Cooking Thursday

We had another potluck at church last week and today I'm sharing the salad I took to share.  It's a recipe I got from a friend who has since passed away. She was a great cook and I love remembering her when I make her recipes. This is an unusual salad because it has corn bread in it!  It's very tasty and looks pretty in a clear glass bowl or a trifle bowl.

Chili Corn Bread Salad

1 pkg (8.5 oz) corn bread/muffin mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp ground oregano
Mix all of above and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool.

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 envelope ranch salad dressing
Mix to make dressing.

1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) corn, drained
3 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

In a 9x13 glass pan or a large glass bowl, crumble half of the corn bread. Spread half of the dressing over bread. Layer with half the beans, corn, tomatoes, pepper, onion, cilantro and cheese. Repeat layer. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

Some fun with my girlies

Alaina and Ruby came and spent the night this past weekend.  We did lots of fun things!

We took them out for supper and then took a walk down the road to give the horses some apple treats.

Walking back, Alaina took a picture of us walking behind them.

Later we picked up my brother and went to an ice cream place that was my Dad's favorite.  The girls were eating blue ice cream and look what it did to their mouths!

On Saturday morning, Bob was gone to help cut down a tree at my sisters house.  The girls occupied themselves with some doodling while I got some things done in the kitchen.

This is something Alaina was drawing and I thought it was pretty cute!  I don't know what she was going to say to Come to though!

Then we started on our craft for the day. We had 2 mini crates for each of them, which Bob had already glued together.  The girls got them painted.

While the paint dried, we drove to Mark and Cheri's house (they live just around the corner from us) to check on the tree cutting.  Things were going well, but there was a lot to be done yet.

When we got back home, we did more work on our painted crates. They were being turned into pumpkins!  A piece of a branch was cut for the stem, spanish moss, some leaves and acorns were glued to the top.  We also put battery operated fairy lights in through an opening and glued the battery pack under the moss.

Here they are - cute little light up pumpkins!

Later, we went for a walk in the woods near us.

It's so beautiful there this time of year.

We found this wood teepee someone had made with old logs.

Ruby crawled in and checked it out.

Alaina didn't want to go inside because "there might be spiders in there".

Ruby wanted to do a little climbing. She made it up the log and back without trouble.

The tree cutting didn't get done until about 5.  Laura and Aaron had been over there helping, so they came and picked up the girls when they were done. 
We had a fun day!

Life lately

I thought I'd share a few random things from the last week.

Last weekend we went to a surprise birthday party!  My sister Terri and her husband Dave both turned 60 within a week of each other. So their kids threw a surprise party.

Daughter Chelsea took them for a drive, then had them put on masks before coming it.

Surprise! 
Their kids did a great job and we all had a good time.

Someone from church had lots of extra tomatoes they gave me, so I canned this salsa.  I also canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.  It feels good to have that stored away!

The weather has been beautiful, and I've been enjoying some walks in a wooded area down the road from us.

As I was walking, this caught my eye.  What is a shell doing on the edge of the woods?

Isn't this a beautiful tree?  Being out in nature is such a reminder of God's majesty.  Makes me think of the song 'How Great Thou Art'.

Blue skies and sunshine!  I'm enjoying it while I can.