Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day, a day we remember our heritage, especially our Military forefathers that fought for our country. My dad was in the army band and very proud of his service and all Military. I spent MANY years of my first marriage traveling around with the Navy and being very involved with various organizations (OWC etc). It's a different life, certainly not for everyone. Pretty much a strange thankless one until there is a World Crisis and then our military is prepared and ready for the call. Thank You, young & old.
Another aspect of Memorial day is to place flowers on the graves of all family members. My Aunt Kathryn (here's a picture taken on their honeymoon in 1958) grows a large garden for the sole purpose of having enough flowers on Memorial Day for ALL the graves of family members in MANY- - - MANY cemeteries through out the Utah valley. No one has asked her to do this, this is her tradition. Thank you Aunt Kathryn! what a service you do for all our relatives.

We have been on a long quick trip down south to visit with Mr. Produce's family to talk about his mother. Poor thing is still trying to heal from her broken ankle without much luck. We believe that she is 'willing' herself to make it to 90 (on July 7th).
You know that circle of life thing is sometimes a bitter pill.

It's been a long hectic, emotional weekend. so forgive the disjointedness of the post.

I scored at the Garage Sales

disclaimer: I live in a small town where 65% of the population is over 65. There are a LOT of yard sales ...reasons: downsizing/death/moving/to make friends. Most garage/yard/estate sales are on Friday, I can only go on Sat.
I went over my Garage Sale Budget but I found a great find...
A beautiful CROWN, in it's own little carrying case!!!! WAY COOL. I love crowns. (right Shelly?) I often tell my girls to call me the Queen Mum, hahaha, not really. But I do love crowns and have a couple charms of crowns and an old Christmas decoration that is a crown.. and well... I just HAD to get this one yesterday. The lady said that it belonged to a friend of hers.. well I'm just going to make up the story that the wear-er was crowned Miss Lavender Patch!
Other scores were: 2 lamps for one dollar... and (I know you'll be shocked) ANOTHER crockpot, just a baby one this time, and some cool 3d pictures for 25cents a piece.

Oh YEAH, just call me the Queen of Cute.

Food Fun Friday-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

I saw something about waffle cookies in a magazine article, and though (bonk) Why Didn't I Think of That.
I looked all over for one that sounded good. We are going to meet with Mr. Produce's family so I thought these sounded like a great (and easy) bake and take.

Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Waffle Cookies

Baking cookie dough in a waffle iron takes about a minute and a half, a real time-saver when you've got to have warm cookies right away. These cookies, excerpted from the book Dessert Express, look like mini waffles, but they bake up just like oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies, with browned, toasty oats on the outside and gooey, melty chips. Once cooled, they look cute garnishing bowls of ice cream.Yields 24 cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Nonstick cooking spray

Tip: For the best results, measure your flour by weight instead of volume. (1 cup of all-purpose flour equals 4-1/2 oz.) If you don’t have a scale, be sure to use the proper technique when filling your measuring cups.

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Heat the waffle iron according to the manufacturer's instructions.

In a large bowl, whisk the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

Coat the grids of the waffle iron with nonstick cooking spray. Use a tablespoon or small ice cream scoop to portion out a cookie onto each waffle square. Close the iron and cook until set and beginning to brown, 1-1/2 to 3 minutes, depending on the heat of your waffle iron. Use a thin metal spatula to transfer the cooked cookies to a wire rack and repeat with the remaining dough, coating the grids with spray as necessary.

http://www.finecooking.com

Bloggville- a year of slowcooking

I love Crockpots! I own 4. AND have a new one in the closet for a gift (or if I need it.)
This is a great site. LOTS of recipes and hints etc.

ummmm the smell of something in a crockpot.
The ease of dumping stuff in before you leave for work and coming home and THE COOKING IS DONE.

someone should write a song:
My crockpot makes me happy

enjoy

Wednesday Wisdom

Making MORE flowers

I'm trying ALL the techniques for making flowers.
You use the wire ribbon for these lovelies!!
For the above flower, I used about 2 1/2 yrds of ribbon.
After cutting your length of ribbon, on one end, you pull a little bit of each wire and wrap them together to anchor them so they won't pull out. At the other end you take ONE side of the wire and pull it through.
You'll have LOTS of wire to deal with so just cut off a bit so you won't have tons of wire like above. You will need to gather the whole length of ribbon. When you have gathered the whole length of wire, start with the inside (the part where you tied the two wires together. Roll it (hiding the tied wires).
Have a felt circle ready... put a dot of hot glue in the middle and center that first couple of rolls of ribbon onto the glue. Then you just keep rolling, gluing and turning the felt until you have a flower!
I used all sorts of lengths. The larger 2 are about 2 1/2 yrs. the center two are about 1 1/2 to 2yrs. and the smaller ones are just left over wire ribbons
Here is a pretty small piece, but it made a nice rose.
This wire ribbon is pretty stiff and makes a reallllly nice bud in the middle.
This piece was short and pretty flopsy and is nice but not a real bud in the middle.
Again, a short piece but a nice firm bud.
I love making flowers. But I really don't know where I'll use them. I just like them. Any ideas?

my weekend- - -

Mallory came over for the weekend and I learned a few (more) things:
6 year olds have TOO much energy-
the dark blue lines on my leg are ugly-
grill cheese on whole wheat bread is not that bad!-
go fish, crazy 8's and oldmaid in the space of 30 minutes can be fun-
mac & Cheese at Applebees is yucky-
when you hear loud running around downstairs at 2:30am, the ole' motherly instict kicks in-
I know how to make 4 different shapes out of the church program-
There's a reason you have children while you are young!

yes it was fun and exhausting!
in other news I got a really fun surprise in the mail:
my blog friend sent me some cards.. for nothing but being a blog friend! THANKS Suzanne!! her blog is here:
wish I had another day off to recover! sigh, no such luck!

Food Fun Friday- Flank Steak

Still trying to cut back here... and flank steak is a great meat to use... not too fatty...
Amy's Two Day Flank Steak

You could marinade for 24 hours only, but trust me, it's called TWO DAY Flank Steak for a reason. Flank steak is one tough cut of meat, and you need every minute of those 48 hours to tenderize that bad boy.

2lbs.flanksteak
1/4 C olive oil
1 6 oz. can pineapple juice
1 C soy sauce (Kikkoman's low sodium)
1/4 C honey
1/2 C rice vinegar
1 bunch green onions thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

Score the flank steak in one inch intervals on the diagonal on both sides of the meat. Mix all of the marinade ingredients well in a gallon sized resealable freezer bag. Insert the meat and flip the bag several times to thoroughly coat the steak. Refrigerate, and turn the bag several times over the next 48 hours. When grilling time has arrived, cook for 6 minutes on each side. Slice on the diagonal every half inch and serve immediately. The leftovers make great sandwiches on a baguette

Blogville- Hostess with the Mostess

Look at THIS party....
I found this over at Hostess with the Mostess here
aside--(my Senior year at High School I sang that song... I'm the Hostess with the Mostess after all.... you'll win a prize if you can name that musical!)
I digress...
This is THE best site.... I fell in love with this little Fairy party (from another blog I read The TomKat Studio here ... she has fun stuff let me tell ya)
Hostess with the Mostess give you all sorts of information, from entertaining 101 to way more ideas that I could ever use (or pay for)
but for today we'll just oh and aww over this cute little fairy garden party.. oh to have little girls again!
Such a cute Fairy
I love crowns
oh my oh my.... all these goodies and SOO soo SOO beautiful
You had me at CAKE... I don't think I can breath......

Mr. Produce's Birthday

Happy Birthday... in honor of your birthday here's a little trip down 2009 memory lane.

You are the man for me!!! (sorry I didn't get you your car.. but I've put an order in with Will's Custom Rod Shop-- orange or black 1968 NOVA)
You are hot ( be still my heart)

you love me and my high maintenance ways..(see Hawaiian Cruise)
and you're a great dancer... (put your hands in the air!!!)
A family man (DNA runs thick, just not the hair)
a caring and entertaining Papa!
a great brother
and son..
You are the best! I love you and HaPpY BiRtHdAy
Take the day off... (yeah like that's going to happen. )

Take Your Blog to Work Day

First I need to apologize.... my boss DID bring fresh caught halibut for us to take home. (one perk, the only one...unless you like to fish)

Second... I work at a job. 8-5 M-F
Not a career, or anything I like. It is certainly not my passion... just a job.
It's a wholesale company for custom fishing rods. If you have to have a job in this little tiny town, I guess this is as good as any

and it's all about the fish...
Fish are on the walls EVERYWHERE
all kinds....
oh yeah, we are an equal opportunity company, we have a deer head in the annex.
Here's the 'show wall', with more fish.
and then there is MY AREA, THE FRONT OFFICE... The Hub.. and as my boss likes to put it, THE HOT SEAT. I try to keep paperwork on it so it looks like a happening place... and of course it makes me look extremely busy. (how's that working?) (notice MY FISH on the wall, they are wooden.. but you know I had to put MY trophies up!
Here is our warehouse full of more blanks.
Yep that's it.
I can't even get excited about taking my friends on a tour of the place,
how lame is that???

Gone Fishin'

I work.
I get 7 holidays (days off) a year.
Gone Fishin' is considered a holiday. a day off? nah we HAVE to go fishin' with the company and hang out all day.... and listen to fish stories... (and how is that different from every other day... and I can't believe its considered a HOLIDAY)

(more about my job tomorrow as tomorrow is Take Your Blog To Work Day)

We we went to Lake Sutherland, a small lake near by.
This year there was no rain. There was no fog. There was no haze.
Just a big ball of beautiful sun! SUN I SAY, *A-mazing*
Have I mentioned that I work with a bunch (A BUNCH) of fishermen!!!
So there are 3 boats and if you want they will take you along fishing for several different kinds of trout and Coho if you are lucky.
There are a bunch of boats out, but it doesn't matter it is warm WITH NO BREEZE... I mean no rain, no fog, NO BREEZE...an amazingly beautiful day!
There are a couple of eagles watching over us (or are they waiting for dinner?)
What you can't see him??? ok just a little closer...
I hooked a couple of small fish... then a little bit bigger.. but still too small to keep.
I subscribe to the Kiss and release program:
As soon as we throw the fish back into the lake..... THE EAGLE SWOOPED DOWN AND PICKED UP THE FISH for lunch. (click on the pic for a closer look) Can't believe I got the shot!
He then flys up to the nearest tree to have a little snack.....
And then flys away.... to pick off another unsuspecting 'released' fish...or one that is swimming just a little too close to the top!
The end.... of a beautiful day. Although we won't be having fresh fish for dinner (unless my boss caught Halibut over the weekend! and is in a sharing mood! (ha-HA oh yeah that's a funny one for Halibut is 17.00 a pound)