My Week, 2-21/2-27-22

One of MY HEROS. How I miss Jim Rohn. He was my favorite motivational speaker. Fortunately, he can still talk to me on YouTube. Take the twelve minutes to listen HERE and you'll see why he gets me stirred up. 

Who knows whether the story of George Washington and the cherry tree is true or not. I made Cherry Pecan Bread to honor his birthday regardless. Here it is on my well-used cutting board made by my son in high school woodworking class.

CHERRY PECAN BREAD

2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and halved

 Heat oven to 350°.

 In a small mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and soda.

 In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oil, eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk.

 Add the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed.

 Fold in the pecans and cherries.

 Pour into a greased and floured 9” X 5” loaf pan.

 Bake 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Sometimes all I need is a pound of hamburger, an onion, and a jar of Prego and I'm good to go. Friend Mim married an Italian and learned to make all his favorite foods. She'll probably disown me when she sees this.

but now I have meals for the freezer. Just add salad.

Earl Nightingale, another of MY HEROS. I loved his deep voice and great messages. Take three minutes to listen as he tells you how to Go Your Own Way. Click HERE. 

Sometimes I don't eat enough apples and they go beyond the eating raw stage. Time to make applesauce.

APPLESAUCE

4 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup sugar

Dash of cinnamon 

In a saucepan, add sugar to water to dissolve while you prepare the apples. 

Add apples and cinnamon to water and cover. 

Cook over medium heat 15-20 minutes until apples are soft. 

Use potato masher if you want chunky applesauce or pulse a few times in the blender if you want it smoother. 

If you have more or fewer apples, follow this formula:

For each apple: 1-1/2 ozs water (use the marks on the measuring cup)                                      1 Tbs + 1 tsp sugar

The next morning I put some on my oatmeal with whipped cream from a can, and wow! I'm sure this is what a Fairy Princess has for breakfast.

By the way, I tried the cheap GV brand of whipped cream from Walmart and it's good.

I had extra fresh apples, so I tried a new apple cake recipe. Maybe I did something wrong, but I won't make it again.

If you have extra apples, make Other Mom's Apple Bread instead.

OTHER MOM’S APPLE BREAD

Effie Cox

3 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar

2 cups peeled and grated apples

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour, sifted

1 tsp soda

1 tsp salt

1/3 tsp baking powder

3 tsps cinnamon (note)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional) 

Heat oven to 325°. 

Generously grease and flour two loaf pans. 

In a large bowl, beat eggs fluffy. 

Stir in oil, sugar, apples, and vanilla. 

Add dry ingredients (sifted) into egg mixture. 

 Blend well and then add nuts. 

Pour into loaf pans and bake approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes. 

Remove immediately and cool on racks. Freezes well. 

Note:  Yes, I know this is one tablespoon, but my tablespoon won’t fit into my spice jar.

Wednesday morning, and the streets were already white at 11:15 a.m. It's not snow, it's sleet, and I can still hear it going plink, plink, plink on my skylights. Good time to hunker down and get something done around here.

I happened across this and you might like it. It's an audiobook on YouTube which I have read and shared many times in my younger years. I think every motivational speaker recommends it. It's called The Richest Man in Babylon, and you can access it HERE.  If you're on a long car trip, use your phone and Bluetooth; access it on YouTube and listen through your speakers. Or if you want to read it on Kindle, it's free on Kindle Unlimited or 99 cents to buy. Click HERE. I wish I'd read it when I was very young.

I just finished watching a young lady in Australia go through an entire week, living as if it were the 1950's. She dresses in 50's clothes (with a girdle), does her hair and makeup like the 50's, hangs the laundry to dry outside, and I was totally entertained. She did exercises with Jack Lalanne, fixed three meals a day until she realized about day four that the refrigerator was overflowing. It's 30 minutes. Click HERE.  If you like it, try her 48 hours living like the 1940's during WWII. Click HERE.  

Do you know your flowers? YouTube of 100 flowers with names and nice piano music in the background. Fun. Click HERE. His pronounciation is a little off, but still fun.

It's Thursday now, and the ice is covered with snow.

 

I decided to bring in a few groceries before the storm hit. I buy meat at Harter House, and they have a case of prepackaged meats which always has pork steaks, varieties of ground beef (depending on percentage of fat), pork chops, sometimes some steaks. Most of the meat is in the service case and the butchers weigh and wrap it. 

The pork steaks come in a package of four. I selected one and some hamburger and then waited for a butcher so I could get a couple of tri-tips and a slab of babyback ribs. As I waited, I noticed that the pork steaks in the counter were $3.99 per pound, and the ones I got from the prepackaged case were $1.99 per pound - half! I asked the butcher how the ones in the service case were different, and he said, "It's all the same meat, but we can do the prepackaging so much faster, like an assembly line, and you have to buy four at a time, so our labor costs are greatly reduced." Wow! I always buy the prepackaged, so I'd never even looked at the ones in the service case. Who knew? Forgot to see the difference in the price of the ground beef. I'll check it next time.

I like pork steak instead of chops, because the fat has been bred out of hogs, and the chops are tasteless and the steaks are leaner than before.

I wrap each in plastic film so they don't stick together, put them in a freezer bag, and mark it with the date.

I also buy ground beef in the family pack and break it down into pounds, making patties of one of the pounds.

I smash the packages so they fit in the freezer better and thaw faster.

I want to share with you a quote which literally changed my life. I've probably used this as the beginning of one of my past blog posts on Teas and T's, but I want you to really think about it.

The recognition of a desire within an individual is evidence that the gratification of that desire is within the abilities of the person who recognizes it.  Quite simply, if you have what it takes to recognize a desire, then you also have what it takes to gratify the desire.  Only your thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and perceptions can prevent you from realizing your dreams and desires.  When you begin to affirm positive statements about yourself and visualize yourself succeeding in various endeavors, you begin to reprogram your mind.  And as you think, so will it be.

                                   Duke Tufty, Unity Minister, Kansas City, Missouri 

This is powerful. This means that if you thought about doing something, you can do it. Isn't that exciting? Now when I wonder if I can do this or that, I remember that I can, or the idea to do it would never have occurred to me. 

So if you've thought about making a wedding cake, climbing El Capitan, learning to skateboard, or writing a book, you can do it. You're only limited by your own fear or your lack of desire to actually do it.

How about a little 8-minute break to tour France - click HERE. I loved Mont St Michel. We stayed there overnight and I had time to walk all over the place.

There are walkways with great views.

The water completely surrounds the place at high tide. In the old days, you had to plan your visit carefully or get stranded. Now there's a causeway so you can visit anytime.

There are public walkways on several levels.

If it's still there, I recommend this hotel.

But lots of stairs

Probably the cutest post office in the world

They're famous for their omelettes, which started here. You can read about it HERE. Don't tell anyone, but I'm not a fan. Maybe it's an acquired taste. I did, however, enjoy watching the eggs being beaten, forever it seemed, with a large whisk in a huge copper bowl.

A view of the monastery

But the cemetery was my favorite part

This was the first time I'd seen the ceramic flowers for graves. 

The cemetery is very small, so I figured you must be pretty important to be buried here. I looked up this guy. You can read about him HERE.

I promised you photos of lunch this week, but the weather prompted another delay, so here's a preview. I have everything washed and ready, so I'll cover it with the tablecloth and wait for Thursday.

I made all this stew (plus gingerbread and lemon sauce), just for some photos for the Celebrations book (Halloween).

FIVE-HOUR STEW

2 lbs stew meat (For best results, use chuck steak or tri-tip)

3 cups chopped carrots

1 cup chopped celery

3 cups rough chopped onion

1 envelope onion soup mix

3 Tbs tapioca

1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

2 tsps sugar

Salt and pepper

3 cups chopped potatoes (optional) Note 1

1 cup each frozen corn and peas (optional) Note 2

Preheat oven to 250°. 

Mix all ingredients and put in an oven-safe pot and cover.  Bake five hours. DON’T PEEK! Note 3 

Note 1: Any kind of potatoes are okay, but if you plan to freeze leftovers, I recommend red or white rose.

Note 2: You can use canned corn and peas by draining and adding them when you remove the stew from the oven. It will be hot enough to heat them. 

Note 3: If you use a heavy pan, the stew might need a longer cooking time. 

Note: You can double the recipe, but it makes a lot. I use my turkey roaster. 

And the dessert - Gingerbread with ice cream and lemon sauce

GINGERBREAD

Crisco and a small amount of flour to grease pan.

1-1/2 tsps white vinegar

1/2 cup milk (scant)

1-1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsps ground ginger

2 tsps ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup molasses

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled

Heat oven to 325°. 

Grease and flour a 9” X 9” square baking pan. 

Put vinegar in a glass measuring cup, and add enough milk to make 1/2 cup total. Set aside. 

Whisk together flour, soda, and all spices in a small mixing bowl and set aside. 

Put eggs in a large mixing bowl and beat slightly with an electric mixer (hand mixer is okay). Then add sugar and beat until it thickens. 

Beat in molasses, melted butter, and reserved milk until blended. 

With mixer on low speed, add reserved dry ingredients. 

Pour into pan and bake 45-50 minutes. 

LEMON SAUCE – SWEET 

1/2 cup sugar

2 Tbs cornstarch

3/4 cup water

2 Tbs butter

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 Tbs lemon zest (optional) 

In a small saucepan, mix together the sugar and cornstarch. 

Gradually stir in the water. 

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and comes to a boil. 

Continuing stirring, and boil 1 minute. 

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter to melt. 

Add lemon juice, and lemon zest, if desired. 

Can be served either warm or cold.

Friend Mim sent me a link to a YouTube video of piano music by Clara Schumann, and at the bottom was a web address. I searched it, and what a treasure trove if you like serious music. Click HERE.

I like my potato salad very plain.

POTATO SALAD 

4 cups cubed potatoes, red or white rose preferred

1 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup, finely chopped sweet onion, Vidalia, Maui, Bermuda, Texas    

   Sweet

4 boiled eggs, chopped

3/4 cup mayonnaise or more

Salt

 Peel, cube, and boil the potatoes just until tender. Drain and cool. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the potatoes, celery, onion, mayonnaise, and salt. Add more mayonnaise, if desired.

Fold in the eggs. 

Chill. If salad needs more mayonnaise, stir in gently.

 Note: If you like more pizazz, you can add pickles, relish, mustard, etc.

 

Sunday morning, and the streets are clear, the sun is shining, life is good.

Some questions: The so-called "Squad" in Washington is currently made up of five women and one man. Of course, I'm sure they don't identify as male and female, but that's how I see them. None of them are white. They seem to think they are special and somehow  endowed with privileges because of their color. One member was born in Somalia, the other five were born in the USA. Four of them belong to the Democratic Socialists.

My question: If they want to be Socialists, why are they trying to change our country when they could just move to North Korea, China, Venezuela, Russia, or any of a number of countries?

My next question: Why do Democrats support them? Do they not like freedom? Do they not like our country? Why do they want to change it? Our country was founded on individual freedom. We were tough, we were honorable, and we built the greatest nation in the history of the world. We took care of ourselves and our neighbors and took responsiblity for our own actions.

I find it difficult to understand how people fifty and older, who grew up as I did, saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school, standing for the National Anthem, supporting the police, believing in the goodness of America and our founding fathers, proud of our heritage and our culture and wanting to preserve it (the bad, as well as the good), believing a nation is surrounded by borders, believing that babies in the womb had a right to life, knowing I had a right to freedom of speech, religion, to assemble, to bear arms, to be treated equally under the law regardless of my political party, now want to chuck it all and become a different country. Sad, sad, sad.

And remember when the mainstream media investigated instead of just telling the public what the Democratic Party, Big Tech, and Big Corporations dictated? Thankfully, we still have OAN (One America News) and Tucker Carlson on Fox.

Rick Scott has put together a Rescue America Plan. There are eleven points. Click HERE and scroll down. You should read them, and then ask yourself, "If I agree with all these ideas, why am I supporting the Democrats/Socialists?"

Or, you can just ignore everything except what you hear on CNN and MSNBC, hope the government will be solvent long enough to take care of you until you're gone, and watch this wonderful United States of America sink slowly into oblivion like the Roman Empire and the Third Reich.

And my last question: How can Joe Biden effectively negotiate with Russia OR Ukraine when both countries have enough dirt on the Biden family to influence his actions? Remember, Hunter brought in hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars from both countries. Or maybe that's just  disinformation. PU-LEEZE. C'mon man!

PRAY FOR THE BRAVE PEOPLE OF UKRAINE AS THEY FIGHT TO PRESERVE THEIR FREEDOM

PRAY FOR THE RUSSIANS WHO ARE BEING PUNISHED FOR PROTESTING THE WAR

PRAY THAT WHOMEVER IS RUNNING BIDEN WILL TELL HIM TO GO BACK TO TRUMP'S OIL PRODUCTION PLAN, WHICH WILL PUT AN END TO PUTIN'S AGGRESSION

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE

 

Well, well, well

Yesterday, someone deleted my Google account, which also knocked out my Gmail, my YouTube playlists, and my blogger account where I created Teas and T's.

This is the new format. I was so sorry to see the red paisley background is no longer available, but we just have to deal with changes as we go along. Of course, a name change was required as well.

My new plan is to just add to my post as I live my life and share it with you once a week. It worked out well last week, as I got sick, but just had to hit the "publish" button to post. 

You can still view the old blog by going to www.teasandts.blogspot.com or click HERE. The archives are still intact - I just can't get into my dashboard to post on that blog any longer. Google is not known for its awesome support system as there is none. If you try to get into your google account and you know your username, password, phone number,  and security question answer are all correct, it means, "Sorry, Charlie. You just have to go back to square one."

Of course, this may be the response by The Universe to my vision board. I'll not be wasting time on YouTube (playlists are history), and this new format will save blogging time, so more time to work on my goals.

This week has been such a nightmare, I don't even remember accomplishing anything except finishing the invitation and menu for Halloween. No matter how much I try, I can never get these lined up straight. I'll blame it on the camera.

They can knock me down, but they can't keep me down. I even surprised myself that I built a new site so quickly. Just roll with the punches and keep on going. I considered giving up blogging, but I thought about it overnight and the answer is that I would miss talking to you. So here we go. And I'm having friends over Thursday, so photos next week.

SORRY THIS WEEK'S POST IS SHORT

SUNSHINE IS COMING TO NIXA ON MONDAY

THEN THREE DAYS OF RAIN

I'M STARTING TO THINK SPRING

SENDING HUGS

THANK YOU FOR SHARING MY LIFE