The Calendar Was Marked!

The calendar gets marked in September for the 3rd Saturday in October…

It is time for the Glendale Crossing Festival…

A small town South of Louisville where we live… About an hour’s drive…

We meet with my daughter-in-law, her Mom, Granddaughter, friends … Anyone who wants to go!…

I say, “My daughter-in-law is on a mission!”…

She just loves this Festival and wouldn’t miss it for about anything…

I have!…

Like the last couple of years when it has been so rainy  … muddy… cold…

but, not her!…

Her Mom is right by her side…

and my youngest granddaughter has gotten the bug too…

They are the “shoppers!”  …

My son says, “I can’t wait to see what rusty star  … grapevine something   … painted blocks of wood that looks like Pumpkins or Santas!… that my Melanie will bring home!”…

We eat something while we are there…

could be fudge… a hot dog… corn on the cob… beans/cornbread…

Pretty much anything… but… we just snack…

because we eat somewhere afterwards on the way home… where we can sit down… take a breath… and chill!…

My friend and I sampled every flavor of coffee at a both… “FREE SAMPLES“… all kinds of vegetable and fruit dips…

We were pretty full after that!…

I heard fried pies   mentioned… fresh lemonade… kettle corn… chili…

We have decided 4 things from our Festival experience…

Although we love it…

1. More sitting areas…
2. More bathrooms… 
3. More trash cans…
4. and more than one day… It is huge… and unable to actually take in everything…

 

The line to the Whistle Stop Restaurant is usually a block long…

   

 

The parade starts early… meandering through this small town from one end to the other…

Of course the “locals” are in it…

from police… fire department… residents… school kids… all kinds of tractors (farming area)… cars cruising… politicians abound…

      

Lots of Fall decorations… Christmas… handmade soaps… candies… clothes… jewelry… foods

just name it!

 

Shops are full with shoppers besides the vendors…

  

Bobby is now making me a wood tree after showing him the photo…

     

Ornaments… gourds… decorations… homemade jellies/vegetables…

  

I really liked this cute chair…

Very Patriotic!… Red, White, Blue… with The Pledge of Allegiance on the seat…

  

This is a couple of the things I bought…

A Fall Metal Star decorated for Fall… and Corn Relish…

to go with the Soup I’m going to make from a trip to Indiana…

We left with tired feet/legs… hungry for some “real food”… and so tired we all went home and napped…

Labor Day Memory… Jello Pretzel Salad

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

But, of course we use it as a day to have picnics   , cook-outs and family/friend get-togethers…

We are no different…

A kind of last hoorah! at the end of summer! 

My Dad’s Birthday  was right on Labor Day… and being so young I thought it was Holiday just for him…

A hard worker… getting up early every day to go to his job of hanging wallpaper and painting     … and then when he got home… he worked around our home that he built all of the time…

It had to be celebrated because of him!…

We always had everyone over with lots of food… yard games… and good conversation…

and Daddy received gifts on that day also…

So… when I found out it was a “National” Holiday…

it made no difference to me…

It was still Daddy’s special day…

We are going to my son’s to swim … eat… probably will have yard games like “corn hole”…

The weather is perfect!

We all pitch in to bring a dish… a drink  …a snack…

I made Strawberry Pretzel Salad… although I think of it as dessert!…

I ended up making three! …  

 

One to take… one to give to my grass cutter neighbor… and one to stay here at home for us…

I REALLY like it!

It consists of a pretzel crust… cream cheese/sugar/cool whip filling… Strawberry Jello/Fresh Strawberries…

Just the best refreshing dessert for summer!…

***************************

I grabbed a few photos from up above on the deck… at my son’s house…

Nice day!

  

The kids took advantage of the pool… Nothing stops them…

TOO cold for me…I don’t need to get sick…

   

My sister went with us… and shot BB Guns with my Grandson…

She is “all that”!…

Later… I wished for some more of the Smoked Pork Roast my son had made…

maybe a little more Pasta Salad…

maybe some Buffalo Chicken Dip/Chips…

maybe a little more Potato Salad…

Oh yes!… a Hot Dog… Hamburger…with alll of the fixings…

Baked Beans…

Tomato/Fresh Mozzarella Cheese Salad…

Fruit Salad…

Snickers Peanut Butter Pie…

Pineapple Dessert…

Did I say…

“WE HAD LOTS OF GOOD FOOD!”

 

Best Wishes Carson… and Melanie!

As I’ve said, “Adding a part-time job… to my agenda… has made some slight changes in my life”…

Still figuring out my managing techniques in my changing world…

but, I still have time to fit in my family…

Yesterday… we celebrated my Grandson’s Birthday with lunch at his favorite

“Restaurant of the Moment”… The Golden Corral…

WHY?… is it his favorite right now!… Because it has 3 chocolate waterfall fountains…

to dip all kinds of goodies in…

plus, a cotton candy machine to make your own…

The girls(sisters) had fun at the cotton candy machine!

and the “food” bar is extraordinary with every kind of food possible…

I usually don’t like these “food troughs” as we have called them… but, the food here

is great!… 

Carson enjoying everything he likes!

He wanted his family… which consists of his two sisters, Mom & Dad, both sets of Grandparents… and his Uncle Doug…

They are so cute and funny!

“Our Little Family”… is what I call it…

Carson with his best friend… Dad!

It was my Daughter-in-law’s Birthday in the same week…. so we gifted her at this time… She has been busy working at the hospital where she is head nurse… and with our snowy… very cold weather… we hadn’t had time to connect…

Mom and her “baby” celebrating!

We caught up on the news of all… laughed… talked and wished our “little one”… actually 9 years old!… BEST WISHES!

Days Are So Different!

Yesterday was the longest day!…

straightened up the house…

went to water aerobics…

cooked lunch…

ran some errands with my husband…

went by and visited my sister while we were out…

dropped by and got us some fast food…

cleaned a table I want to refurbish…

watched a little TV…

got on computer for awhile…

and it was only late afternoon!…

so out to the glider to swing a little and have a cup of coffee…

talked on phone a couple of times…

I was yawning… feeling tired… finally!

watched a TV show through slanted eyes… not even making out what was being said…  

and finally went to sleep…

I was hoping the next day would be better…

and it was!…

Sailed right along…

Wonder why days are like that sometime?

BUNCO GOODIES!

BUNCO night has arrived…

We are to bring the food and drink… My sister and myself…

We have a little lady in our group… but, at 90 years… she has asked us to let her pay our monthly dues of $5.00 each … and just let us do the food preparation…

That is fine with us!

My sister and I can come up with a menu easily … and decide what each is going to bring…

We have to feed 28 ladies…

Menu:

Chicken Salad ( sister)

Rolls / Crackers / Butter (sister)

Spinach Casserole (sister)

Cranberry / Raspberry Jello Salad (sister)

Pumpkin / Cream Cheese Bars (me)

 

Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Autumn Sprinkles (me)

 

Chocolate Covered Mints – candy (me)

Iced Tea / Coffee / Soft Drinks (me)

Also Paper products of Plates / Forks / Cups / Napkins (me)

Ice

If we make a list it goes much easier…

Everyone raved over the food… Sure makes us feel good!

As you can tell by list… sister is the better cook…

and I’m better at desserts… and finding decorations…

Our little lady who paid our dues…  said…

“I sure did a good job cooking and baking didn’t I?”… as she grinned her sweet smile!

“It tasted so good!”

RECIPE:

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Angel Food Cake

This recipe calls for very few ingredients: angel food cake, a can of pumpkin, cream cheese, and some cinnamon.

Directions:

*Beat the cream cheese with 3 tablespoons water until the consistency has thinned.

*In a separate bowl, mix the cake mix, pumpkin, and 1 tsp cinnamon with 3/4 cup water.

*Add half the cake mixture to a 9×13 pan, layer with dollops of the cream cheese, add the remaining cake mixture, and top with remaining cream cheese.

*Take a knife and swirl the cream cheese and cake together. Be sure not to over mix, you want the ingredients to remain separate.

Bake the cake at 375 degrees for 34 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean).

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The Fair Came Last week

Louisville has a big State Fair…

Animals, crafts, concerts, food, rides , displays…

We weren’t going this year… The cost of getting in is $10.00 a person + $8.00 to park…

$28.00 just to get in… and then you smell all of the food cooking and want something like a foot long corndog … or a funnel cake   … or a fresh squeezed “Lemonade Shakeup”…  or ice cream… or a Pork Chop Sandwich …

Well, you get the picture!

There are displays selling everything!

Clothes, jewelery, pot/pans, leather items , glass items, things I’ve never seen before…

It really is quite overwhelming!

I was on Facebook… when a nephew of mine said he had two tickets that included parking for $10.00…

That I could handle!

Late in the day… and the last day… but, I wanted to go…

You have to know why…

My husband and I met at the Kentucky State Fair… September 1968… and were married February 1969…

5 months of knowing someone… my Dad was about to have a fit!…

Not that we had just known each other for such a short time… but, that he was leaving for Viet Nam in March….

NOW, I grasp what my Dad was thinking…

but, LOVE conquered and we were married…

So, you see why I “need” to go whenever I can!…

It will be 45 years… this February-2014…

So, we went and walked and looked and talked…

We didn’t eat… because we had a good dinner with our kids before we left… and the only thing I bought was  some eye-glass/ jewelery cleaner …

Didn’t need that!… but, it worked so good!

Better than food that would go straight to my behind!… is the way I looked at it!

Our short visit was very nice… the smells… the atmosphere… the memories…

Main entrance …

Mr. Goat greeted us…

This was the cutest… Baby yellow ducks would swim to one end of the trough… ride up… eat a few bites… then slide down… and then repeat again…

Trailer we would like to have…

“Dream Only!”…

One of my students from when I was at middle school…

She is just a doll… (Special Needs Class)… she was 11- or 12 … now I guess in her 30’s… Her Mom and Dad sell Glass Figurines at the Fair every year…

so good seeing her… She had her face painted with a pretty purple design… her favorite color!

She hollers, “Mrs. Griffin!”… every year when I stop by for a visit…

Fish Tanks…

    

Easter Egg Plant…    

I liked this wall hanging for Easter…

It didn’t win a ribbon… but, I thought it should have…

 

Hundreds of quilts on display… just a sampling! of some of the Blue/Purple Ribbon winners…

         

Beautiful Cakes… so many… but, I liked these…

Jams and jellies won ribbons…

   

Balloon art… Our Cardinals and Wildcat Basketball Rivals… pretty neat!

 

Donuts for buns on these hamburgers… and lots of stands selling any kind of food you could want…

It was a fun evening… and just long enough…

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Daily Prompt: Red Pill, Blue Pill

If you could get all the nutrition you needed in a day with a pill — no worrying about what to eat, no food preparation — would you do it?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us NOURISHMENT.

……………….

Never!

I like food too much… I’m addicted for sure!…

Fruits

Vegetables

Meats 

Dairy

Breads 

Sweets

Drinks

I like its texture… its crispness … its flavor… its cruchiness … its smoothness … its smell … its taste …

Need I go on!…

I not even like all that about it… I love preparing it too…

Cutting it up

rinsing it mixing it…

adding this and that to it boiling it…

baking it

frying it …

It’s become a major force in my life…

It’s where I get pleasure… besides nutrition…

It’s colorful to look at…

The smells are outstanding…

You can even hear it at times… the pop…the snap…the crunch…

and the taste… I repeat… the taste! 

Oh, my!

Why?… would I want a pill to take all that away from me…

My life is not and will never be that busy… that I would give up all of what food gives me… and does for me…

just to save the time  of deciding what I will eat…

when I will eat… or how it will be prepared…

From chocolate cake baking in the oven

to fried chicken cooking on the stove

to tasting that sweet corn on the cob  

You have to be kidding!

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Yummy or Yucky???

After watching the Kentucky Derby… Kennedy and I decide to make the cookies I bought…

“Shortbread”… made by Betty Crocker…

If you notice in the photos her left hand is in a cast… playing outside… she tripped and broke her wrist…

But, she did an awesome job with one hand!

 

I’ve tasted shortbread before… Not overly sweet…but, sweet… kinda like a soft sugar cookie…

“Lorna Dunes” come to mind… pre-packaged…

Good!…

All you have to do is mix the dry mix from the package with two sticks of butter/ margarine…

untill forms a soft dough…

 

Pat out in a rectangular shape or use a rolling-pin…

Cut into small rectangles…

 

Pierce  holes using a fork…

 

Bake at 375 degrees for about 8-10 minutes…

They don’t get very brown… slightly on the bottom and tops…

Cool and eat…

 

WRONG!… we tasted and they were just awful!…

No sweetness what so ever!… just doughy…

disappointment for sure!…

Our sweet fix was not to be had!…

All of Kennedy’s hard (easy) work to no avail!…

I even looked on the package to see if I had left out something!… but, no… we had followed the directions just right!

So, not to waste them… I gave them to the birds this morning… Unbelievably… They seemed to really enjoy them…           

 

They’ve eaten over half of them already …

I guess you could say, They were…” for the birds!”

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Making Chocolate Bunnies…

Whatever Holiday comes… I look for something new to make… a new dessert… a new decoration … a new card to send… a unique gift…

I found this Easter Bunny Mold sometime last summer at the thrift store… There was only one… but, I knew from making candies in our little Bake Shop at school that the candies would set up pretty quick when put in the freezer… and should pop right out with a little twist of the mold…

Well, I was right!… I only bought one bag of the candy chips that were microwavable… They melted quickly… In about an hour I had 24 cute chocolate bunnies…

I figured if they did as good as I thought… I might buy some more candy chips… Maybe yellow or pink… time permitting…

I want to have them for Easter  to put in my candy dishes or I might just bag for favors for each place setting on the table  …

I am having dinner  … for my son/daughter-in-law, her parents, grandkids, my other son and us…

I think they turned out so cute!

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Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I wrote this for a program I have to give at our TOPS group tonight…

I’m the Co-leader…and this message is for me as well as them…

I have been trying to ERASE…LOSE…GET RID OF… a certain amount of pounds for two years…Sad isn’t it!…

So we try to encourage each other by having programs each week… 

TOPS : Take Off Pounds Sensibly…

Somewhere over the Rainbow…is our dream of being slimmer…prettier…more handsome…

There lies our Pot of Gold…

It’s not shiny… it’s not worth much to anyone else…

It’s a hard road…

It has its ups and downs…

We sometimes just step from color to color…

We know these colors well…

Red: Remembering how we used to look …Realizing things need to change…Sometimes Rewarding ourselves with false pleasures of food that is not good for us…

Orange: Openly discussing our problems with people who care… Others seem to have the control we want and need…and then we Overeat to compensate for those feelings

Yellow: You seem to be alone in your struggle…You Yell at yourself inside your head to stop this cycle…but to no avail…Yielding to temptations of sweets…salty foods…fattening foods

Green: Gorging ourselves on food…that doesn’t take care of the real problems that lay within us…Giving in to that one piece of cake…that puts us on our slippery slope of our Rainbow… Grateful for those who try to help us…knowing it’s ourselves that have to take control

Blue: Beating ourselves up time and time again…for our weakness… Breathing becomes harder and harder as our weight takes it’s toll on our bodies… We know longer see the Beauty in things…

Indigo: I…have to be the one to decide to make the change… Idle time makes us seek food usually to fill our desires…Indicators start to show up that our Rainbow ride is making us have heart trouble…diabetes… bad arthritis…aches and pains…

Violet: Vitality slips away…no energy to do the smallest things…We are Very aware of what is the problem… so we have to change…

We have to start Valuing ourselves again…

Where we will reach our Pot of Gold…

A healthier…happier…prettier…more handsome self!

Full of energy…wanting to move…liking ourselves again!

There’s no magic Leprechaun to help us reach our goals… but, together we will!

I was inspired by ST Patrick’s Day…Rainbows…Pots of Gold…Leprechauns… Green…

We are going to play Shamrock Bingo also… I’ve run cards… and cover pieces off of the computer…

I have 10 GREEN prizes for the winners…

It was fun finding 10 different GREEN items:

Plastic cups- Plastic containers- KeyLime marshmallows Bubbles-Candles-Scarf-Water Bottle-Kale Greens-Green Easter grass for basket-St.Patrick’s Day pins

but, they have to pick out a piece of Gold from the pot I made…and the number drawn coincides with a prize…

Silly…but, we have the best time…and maybe some… including me…  will reach our

POT of GOLD some day!

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