Oldie but Goodie

We were having a meeting at our Huntingburg Office.  I was given the task of bringing some snacks.  I remembered this cracker snack that everyone loved and BINGO  it was a hit!!  Please try this everyone loves it.

Ingredients:

1 ounce package Ranch style dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper(optional)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
5 cups oyster crackers

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees

In a large bowl, combine the dressing mix, dill weed, oil, lemon pepper, and garlic pepper. Add the oyster crackers and toss to coat.  Spread evenly on a baking sheet.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes int he preheated oven., stirring after 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before serving.

Friday night at our house.

Ok so,it has been a long week. We are babysitting grand dog Ivy. She seems happy ...I love this golden doodle baby.


Next task, Randy is trying to fix the dishwasher...


Yet to been seen. I made baked chicken with spinach, it was great. I hope he fixes the dishwasher as I do not want to hand wash my mess.

I am going to get my T tomorrow and go the gym, so excited.

Tonight

So I had good plans to blog tonight. Just is not happening. I did cook up the last bit of kale from my garden


Some bacon, onion and homemade chicken stock made this last bit of greens wonderful. I had put a pork roast in the crock pot with some brown sugar, cinnamon, and balsamic vinegar ... Wow wonderful after 9 hours.


It has been a long week. Randy's Dad is still in the hospital. Much love and prayers to them.

I will blog tomorrow at Statebystategardening.com

Blooming in January

It makes me happy on these gray cloudy days to find a hint of spring. Today I found my Hellebores trying hard to pop out.


I love these plants. Tonight I am going to post a blog about them on my Statebystategardening.com blog.

Lonely Dinner

Ok maybe not so lonely, but anyway Randy was out of town last night. I wanted to make something quick, no meat, and tasty. I just happened to come across this recipe for and happened to have all the ingredients, well almost.

Penne with Spinach Sauce

1pound whole wheat penne
3 cloves of garlic
2 ounces goat cheese( I used 3 ounces mascarpone cheese for both these cheeses)
1 ounce reduced fat cream cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
6 ounces fresh baby spinach
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan

I brought a large pot of salted water to boil and added the penne and cooked until dente ( Still tender but firm)

Mince the garlic in the food processor Add the cheese, 3/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and half of the spinach leaves. Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Set the cheese and the spinach mixture aside.





Then place the remaining spinach leaves in a bowl. Drain the pasta reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Place the pasta over the spinach leaves and then scrape the spinach cheese mixture over it all and toss to coat. Add enough of the reserved pasta liquid to moisten, sprinkle with salt and pepper and then grate the Parmesan over it.

Thanks to Cooking Channel and Giada De Laurentiis for this great recipe, that I adapted.

Just a side note... This recipe looks like it might have pesto in it but did not. It tasted so amazing. My son eat a great big bowl of it today and loved it. This is a keeper recipe.

Birthday Dinner

I have spent the last 38 years confused. We got married on the 4th of January and Randy's Birthday is the 5th. So I have been confusing the two for the last 38 years.

This year I finally did get it straight. On Friday I gave him a great cigar and a bottle of  notch rum  and we went out to eat. That was our anniversary.

On Saturday, his birthday I promised to cook him whatever he wanted. Ok of course, rib eye steaks cooked in the iron skillet in the oven, my Kentucky Collards and peppers and onions. All easy and all the norm.


Still able to get these from the garden, but near the end.





But then an odd request. A dessert I had not made for years. Zebra Cake

My Mom used to make this for us as kids, I continued the tradition and had made it for my kids as well. But that was years ago.

I did not have the recipe but remembered the main ingredients. first and foremost I needed to find Chocolate Wafers. This recipe has been on the back of the Nabisco Wafer box for years. No problem....right.

Well after the 4th store I was worried. But finally Fresh Market had their own version. But no recipe. But it was on line. Voila.


I was making this dessert. Basically you just beat up two cups cream, then gently stir in 2 tsp vanilla. I also added some Splenda to sweeten it up.

Then spread about a Tbsp on each wafer, stack them up and put on a plate. Frost all over with the remaining whipped cream. Then put in refrig for at last 4 hrs.

When you cut into it, striped cake. Zebra Cake. I think he liked it, it was gone in a day.





I do not think I will make this a lot, but it was good!

Eleuthera, the people.

One more post on this great island. One of the reasons we keep coming back is because of the people we meet.

The people of Eleuthera are happy, friendly and so helpful.

Starting out with Mat and Julianna. Even though we did not rent from them this time they fed us amazing information, kept in constant contact and were willing to help anyway possible. Please look them up if you are going to this this great island. Wow would it be great to have my 60th there in May.
Mat and Julianna I may be calling.

Mat@ eleutheravactionsrental.net. Or Julianna or Tara.

Plus, the people at Pineapple Fields. What a great group. But not just that everyone we talked at the take always, the Stubbs, the guides for fishing, the owner of the shell at the turn off to Winding Bay, Donavon at Tarpum Bay,on and on. I love this Island. Please check it out.






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Junkanoo

This special festival is an energetic, colorful, fun, and lively parade of costumed people dancing and cavorting throughout the town streets. The participates rhythmically glide to the beat of cowbells, drums, whistles, and other various homemade instruments, while celebrating this historical tradition.

This festival is held on Boxing Day (December 26) and New Years Day. We were so fortunate to be in Eleuthera during this special time. We had hard time pinning down the time and location of a local Junkanoo, but Will got the scoop from his local fishing guide.

Tarpum Bay, Christmas Eve around 11:00pm would be place to be. However, Kalee and I faded from the day long activities. We were so sorry later but next time we will know.
Randy and Will headed out. The party was about 30 minutes away. They loved it.





They felt there were probably over 1000 people celebrating, dancing, and enjoying.


All ages, all excited and happily celebrating this wonderful event . What fun!!!
Junkanoo supposedly began as a temporary celebration of freedom by slaves, who were given three days off Christmas and spent the time wearing scary masks, ringing cow bells, playing homemade instruments and basically letting off steam. The tradition that began in the 16th or 17th century has continued on and is a very important event in Bahamian culture.

There are different tales about the origin of the word Junkanoo. It seems the most popular belief is that it is derived from "John Canoe". He was an African tribal chief who was brought to the West Indies as a slave. "John Canoe" demanded every year that he been given the right to celebrate the holidays with his people. Masks of "John Canoe" are always very prominent still today in many of the celebrations.

The next morning, we all enjoyed our breakfast in front of our TV watching the Junkanoo festivities in Nassau. What a fun colorful tradition.

Location:Tarpum Bay