Meal in a Packet

I got in the mood to make little "foil packet" meals for us the other night. We were kind of low on groceries, so I made them real simple, but you can put ANYTHING in one of these. You can also customize them for different likes or dislikes. Usually, these are for putting on campfires. But I just laid these in pie tins (in case something leaked out), two fit nicely in each tin, then baked them in the oven.

I made four of these. I started with a square of foil for each, and oiled them (or you can use spray) so stuff wouldn't stick. First was a layer of sliced potatoes, then I sprinkled those with kosher salt, some black pepper and some Lawry's seasoned salt. (I think potatoes need a lot of salt.) Then sliced some smoked sausage on top, figuring that any juices from that would go down into the potatoes and help cook and flavor them. Then sealed up with a top fold and end folds, laid them in the pie tins, and baked at 350 degrees for an hour.

Hubby "complained" that it wasn't big enough, and that's a way of saying he liked them. They WERE good! The potatoes had a good flavor, and the meat was delicious.

You could do anything in these (commonly called a "hobo" packet), different meats, different veggies, seasonings, butter, just anything that sounds good. Maybe you could even do a chili cheeseburger! Just grab a piece of foil, turn the oven on, and let your food creativity take over. Then relax while the oven does the work.

Nighttime Baking

Hubby works at night, and even on his "nights off," he will stay up in order to stay in a routine. You never know what he (plus sometimes younger Son) will do during those night hours!

While I slept soundly last night, look what he whipped up ....

.... "Red Lobster" biscuits! They're flaky, they're buttery, they're garlicky. Yum, yum, yum, yum ....!

Individual Sweet Treats

It seems that if I make a bowl of jello salad and have it in the refrigerator, I'm the only one who eats it. So lately, I hit on the idea of making individual desserts in half-pint jars (plastic Ball freezer jars in this case). Any kind of jar with a lid, or you could even use little plastic cups with some plastic wrap over the top. Having it in ready-to-grab-and-eat portions makes it easy and fun to serve.

The first time, I made cherry jello, sliced bananas and mini marshmallows. This was a combo Mom made a lot when I was growing up. Then I've also used orange jello with the same combo. Then peach jello with just the mini marshmallows, as I was out of bananas that time. THEN, I've also made "pudding cups," first with just chocolate pudding and whipped topping. Then, the photo above shows a different combo I just made ... vanilla pudding, sliced bananas, vanilla wafers (crumbled, or even graham crackers could be used?), and whipped topping all layered however you want. The earlier desserts I used four half-pint jars. This time, since there were lots of ingredients to layer, I used six.

My boys may be teenagers, but I think they're having fun eating these, and I'm actually getting fruit in them with some of these combos. I'm even enjoying having a tasty, cool dessert or snack to just grab and enjoy.

Refreshing Cold Plate for Summer

Summer cold plate. We'd do something like this at home when I was younger during the hot summer months. This version: Meat and cheese on Ritz crackers, pine nut hummus with bagel chips, cottage cheese, cole slaw, a fresh purple plum, and a homemade jello cup of cherry jello with sliced bananas and mini marshmallows. All easy, cool and refreshing. :)

When Mom made this kind of plate, she'd start with a can of salmon (as is) divided among the plates, then she'd add such things as sliced tomatoes, cottage cheese, peaches, etc.

Beautiful Blooms

For a few years, I've had a hankerin' to have a planter out front with geraniums in it. So this last spring, I got 3 different colors, plus some petunias. I took too long to transplant them to the planter, and almost killed everything, but FINALLY got in gear and put them in the planter awhile back. They've bloomed, then gone through a spell of no blooms, then they bloom again. So right now they are all 3 blooming at once. Adds a purty sight to our front step, plus the red rock, plus the horseshoes. There's one lone dark-purple petunia in the planter that made it, out of six. I admit that's my fault, I'm hard on plants. But as long as I remember to water these babies, Hopefully we can have some pretty blooms through the rest of the summer!

Produce Market

Now that garden produce is getting going, there's a produce market over in the nearby bigger town twice a week. Earlier this week, Older Son and I stopped at it, and went a little wild (for us). Here's the photo evidence. First, the whole gang:

Sweet potatoes:

New potatoes:

Summer squash (zucchini, yellow, and a hybrid that is a cross between the two - half yellow and half green!):

A big green pepper and a couple of jalapenos:

A couple of tomatoes:

A couple of onions:

A couple of peaches (there were three, but I ate one, it was good!):

One more look at the whole thing, happy eating!

I've enjoyed Pioneer Woman's website, including the recipes. http://thepioneerwoman.com/ So today I set out to make her recipe for "Buttered Rosemary Rolls, since I had a few leftover frozen rolls, AND some fresh rosemary ready to use. I'm having lots of fun watching my basil and rosemary grow in my kitchen window.

I set them to thaw in the cast iron skillet (plus a few extra in another pan) ...

... and got some butter out to soften.

Here they are risen, and prepared for the oven with melted butter, fresh rosemary and some salt. (Her recipe calls for sea salt, but I just sprinkled on some kosher salt, since it's a little bit coarse.) I left the extra pan plain, with just some butter on top.

Here they are, fresh out of the oven. Yum!

Me fixing my first (*ahem*) roll to try.

The skillet of rolls after older Son and I lit into 'em! Will sure make these again. :)

Frozen Treats

We like frozen treats year-'round. The photo above shows a batch of fudgesicles we made. I found a super-easy recipe, and they are creamy and delicious. One small box of chocolate instant pudding, mixed up with 1 1/2 cups of milk. Then stir in 2 cups of whipped topping. Spoon into 3-oz. Dixie cups, insert a stick, and freeze.


I'm already trying to think of other things, such as strawberries and cream, or just anything, really. Last night, Hubby and Younger Son stayed up late, and when I got up this morning and opened the freezer, there was a new batch of pistachio pudding pops, with marshmallows added, that Younger Son had made. He had said he was going to. So that should be interesting to try!


An interesting tidbit - that red-and-white checkered tablecloth in the photo used to be my grandma's, and I still enjoy it, even if it has a hole or two or three.

Frozen Treats

We like frozen treats year-'round. The photo above shows a batch of fudgesicles we made. I found a super-easy recipe, and they are creamy and delicious. One small box of chocolate instant pudding, mixed up with 1 1/2 cups of milk. Then stir in 2 cups of whipped topping. Spoon into 3-oz. Dixie cups, insert a stick, and freeze.


I'm already trying to think of other things, such as strawberries and cream, or just anything, really. Last night, Hubby and Younger Son stayed up late, and when I got up this morning and opened the freezer, there was a new batch of pistachio pudding pops, with marshmallows added, that Younger Son had made. He had said he was going to. So that should be interesting to try!

A Little Color

We had gale-force winds for two days, but today was nice, near 70 degrees, and CALM. So it was time for a little project I had on my list. Paint the clothesline poles!


No paint.






Paint.






A view of both clothesline poles. Much better! Now to get all white lines up.

Bloomin' Violet, Clothes Drying, and Some Snow

The African Violet is blooming in the midst of bleak February, I *thought* it was going to be nice enough to hang a load of towels out (not), and a glimpse in the background of some of the snow that's left from Sunday evening's snow - the first of the winter!

Pretty Pink Find

You never know what you'll find at the thrift store. But a couple of days ago, I mean to say I FOUND A TREASURE.


1920's-era pink Depression Glass candlesticks. I have this "thing" for Depression Glass, especially pink or green.



Found some taper candles at Wallyworld, and they fit right in.



Sat them on a doily my Mama made. :)



Added another pink cut-glass dish of candy for some February color.

Tidying Up

To say that my sewing table area was a disaster would be a severe understatement. It was in DEEP NEED of sorting and organizing! So today, I tackled that. Put some stacks of material away for awhile. Put yarn projects in a tote and put them out of the way. Tidied the table and put less-used/unused things in the BACK and highly used/necessary things in the FRONT within easy reach. Not vice versa, which I'm prone to do all over the house!


Recently, I found some simple "shadow box frames" at the thrift store, really cheap. So I've had fun putting them to use. I know I'll keep messing with what I put in them, but this is a start. Here's the dark one made of thick wood.





Here's a lightweight one, and it looks like at one time a glass cover might've slid into place over it. but I'm enjoying it anyway. I decided to put colorful scraps in the spaces, then I put wooden spools with simmilar (or no) colors of thread on top. A folded doily that Mom made is underneath.





The jar of crochet hooks and small rulers. Most of the crochet hooks were Mom's, and I've added a few. The tin to the right of that is Mom's old button tin. I played with those buttons often as a kid, dumping them out on the table (this very table!), and looking at them and sorting them.



I also stocked up on a few treats to have handy. Here's a jar of chewy cherry hearts of different flavors. Cherry Cola, Chocolate Cherry, Cherry Cheesecake, Wild Cherry, etc.



Some wrapped chocolate hearts in a jar.



And last but not least a jar of pink and white and red M & M's in the shadow box on the wall. I don't care if it is still only mid-January - I NEED COLOR!!!

A Different Kind of Cake

Mom and I had a habit at home of pouring milk over chocolate cake in a dish. In similar style, Dad was always dunking all kinds of stuff in his coffee. I've got that habit, too. I like hot tea, hot coffee, hot cocoa, etc., and to dunk things in them ... cookies, donuts, biscotti. Mom told about how a lot of their suppers at home in the '30's when she was a girl was cornbread and milk (and a dab of sugar) in a glass. Dad liked saltine crackers crushed into a glass with milk poured over. Mom often fixed "milk toast" for breakfast in the cold months, hot seasoned milk poured over buttered toast.


In light of all this soaked up stuff, awhile back I saw a recipe on Pioneer Woman's website for "Tres Leches Cake."


http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/09/tres-leches-cake/


A cake with milk soaked into it? Right up my alley. But I've not tackled this from-scratch recipe yet. Older Son and I were in wallyworld recently, and they had this cake in mix form, so I grabbed one. You made a cake part, then after it was baked and cooled you poured a milk mixture (milk with some kind of powder whisked into it) all over it. Then I topped it with whipped topping.




Older Son "kind of" liked it, Younger Son ate maybe half a piece. Hubby didn't touch it. Meanwhile, I could've snarfed up the whole cake at once! So if I make it again, it'll probably be all mine. Well, since I have an "easy way" to make it with a mix in a box and whipped topping in a tub, I may just do that.

Rearranging ... on a Wall

I found a really nice shadow box shelf at the thrift store today. My immediate idea was, "Sewing and yarn stuff."


Here's the shelf, reposing on the couch while I decide what to do.




I had kind of put a lot of stuff all over the wall by my sewing/crafting table. Quilt blocks, post-it notes, what-have-you. It got to looking a little messy and disorganized.




So I took all the things down to start with a clean slate.




Measured and marked and nailed, and put the new (dusted) shelf in place.




Then came the fun part, putting a few things back on the wall, then filling the shelf with fun items.




A closeup of the shelf. I think I'll really enjoy this. I can change things out for seasons, holidays, various themes, what-have-you. I'd say the 3 dollars was worth it!