How Do You Take Your Coffee?

If you know me very well you know I'm a coffee drinker!  Love my coffee!  Gary on the other hand does not like coffee. He likes the smell of it but doesn't care to drink it.

With that in mind how ironic is it that our theme for New Food Night this week was - are you ready?

COFFEE

That's right - we cooked with coffee.  So grab a cup and read on.

First we have to set the table - just because I like to set the table.

I thought using coffee grounds was kind of appropriate for the theme of the week.

Excuse the burn spot on the table - the worst one is covered up  LOL -- Probably why I always insist on setting the table with a centerpiece to hide the burns.  These are courtesy of Chris from a very very long time ago when he first came to live with us.

Gary wanted to do a coffee rub. Not sure what all he used in it but it did include hot coffee. He used a wet rub and flank steak and let it set for about an hour.

He likes to use his cast iron griddle to get good markings on his steaks.  It was very good.  There was not a single sliver of meat left over at the end of our meal.

Next up- Miss Annette made some BBQ corn on the cob.

Notice the hand presenting the corn to us?  That would be my Bud.

Notice how much corn is in that pan?  Again - not a single ear was left.  I don't know what all she used in this but in the sauce she added coffee. Sprinkled some different spices on the ears and well - I guess the fact that nothing was left speaks for itself.

Next on our plates was some potatoes by Mr. Rick.

He made some cheesy potatoes with frozen hash browns and lots and lots of cheese (because you can never have to much cheese with your potatoes) and coffee!

Again - not a single serving was left!

Now for some dessert.

I made cinnamon coffee cake.  Man was this good.  I love coffee cake. Why is it that you don't have this a lot any more?

Remember a few weeks ago when we did birth year food?  This was the recipe that kept showing up whenever I googled recipes.  Gotta say - this one was much much easier than the chocolate cake I made then.

There you have it. Coffee served up not just in cups but on our plates.

Enjoy - and if you ever want the recipes we use - just ask.  I can get them for you. We don't have very many failures.

Perfectly Me

So a few weeks ago we were driving down the road and a sign caught my eye. The sign said "You don't have to be perfect to be a parent".  I think this is a sign for adoption or foster care. I see it frequently.

Well, that day my mind saw the words and just kind of took over from there. I thought, no I'm not perfect but I am perfectly me. So here you have one of my poems that wrote itself.

This is a just for fun poem - I hope you enjoy it.

PERFECTLY ME 

I may not be perfect 

But I'm perfectly me 

The very best me 

I could possibly be. 

I know I'm not perfect 

My family quickly points out 

My mistakes and my flaws 

No hesitation no doubt 

But again I say 

I just try to be 

The very best me 

I could possibly be. 

No one could be better 

I know this is true,

At opening their mouth 

And inserting their shoe. 

My mouth is to blame 

And I'm the best me, 

At saying things 

 That embarrass my family. 

And there is no one 

On this planet I bet 

That can fall on their face 

As good as me yet. 

Nothing around me 

It does take great skill 

To trip on the air 

And take a spill. 

My husband, my children 

Grandchildren too 

Just shake their heads 

At each thing new. 

So again I must say 

And I say it with glee, 

I'm the very best me 

I could possibly be.  

Written by: Kathie Marrs 

                    May 8, 2016

When Were You Born

We had New Food Night again this week (we have cut this down to two a month in case you are worried that you may have missed some of our food).  Plus -we were supposed to have this last week but I was sick - sick - sick so we postponed our meal.

Now you may be wondering what my title has to do with new food night.

Good question.

Well our theme for this week was food from the year you were born (or at least the decade you were born in.

That's my birth year.

I had this gorgeous rose that Chris had brought me for Mother's Day that I wanted to display so I used it for my centerpiece this week.

Let's start with the oldest member of our group - Miss Annette.

She brought some Spam Ham.  Just spam topped with a brown sugar glaze and pineapple.  I love Spam. I had never heard of Spam Ham but it was great. Miss Annette said she used to this that it was ham.

She also brought some fried cabbage covered with bacon and the bacon grease mixed in with it.
Yumm

Also cornbread.  This right here is a meal in itself but we still have 3 people left to go.  We ate good this week :)

Next up would be me.  I, as usual, searched more for desserts. I don't know why as I am not a big dessert person but I do love to bake them.  I found my recipe right away and printed it off and set it aside.

Didn't look at real close until the night before when I wanted to make my dessert which was Chocolate Blackout Cake.

I have made a mental note to myself to actually read the directions before settling on a recipe now.

This cake was made with all the basic ingredients and cocoa powder. Batter was yummy and I baked it in two round cake pans. Now it didn't rise like it should have but I continued on.

You were then supposed to cut the layers in half, which I did.  Next you make a pudding mixture using unsweetened cocoa squares.  While the pudding mixture cools you make up a frosting mix again using some unsweetened ccocoa squares. I used a total of 7 ounces of unsweetened cocoa squares.

Now to assemble the cake.  You put pudding mixture between three of the layers - leaving one layer for after. Frost the entire cake. Now take that fourth layer and crumble it up. You then press the cake crumbs to the side of the cake and sprinkle some on top.

See I told you it was more work than I thought it would be.

Talk about chocolate overload!!  This is it

Now Mr. Rick was also born in 1957 - but the month after me.

He brought a plate of fried Spam.  I love Spam and this was just the way we ate it when I was a kid!  Man what a meal!

But wait!  Next up is Gary who was born in 1970.

He researched school lunch menus and came up with fish sticks.

So he fried up some fish and made some tartar sauce.  I love fish sticks and tarter sauce.  And this was way better than boughten fish sticks.

He also made some buttered boiled potatoes.  I love potatoes.

And biscuits!  Man - this is a meal in itself as well - so it's like we had two meals in one.

Oh my gosh did I enjoy this meal.  I ate way to much but I loved every bite of it. Good thing I don't eat like this all the time.

Now we have already chosen a them for next time. We were given a challenge by our guest.

Oh, did I forget to mention that we had a guest?  I'm sorry. One of Miss Annette's daughters was visiting and she joined us for our meal.  We were happy to have Sherry and hope she comes back again.

How about you? Do you have a challenge you want to send our way?  Or maybe you are wanting an invite to join us?  Let me know.

Thank You to my Kids

This Sunday is Mother's Day.

A time to celebrate your mother and thank her for all she has done for you over the years.

I started my family in 1978 and by 1982 I had three beautiful girls.

Well, at least one sister was glad to have another baby in the house.

Three tow-headed stair-step girls who I sewed matching outfits for at the holidays - much to their dismay.

Those three tow-heads turned into these three beautiful women.

Now rush ahead to 1997. Gary and I welcomed these two children into our home.

Wow - a mom of five ranging in age at this time from 6 to 20 - and we had a 3 year old grandson.

We quickly learned to refer to our children as the three older girls and Chris and Amanda - or our two youngest. Because it was like raising two separate families.

So I want to take this time to tell my children - all of them - THANK YOU.

Thank you for not giving up on me as I learned how to be a mother. My own mother had passed away before any of the girls were  born. I had no one to ask advise of so I made up my own rules. I made mistakes along the way and still do but all I ever wanted was to raise independent children able to take care of themselves. I have to say I accomplished this.

Thank you for teaching me laughter and how to enjoy it. I think this is one of the most important gifts you have given me. The ability to laugh and enjoy it.

Thank you for teaching me patience. Yes, it may not seem like I have it now or had it then but trust me - I had patience.

Thank you for all you have taught me. One of the most important things you have taught me is that family is important. I already knew this but you have given me deeper insight into this.

Thank you for always being there. I know that if something needs to be done I can count on you.

Thank you for teaching me to enjoy the little things. Things like coloring in color books and blowing bubbles.

Thank you for teaching me that things are just that 'things'. We use our good dishes and the older girls played with my mom and grandma's jewelry. Over the years dishes have been broken and though it was upsetting to me at the time they were just dishes. I still have the memories of them.

Here is a picture of the 5 kids together.

Yeah - we don't all get together very often but when we do it's always fun.

They all turned out pretty good, I think.

I also had the privilege to be a step-mother to two older children.

 OK - they weren't that old when I was their step-mother - this is their now pictures. To my step-kids - thank you for being accepting. It wasn't always easy for any of us but I do appreciate the relationship we have at this time.

I have several others that I that I think of as 'my kids'. Several boys from the time I spent at Boys Ranch have a special place in my heart and there are several girls who spent a lot of time at our house growing up that are like my own.

To all my kids THANK YOU for what you have made me.