Tuesday's Treasure

I can't believe I thought of this....and it's Tuesday. This is the cookbook my Grandma Helmrichs gave to me on my 10th birthday. It's been used ever since. This is the BEST cookbook for those basic recipes like banana bread or pudding, éclairs, cookies...and it has meat charts and spice charts, equivalent measures. Everything a new cook could want.

My mom would get a roast out and tell me to put it into the oven at 4:00. I had no idea what to do, so I would call my Grandma. After a few times she would ask if I had looked at my cook book. So, out of necessity, it was used. Often and frequently.

It was one of the best gifts I've ever received. It gets used less today, with my gluten/dairy free cooking, but I'm learning to convert, and I still use some of those basic recipes.

Included is my grandma's apple cake recipe, and that will be shared later.

What do you do?

I never quite know what to do when I hit send and maybe I shouldn't have. We ALL have bad days. Some of us have a "blog of pretty things". That's nice. Real....not so sure. And then again I've stepped into some blogs that are diatribes of all that's wrong in the world today. People blog on so many things. One other time when I decided to "be real" on my blog, I deleted it a few days later. It's kind of like asking someone how they are. I've replied "Fine, unless you want the long version". People laugh, and most pass. A few have actually wanted the long version. And that can be awkward as well.

I love my life, but most days it requires big girl panties. If I can't put those on in the morning, chances are you won't see me. On Friday, I ventured into bloggy world without getting dressed. I did not venture out in public, except to do what was absolutely necessary. When I have nothing to give...what comes out is not worth getting! I just thank God that most days are good.

A few quick takes of life recently--

We finished fencing in the back yard. Or I should say Dave finished, as I didn't much fencing. But I sure love the rewards! My days have been made easier, sending Roy out instead of walking him or checking on him every three minutes. Walking him is great unless I have both him and the girl and it's raining. I swear this week, I did not see him poop even once. I just sent him out the back door. Cool. And the girl can go out and play on her swing by herself as well. I love it!

Yesterday was spent hoeing the weeds out from my garden boxes while Dave overhauled the garden tractor/lawn mower that is ancient. Then we went to home depot and got boards for making my garden boxes deeper. We have mushroom compost sitting outside to complete the garden project, and then I'll start planting. Spring is here!

This coming week we have a ton of Doctor appts---getting ready to lose Desi's tonsils and adenoids. It's also spring break.

I'm starting to feel better, taking glucosimine along with my vitamin regimen. And I received a good dose of sunshine while hoeing the garden. The vitamin D deficiency was kicking my butt, and while I feel better, am still not 100%. A small loss of sleep sends me into a tail spin.

My parents are doing well after both having procedures. My Dad is high on life cause not only did he get a second chance, he seems to be more energetic. It's neat to talk to him these days. Mom's recovery feels a bit slower to her, a knee replacement. She has the post-surgery exhaustion going on.

~~~~Hope this finds you all well and happy~~~

HALT! (Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired?)

That would be me today. I have a cold...it's getting better so I didn't take benadryl before I went to bed last night (because I'm out, and forgot to get more yesterday). Mistake---I was up all night coughing, disturbing the whole house. Even the dog complained at me. Desirae wet the bed, so had to get up again for that after I settled down a bit. She has an accident once a month or so. I can't fault her. My whole world was painted black before I got up. I begged my hubby for a few hugs and got some more when I woke up the girl.

Being tired makes me hungry. Being tired makes me resentful. Then I start to feel like nobody likes me, and I get lonely. Poor me, on the pity pot. I don't indulge pity often, and I work my way out of it pretty darn fast compared to my previous life (before Alanon). But DANG, that's a black hole! It appears just often enough to remind me not to venture near on a regular basis. I guess we all need reminders.

My thinking becomes distorted. Like...here's an example. My cousin on FB posts these quotes about having a good work ethic. In my resentful, pity me mode, I believe these quotes are directed directly AT ME. And then, it's the fault of my FOO (family of origin) for telling the extended family what a stupid and lazy person I am. And then....OMG! Everybody hates me. And then I go over all my faults with a magnifying glass, and there are many.

Just the facts, please!

The fact is I'm TIRED. I will replace the benadryl for tonight, and not be tired (hopefully) tomorrow. I will plan for a nap or a rest this after noon. And I will replace the negative thoughts with gratitude.

A Few of my Favorite Things

Nothing makes me feel gratitude for my things as when I decide to bake in my kitchen. I've been through all walks of life, like most of us have. Apartment stoves that don't work,baking pans that would warp and twist as the heat hit them, mis-matched dishes and utensils. I may never have granite counter tops, and custom made cabinets, but I got my stuff that works for me. And I like that. I love, love, love this batter bowl and measuring cups. The batter bowl came from Dave's mom, and some of the measuring cups. When we left California, I had to part with so much of my kitchen stuff. I missed my stainless measuring cups, but Lynn had this mismatched set that suits me perfectly. I'm not a big fan of tupperware, though I do use those measuring gadgets as well.

Today we are making Grandma Helmrich's apple cake. Look at the size of the Red Delicious I found this week. Can we say "bio-engineered"? One apple = 3 cups. I won't be buying many of these, but I just had to show Dave!

This is my mixer that my dear husband gave me for a birthday present. It took me almost a year to try it out. (I was working at the time), and I'm not impressed. Sorry, Kitchen Aid. I would like a mixer that mixes to the bottom of the bowl instead of leaving hard clumps of floury dough on the bottom. However, it beats trying to mix cookie dough by hand, or burning up my hand mixer .

My little chopping bowl I bought many years ago when I worked at the melon farm in Ottertail, MN. This is great for quick chopping some nuts or garlic. And my mom gave me the food processor when I broke mine putting up cabbage in Minn. Again, it took years for me to use this processor. When I finally decided to use it, I loved it. I like to hand chop with my french knife, but that sure is time consuming when making salsa. And my set of Chicago cutlery is shown here as well. Not the highest quality, but it takes an edge and holds it, quite nice.

I had to get a picture of this silly corner shelf. What do people think when putting a kitchen together? I was stumped about how to use this shelf until I unpacked our turn-table we purchased at Ikea years ago. That turn-table had no purpose, but we liked it. Today, it has a great purpose.
A sneak peek at my pots and pans. Thanks to Dave's mom, I have different sized muffin pans, cheese-cake pans, a big turkey roaster among many other pans. I'd rather have her back, but when I use her bakeware, it's kind of like she's nearby.
And this is our new-off-Craig's-list stove. I love the ceramic top. If I can't have a high quality gas stove with all the bells and whistles, then this will do nicely.

Valentines at School

On Friday I was privileged to attend a Valentines program by the Kindergarteners at Desirae's School. The girl in the pink fur trimmed dress is Desirae. Perhaps a bit over dressed for the occasion, but she loved it. We love that dress, and we rarely have fancy occasions to wear it before she will outgrow it.
They sang Tom T. Hall's song....I love little fuzzy ducks...very cute over head projections to go with the song.
And a duet. "One little, Two little three little valentines....." It was a trio, but due to an absence it changed. Very good performances from all the kindergartens!

St. Mary's Peak

This is the view from the top. We drove most of the way, then a short hike...less than a mile to the very top. It seemed longer going up!

Dave and Roy. In the background are giant balsam firs, or something similar. It took us awhile to identify these trees.

And a waterfall. There is a man-made drain for this fall.

We have to credit FDR for our wonderful national parks here in Oregon. We have the pleasure of using stone steps, created under the New Deal in many areas. This labor intensive work stands the test of time, and we enjoy it very much!

House Rock Falls

On the spur of the moment, we decided to check out a new waterfall. This is connected to a campground I am dying to visit this summer. It has very nice camp sites right on a river. This is one of the views as were are hiking to the fall.

Another view. Every one is having a good time. Desirae is hiking great, holding on to our hands in the skinny steep parts. Roy-dog is in Dog Heaven.

A shot of the waterfall before we climbed down to it.

Desirae's face as we were standing as close as we could get. It wasn't a magnificent water fall, but a nice way to spend a sunny (!) Sunday afternoon.

The best picture I took of it.

Another little stream coming in from a different angle.

The hill above us. And as I was snapping this shot, Dave lost his footing and fell in. I looked down and he was on his back, head first, boot caught in a log. Our first scary accident out hiking. Luckily enough, he was able to free himself, and climb back up to us, only getting half wet in the icy water. With some bumps and bruises for his trophy. He's been accident prone this week. I'm not liking it much.

A good picture of Roy as we're hiking back.

Even if Dave is half wet, Roy needs the full immersion method. He's a water dog and must swim every chance he gets.
And here's the water-girl. Doing her best to dip the piggies. I was amazed her feet were dry when we got back to the car. In fact we all had dry feet! Hiking boots are great.

Then it was time for the work. No one wanted to go back to the car, except for Dave, who was wet. We coaxed Desi all the way there, by singing and marching and walking backwards. Fortunately, I keep a duffel bag of old clothes for all of us in the wagon. Dave put on all dry clothes, and we put some dry pants on Desi. Roy got toweled off, and we were on our way. 1/2 way home, Dave thought he lost his cell phone either in the car, or in the river when he fell. I tried calling it...no reception. Soon my phone rang. Someone found his phone! Apparently he set it on top of the car and it fell on the highway, and a nice young couple picked it up and found us. We pulled over when we got the call, and 2 minutes later, they delivered the phone. How cool was that!

What an adventure this time. I wish I had gotten a picture of Dave getting wet, but I was freaking out.