Darby Daily News

Helping Maggie find the annoying horse fly. We are not horses. Well, maybe Maggie is.

The Darby Daily News will be published 2-3 days a week now due to budget restraints. The editor will be on a 4 day leave and the editor of audio media will be taking over news during that time. (Translation: your daddy will report over the phone)

The fight is on

I'm winning!

and now we are really tired

and Maggie makes a really nice pillow!

Darby Daily News

Me in the Land of No Leashes called Grandma's and Grandpa's

And they had steak for dinner. Yummy!

The Chase is on.

And we really didn't hear the "no" when we headed toward to water to cool off.

Darby Daily News

As we are taking care of our daughter's dog while she attends training in Michigan, I will post the Darby Daily News (well, it may not be daily). The co-star in the pictures is our Maggie. Here are today's pictures:

Hi, mom. I got a belly rub for posing so cute here.

Our sniff walk on the way to see the chickens.

Snack time

My Adopted Family--expanded by a sidetrack years ago

I have an extended family that became that way through another sidetrack. I started out making a very good friend in high school, who became a college roommate for the year we were away at the same school, then we were in each others' weddings, and we are godparents to their son (our church did not do godparents, or they would have served that role for us too). It turns out that her husband and mine also hit it off immediately and are good friends. She is also an only child like I am, so I have often felt we are sort of like sisters. I even expect that I get on her nerves like a sister occasionally does, but she still loves me. Our family has almost always been able to drop in on at least part of their holiday celebrations, so we have known the whole family for many years.

Over 25 years ago, we got a phone call from this friend's sister-in-law (sister of her husband). They were wanting to buy the house 4 doors down from where they currently lived and wondered if we might want to buy their house. We had not really thought about moving, but they did have a swimming pool--very appealing. It turns out my uncle was there real estate agent, but I don't recall who suggested they call us. We did some quick looking at other properties to compare, some quick thinking, some quick math, and decided to make the move.

As a result of this move, we became neighbors and developed a very close friendship with who I had previously just thought of as the sister-in-law and her husband. We also became the godparents of their daughter. We may have never gotten to know them so well without spending so many years in this close proximity, having almost daily contact.

Another gain in this new neighborhood was a couple about my parents' ages who became an extra set of grandparents for our kids and became family and friends to my parents, aunts, and uncles as they got to know them at our holiday gatherings. They are the crossovers that attend both our family get-togethers.

This completely unplanned, sidetracking move, blessed us with wonderful new lifelong friends and relationships. Our kids grew up playing together and still keep in touch to differing degrees. It is a joy to get to spend time with the kids since they are all out of town now. This past weekend, we got to see some of them. It is a fun time right now because one of the girls just had a baby and 2 are due in the next 7 weeks to 4 months. I love these people and am also so thankful to all the things that brought us all together. It is probably unusual to be close friends with all the siblings and in-laws in a family. It is fun to see in retrospect what blessings occurred because of being sidetracked from our own original plan.

Final Recipe Report--for now

I was all ready to make the french breakfast puffs for a lunch/brunch when I saw this new recipe post:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/rec

and the site where Pioneer Woman reviewed it and added her photographs as she made it.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/07/stop-the-presses/ipes/desserts/pineapple-zucchini-sheet-cake-with-cream-cheese-frosting/

It was delicious. I think better than the chocolate cake. Those of you who know me, know I am a fan of most all chocolates. Substituting carrots for the zucchini turns it into an awesome carrot cake. I have to admit that I bought Cream Cheese Frosting. Traveling with the cake made it seem more sensible to frost after arrival, and time was a factor.

My daughter reported the lemon baked pasta to be worthy of adding to the meal rotation, but that flavors blended and softened the lemon taste the next day.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/baked-lemon-pasta/

She also made apple dumplings and my husband said they were one of the best things he had ever had. I had heard of this recipe before--uses Mountain Dew, so you know it has to be good. They are also quite easy.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/02/apple_dumplings/

For dinner, I modified the barbq into a meatloaf recipe (see earlier post) and made the creamy mashed potatoes.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/11/delicious_creamy_mashed_potatoes/

Can you tell what the secret ingredient is? Don't tell my husband. This is made for holidays--5 lbs of potatoes and can be refirgerated for 2 days and warmed in the oven. (Double check what she says on that) Smashed taters are labor intensive and mess making when you have company arriving, so it is appealing to me to do them this way. I doubt my husband will have any of it though because it is not the way we always do it.

He liked both the meatloaf and potatoes and had seconds. This meatloaf modification was from the same meatballs he said were appetizers instead of a main course. I guess its all in the presentation.

With school starting soon, this will probably be the last multiple report on recipes. As I try something from time to time, I will let you know how it is. This was one of my summer projects. The sewing I never got back too, but here is the one dress I made.

Debate

In this time of differing opinions, lets remember:

Jesus honored the dignity of people whether he agreed with them or not. Power smothers love. Politics draws lines. Jesus's love crosses lines. Love and humility must be part of activism.

This is either a paraphrase or quote and I'm not sure who it came from, but I'm guessing Philip Yancey.

Kingsford, the piglet

Okay, this is the Piglet video that I was originally looking for:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M25Rt1GAB_0

The last one, I promise (for now).

Warm bath for a piglet

You know how cute I think piglets are. See this:

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5545602?fr=yvmtf

More cooking info

In case you wondered, the cooking is still going on. I have had rave reviews on the Chicken Spaghetti and Bar BQ Meatballs, so as new people having needs and situations come up, I've been making what definitely seems to be a winner.

Bar BQ Meatballs have consistently had comments equivalent to 6) It is wonderful! Except my husband who still thinks they are appetizers and thinks he would like them better without the barbq sauce.

Chicken Spaghetti has not had a comment less than that, and many have gone up to 8) which most recently translated to someone calling immediately after eating saying it was one of the best things she had ever eaten.

While the chocolate cake has had similarly high comments of 6-8, for some reason, people rarely had more than a piece when visiting here even for a weekend. My husband kind of forgot about it a few nights during his twilight morning snack. When I commented I probably wouldn't make it again because it wasn't being eaten, he acted surprised again at how good it was. Anyway, it might be best for a big gathering, but is a lot to eat over a few days by a few people.

I am scouting some new things to try and it may be a couple of weeks before I have time to try all of them, but I will keep you informed. Here are a few of the things I am considering. Most focus on something to take to a brunch, except the pasta a la vodka. A restaurant in town makes chicken a la vodka, and no commercial sauce I have bought is anything like it. Maybe this will be it:

Pasta a la Vodka

Here are the potential brunch items. Any preferences?

French breakfast puffs.

Sleepin' in omelet (strata)

Quiche

Ducks and their Social Order

This picture turned out better than I expected. It shows the group of ducks in the forefront and the injured drake I referred to in City Girl--part 2. It seems the situation is more complicated than it originally appeared. Our neighbors (actual duck owners) indicate he seems to be fine now, and I had noticed that he seemed to walk all over the place and get in and out of the water to swim with ease. He has spent most time alone on this far bank while the rest of the group continues to travel in a pack. We have recently noticed that when he goes near the group that he is chased away by mostly one particular duck (identifiable by large white marking on neck and part of head). Since this group is male heavy in its numbers, we are wondering if this is the result of an unsuccessful challenge to be "head duck". Perhaps that is even how the injury was received. I had not realized how prolific ducks are until I had a wide screen TV on their antics. It seems that the females are at a premium, if you get my drift.

There is hope that he may not live a life of solitude. There is one duck who occasionally comes over from the group to visit and go for a swim. I would assume it is a female. The neighbor says he may be starting his own harem. I will have to check out duck info to see if we are right in our assumptions. Many females are attracted to loners, and perhaps he has found the girl that is right for him. You go Drake!

Wild Turkeys

This picture also turned out better than expected. There were 4 or 5 adults and maybe the same number of not "babies", but maybe "tweeners". These guys came a calling last weekend when friends were visiting that are huge camera buffs. When the wild turkey sighting was announced, everyone grabbed cameras and started shooting. Its a good thing it wasn't Thanksgiving and we weren't using guns. They all would have been goners.

A sight from my window I wanted to share.

Sidetracking provided me with this daughter

My youngest daughter is a joy--a joy I would have never had. During the course of 3 miscarriages, tests, and wondering if I could have another child, I was quite blue. Little did I know then that I would later be rejoicing--not that I didn't get to know the 3 that could have been, but that I got to know the one that would not have been if she had been number 5. Does that make sense to anyone? Another original plan that went off track, but with a wonderful re-routed destination.
This is obviously the youngest daughter, and in my previous post, can you guess if she started out as the sister who gave in or got used to having her way? Her sister was 5 1/2 years older, delighted about being a big sister, and started giving in while her little sister was a baby. This became a hard pattern to break as the younger got used to it. They got along well during the giving in years, and hit some rough patches as age made a difference in their interests and the older sister started spending more time with her own friends. While in college, the older sister moved back home. I am thankful as this gave them the opportunity to spend time together while being more on the same level again as they reconnected and became quite close again. They now actually live in the same city and spend time together as my grandchildren get to know their fun aunt.

She is fun to kids partly because that is one side of her personality, but she is also an early childhood educator and knows how to be on their level. Interesting how she got into that field. She is very independent by nature and was very resistant to even considering education as her mom (me) is a teacher and many of her friends were pursuing education degrees. She was sidetracked and blindsided while working at the Children's Center on campus. We all figured out quickly she had a natural talent for relating to, disciplining, and educating these young children in appropriate ways. She finally admitted that was her calling (rather than advertising). She was lead teacher for times when her class schedule would permit and has been a developmental pre-school teacher in her new city (where such jobs were then available) since graduating almost 4 years ago. Her school system is opening a Pre-school Center this year and she will be doing evaluations and conferences for special needs as well as doing curriculum training and professional development for all the teachers. As an itinerant special education teacher and consultant, it has taken me 35 years to get a desk area and cabinets I can call my own while she has a private office now.

I am happy and proud for her. She is witty, funny, organized where it counts, committed, and talented. I am most impressed by her efforts to grow in her faith and how hard she works at getting all she can from that journey. I am proud of the Christian young woman she has become and the serving heart she has with these children, her family, and friends.

My grandchildren pictured in a thousand words (or less)

I'm sure for those who know I'm a grandma wonder "where's the pictures?" It's our family's personal preference not to post names or picture of the children, and those guidelines keep me from turning this into a photo album of those precious grandchildren. I do, as all grandmothers, think my grandchildren are incredible. I also temper that with the fact that I am a teacher because I think all children are awesome in their own unique ways.

I will describe my grandchildren in words rather than with pictures. My oldest daughter has 3 children. The oldest is 6 and will be in the first grade. She loves school, is generally sparkly eyed and excited about lots of things, and very outgoing with people. She also had an immediate love for language and interest in words which were responsible for her reading quite early and constantly. Her younger sister knows a lot of words and loves to be read to, but doesn't understand why her big sister wants to read "all the time".

This younger sister is 4, soon to be 5 and will be in pre-kindergarten. These 2 girls get along quite well considering that they have been each others' playmate ever since either can remember. As with my own two daughters, it seems one gives in and the other gets used to and expects that. When the compliant one decides to assert themselves, the other one understandably takes a while adjusting to this change in dynamics. You will have to guess who was who in each situation.

It is interesting to note that the older sister is very outgoing with new people, while the younger takes longer to warm up. On the other hand, the younger is more outgoing in terms of trying new things while the older is more cautious by nature. The PIGS (again, not farm animals) from the previous post had bought for the baby shower a plush pink singing rocking pig. Great fun, but my older granddaughter did not get on it until little sister was big enough to ride and push the button for the song until we were all singing it in our sleep. After watching several times, big sister decided to give it a try, and of course, loved it too. The same happened recently with roller coasters. Little sister rode 3 times and wanted to ride again before big sister decided she wanted to try it too. Again, she loved it. If I were to post any picture, it would be the one of her face on this roller coaster--which would make you seriously wonder if she liked it or not.

The little brother is 2, soon to be three. He is happy, funny, talkative, loving, and BUSY all the time. While some would call him stubborn sometimes, I always prefer to see this as the future characteristic of determination--which is a very good thing. His sisters will put up with much more from him than they would each other. This is the same dynamic my husband had with his two older sisters. The family agrees that they spoiled him. Little brother is fairly tolerant of his sisters except for the "chubbying" the 4 year old sister does. She has inherited the gritted teeth that goes with the desire to pinch cute cheeks from her great-grandmother (my husband's mother--Grandma Jenny). Little brother does not care for this.

What I love most about these kids is the fun I have with them. I get to have very little uninterrupted conversation with my daughter when there because I'm like a new cuddly toy that reads and plays on demand. Uninterrupted conversation with my daughter (as much as possible with a mother of 3) happens over the phone for us. Grandpa is also quite a fun toy--but more the action packed variety. I also have to say how much I enjoy observing my daughter and her husband be parents. They are loving, calm, playful, and fun while having a strong code of good behavioral expectations. This little family is a huge blessing in our lives.

PIGS

No, not the farm animal variety discussed in the previous post. This is the nickname established for my group of high school friends since our get togethers revolved around eating. There were originally 8, but when one moved early on, we became 7. We have met on a regular basis for over 30 years. First it was several times a year, haphazardly arranged. Next we moved to eating out every other month. As our kids were old enough to transport themselves, we decided to go to every 3rd Wednesday, so we could establish our dinner dates as a previous engagement over non-family needs.

We have been together through marriages, broken hearts, amazing successes, difficult illnesses and life changes, children's births and marriages, losses of loved ones, becoming grandparents, and most other life possibilities. We have discovered the power of "piggy prayer" to sustain each other through difficulties and to also express thanks for good things each is experiencing. We can be the wind beneath each other's wings. Who says PIGS don't fly. I have seen them--literally and figuratively.

This will be our 9th year to do a 4 day trip in the summer together. The first 3 years were to Nashville with a day trip to Franklin. Then we moved on to the windy city, Chicago, for 3 years. The last 2 were to St. Charles, IL which is on the train route to Chicago for a daytrip, but has the charm of a quaint small town and a sweet driver for the hotel named Lee, who took us wherever we wanted to go. This summer was originally to be to New York City. It turns out that grandchild number 8 and 9 for the group are expected shortly after dates for the trip, so we decided to stay closer to home and go to St. Louis. These trips are full of some deep discussion, but mostly LOTS of LAUGHTER. I am so blessed to have these ladies.

A City Girl - part 2.

I need to preface this section about farm animals (ducks, chickens, and the neighbor's cows) with an explanation of our property and relationship with our neighbors. We originally owned about 14 acres after buying additional sections from neighbors that they decided they didn't need. It included a nice size house, a small office/apartment in a separate building, and lots of workshoprs, garage bays, a pole barn, and storage buildings. After a few years when my husband realized he had been so busy mowing instead of enjoying (when he didn't even recognize a picture of the yard), we decided to sell the part of the property with the apartment, extra garage bays, and storage areas. A very nice couple looked, and he fell in love with the garage areas since he built and worked on dragsters, engines, etc. They planned to build on the back part of the lot on the shared lake, but had trouble deciding on plans, so lived in the comfortable sized "apartment" while continuing to look. We became very close friends. When we decided we needed to downsize since 4200 sf was too much for the two of us with the girls gone, they wanted it. None of this happened as quickly as I make it sound, by the way. The final result was, they bought our house, and we lived in the apartment while building a smaller house with windows all across the back for our views of the lake and woods. The county assessors office has been totally confused by the transfer and splitting of property. Our 3 acres alone has changed hands 5 times in the last 12 years. Because of that, we jokingly call this a compound, and my daughter calls it a commune. We combine and share equipment with each other and take care of each other's property and pets when needed. This worked great for us because we didn't have to leave good friends or a neighborhood we love. Our friends admit they were worried about how my husband would do in a subdivision with a yard small enough to cut with scizzors. He is one that has to be busy all the time even though he is rethinking having more to mow, including the dam, than he did after downsizing the yard the first time.

Anyway, this neighbor immediately surprised us with being a down home farm girl with tremendous gardening as well as many other talents. She purchased ducks and chickens at the beginning of last summer and we call them ours since they are on the compound. I take credit for teaching the rooster how to crow last year as Maggie and I did our morning walk by the coop. The roosters realy would try to imitate me, and it was very cute and funny.

As the chickens started laying eggs, I taught them how to vocalize to make the laying easier. It goes like this: 1 high and 3 low, repeat, follow with one really loud as the egg is pushed out. Try it now: Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk, Bawk, bawk, bawk, bawk, BAWK! Remember, I was raised in the city so I can belive I taught them if I want.

As for the ducks, they are very entetaining to watch and like to hang out either in the lake or here. By the way, that is not a black pony in the picture, it is Maggie at her 84 pound top weight, hopefully. Anyway, we have rules for the bird feeder, and since interested critters can't read, we spend a lot of time verbally reminding them.

1. Birds may eat from any surface

2. Squirrels can eat from the ground only--because they will cause the string holding the feeder to break (we tried one with plexiglass walls, but the birds could not figure out that they could get to the seed at the bottom of the walls). Bob (named for a 3 inch tail apparently left from a dangerous confrontation) is especially diligent about returning to the bird feeder after being warned.

3. Raccoons are only allowed to eat from the ground because they have bent 2 poles in half . They may only come in the middle of the night (how are you going to stop them?) I often wake to see them finishing the night shift at the feeder outside my bedroom window before the birds and squirrels start their day.

4. Ducks are discouraged entirely since there were 9 (now 8) of them and they would eat us out of house and home. They are sneaky, cute, and also diligent with repeated trials at both locations. I could swear they have little conferences to plan their next approach.

5. The one duck with the inured foot is the exception. He can no longer keep up with the others. He can not only come and eat all he wants, I'm thinking of walking some corn over to him where he has been hanging out on the other side of the lake.

Note: Maggie is only a help when she is outside and instructed to chase someone away. They have quickly learned I am not a dangerous dog in spite of my impressive barking skills. Maggie provides no useful backup when she is in the house. I go to the porch and bark and yell, and she runs out and watches--does not make a peep. A little back-up would be helpful here.

A City Girl Went Country

I grew up in the city. My experience with farms and farm animals came once a year while visiting my Granny. One day when I was there, we would go way out in the country and spend the day at Sam and Vera's. They had an out house and out door pump. I can remember the excitement when a new hand pump was installed at the kitchen sink. I never remember if and when they got indoor plumbing, and you would think that would have been huge. Anyway, my cousin who was my age also spent the same weeks with our Granny, so we always had a ball on the farm. I remember there were chickens and pigs, but he and I mostly played with the dozen or so cats. I did ride a horse there once.

I have lived out of city limits for most of my adult life and had a few acres with a lake and lots of trees most of that time. That does not a country girl make however. Tomatoe plants and maybe a couple others were the extent of our "farming". Knowing this about me will hopefully excuse some of the things I may say here that may seem silly. I should have paid more attention and asked more questions while spending time in the huge gardens of my Granny and MamMaw. I have tried to dabble in some of those old skills so they wouldn't die out. I've done a little canning and pickle making, as well as quilting, crocheting, and knitting.

After the "Trainwreck in the garden", new items are coming up and plants that survived are producing. I have baby corn, a 3 inch cucumber, and brussel sprouts. I have on a rare occasion seen brussel sprouts on a stalk in the store, so I kept waiting for a stalk to form. I just noticed yesterday that each little brussel sprout is growing at the base of the leave next to the stalk. I can only assume they remove the leaves before taking it to the stores.

.

Gilmore Girls

I have to admit that I have an unhealthy attachment to the Gilmore Girls. I know the new shows ended 2 years ago, but I was late discovering this and am still catching up. According to the date on my DVR, the last episode was May 15, 2007. This was the same night our power went out about 15 minutes before it started and I never saw much of it until yesterday. The cycle starts over today on ABC family (mid-morning and late afternoon if you are interested) with the very first episode from 2000. I look forward to filling in all the gaps of bits and pieces that I have seen of shows before I was a fan

I watched it the first time late in the season in spring 2006 and quickly fell in love with the quick, witty dialogue. I had heard that this cast typically had 2-3 times the pages in their scripts than most casts of other TV shows the same length. I also fell in love with the quirkly characters in this small town as I got caught up in the emotions between the three ( sometimes 4) generations in this family and the drama with various suitors and friends. The center of it is the awesome relationship between the mother and daughter as she grows up from middle high school and graduating from college. Since I have two daughters myself, I feel this on a personal level too. I would recommend you DVR or tape this show and watch it. I love comedies and this has lots of that in it, but the dramatic element in it may make it my favorite all time television show. I'd love to see a sequel in movie format--as long as everything turns out great for everyone, of course.

Squawks from the Hawk

When Maggie (our lab) and I took our morning walk in the woods, I soon heard a hawk squawking.

It was darting from tree to tree, very upset.

I realized I was getting closer and had taken my camera that morning. I felt lucky to get this shot at all even though it was only a 6.1 megapixels point and shoot.

I suspect this may have been a female and the nest (which we had seen before the trees leaved out) may have had baby hawks. I will have to keep an eye out for them--along with the 2 turtle layings we will be watching for during the first half of August.

Chocolate Cake

My husband has asked about the chocolate cake or made a smart aleck comment about it smelling good since I mentioned that I would be making it. He only eats sweets at about 3 am nightly when he wakes up hungry. I guess I will make it now. Here is the recipe:


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/the_best_chocol/

The Pioneer Woman uses a jelly roll type pan and recommends 20 minutes. I used a 9x13 and needed about 35 minutes for the center to bake. I think the larger pan, thinner batter, and 20 minute baking would have made it as moist as she describes it. It is delicious and rich, but not as moist as I expected. I haven't met a chocolate cake I didn't like, and this is delicious. I'd give it a 4-5 now and suspect that less done would be a 6-7.

STOP THE PRESSES, WE HAVE A NEW CATEGORY!
I didn't even have to wait for his 3 am feeding and Stan the Man gives it a "pretty damn good", and then came back in saying, "that's really good and I'm trying to think what it rates right up there with." Imagine if it would have been more moist!

New category listing:
1) I Never Want that in my house again
2) Others may eat it here, but not me
3) It's not bad
4) Its' pretty good
5) I could eat that as part of meals regularly
6) It is wonderful
7) I want that every day for the rest of my life
8) Pretty dam good and doesn't compare with anything

A Trainwreck in the Garden

It was a wild weekend here when we were preparing to leave on vacation. Our daughter’s 45 lb lab/boxer/mystery small breed mix and our 85 lb black lab “puppy” would be staying here with house/dog sitters. The dogs were 14 and 15 months old, so still very much puppies in their behavior. When they first get together they are wild and only allowed outside and in the garage. The garden which had been doing well suffered serious damage as their random chasing makes them blind to everything along the way. Here is the before and after.

Within the first hour, our Maggie had a cut under her eye and down the side of her face—and the good size gas grill was turned over. You do the math. I'm happy to say that the cut healed nicely although it looked like it would be a nasty scar, but the grill can not be repaired. Come on summer sales.

Another reason they don’t come into the house (besides the constant wrestling) is that we have a lake and they love the water. As they occasionally meander through the back yard, they will look up and see the lake and you can almost hear their thoughts. “WOW, there’s a lake. I LOVE to swim!” and then they go barreling down into it as fast as they can. Those of you familiar with Ceasar Milano and dogs will relate to his explanation of dogs' enthusiastic reactions to everything as if it is the best stick, lake, treat, etc--EVER.

Here are the tired culprits later in the day after they were dry. My husband is famous for complaining when they get in the lake again that "I just dried them off". I told him that they are probably thinking while he is drying them, "we just got wet!"

Yes, I do have very light carpet and furniture , as well as dark laminate floors that show every muddy footprint.

Today's Recipes

This will be the rating scale for recipes:
1) I Never Want that in my house again
2) Others may eat it here, but not me
3) It's not bad
4) Its' pretty good
5) I could eat that as part of meals regularly
6) It is wonderful
7) I want that every day for the rest of my life

I will add comments from those I am taking these recipes to also and compile those results from time to time.

Today's recipes are Bar BQ Meatballs and green beans, courtesy of Pioneer Woman.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/03/bbq-meatballs-comfort-food-to-the-max/ar

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/fresh-green-beans-one-way/

Comments from the man of house (drum roll please):

Bar B Q meatballs received a 3 with a side note that these are not for a meal, but more of an appetizer needing toothpicks. He does have preconceived ideas about things. The green beans received a 4 with garlic, onions, and red pepper very obviously in with them. That is a shocker to me.

If anyone cares what I think, yesterdays chicken spaghetti was a 6, todays meat balls a 5 since I am willing to eat anything that tastes good for a meal or any other occasion. The green beans received a 4 in my book, very good, but I wonder if half the bacon grease might have been less greasy. I even drained on 2 paper towels and still a little greasy.

I wish I would have had access to step by step instructions with pictures like this when I first got married. My mom did not think she was a good cook, so didn't teach me. I would guess at what it would take to make something look the way it was suppose to. We had lots of laughs and hunger over my inedible attempts.

Coming attractions are mashed potatoes (and unusual ways to make them creamy) and what is called best ever chocolate cake.

The Results Are In

Stan the man, my meat and potatoes and anti-casserole guy has tasted the dish described below and this is what he said:

"It's not too bad. It's pretty good. I could eat it for some meals. Your first attempt at Pioneer Woman Cuisine was a success." High praise!

It probably helped that I put all the chicken in--which was about twice what was called for. I knew more meat would be critical to giving it a chance with his taste buds.

All white meat and whole grain pasta would move this into the healthy category, but the whole grain pasta would be a deal breaker for him.

No Time Like the Present

I explained my plan to my husband about cooking foods that look fun and our sharing them with others. I had some things in mind from the Pioneer Woman blog (which my daughters introduced me to). We went to the store, and my first attempt is in the oven. I want to give credit where credit is due so here is the recipe from her blog. She is an outstanding photographer too (and also has instructions for that on her site), so pictures accompany explicit directions.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/

I am not known for safe knife use, and my family generally panics when they see one in my hand, but I sliced and diced all of this myself (except the pimentos) and didn’t lose a single finger.

I will say that I used the lesser amount of red (cayenne pepper) to start, but after tasting before baking—I added a few sprinkles of salt, pepper, Lawry’s, and the red pepper. In case you are one who automatically salts boiling water, she doesn’t recommend that because it can be too salty.

Here is the one for us (which is now in the oven) and my friend who I am taking for her carpal tunnel surgery Wednesday. I have foiled hers for freezing since I will also be taking her and her husband something to eat on Wednesday.

Empty Nesting

I started this transition 8 years ago, and both girls were actually living out of the house and out of town as of 3 plus years ago. As for kids being out of town, they are 3 ½ hours away and both in the same place. That is certainly a better scenario than some families have. We have had lots of distractions, included and not limited to: moving twice, building our first house, my working on a doctorate degree, focusing on my dad during his declining health and passing, and a lot of the same issues everyone else deals with. As a teacher, I was blessed with more time with my girls than most working mothers have. Summers were especially fun, and what teacher doesn’t love summer anyway. Some of the distractions we had after the girls moved have died down, making the “empty nest” come more to the forefront. While I feel blessed to have had so much rip roarin’ fun over 3 decades with family and friends while all their kids were growing up, I feel the stark difference as time with friends even decreases as they go elsewhere whenever they have time to be with their own kids.

Although it is my nature and self-expectation to always be joyful and positive, I am learning that it is okay to allow myself to feel sad briefly and even cry if necessary. In my ideal little world, my kids and all my friends’ kids were going to grow up, have their own little families here, and the get-togethers would continue and grow even larger and more fun. This is one of those cases where expectations did not happen and it is okay to grieve for that loss. (I have trouble giving myself permission to do this) It is also interesting to note that as an only child, I have never felt a want or need for a sibling. I think I have always been blessed with friends that kept me from feeling that need. I find myself recently thinking it would have been nice to have someone who not only shares some experiences, but is there for family get-togethers since all of our loved ones outside my immediate family are elderly and many have passed in the last several years.

I share all this to prepare and suggest mothers develop some outside interests that they can pursue. A real key for me also is to spend time with the Lord daily, developing an attitude of gratitude, seeking my joy from that source, and listening for opportunities of service so I can focus outside of myself. While I loved pursuing my interest and passion for education by working toward the doctorate, I don’t see that as a cost effective distraction at this point. I have always liked cooking for big parties and groups, which gave me an outlet for living with a strictly meat and potatoes man. He actually does 99% of the cooking now, because he is particular, and wants to do things a certain way—which is boring. I know longer have a big audience for parties, picnics, etc., but I am going to start trying new recipes. My outlet will be a little for me to eat and my husband to try (maybe he will like something) and taking food to 3-4 people/families who could use meals for a variety of reasons. I’m starting with Pioneer Woman recipes. She cooks for cowboys (herds beef) and not low--fat, so I’m hoping there will be something appealing for my cowboy (prefers to eat beef). Doing this blog has also been a good experience and a way, as I said before, to leave information about the family’s life and my thoughts to my kids and grandkids. I recently sewed a dress for granddaughters too after years of not even having a working machine (now have a new one –courtesy of my daughters), which may be fun to piddle with. I know that music is also uplifting and especially the music that you associate with good times, I will use my iPod (also courtesy of my daughters) to utilize that as a mood elevator as I cook, sew, and maybe boogie a few calories off (I have always love to dance too).

I guess my approach to the empty nest and the occasional underlying sadness is threefold: 1) develop deep roots of joy and a thankful heart with God’s help while taking time to listen to needs of others that He plants in my heart. 2) focus outside of myself on needs of others and things I can do for them. 3) start finding things of interest and trying them and doing things I know I enjoy, but haven’t done for a while.