AHS Class of 1977 Get Together

Thats me in the blue, a little smaller since our last shindig,,,LOL

Last week a few of my classmates and I got together for a little get together at a little restaurant in town. We had a fun time.

I am still so amazed by the fact that while in school, I felt that I had nothing in common and no connection to most of my class.

Today, things are so different.

they are all amazing people, and I truly enjoy their company.

Thanks again to them all for including me in these special times together!

Eco-Mow

My son, Trevor, "Toad", has started a new business in our area.

Eco friendly lawn care services.

This is the son who took me into his home after the death of my husband.

So, if any of you locals can get the word out, I would truly appreciate it.

Storage Ideas

Since moving from a large home to a small mobile home, storage is a real issue for me. Luckily I did rent a 3 bedroom though. Since it is just Sushi (my brat cat) and me. I am using the extra bedrooms as storage.

I have one very small bedroom right off the kitchen. Since my kitchen is very small,

there isn't much room for my kitchen gadgets and appliances, so I have been turning it into a pantry room.

I had a couple of stackable shelving units already, that I had bought previous to Wayne having shelves built in my pantry at the house. I had the boys bring them over and it is working out quite well.

I still have another to bring over to complete the room. I still have things that need to be organized, but I thought that I would at least share my main idea for now.

More pics of New great grandson James Cooper Hodge

I recieved some more pictures of the new great grandson, and I just had to share. Great grandpa Wayne would have been so so proud!

I love this little man, and I havent even gotten to hold him yet!

James Cooper Hodge has Arrived

JAMES COOPER HODGE

6 LBS 6 OZ. 20 INCHES LONG

BORN APRIL 11, 2010 AT 9:37 pm

Meet Wayne's new great grandson and mine to, if I may be so bold as to say so. Wayne loved mine as if they we his and they loved him very much too.

He was their POP POP

I feel the same about his. I just wish that I could see them more.

I need to get the blankie set that I made for him down to him. Since I have no car yet, I guess I will have to rely on the snail mail.

Congrats to the happy parents. Granny Liz hopes to see you soon!

And yes, hopefully we will have more pictures to follow soon.

Homemade Fortune Cookies

I decided to share a recipe with you that my friend Tracy shared with me.
I have not made it yet, but it looks good.
This is her picture.

And this is what she had to share.

I found two different basic recipes- one with corn starch, one without. Other than that they are pretty similar. I used the cornstarch one this time and it was a tad thick so I thinned it with a few drops of orange juice, as a citrus taste works well in fortune cookies.

I could only bake these 2 at a time, because they have to be hot (and bendable) to get the fortunes in, and they cool fast. So it takes a while to make a batch.
Trial and error. they're more cakey than the ones in restaurants, but taste quite good. As I said, the paper comes out greasy, but NBD. (I think this means, no big deal?) LOL

Combine 2/3 c flour, 1/2 c extra-fine sugar (I used regular) and 1 Tbsp corn starch in a bowl. Whisk in 3 egg whites, 6 Tbsp melted butter and 1 tsp almond extract.
Grease a cookie sheet well and place 2 or 3 *scant* Tbsp of batter several inches apart. Spread it out a little (when the sheet it warm it will spread itself pretty well) or it will be thick and doughy in the middle.
Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes (I have a "speed bake" on my oven, and once I got the cookies thin enough, they took about 5+) Edges should be browning but the middle still pretty beige when you take them out.
Remove immediately from pan, fold in half with paper strip in between (oh- the "up" side should be the out side. I did the first few wrong) Then bend in half again and place in a muffin tin to keep the bend while it cools.
Repeat... and repeat. This recipe made almost 30 for me- it probably depends on how big you make them. Bigger is ok, just keep them thin.

Thank you Tracy for this recipe.

Princess Lily is now a 1 yr old!

Princess Lily Bell turned a year old on April 1st. Her mommy made her a pretty castle cake. After all, what is a princess without a castle?

Here is the birthday girl in her tutu that her mommy also made.

Lily was born just about a week after my husband died last year. I have always called her my Easter Lily. This year her birthday party was held on Easter Sunday.

Granny loves you bunches baby girl!

Corn Casserole

I know I know!!! Probably not the healthiest casserole around, but my daughter in law Jammie loves it. Therefore, I am making it for her.

I have stated many times that I love cooking for others. If I was cooking solely for me all the time, I would probably not cook at all. It is so hard cooking for one.

INGREDIENTS:

1 15 oz can of whole kernel corn

1 14 3/4 can of cream style corn

1 8 oz pkg corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

1 stick melted butter

1 to 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Drain whole kernel corn, mix all ingredients except cheese in a large bowl

Pour into a greased 9 X 13 inch casserole dish

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown

Remove from oven and top with cheddar

Return to oven for 5 or 10 minutes or until cheese is melted

Let stand for 5 minutes and serve warm

I got this recipe several years ago from a Paula Deen cookbook.

Homemade Chicken Noodles

Noodles are finished, finally.

My dad dropped in and then Bub dropped in with little monkey boy, Aaron, who is my 10 month old whirlwind grandson. So, I took a break to chat and play.

These are my ingredients and tools. Well, except my rolling pin, I forgot it in the picture, imagine that?

Farm fresh eggs from my friend Brenda's hens. All purpose flour, salt and pepper. Yep, thats all I use.

I don't measure, so I can't give you the exact amounts that I used. I was making a huge batch, so I just put my flour in a big bowl, made a hole in the center and put my eggs in, then salt and pepper.

I have found that God gave us the best mixing spoons in the world. Yes, I use my hands to mix it all together. I washed them well before hand of course! If your dough is too dry add another egg or two, if its too wet, throw in some more flour. Hey, I never said that I was a master chef ya know!

Then I flour my cutting board, break off a piece of dough and roll it out. (Hey, look! I got the rolling pin in there this time!) Then I use a pizza cutter to cut my noodle strips. It makes my work so much easier!

I just continue until all the dough is cut. I flour the noodles to keep them from sticking together as I go. It helps keep them from sticking together and all the extra flour thickens the broth the make it more gravy like.

I then drop my noodles slowly and individually into my broiling broth, making sure to shake the flour from each into it and stirring as I go. Its my way of insuring that they don't clump up and making the gravy at the same time.

Let them cook on a slow boil for about half an hour. Stirring occassionally to prevent sticking.

Next job? Clean up the mess so I can get the other foods finished. If you're lucky I may just share those recipes too. Or should I say, if I am lucky enough to get it all finished??

Chicken Stock

Tomorrow is Easter. Today I am cooking some things for two family dinners.
So, I have my chicken stock started for a big ol' double batch of homemade noodles.
I got my stockpot going and now I am sitting here sipping on my protein shake for the morning.

Don't forget that I don't cook just weight loss surgery friendly stuff. I have a big family and they love Mom's home cooking. If I let a family dinner go by without making my noodles, I believe there would be a mutiny!

My noodles are something else that I need to thank my former mother in law Ellen for, along with my crochet.
You see my first marriage was at the ripe old age of 17! Well, 1 month before I turned 18, but still a dumb kid.
I knew nothing about nothing, but thought I knew it all. My mother in law gave me some good instruction and I will be forever grateful to her for that.


Chicken Stock

Big pot of water,
chicken, in this instance I used chicken leg quarters
carrots, onions and celery (of which I forgot to include pics)
salt and pepper

Let boil until chicken is tender and falling off the bones.
remove chicken from the pot, strain, making sure you get all the veggies and pieces of bone out of your stock, but reserve all your liquid.
Allow chicken to cool, then pick the meat from the bones, tossing bones, fat and skin.

Chicken can be used in other recipes so I usually bag and freeze the extra.
Sometimes I pressure can my stock for later use in other recipes or I put it into freezer containers and freeze. I think there is a post of that here under the "Canning" label.

When making noodles, I put some of the chicken back into the stock and bring it back up to a boil before adding the noodle dough.

I will add another post after bit as I get the noodles made and the finished product going.