Elmer

Every late-summer, without fail we gain a new deck "pet." The pet is a big garden spider. The first indication is a web appears overnight. Then a couple weeks later when the sun goes down we finally get to see the web's owner. The spider's colors are always different. Last year's model was yellow and black striped.

Tonight I did yardwork until I couldn't see what I was doing anymore. While I was watering my deck flower pots I noticed this year's specimen sitting right in the middle of his abode. I always name them cuz they're so big it just seems like they deserve one. Bill thought he looked like a Harry, but Elmer seemed to fit better to me. I went inside, grabbed the little kids, my camera and a flashlight to try to get a picture. These are a little blurry, but aren't too bad considering my camera is crappy and it was pitch black out.

















At the exact moment I took the first picture, the dog brushed my leg with her wet nose. I about jumped out of my skin! As pretty as these are I still don't like 'em.

Ree and her trolls

This post is in honor of my sister Lisa. Growing up, the girl loved troll dolls. They kinda freaked me out, but she really enjoyed them. Ree shares the troll love gene with her auntie. She got these two dolls as Happy Meal prizes and let me tell ya, it was love at first sight. She's played with these two dolls for the last 3 years. She has 3 bigger troll dolls that Aunt Lisa gave her and she loves them, too.

I was informed that the green haired troll is the Mama and the pink one is the baby. I couldn't catch the action shot, but the Mama kissed the baby goodnight once she was properly covered up.
















The second picture was taken an hour or so later. Note that the baby troll now has a coordinating pillow to match the blanket. Apparently trolls have style sense. Who knew?

Meatloaf Recipe

Props to Aunt Nancy for this recipe. I use it fairly often. It's low-fat and sneaks veggies into the fam.

1 pound (or a bit more) ground turkey or lean beef
1 box herb flavored Stove Top stuffing
1 regular soda-sized can V-8 or 2 small (I use reduced sodium)

Mix all of the above, pat it into a sprayed bread loaf pan and bake at 400 degrees for 1 hour.

Where've I been?

Hello friends and relatives. I haven't been blogging much lately. What have I been doing, you ask? Here are some pictures to catch you up.

First, we celebrated our 10th anniversary. Bill and I stayed at a lovely hotel, went out to dinner, and enjoyed some peace and quiet. My Mom, otherwise known as Yay, stayed at our house with the children. Here are some pictures of my anni roses, and the view from the hotel.





















Then I started stalking, I mean, visiting my area fruit stand. For the last several years I've really wanted to buy huckleberries, but then I don't because they're expensive. Purple gold, I tell ya. This year I broke down and bought some. Twice. I've made jam, scones, ice cream, and frozen plenty for waffles, more scones, smoothies, martinis, bellini's, daiquiris, whatever.

Next my sister's boyfriend's siblings (still with me?) asked if my parents could bring some of my peach jam when they visit Lori and John in Georgia this week. I brought some as a gift when I visited in May. Problem was, I only had 1 jar left. So I went and bought peaches to make jam, plus two batches of muffins. (I'm somewhat obsessed with freezing baked goods. Hey, there's much worse things I could be doing.) Here's some pictures of my ice cream, jams, and scones.




















Let's see what else has kept me from blogging...... I made a batch of chocolate zuchinni muffins that I froze (don't make fun), and then there's always this. Lots and lots and lots and lots of this:

Family Picnic

Here are some pictures of our family picnic that we had a couple weeks ago. It was a bizarre weather day. Seems like it's either been unusually hot or unusually cold the last 3 weeks.






























This is very typical. Hammie is eating celery and Ree is enjoying a brownie.
















Awwww........look at the cute cousins.

Cute Mannerisms

Here's a picture of Hammie drawing. I thought it was cute how he has his feet tucked under and crossed. These are the little things you forget about when they grow up, so I'm trying to be better about capturing these moments.

Sweet Potato Fries

For me, sweet potatoes were a once a year thing always covered with butter, brown sugar, and buried under yummy marshmallows at Thanksgiving. I've been reading for years about the health bennies of eating these things (probably not covered in sugar and butter), but I just couldn't figure out how to sneak them into my repertoire'. Until now....here's a recipe I discovered earlier this year. Bill, G, and I like them. Hammie would rather have them raw without any spice. They smell really good baking.

Trick of the trade: buy small-medium, skinny sweet potatoes/yams. They're so fibrous that they're hard to cut if they're too large. I cut them in half, cut the halves in half, and then make even sized wedges/sticks.

2 small-medium sweet potatoes (or yams), peeled and cut into wedges or 1/2 inch sticks
2 Tbs. vegetable oil
1 Tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. cinnamon

Toss the sweet potatoes into a gallon-sized Ziploc with the rest of the ingredients. Toss vigorously to coat. Spray a little Pam on a baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes stirring once or twice.

I've also used a Oriental/Asian spice mix instead which was yummy, too.

This recipe feeds a family of 4.

Chatty Chatterton

Hammie's new hobby is chatting on the telephone. He loves and lives to answer it and provide whomever happens to be on the other end plenty of entertainment. It's cute most of the time unless you really need to speak with someone like I did the other day.

Me: "Hammie, may I please talk to Daddy now?"
H: "No, not yet."
Me: "But I really need to."
Hammie: "I'M not done talking to YOU yet."

So...this serves as a warning. God bless you if you call our home with an emergency and get Hammie.

Swimming with Grandma (and Dad)

Last Sunday we went swimming at Grandma and Grandpa Galloway's apartment complex pool. Hammie loved it and as the pictures illustrate, was jumping off the side in no time. Ree wasn't as sure, but warmed up toward the end. That surprised me because she loved the hotel pool we visited last summer in Seattle. Could it have been because I was continuously hovering around her goading her to get in so I could take pictures? Nahhhh.

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

This is an "original" recipe that I actually created. Most of my other recipes are variations of someone else's creative mind. Anyway......this is a favorite of Bill, G, Hammie, and mine. Ree, not so much.

Editor's note: Next time I will take a more yummilicous picture on a pretty plate. I was...like, in a hurry.
















Meatballs:
1 pound extra lean ground beef
3 Tbs. Teriyaki marinade (I like Lawrey's, I also have used their Sesame Ginger mar.)
1/3 of an 8 oz. can crushed pineapple, undrained; save the rest for the sauce
1/2 cup cooked rice (I use brown)
1 Tbs. dry minced onion (cuz I don't have time to chop fresh that fine)
black pepper, to taste

Combine all of the above and form into 1 - 1 1/2 inch meatballs. Put a teensy bit of olive oil in a hot pan. Add the meatballs, packing them in tightly. It's really important that the pan is hot, I put my burner at 5 (out of 10). Turn the meatballs when they start to brown. I use a wooden spoon to gently turn them cuz they can break apart kinda easy. After you've let the 2nd side brown, but they're not cooked through.

Then Add:
1/2 of a chopped bell pepper (any color)
Rest of the undrained pineapple
Good drizzle of the teriyaki or sesame ginger marinade
Good drizzle of Catalina (I use fat free) or sweet & sour sauce
sesame seeds for garnish

Turn the heat down and let it simmer until the meatballs are cooked through and the peppers are crisp-tender. I also added a little pineapple juice I happened to have, but you can just add more sauce(s), too. Serve over hot rice.