Thursday, May 16, 2024
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Cooking Thursday
I tried a new recipe last week for steak bites that was so quick and easy! I think these were done in less than 15 minutes. They were tender, juicy and full of flavor. Pair it with a salad or veggies and you have a quick and tasty meal.
Garlic Butter Steak Bites
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 pounds sirloin steak cut into bite size pieces or beef tips
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Add olive oil to large skillet and heat over high heat. When oil is hot, add steak pieces. You want to get a good sear on them so the oil needs to be hot. Cook for about 2 minutes, then turn over. Cook until golden brown, being careful not to overcook and dry them out.
Transfer steak bites to a plate and in the same skillet, add butter and turn heat down to medium. Add garlic and red pepper flakes, cook for about 30 seconds until garlic begins to brown.
Pour the garlic butter over the steak bites and toss together. Garnish with parsley and serve.
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Monday, May 13, 2024
A Day in my Life - May
I know I'm late with this one, but I was busy telling you about the Smoky Mountains last week, so I'm here now to tell you about how I spent the first day of the month.
May 1 was the day after we got back from our trip. I had that day off so we could bring our rental car back and get all the things taken care of post vacation.
We had some shirts for Alaina and Ruby, but they were in school so we are waiting to give them in person.
When we got home, I dropped Bob off and left again. I had to pick up our stopped mail and get some groceries.
It really looked like Spring in our area. The farmers were all out in the fields.
I did some laundry and got all our luggage and packing things put away.
Later Bob and I went out and walked the yard, enjoying the many things that had started blooming while we were gone.
We had an easy supper; breakfast for supper, and then a quiet evening.
It was a good day to get things done and get ready to go back to work!
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Happy Mothers Day
I hope all of you had a nice Mothers Day with your kids, your moms or memories of your mom.
This was my first year without a mom to celebrate. My mom passed away 21 years ago this week. Bob's mom passed away 5 years ago and my stepmom Ann passed away in December. I was blessed to have each of them in my life.
Our daughters Laura and Heather, and their families came over on Saturday evening.
I also got this, which let us know the name of the baby boy coming in August. Connor William! I really like that name.
Sunday was a quiet day. We had a nice service at church and all the ladies got a carnation.
Bob's been spoiling me all day and I had a nice call from Andy in Kentucky.
I'm ever so thankful for all my kids and grandkids, and also thankful for the moms in my life!
Thursday, May 9, 2024
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
Smoky Mountains, last day
When I left you yesterday, we were having lunch in a little town in North Carolina. It was a cute town and we enjoyed walked around it a little.
After lunch we went to investigate something Andy had read about. It's called The road to nowhere. It's a road through the mountains that was started in the 1940's. They tore down houses and dug a lake to make a community. However, for some reason it was never completed, leaving some angry former homeowners and tax payers.
Now it's a road that only tourists drive and it ends with a tunnel.
The road itself is about 6 1/2 miles long and the tunnel is 1/4 mile long.
Can you believe they were doing construction on this road to nowhere? Because it's on a curvy mountain road, we had to follow this car through the construction for several miles.
We parked and then started walking.
We reached the tunnel
It was so strange to see something like this; all that work and cost and now just abandoned.
We then drove back to Gatlinburg.
We had a nice last evening together. Because Andy and Nikki live in another state, we don't get to spend time in person with them too often, so this time together was a joy!
The next morning we were on the road before 8 am. Andy and Nikki had a 4 hour drive, we had a 10 hour drive.
We started the drive in rain, but it soon cleared and we had a good drive home.
We arrived safely home about 6:30, happy to be home and with good memories of our time together!
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Smoky Mountains - day 3
Monday was a full day for us. I'll share only part today so you don't have to look at too much in one day.
The spring flowers are so pretty!
Andy then took us to Cherokee, which is an Indian Reservation in North Carolina. They have a Bamboo Forest he wanted to show us.
Here we all are in the middle of it.
A wooden sculpture in Cherokee.
Tomorrow I'll share what we did for the rest of the day.