Tag Archives: #amblogging

Let’s Eat!

9 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

Beef TIPS

Well, I’ve exhausted my recipes for cakes, pies, cookies and breads.  But in going through my recipe file, I’ve found more main dishes that I like to make – and we like to eat.  So I’m adding them at the end of this series

One of my favorites is what I call Beef Tips.  Chunks of steak, cut into 1″ pieces, browned in oil, then smothered in Cream of Mushroom Soup mixed with milk and Lipton dry onion soup mix.  Yummmm.  Really hits the spot on a cold winter’s day…or anytime, for that matter.  I usually serve it over cooked egg noodles, but mashed potatoes works well, and possibly rice, although I’ve never done it that way.

Photo Credit: Word Press A.I.

I got this recipe from a lady who did the church suppers at our church in Virginia.  Of course, she made it for a crowd, but it works well with the recipe cut down.  I also like a lot of “sauce” so to make it as this recipe calls for, it’s just right.  Adjust the meat to just how much meat you want. 

It originally called for Stew Meat, but I learned a long time ago that I didn’t like all the “fat” in stew meat, or the lack of tenderness in stew meat.  So I purchase a good quality steak and cut it into chunks, and like it much better.  To each his own, I guess.  There are lots of cooks who will use stew meat for this recipe, and they are welcome to it.  I’ll stick to the steak…

Here’s the recipe.

Beef Tips

Judy Wills, 2016

2 pounds lean steak (sirloin is best)

2 cans Cream of Mushroom Soup – undiluted

2 cans milk

2 envelopes dry Lipton Onion Soup Mix

Cut steak into 1″ pieces.  Roll in all-purpose flour and sauté in hot oil until brown on all sides.  Put into Crock Pot.

Mix Cream of  Mushroom Soup and milk in bowl.  Add the dry Onion Soup Mix and mix again.

Pour the soup mixture over the meat to cover; place cover on crock pot, and cook on low setting.  Can be cooked all day.

Serve over either mashed potatoes, rice, or small (narrow) cooked noodles (especially good).

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Roast Beef and Bare Toes

6 Feb

I don’t know about you but the crazy grocery prices have been challenging our budget. In the past I was pretty good at stretching our food dollars when the rising cost of food was exceeding our budget. Rice, potatoes, pasta, dried beens and even bread were effective budget stretchers. Now, we try to eat low carb and those items while delicious aren’t low carb.

Lately I have been craving a nice roast beef, that is, until I look at the price in the store. Roast beef has fallen into the window shopping category. Occasionally I have enjoyed a pot roast beef sandwich at Culvers, but it just isn’t the same.

Photo Credit: Culver’s online order page.

Two weeks ago Winn-Dixie ran a shoulder beef roast on sale at a price I could afford. Hallelujah. It wasn’t a cut I was familiar with but thinking that cooking it on low in the crock pot would tenderize it. I took a chance and bought two.

PS Don’t get me started on the cost of eggs.

I put one in the freezer and cooked one. Since potatoes are a no-no, I cooked it with radishes. Surprisingly after hours in the crock pot, the radishes were good. I had a partial package of sun dried tomatoes and decided to toss them in along with a stick of butter and a little bit of red wine I found that was leftover from a meal our daughter cooked the day before.

I was a bit apprehensive when I removed it from the crockpot. Would it be tough and stringy? It wasn’t. It was delicious, juicy and tender.

It did not look like the picture below but it was the best photo Word Press A.I. came up with.

Last week was also momentous.The temperature rose to bare toes weather. Since we arrived in Florida in mid January, the weather has been windy and chilly. My flip-flops remained in the suitcase and instead I pulled out my cozy Cuddledud socks and slip on Sketchers. My poor toes hadn’t seen sunlight since November.

In typical Florida fashion we went from put a blanket on the bed, to turn on the A/C. My flip flops came out of the suitcase and my toes are free!

Word Press A.I.

I looked at the 10 day weather forecast last night. Highs will be 80 degrees or more. I wanted some bare toes weather but 70s would have been perfect. On the positive side, I will be getting plenty of Vitamin D on walks with our grand dog, Ollie.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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Let’s Eat! Breads and Dinner Rolls-Part 2

2 Feb

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

There was a time, growing up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that we would go to our church on Wednesday evenings for dinner.  We had some amazing cooks there, and  what they made was delicious.  But what I remember the most was the dinner rolls they made – absolutely amazing!!  I still remember that yeasty taste, and have tried to find a recipe that is even close to those.  There is one I found called “Schoolhouse Rolls” that comes as close as I can find to that taste.  Here’s the recipe:


School House Rolls

 (makes 24 rolls)


1/2 C. powdered milk 
2 pkgs. active yeast
1/2 C. sugar
1/2 C. shortening (do not use oil or butter, shortening only)
1 1/2 C. warm water
4 C. all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp. salt

Dissolve the yeast in 1/2 C. water along with 1/2 tsp. sugar in a small bowl (smallest bowl of three nested bowls.  Allow to foam. 

 Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add the shortening and blend. 

 Add the foamed yeast to the mixture.  Add the remaining water and blend well.

  Remove the dough from the bowl and turn it out onto a floured surface.  Kneading the dough a couple of minutes and form it into a ball.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double in size. 

 Punch down the dough, knead again for a couple of minutes and divide the dough in half. 

 Roll out each half to 1/2″ thickness.  Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on a greased baking sheet, or pull into small balls, place two in each greased muffin tin, to make Dolly Partons.  Let rise again until double in size.

Bake in a 375 degree oven until golden brown on top.  Around 10-12 minutes. Brush with melted butter.

There was another time when a friend gave me a recipe for rolls for breakfast.  The neat thing was, the rolls were frozen!  I could purchase them frozen from the store.  The night before I wanted to make them for breakfast, I would get out my Bundt Pan.  I would put together sugar and cinnamon, dip the rolls in melted butter, and roll them in the sugar and cinnamon mix.  Then place them, stacked, in the Bundt Pan.  When all the rolls were in place, I would spread the remainder of the sugar/cinnamon mixture over the rolls (if there was any left), then pour the remainder of the melted butter over it all.  Cover with a dish cloth and let it rise overnight, then bake in the morning!  Yummmm!  

To add bread to a supper meal, I would take those frozen rolls (I can’t find them here in Florida, much to my distress!), place two frozen rolls in each cup of a muffin tin, brush with melted butter, then let them thaw and rise together, and bake when they had sufficiently risen.  

To help them rise, I would heat the oven to about 250º, then turn off the oven when we put the muffin tin in the oven.  They would thaw and rise nicely! We called them “Dolly Parton” rolls – for obvious reasons!  But BOY were they good!

One lady in our church would always bring her squash casserole to church dinners.  I asked her one time if she would share her recipe.  Her comment was “I’ll give you that recipe if you will give me the one for your dinner rolls.  They taste just like the ones my mother used to make”  I was embarrassed to tell her they were frozen rolls!  But we shared recipes, just the same.

Credit Google Search and aseasyasapplepie.com

Long time ago, I was given a recipe for “Dilly Bread” that included Dill Weed in the dough as well as cottage cheese.  It was usually made in a round, squat loaf, rather than in a loaf pan.  I thought it was quite good – a bit different from normal.  Fred, of course, wouldn’t eat it because it had the cottage cheese in it.  So I didn’t make it very often – and haven’t done so in many years. But the memory is there, and I can almost taste it…  Here is the recipe:

DILLY BREAD

1 package yeast – dissolved in ¼ cup warm water

1½ cup cottage cheese – warmed

3 Tablespoons sugar

1½ Tbsp minced fresh onions

1½ Tbsp butter

2 teaspoons dill weed

1 tsp salt

¼ tsp baking soda

1 egg beaten

2½ to 2¾ cups all-purpose flour

Mix all ingredients – add flour gradually until very stiff

Cover – let rise about one (1) hour

Punch down and place onto baking sheet, shaping into a round loaf

Let rise another 40-60 minutes

Bake at 325̊ for 40-50 minutes.  Cover with foil after 15-20 minutes

Brush with butter and salt

Credit Google search and Farmfreshforlife.com

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat!

26 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

BREADS AND DINNER ROLLS – PART 1

There was a time when I enjoyed making my own bread.  It brought back memories of my childhood when Mother would make her own bread – and the house would be filled with that wonderful aroma!  Bill (my brother) and I could hardly wait for the bread to come out of the oven, so we could slice it, slather it with butter, and eat it warm!  Mother would scold us, as she wouldn’t have enough to make sandwiches for the week, with all the bread we were eating!  

Credit Google Search and A Cup of Jo

When we (Fred and I) lived in San Jose, California, Fred was attending a one-year class at then-San Jose State College to become proficient in Meteorology.  That’s what the U.S. Air Force assigned him to do.  Next door to our apartment was another U.S.A.F. couple, the husband was also in the same class as Fred.  The wife had been a home economics school teacher before they married, and found a job doing the same in San Jose.

She wrote to Fleischmann’s Company, telling them she was a home-ec teacher in a relatively distressed part of San Jose, would like to teach those in her classes to make bread, and would they be so kind as to send her a recipe they could use.  They sent her DOZENS of copies of a bread recipe!  She generously shared one with me.  And until recently, that’s the recipe I used when I made bread.  It was a very good one.

However, in more recent years, if I wanted to make my own bread, I searched the internet for other recipes, and have found some that I like.  Now, please understand that I don’t make bread very often.  But every once in a while I’ll get the urge.  I know that all of the genetically-modified wheat and other foods are bad for us, so I am able to purchase Non-GMO flour that I use in my baking.  

I really enjoy the mixing, kneading, and rising that is involved with making bread.  I thoroughly enjoy seeing that bread dough “rise” in those glass loaf pans.  Makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something!  The only thing about making bread, is that there is no preservative in it, so it must be either eaten quickly (within a day or two) or frozen for later.  But that is doable.  I also love the yeasty smell from making my own bread.

We are trying not to eat much bread these days, so my bread-making days are limited, as well.  But that doesn’t always stop me from wanting.  

There was also a time when I was quite into sourdough bread.  I was never successful in making “bread” out of it, but it makes wonderful pancakes!  We did that a lot while living in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB), and the girls and Fred and I looked forward to my making those pancakes – usually on a Saturday morning.  I alternated the Saturday morning menus of sourdough pancakes or French Toast.  Those are some good memories!

I’ve never tried to make my own “starter” but there now “kits” with dry starter that can be activated.  Or perhaps someone I know has a starter and will give me a cup to make my own starter.  That’s usually the best – it’s been around for a while, and already has the flour and sugar in it that helps it grow.

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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The Snow Followed Us!

23 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Did you see the crazy pictures of the snow in the Gulf coast and Florida?

I wanted to upload some, but couldn’t find any that were free to share and use. The Pensacola News Journal has some good photos. I enjoyed seeing pictures on Facebook of people making snowballs and measuring how many inches. It was a historical snow event and will be remembered and talked about for many years.

We left our mountain home on January 16th to spend time in Florida with our daughter. We enjoyed our snow days but after 5 days in the house I was getting (crazy) restless. By day three my husband decided it was time to shovel the driveway. I stayed inside because someone had to be standing by to call 911.

I was worried about his safety since there was ice under the snow and as I have mentioned I don’t do ice. But Mike seemed to enjoy the shoveling.

We share a driveway with a neighbor and their teenage son shoveled the stretch from their driveway to the road.

The local Facebook page was very helpful with road updates The main road was cleared quickly but there was still morning ice. When our neighbor ventured out we waited a day and set out to check the road conditions for our route back to Florida. There was still some ice but it was easy to avoid. We ran a couple of errands and it was so good to interact with people!

Two days later we left for home. It was time. Another winter storm was expected on the weekend. We enjoyed the snow, but once was enough.

Neighbor’s table
Main road from our neighborhood

I was sad and happy to leave. Florida was calling and after days in the house I was ready for some sunny vitamin D. But the Vitamin D will have to wait as the weather has been cloudy, windy and cold. We are further south than the snow line and I am good with that.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

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Are We Growing Old?

21 Jan

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Thou hast the dew of thy youth (Psalm 110.30)

“To be seventy years young is sometimes far more cheerful and hopeful than to be forty years old.” Oliver Wendell Holmes 

Old by Rabindranath Tagore from his collection titled “Fireflies.”

Life blooms as we travel on 

Up the hills, into fresh, lovely dawn,

We are children who do but begin

The sweetness of life to win.

Because heaven is in us, to bud and unfold,

We are younger for growing old!

We have a God who lives in Eternity and knows no age-limit. 

Photo credit: Pixabay

DiVoran has been writing for most of her life. Her first attempt at a story was when she was seven years old and her mother got a new typewriter. DiVoran got to use it and when her dad saw her writing he asked what she was writing about. DiVoran answered that she was writing the story of her life. Her dad’s only comment was, “Well, it’s going to be a very short story.” After most of a lifetime of writing and helping other writers, DiVoran finally launched her own dream which was to write a novel of her own. She now has her Florida Springs trilogy and her novel, a Christian Western Romance, Go West available on Amazon. When speaking about her road to publication, she gives thanks to the Lord for all the people who helped her grow and learn.  She says, “I could never have done it by myself, but when I got going everything fell beautifully into place, and I was glad I had started on my dream.”

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Let’s Eat-Desserts

19 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

PIES – PART 3

Another pie that I have made in the past, but not recently, is Pecan Pie.  I really do like a good Pecan Pie, and this recipe makes one of the best Pecan pies I’ve ever eaten.  It was given to me by a friend – another U.S. Air Force wife – while we were living in northern Maine (Loring AFB) in 1967-1968.  She is a good ole Mississippi girl, and knows her stuff when it comes to baking.

It’s definitely a good recipe for Pecan Pie; if that is your taste.  Give it a try:

PECAN PIE

Beat well:     3 eggs

Add:                    1 cup granulated sugar

                   ¾ cup dark Karo syrup

                   ¼ cup butter

                   1 tsp vanilla

                   1 Tbsp cold water

Beat well.

Add 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans.

Put in uncooked pie shell.

Bake at 370̊ for 45 minutes or until inserted knife comes out clean.

FOR DEEP DISH PIE OR 10″

Add:              1 extra egg

Then add:    ⅓ cup sugar

                   ¼ cup dark Karo

                   1 Tbsp butter

                   ⅓ tsp vanilla

                   ⅓ Tbsp water

Also add:      ¼ – ⅓ cup pecans

Bake at least one (1) hour 10 or 15 minutes.

Credit Google Search and chefscottcookbook.com

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Let’s Eat-Desserts!

12 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

PIES – PART 2

Another pie that I love to make – and especially eat! – is what I have always called “Granny’s Chocolate Pie.”  I have the recipe in her handwriting, and have made it for years and years.  All the family love it, and have called it Granny’s Chocolate Pie, along with me.  Just for fun one day, I looked up chocolate cream pie on the internet – and there it was!  The same ingredients and directions as Granny’s!  Actually, I was a little miffed!  It’s MY Granny’s chocolate pie recipe – for all I know, she invented it in the 1940’s!!

Granny also had a recipe for butterscotch pie with meringue, and lemon meringue pie, but I never got those recipes before she died, much to my regret.

In any case, I wrote about my Aunt Jessie (Granny lived with her), and how she owned a small diner in downtown San Antonio, Texas back in the 1940’s.  Granny made the pies for that diner that were enjoyed by all who had a slice.  People would frequently purchase an entire pie, but it could be purchased by-the-slice, as well.

And so, I hereby present Granny’s Chocolate Pie recipe for your enjoyment:

GRANNY’S CHOCOLATE PIE

Filling:

2 cups sugar                                                 2 Tbsp cocoa, level

4 heaping Tbsp cornstarch                        ½ tsp salt

Mix the above ingredients together with a whisk in a large cooking pot.  Add and mix well:

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks beaten (save the egg whites for the meringue)

Cook this mixture over not too hot a fire (medium heat), stirring constantly. When thickened, remove from the heat and add 1 Tbsp butter (not margarine!) Add 1 tsp vanilla.  Mix and cook this first and allow to cool while baking the pie crust, stirring occasionally.  Put the filling into the baked crust, top with meringue and brown.

Meringue:

3 egg whites

¼ tsp cream of tarter

6 Tbsp granulated sugar (⅓ cup)

½ tsp vanilla (optional)

Beat the egg whites until frothy and stiff.  Gradually beat in the sugar, a little at a time.  Continue beating until stiff and glossy.

Pile high on pie filling, being very careful to seal meringue onto edge of crust.  Brown in a 400̊ oven for 8-10 minutes.  Serve when cool.

Crust for a 9″ single crust:

1⅓ cups sifted flour (I use unbleached)

½ tsp salt

½ cup Crisco solid shortening (use the stick kind – it’s easier to measure)

3 Tbsp water

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the Crisco until the mixture is uniform and very fine.  Sprinkle water over this mixture, a little at a time, tossing lightly with a fork. Work dough in a firm ball.  On a lightly floured surface (or between two large sheets of wax paper), roll dough about ½” thick.  Place in the pie plate.  Trim ½” beyond the edge of the plate.  Fold edge under and flute.  Prick generously with a fork over the bottom and sides.  Bake at 425̊ for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly browned.  

Cool before adding filling and meringue.

Photo credit Google search and pinterest.com

                                        ~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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Will the Snow Arrive?

9 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Eillis

As I write this, western North Carolina is hunkering down for a big winter storm. Hunker down is a Florida phrase in hurricane season. I’m not sure what the proper term is here so until I know better, I’m hunkering down.

HUNKER DOWN!

Photo is AI generated

In Florida my hunker down prep was all about food. I started with the most basic, coffee. Must have coffee. At the start of hurricane season we made sure we had propane for our Coleman camp stove so making coffee would be no problem. Hurricane stress requires snacks. Lots of snacks. Highly processed lunch meats and hot dogs are awful, but they don’t spoil easily. Of course, plenty of Peanut butter and bread are a must along with bottles of water. Oh, and must not forget ice for keeping foods chilled in the ice chest.

Photo is AI generated

Hunkering down for a snow storm is different. Our biggest concern is water. Our water is supplied by a community well and that pump does not like cold weather. Usually there is a switch that needs to be flipped back on but last year it froze. Some of the men used hair blow dryers to thaw it.

We’ve filled empty gallon water jugs with water for dish washing and er…other things. In the kitchen I filled up pitchers with water because coffee must be available!

Photo is AI generated

I don’t need to worry about food spoilage. The garage is colder than the refrigerator. I didn’t stock up on snacks since we are trying to eat very low carb. I may come to seriously regret this decision.

I’ve loaded my iPad and my Kindle with books to read should the power go out. I have also charged up my battery power bank. Unlike during a hurricane power outages with miserable heat, I can snuggle under blankets and read.

Even if we don’t lose power, I should have a lot of reading time. The weather predicts that after the snow, there may be ice and that will prolong thawing and as I said, this Florida girl does not drive on ice.

11:00 pm- My phone just buzzed with this warning.

CODE RED WEATHER WARNING.

The warning sounds ominous. So far the skies are mostly clear. The warning goes from 7:00 am tomorrow the 10th to 7:00 am on the 11th.

I really want the snow to arrive. We extended our stay in the mountains in the hope of snow. We didn’t exactly ask for a strong winter storm mixed with ice.

On the other hand, I don’t want the snow to arrive. The people living east of us in the area devastated by Hurricane Helene don’t need this storm. There are still people living in tents. There are people who have no place to sleep being housed in hotels paid for by FEMA. Today FEMA announced they were discontinuing paying for the hotel rooms after previously saying they were extending the vouchers. A huge outcry went up. Volunteers were frantically trying to find funding to keep the people safe. Mercury 1 Charity stepped in to pay for the rooms. By late evening FEMA relented to give the people another 24 hours.

In our 14 years of spending time in the mountains, we have only experienced one big snow storm. Snow makes everything beautiful. And if the storm does arrive, we will be enjoying the beauty for several days because like I said, this Florida girl (and her husband) don’t drive on ice.

This was in 2014.

I'm a winner

After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience.  Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites,  Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix

In addition to blogging, I’m a general  “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books  

My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Lets Eat-Desserts

5 Jan

akingSUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills 

PIES – PART 1

Okay…I said pies, but I have one more cookie recipe that I want to share.  It’s a favorite of mine even if I don’t make it very often.  It is soooo easy!  Got the recipe from an old friend of my Mother’s from Dallas, Texas days.  I’ve just always known them to be called “White Cookies.”  There are probably other names for them, but that’s what I call them.  Here they are:

WHITE COOKIES

Ingredients:

2 egg whites

⅔ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts

1 package butterscotch morsels

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350̊   Put aluminum foil on the oven rack.

Whip the egg whites until they are stiff and very dry

Add ⅔ cup sugar to the egg whites and whip

Add 1 tsp vanilla and whip

Fold in 1 cup chopped nuts

Fold in 1 package butterscotch morsels

Lightly spray the foil with PAM.  Drop the cookie mixture by teaspoon onto the foil covered rack

Turn off the oven heat as you put the rack in the oven.

DO NOT OPEN the oven until the oven is completely cool.  I frequently do this in the evening, and let them sit overnight.  Remove carefully – they are delicate!

Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now on to some of our favorite desserts – PIES!!  

I guess my favorite pie to make – and eat – is cherry pie.  Fred especially loves cherry pie, so it’s a labor of love when I make one for him.  And the best part is that I get to eat it, as well!

A history of cherry pies in my family goes back quite a ways.  Bosque Farms…cherry picking…cherry pitting with the hand-cranked machine Mother had.  Made a mess, but those pits just popped out, seldom missing any of them.  If it did miss one, when we found it in the pie, we just said that it proved they were real cherries!  Mother would wash and pit the cherries and freeze them, so she could make the pie just any time she wanted.

One of our favorite things was to make the pie on a Sunday afternoon.  Stop by Fitzgeralds after church on Sunday night for some home-made ice cream.  Then have the cherry pie with ice cream as a treat when we got home.  WOW was that good!

Below is my recipe for cherry pie.  It’s not exactly like my Mother’s, since I add Almond extract to the mix.  Fred really loves it that way, and I’ve come to love it that way, as well.  Mother didn’t like the taste, so she didn’t add it.  But this is good!

CHERRY PIE

1 cup granulated sugar

1 Can red sour pitted cherries                                                       

¼ cup flour 

¼ teaspoon almond extract                                                                           

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon  

1 ½ Tablespoons butter                                         

Crust for double crust (9″) pie plate

In saucepan, combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and juice of the can of cherries.  Sift the flour into the mixture, resulting in no lumps.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils (about 7 minutes).  Remove from heat.

Stir in extract.  Stir in cherries.  Pour into a 9″ pastry-lined pie plate.  Dot with butter.

Cover with top crust; seal edges and crimp/flute.  Cut vent design in top crust.

Bake at 425º for 30-to-35 minutes until nicely browned and juice bubbles through vents.

Serve warm with or without vanilla ice cream.

Makes 6-to-8 servings.                       

Pie and photo by Judy Wills

~~~~~~~~~~To Be Continued~~~~~~~~~~

Judy is living in Central Florida with her retired U.S. Air Force husband of 50+ years. Born in Dallas, Texas, she grew up in the Southwestern United States.She met her husband at their church, where he was attending the university in her town. After college and seminary, he entered the Air Force, and their adventures began.They lived in eight of our United States, and spent six years in Europe, where their oldest daughter was born. She was a stay-at-home mom for many years .

  Judy has always been involved with music, both playing the piano and singing. Always interested in exercise, she was an aerobic dancing instructor, as well as a piano teacher for many years, and continues to faithfully exercise at home.

After moving to Central Florida, she served as a church secretary for nearly nine years.Her main hobby at this point in time is scanning pictures and 35mm slides into the computer. She also enjoys scrapbooking.She and her husband have two married daughters and four grandchildren, including grandtwins as well as a great-grandson and a great-granddaughter. She and her husband enjoy the Disney parks as often as possible.

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