Two parties in one day!!!

Well, what a fun day. I had lunch with a dear friend and supper/cake with five dear friends. I forgot to take photos today, but here are a few with tonight. Look at the delicious cake! So beautiful.

Also my cardinal discovered the bird feeder this morning.  The honey cake was really good, too.

Whimsy and Hugs!

Honey Cinnamon Cake

I have been waiting for this week to try some new fun recipes. Why? Well, I turn 65 on Saturday, and I thought it might be fun to have some friends over during the week. Here is the one I have chosen for tomorrow. Today was simply left-overs from Sunday dinner and the ever-popular "last of the chili."

Honey Cinnamon Cake (cake) 1 pkg Classic yellow cake mix 3/4 cup vegetable oil 4 large eggs 1 cup regular sour cream (Cinnamon layer) 1/3 cup honey 1/3 cup brown sugar 1 tablespoon cinnamon (glaze) 2 cups powder sugar 1/3 cup milk 1 tsp vanilla Set oven to 350 degrees. Spray to prep 9x13 baking dish. In a large bowl mix together cake ingredients. Transfer to prepared dish. Cover top of cake with 1/3 cup honey. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle over the top of the honey layer. With a butter knife, swirl mixture together to just combined. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until an inserted tooth pick comes out clean. Remove from oven and mix powder sugar, milk and vanilla and pour over top of hot cake. As the cake cools glaze will be absorbed.

So... I will let you know tomorrow how this turned out. As usual, I don't have everything on the list, so I will do some crafty substitutions according to hacks on Google!

Have a great day! We finally got some sunshine, and it is looking good for a week with minimal rain. I am a cattle farmer's daughter, so I usually don't bash a rainstorm. The pastures are pretty lush in the Heartland.

Oh... and I am watching a movie a night this week on my laptop in bed. Last night it was Harrison Ford and Rachel McAdams, Diane Keaton... Yep ... 2010's Morning Glory... Leave me any suggestions in your comments... for movies or things to cook!





Whimsy and Hugs!

New Recipe

Tried a new recipe for lunch, and we voted to keep it! It was really quick and easy, too.

6/23/2019 Beefy Cornbread Casserole | The Country Cook 



2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion diced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 16 oz jar salsa
2 6.5 oz packets Martha White Yellow Cornbread Mix divided
1 ⅓ cups water divided
1 14.75 oz cream style corn divided
 2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
16 slices pickled jalapenos

 1. Preheat oven to 425 F degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with Crisco no-stick cooking spray.
2. In a large pan, brown ground beef with onions and garlic. Drain excess grease.
3. Put back in pan and stir in salsa.
4. Prepare one packet of Martha White Yellow Cornbread mix with ⅔ cups water. Stir well then add ½ can cream style corn. 5. Mix well then pour evenly into prepared baking dish.
6. Spread ground beef mixture on top of cornbread mixture.
7. Prepare second packet of Martha White Yellow Cornbread mix with ⅔ cups water. Stir well then add ½ can cream style corn. Mix well then pour evenly on top of ground beef mixture.
8. Top with shredded cheese. Then evenly place pickled jalapeno slices on top.
9. Cover with aluminum foil and cook for 15 minutes.
10. Then remove foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
11. Slice and serve with sour cream, pico de gallo or salsa!

It is forgiving if you need to change out and substitute ingredients. I did... 

Happy Summer!

Whimsy and Hugs!

Thunder Road

Good morning!

Rain and thunderstorms today create that special cozy feeling  that encourages a person to dig in deep, wear comfort clothes, and simmer something wonderful. (I would say chili... I know, shocker). I am such a sucker for chili weather, especially if said environment presents itself in the midst of Summer Solstice week! So today shall be such a day, filled with journal-making and laundry, crochet and candles, kitty cat and YouTube.... and chili made from dry beans like our dear great grannies used to do. Joy!

Sure.... all these joys are possible on a sunny day in June, but the deeper nature of these events seems even more magical when the radar gleams red and orange.

Yesterday I made Oatmeal bread. I have an Oster Bread Machine, and I have discovered if I bake only to the "light" setting, the loaves don't have that machine taste. I often bake the dough in pretty pans or shaped into rolls. So far, great reviews... except for the oatmeal bread... Have you ever made something so hard you were reluctant to use the electric knife? Built Ford Tough like a rock (or that unfortunate bread)...

I should be checking back in on Friday to wish you all Happy Summer!

Whimsy and Hugs!

Where I Am From... Happy Father's Day

At 5:10 this morning a huge clap of thunder replaced the usual loud chirps of a very early morning cardinal I look forward to hearing every day.

Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I decided to use an old lesson plan I used to inspire some of  my students. I filled in the blanks here
to create a poem based on my daddy..

I snapped a shot of one of my favorite photos of  Daddy holding my son about a lifetime ago... My dad had stopped one wintry morning after feeding the cattle... just to see my son, have a quick cup of coffee, and leave us laughing... I keep this photo tucked in my yarn and fairy cupboard... just a reminder that the road through present worries can often be found on interior ground through the happiest of memories of those common days.

I AM FROM

GERALD MILLER

I am from	huge gardens filled with dinner-plate dahlias and sweet corn
from	a little bulldog called Queen and homemade grapebutter sandwiches.
I am from	the square, white house situated at the end of the street
and	just down a path from the one-room school.
I am from	muddy country roads,
whose	every bog reaching out to capture my tires as I delivered the mail.
I am from	winter coats, summer hayfields, insulators, and fishing holes;
from	Big George and Iona Marguerite,
and from	both stubbornness and generosity;
from	hospitality, honesty, and honor.
I am from	tiny Mt. Salem Baptist Church;
from	banana cake, and biscuits 'n gravy;
from	Grandfather Franks and his honeybees,
and from	the summit of telephone poles as a Southwestern Bell lineman...
	and from a Lionel train treasured from a cold Christmas Eve.
I am from	the day I first set eyes on the woman of my dreams, through
	my years as the proudest dad and Paw-paw in the land.

Happy Father's Day to my favorite dad...

Whimsy and Hugs!

Have a good week!

Whimsy and Hugs!

I hope this weekend was just what you needed. We had a lot of sun with no storms, so most were happy about that. So... since my last post I have been tweaking the summer decor and working on journals, making cards, going through things and awaiting a book called The Home Edit...

These are my tempt-ations dishes called Fireworks. 

I do own this odd little tree but it is downstairs... Soon. Phase 2 of Amish help is with downstairs. 

Have a super week!

Mojo. Oh, where are you?

Time to freshen up the house tomorrow and get as ready as possible for Queen June and my 65th birthday. I lost a little this year in terms of mojo and hope and confidence. I have had some rough patches since I turned 64, and it shows in my mindset and moods and daily apathy. I miss the person I once thought I was, whether she was real or not. Does that make any sense?

I hate the very thought of a birthday without my mother (we shared the same day), although I certainly do not want to stop having birthdays. This time last year we were beginning the renovation that has really made our lives happier. Even though we have some big problems with the construction and I stupidly paid the contractor so it's just too bad, our daily lives are still better.

I am so "done" with the other house... Phone rang this morning and it was REC (Rural Electric Coop) saying someone stole our electric meter up at the other house during the night. Are you kidding me?

So. Despite the fact I will be selling my own memories and giving up a past I worked for, I guess I need to hire help and proceed there. I cannot tell you how boring I feel to have been locked into this grid of indecision and failure to process my own life. It has rubbed off on my son, I know. I bear no resemblance to the mother of iron determinism and the father who could and did turn shamble into castle. And to be frank, I barely care.

Instead, I watch YouTube art and junk journal tutorials, crochet, cross stitch, and home decor videos... pretty much all the time--- dreaming through the night of beauty I intend to create and stumping through the day behind a locked door, sleeping or doing so little, feeling like a whiny, childish victim of some lawless creep who steals, vandalizes, trespasses, and has interrupted my wanna-be Anne Frank (who had so many more reasons for bitterness but wasn't) "People are really good at heart" mentality... If I am not careful, I will be a Ty Cobb: "People are just no damn good, Stumpy." ----- Not there yet, but... my electric meter???? Come on!


I have been around those who can't get off the podium of some big loss or betrayal... I have loved them anyway, but oh, how my eyes have crossed and involuntarily looked to the sky for sweet relief from the regurgitation of some jilting or sleight, or catastrophe. I am not talking about those who have lost loved ones... but myself included, the baboons who drudge up something hideous done by a coworker, boyfriend, spouse, or used-to-be friend. How ugly that story grows, more vile with each repetition. I have too often been that impotent babbler who chronicles the latest or the same old hurtful thoughts. I often don't care, but more likely, I just cannot stop it... won't stop it, I guess I must say.


I am still here! lol... in case you wondered.


If you see the me I am looking for out wandering, or flitting, or hiding---? Send her back home, and I will appreciate her more and treat her better. Yep. I've lost it,


No photos. Cat refused to sign off because she won't appear on what she deems a negative post. ha ha...






Whimsy and Hugs!