Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

It's Chili Season!  We really like chili and I have several different recipes for it; white chicken chili, beef chili - some that are more difficult and time consuming, some that are easy.  I recently tried a new one that has a few types of beans and is both sweet and spicy. It was quite easy to throw together and will be added to my rotation of chili recipes.

Sweet and Spicy Chili

2 pounds ground beef, cooked and drained
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 teaspoon dried garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon thyme
4 tablespoons chili powder
dash of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 bay leaves
15 ounces beef stock
15 ounce can tomato sauce
14.5 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
15 ounce can great northern beans, drained
2 - 15 ounces cans dark red kidney beans, drained
Stir all ingredients together in large crock pot.  Cook on low for at least 8 hours.  Remove bay leaves and serve.

Wordless Wednesday

 

A night with Cassie

Cassie came to spend the night with us this past weekend.  Connor has been a little scared lately so he didn't come. She was all excited and had her things all packed and ready to go.  She had a little suitcase, a sleeping bag, her pillow and a backpack.  (She's a girl and doesn't pack lightly!) She asked Bob to help her carry things and he took it all but her little backpack.  When he put it in the car, she told him "Grandpa, you are big and strong!"

We were going out for supper and she chose Chik-fil-A.

Here we are in the restaurant.  Can you see that she likes her Grandpa?

Here she's talking his ears off as we walked to the car.

When we got home, we made a squishie, from a kit.

Here it is once it dried and maintained it's shape.

We played dinosaur dominoes

Then we made playdough. We made it pink for Valentines Day.

She's concentrating on stirring.  It took lotion, corn starch and food coloring so it was easy and smelled good!

It was fun to cut out shapes.

Bed time went ok, with lots of requests for snuggles.

She enjoyed waffles the next morning.

Then we headed to her house.  We watched her and Connor while Heather and Andrew went to an appt.

Here's Cassie and Connor at their house.  He was full of smiles.  Such a fun weekend!

Ready for Spring!

Last week's weather was one for the books!  I know some of you in Georgia, Florida and Texas also got snow! Here in Michigan, I'm not a fan of snow and cold but we are pretty used to it.  But last week it was sooo cold, and the snow didn't stop.
Almost all schools in West Michigan were closed Mon-Thursday.  Even the University in our town was closed on Tues and Wednesday.  Our temps got to -5 degrees F and the wind chill was at -25 degrees.
We were getting snow all week, but from Wed to Thurs, we got a foot of snow in one night.  I was very thankful to be retired and not have to worry about driving.  We stayed in all week until Friday.

Here's some pictures I took throughout the week.

Our side yard

Looking into the back yard

My sister had to go in to work, her husband drove her and she took this picture to show me what the roads looked like.

Frost built up on our windows

Here's Bob snowblowing again.  He's clearing the path that goes to his wood shop.

And here's a satellite picture of Michigan that was taken last week.
It makes me cold to look at it!

I'm thankful I have a warm house and that I can stay in it.  And - I'll be so happy to see Spring arrive!

Friday Funny

Cooking Thursday

I've been seeing rave reviews for these cinnamon rolls that are made with heavy cream and decided to try them out. They were easy to make and you wouldn't know they started with refrigerated cinnamon rolls. They were light and fluffy, and full of flavor.

Cinnamon Rolls with Heavy Cream

1 can Grands Cinnamon Rolls
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 tablespoon heavy cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease 9x9 pan.
Place cinnamon rolls in pan and pour 1/2 cup heavy cream around them.
Place butter and brown sugar into small saucepan. Melt and bring almost to a boil. Then stir in the vanilla and the 1 1/2 tablespoons heavy cream.
Pour the butter and brown sugar sauce over the cinnamon rolls.
Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and most of the liquid is absorbed.
Let set for 5 minutes to slightly cool, then frost with the icing that was provided with the rolls.
Serve warm with additional sauce from pan.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Something New!

I'm trying something new.  When I was younger I used to can food.  I grew up with my mom canning all summer long. However, as I got busier with working full time, I quit doing it. It's something I wanted to do a little of since retiring and after hearing from Donna about the canner she uses, I got one about a month ago.  It's an electric pressure canner. Because it's electric you don't have something on your stove for hours.  You do 8 pints or quarts at a time and it walks you through the process.  There are quite a few foods that need the pressure canner to can safely, so this gives me the option to can things like meat.

We have a meat market fairly near us that has good meat from local farmers.  They had a sale on ground beef this month, so I thought this was a good time to try out that canner.

Here it is, sitting on my counter and processing.

Here's one of my jars of ground beef.  I got 22 pints done; each is about 1 pound of meat.  It's nice that it's shelf stable, I don't have to worry about the power going out and losing it.  And, because it's cooked, it'll make it very easy to make a meal with it.

Later this month, they will have chicken on sale, so I'll be canning that too.  It feels good to have this on the shelf, and it was actually kind of fun!

Another overnight stay

 

I have just a few pictures to share with you from last weekend when Alaina and Ruby spent the night.  I didn't take as many as usual.

The weather was awful when we went to pick them up on Friday afternoon, so we just stopped for supper at Culvers (their favorite place) for supper and came back home.

They love to hook up our old Wii and play Mario Cart and race Grandpa.  We did that and then watched an old Muppet movie!

Here's how it looked the next morning.  At least it quit snowing for a while.

The girls are always wondering what kind of craft we are doing. They were thinking about holidays coming up and thought maybe it was something about Valentines day, then maybe Martin Luther King day.  When I said not those things, they said it was too early for Easter.   I asked them what had been going on lately and they said "fires". I don't know what craft we would do about fires though!  I reminded them that in our area it's been snowing non-stop!  So, we made snowmen...

The snowmen were made out of clothespins.  Here's Ruby painting her clothespins white.

And here's Alaina working on hers.

We used toothpicks dipped in black paint to make eyes and mouth, then brushed on just a little pink for the cheeks.  More black dots were added for buttons, and we painted the ended of toothpicks orange, cut them off and glued them to make noses.
Acorn caps made cute little caps, and strips of ribbon were tied on to make scarfs.  

Here they are with their cute little snowmen.

We each made three of them.

Here's mine, tucked into a display on my table.

After lunch, we played a game of Wahoo. Did any of you play that when you were young?  This board was Bob's family board.  They loved it and said they want to play it again next time they come.
We sure have fun with them!

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I picked up a package of Cube Steaks recently because they were on sale. It's not something I've used before so I put them in the freezer and looked for a recipe.  I found one that sounded good and tried it last week.  It was delicious!  The meat was tender and full of flavor.
I'll definitely be making it again.

Tender Cube Steaks

4 cube steaks
3 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
1 large yellow onion, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
Meat seasoning:
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Sauce:
2 tablespoons cornstarch
15 ounce can beef broth
1 teaspoon beef better than bouillon
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Combine meat seasoning ingredients and set aside.
Sauce - Combine broth and cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients and set aside.
Place Saran Wrap over each steak and use meat tenderizer to flatten to about 1/2 inch thick.
Rub meat seasoning into each steak, then rub with flour.
Heat olive oil in skillet, then sear steaks for about 2 minutes on each side.
Remove steaks from skillet and place in crock pot.
Melt the butter in the skillet, then add onion slices.  Cook for 10-15 minutes until tender.
Add sauce mix, bring to a simmer until slightly thickened.
Pour onions and sauce over meat in crock pot.  
Cook on low for 6 hours.
Serve over mashed potatoes, noodle or rice with green beans or carrots.

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Wordless Wednesday

 

Time in the wood shop

You may remember recently when Bob took Alaina and Ruby into his wood shop and they made reindeer. I had posted some pictures of this on facebook, and a neighbor commented that she knew a few boys (her sons) who would love this.
Bob said he'd be happy to do something with them, so on their Christmas break they came over and spent the morning in the wood shop with him.

The plan was to make bird houses, so they started with 2 cedar boards that can be outside in rain and snow.

They've never used power tools so Bob did the more dangerous parts, like the table saw.  He taught them about using hearing protection when the equipment is running.  They did the rest of the work, sanding, glueing, screwing everything in place.

They thought it was great to use the drill press.

They used the driver to put screws in place.

This bird house needed a perch.

Here they are with their finished bird houses.  They were excited to bring them home and had fun making them.  And Bob had fun spending the morning with them!

Winter is here

We had a fairly warm beginning to winter with not much snow in December.  But that has changed!  And I know a lot of you have been dealing with cold and snow too.  It's been cold in Florida and even snowing in Georgia!

Here in Michigan we've just had a very cold spell and some pretty snowy days.
Here's a few pictures to show you some views of our world in the last week.

The roads aren't always the best.

Sometimes the world looks black and white.

The view from our slider into the back yard.

Another view of the back yard in the morning when it stopped snowing.

It's pretty when you are looking at it from inside!  On these days I'm thankful to be retired and not have to drive to work.

Friday Funny

 

Cooking Thursday

I made the best dessert during Christmas!  This recipe makes individual, small desserts that look like they came from a bakery. And - it may be the easiest dessert I've ever made!

Chocolate Ganache Dessert

20 oreos, or 1 1/2 cups crushed
6 tablespoons melted butter
8 ounces Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces Ghiradelli semi sweet chocolate
12 ounces heavy cream
toppings of your choice - crushed peppermint, raspberries, strawberries...

Stir together the melted butter and crushed oreos. Press into a 12 section mini cheesecake pan. Place in refrigerator while making the filling.
Heat the cream in the microwave or in a small pan until hot but not boiling. Break chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl.  When cream is hot, pour it over the chocolate and allow chocolate to melt. Stir together until smooth.
Pour filling over oreo crust and cover with plastic wrap.
Refrigerate until dessert is set.
Remove portions as needed from pan.  Top with whipped cream and sprinkle topping of your choice over all.

*You don't have to use Ghiradelli brand chocolate, but make sure you use good chocolate.

Wordless Wednesday