DON'T FORGET !!!!!

October 31, 2009

Hurricane Ridge

I've posted another entry in my travel Blog. Our August visit to Hurricane Ridge in Washington state's Olympic Mountains.

http://packyourbagsletsgo.blogspot.com/

FOOD FRIDAY

Baked Spaghetti

This is so good and another way to serve spaghetti. Just make the spaghetti however you normally make it. But then combine the cooked spaghetti and your sauce in a large bowl until it's mixed thoroughly. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with Pam and pour the spaghetti mixture into the pan, evenly. Top with 1 cup grated mild Cheddar cheese and bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Add some garlic bread, a veggie or salad and you have a wonderful Fall evening meal.

This could be made in a smaller quanity and baked in a smaller pan for, say two or three servings.

Cookies

I was browsing down thru the long list of my favorite web sites and found this one. It reminded me that it's only 56 days until Christmas. So time to start thinking about Christmas Cookies.

http://christmas-cookies.com./

"Twilght" Experience

I hope you'll stop by my travel Blog for a "Twilight" experience.

http://packyourbagsletsgo.blogspot.com/

FOOD FRIDAY

I want to share one more gift mix with you. This one is perfect for the person who may not eat cookies, etc. For this one you need a wide mouth pint jar, lid and ring. It too can be decorated with appropriate holiday fabric and ribbon.

Layered Patchwork Soup Mix in a Pint Jar

1/2 cup barley

1/2 cup split peas

1/2 cup long grain converted rice

1/2 cup lentils

1. Layer these four ingredients in a wide mouth pint canning jar in the order given.

Mix the following seasoning ingredients in a small bowl & place in a sandwich bag and tie seasoning into a corner of bag with a piece of ribbon.

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon dried minced garlic

1 tsp salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon McCormick Herb Seasoning.

Decorate jar lid and attach seasoning packet. Include the following instructions for the recipient;

1. Empty jar into colander, pick over beans and rinse well.

2. Place mix in a large pan with 10 cups of water.

3. Chop and add 1 medium onion and seasoning packet.

4 Bring to boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Check after 30 minutes to see if it needs more water. Cook until tender.

If you would like more mix in a jar recipes, books can be ordered from; www.cookbookcupboard.com

Another Sign of Fall~Corn Maze

Cats Sunbathing

Fall Is In The Air

 

After a long, dreadful, snow filled winter…western Washington then suffered thru a long, hot and dry summer.  But fall is definitely in the air here.  The rains have come and the leaves are not only changing color but are falling to litter yards and clog storm drains.

Saturday, October 17th we traveled 125 miles south to Vancouver, WA. for a memorial service for the husband of a dear friend.  The family had been our neighbors back in the 1970’s and even after they moved to Vancouver, we’ve remained close.  Bob graciously drove my son and I thru pouring rain for what proved to be a 2½ hour trip.  It was a miserable drive but we were glad to be there for the family.   It would have been useless to take pictures going down because the rain was so heavy that the windshield wipers could barely handle the deluge.  But on the return trip the sun came out (will for most of the 2 hour ride) so I dug out my camera and took a few pictures.  For those of you who live in areas where there is no change in colors at this time of the year, I wanted you to see just a glimpse of nature’s handiwork here in western Washington.

The first two pictures  shows the gray sky trying to be blue.  But you can also see how the deciduous trees are becoming lighter compared to the darker green of the Douglas Fir trees.

 

 

Now here is some beautiful blue sky and white fluffy clouds and the Douglas Firs certainly stand out from the other trees that are in the process of turning color.

Even with the heavy rain we’ve been experiencing the last couple weeks, the temperatures on the other hand have remained very mild.  Usually in the high 50’s to low 60’s. 

I noticed today a few blossoms coming out on a very confused rhododendron.  It normally blooms in April so this is strange.   You can also see in this picture the damaged leaves from the summer heat wave. The hot sun literally cooked the green leaves.  The poor thing, I hope it makes it thru the winter.

  

Happy leaf raking, until next time………Linda

FOOD FRIDAY

This recipe is so fun. If you've got people you want to give a gift to & are limited on what you can spend....this is a great gift idea. You need a wide mouth quart jar for each batch you make. (Just be sure you use an actual 32 ounce quart jar or the ingredients may not fit.) Plus the wide mouth lid and ring. If you don't have them on hand, your local thrift shop will have them available for less that a dollar a piece. If you want to make a bunch of these mixes, a dozen wide mouth quart jars can be purchased at most stores (Wal Mart, K-Mart, discount & hardware stores) for about $10.00.


Cowboy Cookie Mix in a Jar
1 & 1/3 cups quick oats
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chocolate chips
1 & 1/3 cups flour mixed with;
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
and 1/4 teaspoon salt

Layer ingredients in order given into a 1 quart wide mouth canning jar. Press each layer firmly in place before adding next ingredient.

Be sure and mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt well, before packing into the jar. After all ingredients are packed, place lid and ring on jar. The lid can be decorated with fabric and ribbon to fit the occasion.

On a seperate piece of paper add the following instructions for the reciepent ~so they will know what to add to make these cookies. This could be done on a piece of cardstock attached to the jar by a ribbon or yarn.
They are as follows;

1. Empty jar of cookie mix into large mixing bowl, using your hands to thoroughly blend mix.
2. Add; 1 stick butter or margarine (not diet) melted
1 egg slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
3. Mix until completely blended. You will need to finish mixing with your hands
4. Shape into balls the size of walnuts
5. Bake on 350* for 11 to 13 minutes until edges are lightly browned.
Cool 5 minutes on baking sheet. Remove cookies to racks to finish cooling.
Makes 3 dozen cookies.


If you enjoy making this great cookie mix as a gift for a friend, neighbor or teacher go to the following website to order books containing this recipe and more. http://www.cookbookcupboard.com/

The Coffee Shop

<a href="http://www.cmt.com/video/" target="_blank">Tom Mabe: Eavesdropping</a>

Tom Mabe: Eavesdropping

FOOD FRIDAY

This time of the year the main ingredient is very easy to find. I've made several loaves now, using this recipe and it's very good.

ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups peeled, grated zucchini

3 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

dash of salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

In large bowl beat eggs until foamy. Add oil, sugar, grated zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Grease 2 loaf pans and add mixture. Bake at 325* for 1 hour or until done.

The National Anthem Like You've Never Heard It

(Thanks to Barb (queenb) for sending this to me in an email)

Garter (or Grass) Snakes Can Be Dangerous

Garden Grass Snakes also known as Garter Snakes (Thamnophissirtalis) can be dangerous. Yes, grass snakes, not rattlesnakes.

Here's why......... A couple in Baltimore , Maryland had a lot of potted plants. During a recent cold spell, the wife was bringing some of them indoors to protect them from a possible freeze. It turned out that a little green garden grass snake was hidden in one of the plants and when it had warmed up, it slithered out and the wife saw it go under the sofa.
She let out a very loud scream! The husband (who was taking a shower) ran out into the living room naked to see what the problem was.

She told him there was a snake under the sofa. He got down on the floor on his hands and knees to look for it. About that time the family dog came and cold-nosed him on the behind.

He thought the snake had bitten him, so he screamed and fell over on the floor. His wife thought he had a heart attack, so she covered him up, told him to lie still and called an ambulance.

The attendant rushed in, wouldn't listen to his protests and loaded him on the stretcher and started carrying him out. About that time the snake came out from under the sofa and the EMT saw it and dropped his end of the stretcher.

That's when the man broke his leg and why he is still in the hospital. The wife still had the problem of the snake in the house, so she called on a neighbor. He volunteered to capture the snake. He armed himself with a rolled-up newspaper and began poking under the couch.

Soon he decided it was gone and told the woman, who sat down on the sofa in relief. But while relaxing, her hand dangled in between the cushions, where she felt the snake wriggling around. She screamed and fainted, the snake rushed back under the sofa. The neighbor man, seeing her lying there passed out, tried to use CPR to revive her.

The neighbor's wife, who had just returned from shopping at the grocery store, saw her husband's mouth on the woman's mouth and slammed her husband in the back of the head with a bag of canned goods, knocking him out and cutting his scalp to a point where it needed stitches. The noise woke the woman from her dead faint and she saw her neighbor lying on the floor with his wife bending over him, so she assumed that he had been bitten by the snake. She went to the kitchen and got a small bottle of whiskey, and began pouring it down the man's throat.

By now the police had arrived. They saw the unconscious man, smelled the whiskey, and assumed that a drunken fight had occurred. They were about to arrest them all, when the women tried to explain how it all happened over a little green snake. The police called an ambulance, which took away the neighbor and his sobbing wife.

The little snake again came out from under the sofa. One of the policemen drew his gun and fired at it. He missed the snake and hit the leg of the end table. The table fell over and the lamp on it shattered and as the bulb broke it started a fire in the drapes.

The other policeman tried to beat out the flames, and fell through the window into the yard on top of the family dog who, startled, jumped out and raced into the street, where an oncoming car swerved to avoid it and smashed into the parked police car.

Meanwhile, the burning drapes were seen by the neighbors who called the fire department. The firemen had started raising the fire truck ladder when they were halfway down the street. The rising ladder tore out the overhead wires and put out the electricity and disconnected the telephones in a ten-square city block area (but they did get the house fire out).

Time passed! Both men were discharged from the hospital, the house was repaired, the dog came home, the police acquired a new car, and all was right with their world.

A while later they were watching TV and the weatherman announced a cold snap for that night.

The wife asked her husband if he thought they should bring in their plants for the night.

That's when he shot her.

(NOTE TO SELF~that would be a good one for April Fool's Day~LOL!!)

Four Years Ago Today~

 

~she came to live with me October 4, 2005.  They said she was about 2 years old so this is the day I declared was her birthday.    No one really knew her background other than that she was rescued from the streets of Seattle, in August 2005.  When found she was matted, flea infested and starving.  Fostered by a lady who raises Exotic Shorthair cats, she was deemed healthy and ready to become a member of a loving family by the end of September of 2005. That’s when I first saw this picture and feel in love with this precious little girl.

For about 3 ½ years she brought me so much joy, she loved me unconditionally and I loved her little 5 pound sweet self back.

Sadly on March 12, 2009 she suffered complete renal failure and went over the Rainbow Bridge.  I think of her daily and still miss her presence around the house, especially at night when she would snuggle up to me.

Happy 6th Birthday, little Gabi Lin……I love and miss you.