Time to move on....

Guess this will be my last post for awhile while I get busy with all the stuff I need to do. I do plan on blogging some more in the near future so I hope if you are reading along, you'll come back to visit later on....

The baby squirrels have gotten so big I can hardly tell them from their mother. Five of the eight survived and I suspect they will be moving on too in a few weeks. I will miss my baby squirrel family, they were a daily source of amusement and inspiration.

I Think Paul Would Approve

In my quest to clean out my fridge and pantry, I have been pretty good lately at using what I already have and tonight I had a frozen half pound of ground sirloin and a nice hunk of lettuce and a tomato. Needless to say, I like Paul's dressings and I must have 5 to 10 bottles of opened dressings taking up room in my door! Well, I decided to just combine them and mix them with another favorite, Wishbone French, so that's what I did. I hated throwing out the bottles, as I always felt a sense of comfort knowing I had so many Pauls in my fridge, but.......sigh.......

The dressing came out so good and I am determined not to buy any more until my new mixture is gone (now residing Paul lonely light Honey-Mustard bottle). In fact, I had the leftover salad for lunch and I love this combination of dressings, some light, some not, but I don't like a ton of dressing, and I also supplemented it with a few dashes of balsamic vinegar and olive oil, fresh pepper, YUM!

So, as far as the ground sirloin, I decided to make a recipe similar to how you would make Hamburger Helper. I had a cup of macaroni left, a wilted carrot, wilted celery, and 1/2 a wilted onion, half a can of tomato paste, 1/2 carton of questionable milk, 1/3 bottle of flat champagne, what else, well, you get the picture.....don't judge me.

I actually had made this recently and wrote it out, so I just made it again with a few adjustments:

This is the quick sauce, simmering away.

After about 30 minutes of simmering, added the cup of macaroni, salt, and more water. Cover and let simmer about 12 to 15 minutes, till nice and tender, stir in 1/4 cup Parmesan (freshly grated), and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Another turned-the-wrong-way picture.....grrr......sorry....anyway, nice and good dinner with leftovers ready for an easy Saturday night meal. Bake it this time in the toaster oven with a little olive oil and some extra cheese on top. How could you go wrong?

GRRR......



See how nice the dressing looks on the fresh lettuce and tomato, yes they were fresh. Paul would have loved this dinner I'll bet. Steve and I did.

Just turn your head again, sorry....

Here's my recipe for what I'm calling Stove Top Bolognese Sauce with Pasta

1/2 pound ground sirloin

2 strips thick bacon, sliced into strips

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 or 2 chopped celery stalks

1 peeled, chopped carrot

1 garlic clove, grated

2-3 T. tomato paste

1 cup beef broth or (bullion mixed with water)

1/3 - 1/2 cup Madeira, or other wine

1 cup milk

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

crushed red pepper flakes to taste

1 cup pasta, macaroni, penne, etc.

extra salt

1 cup water (or canned tomatoes) you need the sauce to be somewhat thin to absorb the pasta)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (fresh)

In skillet with lid, over medium heat, start to brown the beef and bacon, adding the onion, brown till fat is rendered from the bacon and meat is cooked, add in the carrots and celery, stir for about 5 minutes, add the garlic, stir 30 seconds, add the tomato paste, incorporate, then pour in wine and boil a little, a few minutes, till reduced a bit. Add in the broth, milk, give it a seasoning with salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Boil, then cover and simmer 15 to 30 minutes. Remove lid and add in one cup of water, and the macaroni. Boil, cover, and simmer 12 to 15 minutes, add the cheese, take off heat, and let sit with lid on for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with lettuce and tomato salad, with dressing of choice.

I hope you try my recipe sometime when you have to clean out your fridge.....

I Thought I Invented These!

I saw one of the chefs on TV making these Parmesan cheese crisps the other day, and I thought they must be copying me since I made this treat the other day mostly by accident. I had a little grated cheese leftover and I discovered that microwaving grated Parmesan cheese on a paper plate for about 30 to 40 seconds yields the most delicious snack crisp for the cook.

The TV chef baked them in an oven, then served them on a salad. Since then, I must have seen dozens of the chefs doing this with cheese. Where have these been all my life?


It just lifts right up off the plate. You have to use freshly grated cheese I think. Trader Joe's had pre-packaged very thinly sliced Parmesan cheese the other day. I also tried that just broken into pieces and it worked well also. You just don't get the pretty lacy edges...

Try It!

Siesta Time

What the heck is this?

The two ceramic pots on the right are some of the cats I have made in my ceramics class. Note the one on the right as it relates to the pictures above and below....

This could be of those "what is this" photos......I guess they are some sort of insect eggs, laid right in the middle of the picture window in the bedroom. The pattern they made looks a lot like my cat in a boot pot!

Siesta time, do not disturb.

Best to stay in. This was the temperature at 10:00 a.m., it's the middle of April, come on!!!! Those who know, say this will only last a few days, phew.......

Hope you are having more Springtime weather than we are, all my little flowers are wilting and burning in this Santa Ana condition. Sigh.

I now I should be doing a million other things today, I did manage some chores already, but now, it's siesta time, I can just do more chores in my head for the rest of the day, then double up tomorrow when it will be cooler. Procrastination is my specialty, then I make quick work of it after I've made a master plan!

Whew Doggy!

This got a "whew doggy" reaction from Steve, that's what we say when something tastes really good, in our best Jed Clampet accent, you know, from the Beverly Hillbillies?

If it's really, really, good, it gets elevated to just a "doggy" !

What a nice easy dinner after a harried day of taxes, termite inspectors, last minute and unexpected outings and interruptions.

The dipping sauce for the popcorn chicken is catsup mixed with sweet chili sauce.

Ranch Dressing is Soooo Good.....Once in Awhile

I've had an opened quart of low fat buttermilk in my fridge for over a month now...it was used for Irish soda bread on St. Patrick's Day....As I was facing finishing our taxes today, I had a hunger pang for some biscuits. I found an easy recipe using buttermilk, mayonnaise, and self-rising flour, along with your favorite herbs. That sounded good and right up my alley because I have a little herb garden going outside and I love clipping them for stuff. The biscuits were OK, nothing that special really and one large one satisfied my hunger, spread with butter and honey right out of the oven ....anyway when I was making them and mixing the buttermilk with the mayonnaise, the smell of it reminded me that these are some of the ingredients in Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. Since I still had about 1/2 cup of the buttermilk left, I decided to attempt making my own dressing, smaller version. I quickly searched for a recipe and found several, then kinda made my own up. My first taste of it was not great, but I knew not to tweak it till it had had a chance to mingle all together for awhile.

I went back to scratching my head and pouring over the tax forms hoping to find better results each time, but, have to pay IRS this year. I really don't mind paying taxes, but Darn it anyway. I just wish those we entrust to spend the money wisely would do so. California is in such debt I can't understand any of it! Yet we get a refund from State this time.......Huh?

Well, after letting the dip/dressing sit in the fridge for a few hours it was testing time, so I opened a small pack of Lays potato chips (stolen from my husband's lunch stash). It was soooo good. I decided a wedge of lettuce would be the perfect salad for our dinner as Steve loves Ranch dressing. It's not time for dinner yet, but I know he will like it. I have some frozen chicken strips and that with an herb biscuit will make a nice and easy dinner I think.

Try it sometime when you have buttermilk that is going to spoil soon. I always knew that buttermilk lasts a long time once opened. A sniff can tell you right away if it is spoiled. I sniff almost everything before I add it, do you?

Here's what I whisked together, right in the measuring cup:

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

2 heaping tablespoons of mayo

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt (I use Beau Monde)

dash of garlic powder

dash of onion powder

dash of each, dried thyme, dill, and tarragon

one fine grind of pepper medley (optional)

Like I said, it was good as a dip and I know it will be killer on lettuce. I usually actually prefer a lighter and simple vinegar or lemon and olive oil, salt and pepper type dressing which I make right over the salad and toss.

I really splurged on fats and carbs more than I ever do today, but a girl needs comfort food once in awhile.

Easter All Day

We always color eggs for Easter. We became engaged on Easter 20 years ago and we just love spending the day grazing around on goodies and enjoying each other's company and just life in general. Springtime is so nice and we had a lovely sunny day here in paradise.

This is how our eggs came out this year. We started the day with some easy apple strudel, frozen from Trader Joe's, simply bake one, it comes two to the pack, then split it. I almost burned it, but it was still good. Then we each had an egg, can you guess which ones went first? The ones with stickers! They cracked while cooking, so could not dye them.....

A few hours later, we had some champagne, and I had made another quiche, so just had to heat that up. We sipped champagne and watched "Ben Hur" whilst reading the paper, taking outside breaks, and relaxing.

This is our dinner, obviously I would have liked to show this picture last, but I'm still struggling with attaching pictures correctly. It was herb crusted rack of lamb and roasted vegetables. I just baked the vegetables first at 400; peeled baby carrots, sliced parsnips, and a Yukon Gold potato, salt and pepper, drizzle olive oil and tossed around (by the way I always line my pans with Reynolds Release foil - makes cleaning easy). After roasting for 30 minutes, toss again and gather all toward one end of the pan. Meantime, prepare the rack by pulsing your favorite fresh herbs (I used tarragon, mint, thyme, rosemary, and rue - about 1 tablespoon each), with some bottled garlic (1 teasp.), about 1/3 cup Panko crumbs, drizzle olive oil, generous salt and pepper.

Spread the rack (Costco's, incidentally) with a combination of three scant teaspoons of your favorite mustards (I always have at least 3 going), and add horseradish to taste, generous salt and pepper, and a touch of white wine or champagne just to make it spreadable. Then pat on your herb crust. Bake along side the vegetables for about 35 -45 more minutes, or until done (I like medium for lamb), I'd say 15 minutes per pound till I think about 145 degrees, then keep vegetables warm on a 200 degree toaster oven. Let lamb rack rest, covered loosely with foil, for about 10 to 15 minutes, to allow finishing of cocktails before eating! Slice up and dinner is on the table with little effort in the kitchen.

Really, really good, I also made a quick mint sauce by microwaving equal parts of maple syrup and apple cider vinegar, a little water, and a good handful of chopped mint. Microwave for one minute, and let sit while everything is roasting. You can also use brown sugar instead of syrup.



This is our appetizer mini crab cakes, I'm still tweaking this recipe, but it was good, sorry the picture turned the wrong way when I uploaded it, another problem I'm having.

We also had deviled eggs - I used up the less pretty ones for my classic eggs, just a little mayo, mustard, sweet pickle relish, salt and pepper, I mix in with the yolks in a sturdy plastic bag, cut off the tip and pipe into shells. You have to sprinkle them with paprika and make them a little ahead of time so the filling firms up somewhat, at least I prefer them chilled that way.

Again, sorry for the weird picture.

Later, here was our cocktail hour setting.

Cute ceramic Easter baskets. We don't eat a lot of candy, so the Easter bunny was right on this year! One raspberry whip dark chocolate egg and only three small dark Dove chocolate eggs! How did the Easter bunny know we love dark chocolate if we are to indulge???

Of course, Miss Kitty had to get in on the action. That is the same basket I have been putting out for at least 10 years now! That's about it. Hope your Easter was as nice as ours.

We took a Sunday afternoon drive (prior to cocktail hour) came back, got dinner going, and we watched "Easter Parade", which we have on tape, so we can fast forward through a lot of it. I love Judy Garland and Fred Astaire, such talent....we've seen it a million times though, so some of songs get skipped, check out Anne Miller's dancing scene sometime though when she "Shakes the Blues Away".

Oh, and wasn't that great Easter Sunday news to hear how the Navy Seals rescued Captain Phillips? What a story that crew is telling, it's totally awesome!

Who Needs Green

Baked Mexican Chicken Rolls

This recipe is from a small booklet I got for Christmas, called "Hooray for Chicken". All of the recipes are for 8 to 12 servings, so I cut it down and modified it to make 2 servings. You take two boneless, skinless breast halves, pound them out a little to even them out, then place a jalapeno pepper jack cheese snack stick in the center and fold up. Dip in 2 T. melted butter, dredge in a mixture of 2 T. dry bread crumbs, 1 T. freshly grated Parmesean cheese, 1/2 t. chili powder, 1/8 t. cumin, and a dash of pepper. ( I used a small paper bowl and paper plate for the dipping and dredging.)

Bake at 350 for around 35 - 40 minutes, till juices run clear.

(I used my toaster oven - I use it a lot.)

See how it made nice juices and the cheese got all oozy...but wait, where's the green vegetables? Well, technically, the jalapeno peppers in the cheese were green.

Dinner's Ready, Come and Get It!!!

I am trying to use up my pantry and freezer stock, I had this Knorr rice mix, very easy prep, then when done, I added the chopped tomato, a dash of hot sauce, and a dash of apple cider vinegar. I like spicy food, Steve prefers mild, so I go easy on the hot sauce and have learned to like it mild sometimes too, of course a bottle of hot sauce is always available :).


I almost always include some sort of green vegetable, or salad for our dinners. Normally we would have a side of microwaved steamed fresh broccoli, kale, spinach, etc......even frozen peas work fine, but I had used them all up. My broccoli looked old and yellow, so it had to get tossed out. My salad greens had wilted, also tossed, sigh, and all I had was a ripe tomato sitting lonely on the counter. I decided that adding that chopped up tomato to the beans and rice would suffice as a vegetable. It was really tasty and the chicken was delicious. Best thing about this dinner was that it yielded enough for an encore tonight. You'll be glad to know I bought new brocolli, we really do like that with fresh lemon juice squeezed over it.

Caught Ya Baby

About a week or so ago, we discovered a family of baby ground squirrels living under our deck. There are 8 of them and one Momma who has been nursing them, according to my research, for about 7 to 8 weeks and they are now getting out on their own to roam the rose garden. They live under the deck just next to the bird feeder, so they have a continual supply of seeds. They are really cute to watch and seemed to be keeping to the garden, then I noticed all my little pansies and vioilas missing on my plants in pots on the deck. I really don't mind. I am afraid for them though because there are stray cats and hawks out there, but they can just scoot back under the deck if danger approaches....

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

I wish the pictures would come out in the order I've chosen them, and with the original captions I made. This is my first post, so practice will make perfect. These lunch plates are supposed to be after the Crustless Quiche breakfast, for instance. Oh well....


BBQ Beef on a bun with coleslaw (fresh pineapple and shredded cabbage/carrot, mixed with two tablespoons of mayonnaise, and one tablespoon each of sugar and apple cider vinegar. The beef was simple with sliced deli roast beef (Costco) heated with bottled BBQ sauce. Buns spread with butter, horseradish, and grainy mustard, then wrapped in foil and heated about 10 minutes in toaster oven. Serve with freshly made iced tea for a late casual Sunday lunch. Oh yeah, I made the baking dish too....

It's time for my lunch now, and may I please have some ice cream for dessert? I know you bought some, I saw you put it in the freezer, please, I've been good all weekend not biting anyone, well not real hard that is...., please?




Ceramic Easter baskets with copper wire and beaded crochet handles. Just got them done yesterday. A better picture of these is forthcoming, I can't seem to get the picture I wanted to post to turn the right way (it is upright in my computer, but turns sideways every time I have tried it) so have to try again later.

Palm Sunday pre-Easter weekend floral designs, my "mosaic pot" of lillies. "Egg" shaped vase I picked up at Goodwill for a dollar, freesias and snapdragons I grew in pots, I bought the asiatic lillies at Trader Joe's for $3.99. My arm is still sore from patting myself on the back.



Nummy... This was supposed to be the one of the first pictures. Notice how just one slice was not going to be quite enough, and we could have kept going it was sooooo good. Fruit salad is pineapple and strawberries. Perfect! That is only a small saucer plate, so it's not that much, OK?

Here's the recipe I felt too lazy to type out, I just got it last week from a classmate who is from Germany and runs a Bed and Breakfast in Alpine. She serves this a lot and loves to also use Salmon for the meat. I used some chopped ham, cooked bacon, and fresh asparagas, which I microwaved for a minute or so (the asparagas) prior to putting in the pie pan.

Right out of the oven after 40 minutes, wait another 15 to 30 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.....Enough leftover for dinner or breakfast tomorrow, or lunch, or snack ;).

See the cottontails? One is Peter.

And he's getting ready to hop down the bunny trail....

Hippity, Hoppity, Easter's on it's way....