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Our 8th Grade angels!5/29/2018 On Friday May 18 we were lucky to have 17 eighth graders plus their advisors, Roxy Jahnke and Diane Armbrust at our home for their community service day. These young people have restored my faith in the next generation! My porch windows shine. They also stained our front porch and steps, mowed, trimmed and raked our yard, planted and placed our window boxes, cleaned my flower beds, planted flowers, spread mulch, carried large pots of geraniums out and hung plants in our front porch plus carried our TV to our front porch! We have already signed up for help next year. They were a huge help as Pa Lloyd recently had shoulder surgery we simply aren’t able to physically do what we used to do! I recommend this service to anyone who needs help. They are always looking for people to help every spring, watch for the notice in the paper in the spring. Today I am sharing the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies I made for this crew, the 4 tsp. of cream of tartar and 2 tsp. of soda is the right amount and shortening like crisco seems to work better than butter in these cookies! Chocolate Chip Cookies 1 cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup oil 1 cup shortening 2 eggs 4 tsp. cream of tartar 2 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 4 1/2 cups flour 1 tsp. vanilla 12 oz. chocolate chips 1/2 cup chopped nuts ( optional) Cream sugars, oil and shortening together. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Add cream of tartar, soda, salt and flour. Add chocolate chips . Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet, I use parchment lined cookie sheets. This recipe came from Becky Tonne. Have a great week 
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That’s right I received a invitation to attend a Royal wedding viewing at 5:00 am for Harry and Meghan! I couldn’t even read street signs at that time of the morning! Elayne Hestad hosted a brunch for a group of her friends (approx. 14 of us) at that ungodly hour! Everyone rose to the occasion wearing their Sunday best complete with hats and gloves! I didn’t see any wedding dresses however. Elayne out did herself, as you can see her buffet table was beautiful and truly fit for a prince and princess. We were served mimosas along with tea and coffee, two kinds of scones with lemon curd, raspberry jelly and Devonshire cream, blueberry and raspberry with a lemon sauce parfaits, little spinach quiches, along with assorted tea type delicious cookies or as the British would say biscuits. Then settled around the telly to watch the festivities. It was a lovely time and a beautiful wedding! Lucky for you Elayne shared her recipe for her cranberry scones which melted in your mouth. Thanks Elayne for a memorable morning! Cranberry Scones 2 cups all-purpose flour 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 cup butter, chilled and diced 1 cup fresh cranberries, roughly chopped 1/3 cup white sugar 1 grated zest of one orange 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 3/4 cup half and half cream 1 egg Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar,baking powder, nutmeg and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. In a separate bowl, toss cranberries with sugar, add to flour mixture along with orange peel and nuts. Mix lightly. In a another bowl beat together cream and egg; slowly pour into dry ingredients, mixing with a rubber scraper until dough forms. Knead 4 or 5 times, being careful not to over handle. Divide dough in half. Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Shape each half into a 6 inch circle, cut each circle into 6 wedges. Place scones on lightly greased baking sheets or parchment lined sheets. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown about 20 minutes. Enjoy! Last week in the pancake ingredients 2 eggs were omitted. Have a great week! 
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I want Sunshine!5/15/2018 I had my day all planned yesterday, I was going to work out in my flower gardens in the sunshine! I waited until mid afternoon, and went out anyway, at least it wasn’t raining. A ray of sunshine at our back yard is frequent orioles visiting our feeders. We usually have two pairs that come but this year one day we counted 12. We haven’t seen that many at one time again but there are usually at least 2 and several waiting in a tree near by for their turn.
Last week in the list of ingredients in the pancake recipe the 2 eggs were omitted. They were mentioned in the method so I hope if you tried them you caught on. I do apologize for the omission. Two weeks ago I entertained friends for lunch and served todays chicken salad. Its my favorite, I’m sorry if I have put it in before but its worth repeating if I have! Plan ahead should be refrigerated overnight. Special Chicken Salad 3 cups cooked cubed chicken 1 can sliced water chestnuts 3 stalks celery, diced 2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half 15 3/4 oz. can pineapple chunks, drained 5 1/2 oz. slivered almonds Dressing: 1/4 cup finely chopped onion 2 cups mayonnaise 2 tablespoons lemon juice 2 tablespoons soy sauce 2 tsp. curry powder ( I used 1 tsp.) Mix together well. Mix all salad ingredients except almonds, fold in dressing. Refrigerate over night, just before serving mix in almonds, serve on lettuce leaf. Have a great week
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Breakfast in Bed!5/8/2018 When I was growing up, my sister and I would sometimes make our mom breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day. Now my granddaughter, 12-year-old Taylor makes her mom, Melissa breakfast in bed just because. Her specialty is waffles. Ours used to be pancakes. My mom has this special pancake recipe. It has many different ingredients ,but are well worth the effort. Not long ago a friend, whom I shared the recipe, told me that when she makes these pancakes she doubles the recipe. Then she freezes some of them and warms them up for another time. I have never done that, but I may try it sometime. I hope you find them worth the effort!
Best Pancakes 2 cups buttermilk 2 tsp. baking soda 1/2 cup sour cream 1 tsp. salt 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup cornmeal 1/2 cup quick oatmeal 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1 cup+2 Tablespoons flour Pour buttermilk into mixing bowl. Add soda and salt.Stir in sour cream until it foams. Add eggs and beat. Add remaining ingredients, beat until no lumps. Pour batter by 1/4-1/3 cups on hot griddle. Turn when bubbles appear on surface, until nicely browned. Serve with butter and syrup. Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms. I hope that some of you will enjoy being pampered - if not breakfast in bed, than in another special way!
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Blue Skies and Sunshine II !5/1/2018 It’s so great to finally have warmer weather along with blue skies and sunshine! I even got motivated to clean my glassed-in front porch for the season. I used to wash the walls, now I’m down to dusting them down with my trusty swifter. It takes me longer than it used to. There are 11 windows to wash. Not to mention the door window and a large window that looks into our living room, but I love that room. Maggie likes to climb up on a chair and watch the world go by.
Peas and mushrooms are probably my favorite veggies so this recipe is a favorite of mine. I use frozen petite peas by Grand. They are very tender, almost like fresh. I hope that you will enjoy it too! Peas with Mushrooms 2 Tablespoons butter 2 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen green peas 8 oz. fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced 1/2 cup chopped onion 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves or 1/4 tsp. dried thyme 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. sugar 1/2 tsp. black pepper Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add peas, mushrooms, onion and garlic; saute’ until tender - about 7 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Reduce heat to low and cook until just heated through, about one minute. Have a great week! |
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