Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Todays recipe is one I got from my sister.  It's pork tenderloin prepared in the Instant Pot.  Pork tenderloin is a pretty low cost meat; I got mine in a pack of 2 for under 8 dollars.  It's enough for several meals so I cooked one and froze the other.  This is so easy to make and can be ready in about 30 minutes.  It had really good flavor and was nice and tender.  I served it with green beans.

Easy Pork Tenderloin

1 pound pork tenderloin
1 cup unsalted chicken broth
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano

In small bowl, combine salt, pepper, paprika, mustard, honey, vinegar, onion powder and oregano. Stir to combine.
Coat the pork tenderloin with seasoning mix.
Set Instant Pot to saute.
Add olive oil to bottom of Instant Pot.
Place tenderloin in pot and saute for 2 minutes on each side (2 sides).
Remove tenderloin and add chicken broth to the pot. Stir to deglaze the pot.
Place rack in pot and add the tenderloin.
Place lid on pot and set valve to sealing.  Set to manual high pressure for 6 minutes.  Allow natural release for 3 minutes.
Remove tenderloin and check temperature with meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat.  If it's less than 145 degrees, place back in Instant Pot and close, letting the meat sit inside for 3-5 minutes.
After removing meat from pot, let it sit for another 3 minutes before slicing it.

Wordless Wednesday

 (If you look close, you can see two babies laying down in the center of the picture)

Garden Gate

In a post I did last week, I included a photo of the gate we have on the side of the house.  Several people asked to see what was on the other side of the gate, and also if it's something we use often.  Yes, we use it all the time when walking around the house.  I took some pictures to show you the rest of the story!

Here's the gate. Bob built this several years ago, and has worked hard on the landscaping around it.

Here's the walkway on the other side.  We call this hosta lane, because of all the hosta planted along the path.

Here's the end of the path, looking back at the gate.

The path ends at the back of the garage. Back here we have a raised garden bed and some other plants including this weigela which is blooming beautifully right now.

In other news, this is the back of the house. Last year Bob put in the patio and in the Fall the slider was installed.  This week materials are arriving for a deck. Bob's been busy getting everything ready to start it and we're looking forward to sitting on it!

Memorial Day

 (Comments turned off for today)

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I've got a cookie recipe for you today.  It's an old one that I got from my SIL about 35 years ago. This is a crispy cookie that people tell me is perfect with coffee.  I don't drink coffee, so I can't vouch for that, but they are very good! These cookies have to be mixed and then refrigerated overnight, so you do have to plan ahead.  However, they mix up quickly and since they are a roll and slice cookie, they are very easy to bake the next day.  They freeze very well so they can be made ahead of time.

Old Dutch Sand Cookies

3 sticks butter (1 1/2 cups)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir flour and baking soda together and mix with butter/sugar mix, add vanilla and beat until smooth.
Shape dough into rolls and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.

The next day preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Slice dough rolls into cookies, about 1/4 inch thick for 12 minutes until golden.

Wordless Wednesday

(Oak Leaf Hydrangea)

 

A little show and tell

We were doing some rearranging of our pictures on the wall in our downstairs family room recently. I have a special piece of art in that grouping and thought I should share it with you.

Here's a grouping of photos I took of different lighthouses and some of their interiors, in the middle is the artwork I'm talking about.

When I worked as a nurse in the hospital, I worked on the ortho/neuro floor.  We had patients with fractures, total hips and knees, back surgeries and patients with neuro injuries like paraplegic and quadriplegics.
One of the patients that was on our floor several times was a quadriplegic. He was unable to move anything from his upper shoulders down. He was hurt in a diving accident and had a wife and young daughter. Sometimes people with injuries like this are not easy to care for, probably because they've been through so much and can't control anything, so they act out. This man was kind and a joy to work with. He was a Christian and shared his faith openly.
After his injury, he worked hard to learn how to draw using a pencil in his mouth. The picture you see above is one he did for me, from a photo I had taken of the Little Au Sable Lighthouse in Pentwater Michigan.
I find it amazing to think this was all done with using his mouth.

 

Do you see the signature? It's signed "in CHRIST, Will".  I've had it for close to 40 years and treasure it.

I don't know if Will is still living, but in searching online, I found this Youtube video where he was interviewed 8 years ago. If you have 10 minutes to watch it, I think you'll find it very interesting.

All a-bloom!

Flowers are bursting open in our area.  It's so fun to watch this happen.  Bob and I take a walk around the yard daily and find new things coming to life. Here's a few things that we're enjoying.

Bob moved this azalea last year as it wasn't getting enough sunlight and only got a few blooms.  It's much happier here!

The dwarf lilac is almost ready to open up.  The flowers look just like regular lilacs, but are about 1/4 the size.

These are alliums, purple balls that are so fun!

Our Japanese Maple has tiny little red seedlings that I think are pretty cute.

The snowball bush...

All the hosta plants are growing.

These lily of the valley are so delicate and pretty, and they smell wonderful!

This is one of our favorites.  It's a type of Viburnum bush.  The flowers bloom along the top of every branch giving it an unusual look.

Here you can see how each branch looks.

Here's a close up of the flowers, blooming in a ring around the center.

Thanks for walking around the yard with me!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

Todays recipe is a good one for a brunch, but would be good anytime you want fresh fruit.  I made it last week to serve with breakfast when Jenny was here and we enjoyed it.

Fresh Fruit and Yogurt Salad

1 small orange, peeled and diced
3/4 cup fresh pineapple, diced
3/4 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup sliced grapes
1 small banana, sliced
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
1 teaspoon white sugar

Stir yogurt and sugar together in bowl.  Stir in fruit to coat with yogurt mix.  You may add more yogurt if needed and can change fruits to your taste.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Art Show

Last week we went to a school art show for Ruby.  Every year the school does this, with the art teacher choosing art pieces done by students from Kindergarten to 12 grade.  Ruby was so excited to have a piece chosen to be shown again.

Here's the entrance to the show.

There was a lot of art there!  We had to go looking for Ruby's piece.

Here's Ruby with her art work.

After seeing Ruby's piece, we checked out some of the other art work.  Aren't these cow bowls cute!

This cute little ostrich was drawn by a 3rd grader.

This is a ceramic piece done by a 10th grader.

I thought this painting was incredible - done by a student in 11th grade.

After the art show was done, Ruby was notified that her piece was chosen to be displayed at the DeVos Center in Grand Rapids; they chose 6 pieces out of several hundred so she was excited and we're very proud of her!

The Pirate comes to visit

I left you all a week ago, telling you we had special friends coming to visit.  Now I'm back and reporting on the great time we had with Jenny from I'm Having a Thought Here and her husband TG.
Jenny and I met blogging, and have been friends for years.  Last November we went to South Carolina to celebrate their daughter's wedding, and now they drove up to us for a short visit.

The first night Laura, Heather and families came over to meet them. Because Jenny is a pirate lover and goes by 'Jenny the Pirate', Cassie came in a pirate costume.  By the time this photo was taken, all the remained was the cap!

Connor was there too, but was cranky when we took the photo of Jenny and the girls.

The girls had made gifts for Jenny.  Alaina made this pencil holder and paper flower.

Ruby made the pirate bracelet.  Cassie had drawn a picture for her.

We girls spent some time chatting on the porch.

Another thing Jenny is very interested in is old cemeteries.  We found an old one in Grand Rapids and went to check it out the next day.

It was a sunny day, perfect for wandering in this beautiful place.

This is the Bissell Obelisk, marking the grave of the man who invented the Bissell carpet sweeper.

This mausoleum cost $200,000 to build in the early 1900's.  It's estimated that the cost now would be two million dollars.  Look at the front of it - there are 2 Sphinx guarding it!

Here's one of them.

Some of the monuments are so beautiful. 

This mausoleum looked like a pyramid. Although the outside looks like wood shingles, it's actually stone.

We saw many headstones that were for children.  This one said "Little Blossom, 5 years".  So sad!

After this we headed to Holland, where the annual Tulip Time festival was going on. Unfortunately it was so busy we couldn't even find a place to park...
So we headed on to Grand Haven, to check out the Light House and Lake Michigan.

It was so cold on the pier! 

We didn't spend much time here, walked down and back quickly so we could get back to the warmth of the car.
We went into town and did a little shopping in the cute shops.

Then we headed off to the last stop of the day.

We drove about 40 minutes north of Grand Haven to the White River Lighthouse. It wasn't open for tours, but is always fun to walk around and see.  It was built in 1875.

Here's TG and Jenny in front of the Lighthouse.

They headed back home the next morning, but we sure enjoyed the time we spent with them!