Things I Love

Remember the old Tom T. Hall song "I Love".  He sings about a bunch of things he really enjoys.

I thought I would share with you some of my I LOVES and they are in no particular order.

This won't encompass all of them and keep in mind, I'm a pretty simplistic person overall. It doesn't take to much to make me happy.  Last night Gary took me to Starbucks and he asked what flavor I wanted. I was unable to see the menu board so I said 'just get me the cinnamon dolce latte.  You can't go wrong with cinnamon anything.  

So let's just start with 

Cinnamon  - anything is good with cinnamon  --- coffee - toast. And it smells so good - reminds me of Christmas.  Maybe that's why I love it. 


Christmas - really? Are you going to tell me you didn't know this would be on my list?

Laughter - I love laughter - especially the laughter of children.  It's contagious and makes me laugh.  

texts that make me laugh  This is one of my all time favorites.  You know those texts you get that just make you respond LOL and you have literally just laughed out loud over the text itself.  These typically for me come from Shellie but today has been an awesome day and I have received several these from K.C., Adam and Michael.  

FAMILY - I love family and family time.  I love spending time with my family. 

The Beach!!!  Oh man do I love the beach!  I love the sand - the sun - the waves - the family with me at the beach - the laughter we have at the beach. I could easily be a beach bum. 


coffee - I love the taste of coffee - I love the smell of coffee. I know a lot of my friends are with me on this one (and maybe some aren't but I'm sorry - I love coffee). I grew up drinking coffee. The pot was always on at our house. I have grand kids who share this love with me but only one of my girls acquired the love. Isn't it funny that the two girls who don/t like coffee are the ones who have kids who do?  LOL  My son likes coffee as well but his more creamer than coffee.  

Tootsie Rolls - one of my favoritest candies.  yum yum

Licorice -- Licorice is good stuff!  I love it!  I even love the black licorice. I know most people don't. One of my brothers brought me a bag of it one time when he came to visit. OH MAN was it good.  I also came to work one day to find a friend had had some put on my desk!  What a great surprise that was.  I don't like if someone tells me they love black licorice when they see I have some. That means they want me to share it and I don't really want to do so.  

TURTLES  
         Turtles are cool  I wish I was a turtle. I've always liked them. As a kid I always had a box turtle for a pet. The stupid thing would always want to hibernate in the winter. Stupid turtle where do you think you are going to hibernate in a house?  I love that we have Turtle Pond here in Tulsa (locals call it Swan Lake - but there are more turtles than swans). The grand kids and I love to go there. 

That I can amuse myself
    This one may sound kind of strange but it's true - I amuse myself.  Sometimes I think of something so funny that I want share with Gary or one of the girls and I'm laughing before I even share it.  I will admit that Gary does not always find some of these things as amusing as I do but that's ok - I found it amusing.  


Reading - I love to read!  I have always enjoyed reading. I grew up in a household that loved to read. My parents read and my brothers and I read. There was never any limitations put on what we could read. I loved it when my dad would go to an auction and come home with a box of books.  It was like Christmas!  And I love that my three oldest daughters love to read and that my grandkids love to read.  


There you have it - a few of my I LOVES -- how about you? What are some of yours?

Public Service Announcement

I'm offering the following Public Service Announcement.  I feel it is in the public's best interest to know the facts and prevent any catastrophes that may occur should my announcement be ignored.

I know I have written about this in the past but the information is much to important not to share again.

I am talking about nail polish marbling

I have been doing some computer research today and it has come to my attention that several people are promoting this form of ????  I'm at a loss here as to what to call it - I don't consider it art. I don't consider it a craft. I consider it a form of punishment for some and possible amusement of onlookers. 

My research today (don't judge that Pinterest is a form of research) has turned up the following:

Ceramic mugs

glassware

pumpkins

tiles

flower pots

eggs

and the dreaded NAILS

Now I will agree that everyone of these look amazing!  But again -- it's all deception!!! 


DO NOT - I REPEAT - DO NOT attempt any of these projects!.  

If you just cannot resist the temptation then I beg you to have a willing, non-judging assistant nearby with lots of paper towels, Q-tips, and fingernail polish remover.  

DO NOT under any circumstances allow cameras, or phones with cameras to be present.

DO NOT allow any spouse anywhere near where your activity is taking place.If they promise to help remember - they are only doing this for their own amusement!!  They do not want to help you.  

And again LET ME STRESS THE IMPORTANCE

under no circumstances attempt this on your own!!!  Disastrous results will occur.  

This concludes my Public Service Announcement

BACON

BACON!!!  I love bacon. And it is so good for so many things.

A quick search on Google showed me bacon candy, bacon balm (lip balm) and even bacon bandages.
I get the bacon bandages.

 As a kid I had many poultices made of bacon to draw out splinters, glass, etc that I had stepped on. After working on my foot or hand  for an hour with tweezers and being unable to get the offending item out because it was to deep (probably pushed deeper by all the prodding and poking she did with the tweezers) she would get a piece of bacon put in on my foot and bandage it up. Next morning I would unwrap my foot or hand and there the offending item would be!

Enough of that meandering though. This blog is about New Food Night and you guessed it -- Bacon was our theme.

I set the table. My roses are blooming and I love to bring them inside and enjoy so I did so.

Notice those cute little silver creamers?  Those are from my across-the-street daughter.That little turle is a gift from my Lily Girl.

Gary chose to make a Bacon Tart.  Doesn't that sound sophisticated?

Lots of preparation for this dish.

He used like a pound and a half of bacon, potatoes and cheese.

Before baking!

After baking!  How good does this look?

Ms. Annette brought a Bacon Avocado Pasta Salad.

She used bacon, avocado, asparagus and pasta.  Yummers!!  I kept some for lunch today.

Mr. Rick made some baked beans.

A can of Bush's Baked Beans and just look at all that bacon on top. He was concerned that he might have used to much bacon but I don't think that's possible.

See my plate? See the layers on that tart? Yum!

Now for my contribution.

Bacon cookies!  Let me tell you - this was a big flop!!!!  Don't waste your bacon on them.  The recipe did not call for any sugar and that should have warned me but I tried them anyway.  

Good thing I had a backup plan because those bacon cookies were inedible.  

I made some Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies to have on standby!

So all you bacon lovers out there, what recipe would you try?  

Follow Me

Our church recently began a series on Discipleship. After the first sermon I reviewed the notes from the sermon, took to my computer and started some research.

Google and Pinterest provided lots of information. Okay, my Pinterest 'research' was actually me creating a board and pining different things that characterized a disciple or such. It did however, lead me to the book 'Follow Me' by David Platt.

Now part of being a disciple involves the words 'follow me'. So I ordered the book not sure what I was getting but wanting to read it. It's just a small booklet that I read, underlined and highlighted.  Only 53 pages - quick read.

I must say that after the first sermon Gary and I both said that it reminded us of the study we did on Not a Fan. Simple put don't be a fan of Jesus - be a Follower.  The stadium is full of fans.

Long story short - as I am reading the booklet and making notes in my notebook a poem started putting itself together in my head. So I opened up my word document and wrote the following:

FOLLOW ME

“Follow me,” Jesus did say

As He passed by the disciples that day.

Their life would never be the same.

“Follow me,” Jesus does say

To everyone one of us today.

Our lives become a brand new game.

Follow me – a simple phrase

The same choice as in Jesus’ days.

A choice everyone must make.

Follow Him – start your life anew

As Jesus begins His work in you.

Your quality of life is at stake.

Follow Him – Christ makes the call

It is given to one and all.

Begin a journey that is life-long

Follow Him – a follower be

More of Him – none of me.

Know with Jesus you belong.

Follow Him – it is required

Be a disciple is what Jesus desired.

A call to die – a call to live.

Follow Him – take up His cross

Know that your life is not lost.

Give of yourself as Jesus did give.

Follow Him – spread His word

Give of yourself – don’t be deterred.

Be the person Jesus asks of you.

Written by: Kathie Marrs

April 11, 2016

Am I a disciple? Yes!  Am I good disciple? No -- I fail miserably. But that doesn't stop me from continuing to learn and grow. It's an ongoing process. It's a lifelong journey that I must commit myself to every minute of every day.  Commit to God to abandon myself and take up HIS cross daily.  I invite all of you to join me in this journey. 

Restaurant Ripoff

Bet that title grabbed your attention.

No I am not going to be talking about how we got ripped off at a restaurant. I'm going to talk about our New Food Night!  That's right -- we decided to try a little restaurant ripoff of some of our favorite foods.

As usual I set the table up. I just happen to like to have centerpieces on my tables. Not everyone does and that's okay. It just happens to be something I like - not sure why as I didn't grow up with them.
Anyway, here's tonight's.

I usually just use things I have around the house to create my centerpieces.

Now we started off with a little Olive Garden salad that Ms. Annette made for us.

Who doesn't love the salad at Olive Garden?  If you don't there must be something wrong with you.  And to make it simple, they sell Olive Garden salad dressing!

Gary made up some Jason's Deli Chicken Pot Pie.This is the start of it.  I didn't pay a lot of attention but know that it's potatoes, celery, carrots, chicken, half and half.  I know there is more but doesn't it look good?  It was - so creamy.

  Lily was way excited about this as he used our little mini casserole dishes.

Now Gary ladled the mixture into our casserole dishes and topped them with baked puff pastry.

So yummy!!!!

K.C. made Avocado Egg Rolls from the Cheesecake Factory.

I love avocado and when you fry it!  Nothing better.

I had a special request from Lily. And it had to be me making it as it would not be new food for Grampa.

She wanted some Church's fried chicken. Since Grampa changed jobs she has not been able to enjoy one of her favorite snacks.

I was told that I did good. And this is big for me because I don't like to fry food. Hardly ever do so - especially deep frying like this.

Mr. Rick brought a favorite of I think everyone.  Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits.

Don't they look yummy?  We could not get enough of these.

After we had all tried one he let us in a little secret he had.

That's right!  They make a mix for this.  Who knew?

Now we needed to have a dessert. This wasn't exactly new food for any of us but I had promised K.C. I would make her some and hadn't yet.

That's right - some bread pudding.  I LOVE bread pudding. It is good hot. It is good cold. It is just plain good. And this is the way I like it.  No sauces on my bread pudding.  Just lots of bread, milk, eggs, sugar.  I believe this will qualify for restaurant ripoff as I got the recipe from the restaurant I worked at in Iowa -- the Randolph Cafe.  I also made this sometimes at my restaurant in Mount Moriah -- Kathie's Korner Kafe.

So now - who's ready for lunch?

Dough Boy

We had a lot of fun with our last New Food Night. We did a theme night.

We decided to go with Pillsbury recipes.  Now to decide what to do -- as you had to make a dish with something Pillsbury - not just bake a pan of biscuits.

First let's set the scene.

Isn't that cookie jar adorable?  Wish I could say it was mine but it's not.  A friend of Gary's found out what we were doing for New Food Night and loaned it to us.

K.C. went for a Crescent Ring.  Crescent rolls and she put some salami, cheese, pepperoncini,  and something else. Folded it up and baked it.

This was really good!.

Gary went for a Meatball Bubble Bake.

Meatballs, pieces of biscuits, lots of cheese.  I love lots of cheese.

I wanted to do a soup because Gary received a new soup tureen for his birthday and I have been wanting to use it.  So I made Chicken and Dumplings.

Man was this good!  And don't you like that soup tureen?

I cooked up some chicken, added cream of chicken soup, some celery, carrots, chicken stock, and cut biscuits into strips.

Easy- peasey and good going down.

Now of course we needed something for dessert and Mr. Rick took care of this with his cream cheese dessert.

Is your mouth watering?

Sugar cookie dough, lots of cream cheese and I believe he said he used preserves for this fruit.  Very very good stuff.

But wait!  We had a surprise entry into our New Food Night.


When K.C. went to Reasor's Deli to get the items for her Crescent Ring the guy (I think his name was Tim) found out what we were doing and wanted to participate. So he gave her some samples of Ghost Pepper Cheese for us to try.

Yes it was a very hot cheese! Those little squares were all we needed to sample.  It was good but probably not something I would buy as I don't like things that spicy usually.

What do you think?  What would you make with the theme of Pillsbury?  Give me some thoughts.  And again, if you want to give us a challenge or recommendation, we are open to suggestions.