a short visit... but after coming so far it was a fun and crazy story telling trip!!! It was great... and my mom is STILL recovering! It was pretty exciting for her.. you know... a VISITOR from the old country (California)
Thanks for coming all this way Susie and Barry!

(sorry about all the ........ yep, kinda overdid!)

Whirlie-Gig

We had our granddaughter this weekend for a "sleep-over". She is a bundle of energy that just won't quit! Now I know why you have kids while you are young... not at 50. She is just like the energizer bunny.. keeps going and going!!!
She has a face for EVERYTHING.
She loves to yell! (especially at the dog Elliott)and make faces. We had a great time!!!

I also wanted to say that I won a beautiful BAG!!! from Ronna at RockinRonnaAccessories here
This bag is great, but think I'll be fighting my girls to see who gets to keep it!!!! and the inside is just as cute as the outside!!! go check out her site, she has other bags too! and I mean WHO DOESN"T NEED ANOTHER BAG to carry stuff. mmm think I will make this my 'weekend' bag!
Thanks again Ronna! here

sisters

I gave birth to 2 girls, sisters. they love each other.
Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there. ~Amy Li
She is your mirror, shining back at you with a world of possibilities. She is your witness, who sees you at your worst and best, and loves you anyway. She is your partner in crime, your midnight companion, someone who knows when you are smiling, even in the dark. She is your teacher, your defense attorney, your personal press agent, even your shrink. Some days, she's the reason you wish you were an only child.
~Barbara Alpert
My mother was so excited when she gave birth to two girls. She never had a sister and always wanted one and was so excited for her two girls to be SISTERS. My sister was my best friend. Even with 7 years difference between us we were always best friends and loved doing things together. She died in 1998 -at age 34- of breast cancer. Today is her birthday. I can't wait to see her again. I wrote about it in detail last year here

Now that I have married Mr. Produce, I have 3 more 'sisters". I am SO lucky! THEY ARE WONDERFUL WOMEN that I look up to, and have fun with!
Nancy, Janice, me (Diana is missing)

Food Fun Friday-Easy Egg McMuffins

OK, I don't know why I didn't think of this before. HOMEMADE McMuffins
Make a bunch, wrap them up and put them in the freezer. You can take it out the night before helping it defrost a little and then in the morning heat it up for a quick AND HEALTHY breakfast on the go. Use the Whole Wheat muffins.. Low Fat Cheese... Oh yeah!!!
I don't even need to tell you the ingredients (see above picture)...
and I especially don't need to tell you how to put it all together (although it would be great if you cooked your egg in a 'egg ring' so it turns out round.

This is a great healthy fast breakfast... now where's my purse, I'm off to get Whole Wheat Muffins

thoughts on today

Two years ago we got a couple of cuttings of Lilac bushes from Mr. Produce's sister. These came from cuttings from a bush at their childhood home in Onalaska.
today... when I came home from work... they had bloomed. I had to fight the bee's off to take a couple of twigs so that I could smell their sweet fragrance in our home.

Living here in 'lavender' country... I'm starting to like the color purple in every shape and form that it arrives in my garden. Speaking of my yard, I need to work in it to get the spring weeds out!!!

I just wish I had more time.
I wish I didn't have to work.
There's so much more I 'rather' be doing.
guess that's the name of the game
B-a-l-a-n-c-e
and everyone's balancing act is different. And it's different for every season of life you are in. Every season and situation.
oh my head hurts from thinking. I'm just going to have to go to bed so I can get up clear headed and.... you guessed it.....
GO TO WORK>
and it's not that I mind work, just wish I could work at something worthwhile. Something I liked doing. ok, my head is spinning again.
I'm just going to look at the pretty pictures and breath the heady aroma of the lilacs and then go to bed!

Wednesday Wisdom

Success in life has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It's what you do for others.

Danny Thomas

Joke Time

The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting for repairs to the church building. Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute.

The substitute wanted to know what to play. ' Here's a copy of the service,' he said impatiently. 'But, you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances.'

During the service, the minister paused and said, 'Brothers and Sisters,
we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up'.

At that moment, the substitute organist played 'The Star Spangled
Banner.'

And that is how the substitute became the regular organist!


Give me a sense of humor, Lord,
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And pass it on to other folk.

Road Trip

We were off on a road trip to see Grandma Katherine with the broken ankle (small bone) She had been moved to the Rehab place across the street from the Hospital in Centralia. When we left the clouds were a bit ominous to the West and we didn't know what to expect..
as we left Sequim it was a beautiful morning
One side of the Hoods Canal Bridge was a little gray
The other side was even worse
But all our fears were unfounded because when we got to Centralia (3 hours later) it was a beautiful 73degree day. Warm and muggy! I didn't take my camera in with me because I didn't want to be tempted to take a picture.. I mean if I had been in the hospital for a week, I wouldn't want a picture of me either. Katherine looked good and except for a bit sleepy was kind and loving and appreciative of all her visitors (even the cat they have in the center that makes his rounds to the beds of all the patients). She is still frail and weak, but getting her rest and care and after her ankle heals... well we shall see....
It was a great visit with another sister and brother and after about 3 hours... we headed home.
A long day.
The Olympic Mountains
quaint farm
now how'd that get in here
and back up the Hoods Canal..
water everywhere
and more water
and still looking at water
water water everywhere
yep, you guessed it more water... and silly towns named Duckabush,Hamma Hamma, Dosiewallop and Lillywop...and just as I was about to take more pictures this is what we saw...
ummm yeah, guess going 58 in a 40zone is frowned upon
luckily we were honest lookin' folks and he gave us a warning... Oh yeah and a stern talking to because I HAD NOT UPDATED OUR INSURANCE CARD IN THE CAR SINCE LAST JULY... oops, my bad... I told him it was my fault and he said I owed my husband a steak dinner.
After he left, I said I really owed the sheriff a steak dinner for not giving us a ticket. What a day!