Speeding

Speed limits. How many of you really obey them all the time?

Most state and U.S. highways in south Arkansas have a 55 mph speed limit. That doesn’t seem so bad until you cross the state line into Texas and find the same roads with a limit of 70!

I really don’t like driving 55. It’s not that I’m a speed demon or anything, there’s just something about being able to drive 60 (a mile a minute) that satisfies my senses. Of course if the posted limit is 65 or 70, that’s what I drive.

Law enforcement has been out in full force lately in my neck of the woods. A few weeks ago my son was stopped and given a warning for going 57 in a 55 zone. Ticky, ticky. Once upon a time most officers would allow a five mph “cushion”. Not anymore.

My younger daughter and I made a trip to Little Rock on Monday in my new car. It was a beautiful day with perfect driving conditions so I decided to set my cruise control to 55 on the button. Everyone blew by us, and not just when there were passing lanes! I had to laugh. Cars, trucks, motorcycles, handicap plates, young drivers, old folks… everyone in a hurry and many of them clearly aggravated at me for slowing them down. The scariest was the 18-wheeler with the shiny maroon-colored International cab that stayed mere feet behind me until he could pass.

I’m not always the most patient driver, but my attitude has changed a lot in recent years. It was nice knowing that I didn’t have to worry about getting stopped. That was reinforced every time we passed a state trooper or other cop, especially when they were pulling someone over. And no, I don’t gloat when I see that. I learned long ago that vengefulness often backfires.

So tell me, honestly….do you speed??

French Strawberry Pie

Another recipe entry?! What can I say... we've had a lot of fun things to eat during the past week. This one is from the cookbook our church music department put out when I was a teenager.

French Strawberry Pie

Spread a softened 3-oz. package of cream cheese mixed with a little cream over the bottom of a cooled, baked crust. (we made a graham cracker crust) Put one pint of fresh strawberries over the cheese.
Mash another pint of berries until very juicy. Bring them to a boil and add one cup sugar and three tablespoons cornstarch which have been blended together. Cook slowly for about 10 minutes. Cool. Pour over berries in the pieshell. Refrigerate until very cold. Cover with whipped cream.

Great American Brand Name Recipes Cookbook

This is a cookbook from which we have tried a number of recipes, including the chicken dish from the previous post. When my younger daughter gets the urge to cook, it's always the first book she pulls out of my collection. Last weekend she made this raisin pie then I prepared the banana bread a few days later. Both were very good!

Raisin Sour Cream Pie

¾ cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups dairy sour cream

1 cup raisins

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 (9-inch) pie shell, baked, or crumb crust

In top of double boiler, blend together sugar, cornstarch and salt. In small bowl, combine beaten eggs, 1 ½ cups of the sour cream, the raisins and lemon juice. Stir into sugar mixture. Set over hot, not boiling, water and cook until thick, stirring frequently. Pour into baked pie shell. When cool, top with remaining ½ cups sour cream. Chill several hours.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 3 small)

½ cup shortening

2 eggs

1 cup mini chocolate chips

½ cup chopped walnuts

Grease bottom only of 9x5x3-inch loaf pan; set aside. Combine all ingredients except mini chocolate chips and walnuts in large mixer bowl; blend well on medium speed. Stir in mini chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350º for 60 to 70 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Recipe Rehash

This is a recipe that I always knew I would like. I've prepared it quite a few times since I stopped being a vegetarian, including this past weekend.

Oven Barbecued Chicken

1 (2-1/2 to 3-pound) broiler- fryer chicken, cut up
(I use 4 or 5 boneless chicken breasts)
1 cup unsifted flour
1 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted (I use butter)
1/4 cup chopped onion (I use 1/2 to 3/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cup catsup
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup lemonjuice from concentrate
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In paper or plastic bag, combine flour and salt. Add chicken, a few pieces at a time; shake to coat. Place in greased 13x9-inch baking dish; drizzle with 1/4 cup butter. Bake 30 minutes. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, cook onion and garlic in remaining 2 tablespoons butter until tender. Add remaining ingredients; simmer uncovered 10 minutes. Pour over chicken; bake 30 minutes longer or until tender. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Leftovers are good to chop up, heat in the microwave then serve as a sandwich (either closed or open-faced)

We still have puppies

The e-mail campaign to find homes for the puppies was fruitless. My daughter found someone to take one of the little girls last week, but that still leaves seven. They will be eight weeks old on Wednesday.

Jewel


Cher


Madonna


Houdini


Patton


Bond


Seinfeld

From an unknown soldier

Yesterday’s CQOD really touched me, so I thought it would be nice to share here on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.

If it be all for naught, for nothingness
At last, why does God make the world so fair?
Why spill this golden splendor out across
The western hills, and light the silver lamp
Of eve? Why give me eyes to see, and soul
To love so strong and deep? Then, with a pang
This brightness stabs me through, and wakes within
Rebellious voice to cry against all death?
Why set this hunger for eternity
To gnaw my heartstrings through, if death ends all?
If death ends all, then evil must be good,
Wrong must be right, and beauty ugliness.
God is a Judas who betrays His Son,
And with a kiss, damns all the world to hell,--
If Christ rose not again.
... Anonymous, Unknown soldier, killed in World War I,
included in Masterpieces of Religious Verse, James
Dalton Morrison, ed., New York: Harper & Bros., 1948,
p. 205

Jed

Those who know our current dog line-up may have noticed an unfamiliar face in yesterday’s car photo. Let me explain.

All of our inside dogs are girls, as are Mama Dog and Blue. My husband had been seriously considering the idea of keeping one of the little boy pups from MD’s recent litter. I think he felt the need for some additional testosterone around here. I didn’t mind keeping one, but….how to pick just one from the precious four little boys?! They’re ALL so cute and different! My second concern was where to keep him until he was old enough to be out safely with the big dogs. I hated the thought of keeping him in the run all alone (once the others were parceled out) and I knew Blue and MD wouldn’t want to be locked up with him.

The problem was solved for us. A couple of weekends ago we heard a major barking ruckus outside. I found a young, skinny white dog cowering in our flower bed. He didn’t look to be any more than six months old and was covered in ticks and fleas. My husband took one look at him, made a comment I won’t repeat here about folks that dump dogs, and said we might as well keep him rather than one of the puppies. Over the next couple of days we fed him, treated him for ticks, fleas & earmites, and gave him some much needed love. He went for a vet checkup when we carried Blue in to have her stitches out and has since settled in and made himself right at home.

Cash for Clunkers

It’s been an experience. Then again, when is it NOT an experience dealing with the federal government!?!

I've debated getting a new car for a year or so. It’s been a great car, so I wasn’t quite ready… until “Cash for Clunkers” came along.

When talk of the program first started, my husband realized it might be just the right opportunity to get rid of the old truck he had. Although it still ran okay (even the AC worked!), it was 20 years old and had close to 250,000 miles on it. Definitely a clunker. Considering the “Blue Book” value was less than $500, why not turn it in for a $4500 rebate? It was the perfect time to cash it in for a new car!

The first day the program went into effect we were at the local Chevy dealership. We were their first clunker customer. Little did I know that’s where the headache would begin. Never before have I walked out of a dealership after purchasing a new vehicle that I didn’t have my papers in hand, ready to make the journey to the assessor’s office and the revenue department. Things were such a madhouse at the dealership that it took two days to get my papers. Granted, the business manager had been on vacation, so that also slowed things down. Things went smoothly at the tax assessor’s, but came to a standstill once I reached the revenue department. Turns out I was their first clunker customer, too. Seems one hand didn’t know what the other was doing and all the fingers pointed to the government in blame. Everyone was polite to me (and I to them), but it still frustrated me to no end! I just wanted to get my car taxed and licensed!

To make a long story short…. more than a week after making the deal, I finally got everything sorted out and now am the proud owner of a new 2009 Chevy Malibu.

So far I love it!

A weekend of eating

My sister came for a quick visit this weekend. That meant lots of talking, laughing and, of course, eating. I always like to experiment with new recipes when she’s here. This time I tried three, all from past issues of Simple & Delicious magazine.

Festive Feta Cheese Ball
Contributed by Cinde Ryan of Gig Harbor, WA

2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

½ cup crumbled feta cheese
2 teaspoons ranch salad dressing mix
¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ cup crumbled cooked bacon
½ teaspoon dill weed

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add feta cheese and dressing mix; mix well. Shape into a ball. Combine the Parmesan cheese, bacon and dill week; roll cheese ball in Parmesan mixture. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until firm. Serve with crackers. Yield: 2 cups.

Confetti Corn Salad
Contributed by Tonia Mahnke of Sun Prairie, WI

1 can (7 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (2 ¼ oz) sliced ripe olives, drained
½ cup chopped green pepper
½ cup chopped sweet red pepper
2 radishes, sliced
¼ cup prepared Italian salad dressing

In a small bowl, combine the corn, olives, peppers and radishes. Add salad dressing; toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 3 servings.

Peanut Butter Jumbos
Contributed by Deborah Huffer of Staunton, VA

1 ½ cups peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ½ cups quick-cooking oats
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M’s miniature baking bits

In a large mixing bowl, cream peanut butter, butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine oats and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and baking bits.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350º for 12-14 minutes or until edges are browned. Remove to wire racks. Yield: 9 dozen.

What a week!

….. Flying Burger, puppies in the grass, GRE, doctors, fleas, my sister, Cash for Clunkers, Little Rock, storms, worming, roommate passing through, Farmerville, new car, games, homemade ice cream, “frings”, new recipes, Quackers…..

Just the tip of the iceberg.