Vow-Newal ..... back after taking a breather....

Hello everyone!

I've missed chatting with all of you ... and would like to revamp my blog ... gotten bored with how it looks.

Life just got too complicated ... lots of things I wanted and needed to do (purge our home of some of the excess, college classes for a Finance degree, preparing for DH and my silver anniversary and vows renewal, family reunion and the list just kept going on and on .... and on!!)    Bet you have had some of those days....

Got much of what I wanted to do done ... silver anniversary celebration went wonderfully and so did the family reunion.  Great to see so many people we haven't seen in quite a while due to DH's work overseas ... 

DH and I had my rings re-sized ... I hadn't been able to wear either of them for years ... worked with electronic repair.  Wearing jewelry is just bad ju-ju when fixing stuff!!  

When we renewed our vows, DH put my rings on me again .... nice to have them back on again!

We also had a butterfly release that went amazingly well ... DH said he kept flashing on an old episode of "Two and A Half Men" where Charlie's mother gets remarried at the beach house and the butterflies are dead and serve as seagull food.   Even the photographer said the butterfly release was one of the best she had ever seen.

We're back home again ... and brought back two Siamese cats we adopted from a rescue in Southern California (more about them later this week).... trying to get back into the swing of normal life again.
Really enjoyed the celebration and family reunion ... but there were days that dealing and coordinating all the details long distance could be quite demanding. Being back home, taking care of day-to-day life details is such a relief!!  

Of course, now I am starting to work on details of the next family reunion in 2018... still have to pin down which of two places it wll be held ... 

Onward and upward ... 

What wonderful things have happened in your life since last we spoke?  
Please share one or two ...

Holly

looks like the end of my Chinese lantern

I think my Chinese lantern plant is on its last legs ...
oh well ... winter is almost here, have already had some snow flurries ...
really like the blossoms .. so unique
Do you have a special plant in your yard that makes you smile?

Holly

Happy Halloween and Fall !

Been away a lot time ... computer crashed and still haven't been able to recover the data and once my DH deployed, I've been busy cleaning and purging.   Made a LOT of progress!   

Today I spent 6 hours in the attic, boxing up loose items, labeling all the boxes, setting other things aside to donate or discard and organizing the boxes so you can just look and see what is in each box without having to move boxes around --- everything is in neat rows, easy to access and you can stand in the cleared center and can easily see what is in each and every box.  Should have taken a photo of the cluster before I started... oh well.  

But- all the purging has kept me busy and occupied while the days have gotten cold, gray and cloudy.  Have to admit, Autumn and Spring are my two favorite seasons due to the colors...  check out the leaves I can see most every day!

 Since it's colorful outside ... added some color to the inside of my home.  Found these soup cans in a local store last year - 

Think using them to display dried pods on our table works well.  

Do you do anything special to celebrate the change of seasons?

Hoping to hear from you -
Holly

Fantabulous! Check out the T-shirt quilt I had made!!

 

Quite a few years ago ~ while purging our excess out ~

I got rid of a bunch of T-shirts we had acquired from various

duty stations, explorations

(we love to explore the areas we are assigned)

and Scouting activities.

 

Of course, not long after the T's went away ~

a friend mentioned making a T-shirt quilt with her son's T's.

 

Slap the forehead and moan why didn't I know about this??

Would have been a great way to use all those T's I hadn't wanted

to get rid of .... but they had just been taking up space in our home.

 

Well, Life goes on ~~ 

now when we are out and about, I pick up T's for a quilt .... someday.

 

Last fall, I decide there are enough T's to have one made ~

(I know me, if I do it~ it will sit incomplete and never get done)

.... so I start searching the Web.

Looked at lots of websites over the next few months ...

 

and FINALLY found a quilt I adored on Pinterest !!!

 

Back-tracked the quilt to the company who made it ~

"Too Cool Quilts" in Michigan.

They were a bit more pricey than  other companies I looked at,

but the website was so detailed on the entire process

(something  others skimped on) ~

that I bit the bullet and ordered a quilt for my son.

 

 

Sent the T-'s in and waited ....

It came back and was absolutely FANTABULOUS!!

Sent all the rest of the T's in

~~~ yup!  With all my picking up

one here, one there

as we wandered the world ...

I had enough T's to make SIX quilts

 

~~though one was a "Hard Rock Café" theme

and I had to supplement with T's from Ebay.

 

DS LOVED it!! 

 

"Too Cool Quilts" outlines many of the T-shirt designs with the stitching which holds the quilt together ~

so you can enjoy the both sides of the quilt!

 

Love my Grinch (from the story "How the Grinch Stole Christmas") with all of the toys bagged and piled into his sleigh as he prepares to leave Whoville.

 

The quilts turned out fantastic! 

Am on the hunt for more T's to have more made ... someday.

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Feasting on Friday ... Frog and Toe Jams

DH and I are finally back home again after nearly two months ..

SO good to be back in our own beds and normal routine....

now if we can only get re-adjusted to our home time-zone.

 

We spent Mother's Day weekend with my mother-in-law ~

found these at a small roadside stand while driving to

my in-law's home. 

 

Just had to get them both for DMIL and DFIL!

Love the names!!

 

 

Gotta love the quirky names! 

And there were several people who walked into the place,

read the jar titles and said "Eww!!"

 

"Toe jam" in the US is a slang term for

the gunk that accumulates between the toes.

Definitely not the first thing you think of at a produce stand!!

 

In this case .. "Toe Jam" means "Tangerine, Orange, Elderberry"

~ "Frog Jam" is "Fig, raspberry, orange and ginger".

 

Do you have a quirky food specialty in your area?

Please share!!

Hope to hear from you soon ~

Holly

 

 



Yummy Pork in Pear Sauce

DH and I enjoy this frequently .. it's one of our "go to" recipes.

 

I brought this recipes with us on our trip -

knew that DH and I would be staying in a hotel with a kitchenette ...

really get tired of eating out ~

plus a diet of restaurant food tends to be unhealthy after a while.

 

Had planned to make this while we were at DS's home ..

just never quite happened.

 

1 small pear, cored and cut into 6 wedges

1/2 cup pear nectar or apple juice

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

dash of cinnamon

2 boneless pork chops

1 teaspoon black pepper

dash of salt

1teaspoon olive oil or butter

1 teaspoon cornstarch or Wondra flour

 

-In small pan, combine pear wedges, nectar, ginger and cinnamon.

-Bring to boil; reduce to simmer and cook for a few minutes 'til tender.

-Once tender, pour juice into measuring cup ~~ if less than 3/4-cup of  

    liquid, add additional juice to make up the shortage.

-Set both pears and juices aside for later.

 

-Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops.

-Heat oil or butter in pan over medium heat until lightly browned and

    cooked through. 

-Remove chops from pan and keep warm... keep the drippings in pan.

-Stir cornstarch or Wondra flour into drippings; add reserved juice.

-Cook until juice/dripping mixture thickens.   Cook another minute or 2.

-Add pears and cook for another minute or two.

 

-Serve pork with some of the sauce and pears on top.

-Serves two.

 

Comments:

Made this without the ginger... kinda bland without the ginger.

Will update with a better photo once we get home --

hotel kitchenette stocked with the basics ... but only the basics.

 

Took the easy way out this time and used a couple Dole diced pear cups for school lunches.  Had the juice I needed and pears were cut up.

 

 What is one of your "go to" recipes?

I'm always interested in exploring the wonderful world of food ~

Holly

   



 

Traveling and bag organizing tip

DH and I have been traveling for the last few weeks ....

and we are t.i.r.e.d ....

Frankfurt to Honolulu to San Diego and now Savannah ...

I'm having problems figuring out what day it is

(sad, isn't it?)

 

Spent a wonderful week with DS (dear son) at his home on Oahu ..

he ran us all around the island

 (DH hadn't been to Hawaii before, so we wanted him to see it ALL!)

 

Then off to San Diego for four days ...

 we are selling our home there and needed to deal with some items ..

saw some relatives and friends ...

but it was rush - rush - rush the entire time.

 

Now we are in Savannah

where DH is attending some work-related classes -

FINALLY!!  A chance to recover and catch-up!!

 

Will post photos of our last few weeks in a few --

 

Here is the travel tip I promised ...

 

Have easily identifiable bags for your electronics, cords and toiletries ~

 

I found these houndstooth bags on sale recently ~

 

easy to find in the clutter (not that we tote along a bunch) ~

 so handy to know if I am looking for a cable or Kindle or cell or ....

(amazing the array of electronics now in our life),

just look for easily identifiable bag.

 

The 3-1-1 bag goes neatly into the toiletry bag and can be pulled out

for airport security and tucked back away once through the line.

No more "where DID I put the ...."

 

I keep an index card in each bag listing off the things to go inside ~

most of the toiletry kit stays packed for easy grabbing -

just have to tuck aspirin, toothpaste and the like when it's time to go.

 

Hope you can use this idea in your life --

 

Would love to hear your travel tips to make things easier -

 

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

It's Spring!! Special Menu to Celebrate!

One of our family traditions is to have a special meal when the season changes ..

Today is the first day of Spring ...

 

So we enjoyed

 

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

 (with spiced apples and bacon)

Rosemary Potatoes

 

for dessert ... yogurt fruit bombe with apples, strawberries and bananas

 

 

... both are really easy to make ...

and I found the potatoes in the freezer section of a local grocery.

 

Even better ... DH was off

(normally he works evenings),

so no rush to make this for lunch!

 

Do you celebrate a  change of seasons?

I would love to hear of your traditions ~

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Irish Ham and Potato Pie

"Irish" Ham and Potato Pie

 

6 large eggs
1/2 cup green onions chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 cups cooked diced potatoes 
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup diced cooked ham
1/2 cup finely chopped red or green bell pepper
1/2 cup half-and-half or milk

 

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9-inch pie pan.

Mix together eggs, onions, salt and pepper in large bowl.

Add potatoes, cheese, ham, bell pepper and half and half to egg mixture.
Stir to blend. Pour into pie pan.

Bake until tested done when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Could be 50-minutes or up to 1 hour 30 minutes. 

Cut into wedges to serve.

Makes 4 to 8 servings.

 

 

Holly's notes:  This last time, only had medium eggs in the house ~ so I used seven instead of six large eggs.  Also used about 3-1/2 cups of potato (couldn't see tossing the last bits of the potatoes) and only 1-cup of shredded cheese.  Forgot to add the milk entirely ... oops.   But since I had included the extra 1/2-cup of potato, that was probably for the best.   The pan was completely full and if I added anything more - it would have over-flowed.   Still turned out fine.   Pretty forgiving recipe.   Mine only had to cook for about 50-minutes.

 

Most likely will make the same changes the next time  I make this.  Uses things that I commonly have in the house (other than the ham ... rarely do I buy ham --- though we both love it).

Ultra- Easy, Yummy-in-the-Tummy Mac N Cheese Muffins ... really good!!

A friend shared this with me recently --

just got around to trying it this week.

 

Oh my.. they are wonderful! 

And easy to put together ~

Decided to make over-sized muffin sized ones and not normal size ones this time.

DH took some to work for his dinner.

 

 

Mac and Cheese Cups  

 

2 cups uncooked macaroni (I used shells, Bonnijean used elbows - doesn't matter)
1 Tbl. butter
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese 
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
2 tsp. olive oil
Salt, to taste

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin (or a mini muffin tin, depending on the size you want) with nonstick cooking spray.

Stir together the bread crumbs, oil and salt. Set aside.

Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water, for about 8 min. Remove from heat, drain, and return to pan. Add the butter and egg and stir until the pasta is evenly coated. Save out 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese and stir the remaining cheddar, mozzarella and milk into the pasta.

Spoon the noodles into the muffin tin. Sprinkle the top with the reserved cheese and the bread crumb mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for a few minutes before removing from pan.

 

Comments:  I only used about a cup each of the cheeses.    The olive oil I used was from my garlic jar (When I get garlic, I separate the head of garlic into the separate teeth and then store the teeth in just enough olive oil to cover the teeth.  The garlic stays usable for a long time in the fridge and then I have flavored oil to use in cooking.)  Anyway, this gave the crumb topping a bit of a garlic taste ... which was a nice accent to the macaroni and cheese. 

 

Really good recipe ... will make this often.  Thanks bunches, Bonnijean!

 

Holly

 

 

 

 



Laundry room re-do

DH and I picked up some shelves today for

our laundry room ~

since we rent, can't paint the room

(would love light rose color walls)

~~ this looks so much better than it was before !

 

Before the shelves, we'd just toss the kitchen towels into a pile on the floor

(I go through a lot - at least two a day) ~

and the baby blankets I make for charity would be piled on the washer until I had a full load.

 

Now I have baskets to corral them both ~

that's a roll-up ironing pad on the top. 
Before I could iron on washer ~ need to find
a new place now.

 

Don't you love the "tin" laundry room box?

Found it in a Sicilian flea market

 a few years  ago... brand new!

 

What have you done to simplify

or organize your life?

Always on the look-out for more ideas!    Holly 

 



Did I ever show you ...?

Did I ever share the picture I have in the guest bath?

It is supposed to attach to the commode lid ,,,

but we weren't able to get it to stick.

 

I decided to frame it and it proudly sits on the shelf above the commode.

Probably should have it over the urinal for male guests to enjoy...

but now it is easily seen and enjoyed when one opens the door.

 

 

Do you have a fun decoration somewhere in your home?

Please share!

Holly

 

 

 

 

 

Feasting on Friday ... Scrat

A friend sent me this photo she found on the Internet~

She knows DH and I love Scrat in "Ice Age"

hummmm... may want to add Scrat to our 25th anniversary party cake ..

gotta have something fun and kicky on the cake!

Happy Friday!

Holly

Tuesday Retrospect -- My Son at (3)

When my son was three, I was working in as a data entry clerk

(yes, this was a loooong time ago) ...

one of the benefits was discounted tickets to Disneyland.

We went several times that year ...

 this photo is from the first visit. 

 

He was a special boy then... and is a wonderful man now.

 

Do you have a treasured memory to share?

I would love to hear it.

Holly

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

This morning DH mentioned wanting pumpkin waffles ... fortunately I have everything I need to make them.  If I had thought about it last, night I could have thawed out the bacon in our freezer and made heart bacon for breakfast as well.  (you fold the streaky bacon strips so it approximates a heart-shape).
Tried to make heart shaped waffles ... major flop.  Next time I'll put the waffle batter into a container with a spout ... that should let me  "shape" the batter.
Waffles turned out great ...

Aren't they pretty?  Yummy too!

We're off to visit a wild animal park ... hope you all do something fun today!

Holly

Feasting on Friday ... or is it Friday Funny?

My niece sent DH and I a care-package for Christmas ... she was so sweet to send us treats that we can't easily get over here.  When DH and I visit someplace new (for us), we really enjoy wandering through the different shops and seeing what food items are offered that we might not have seen before ... often buying them to enjoy.

Anyhow ... one of the items she sent us was Split Pea Soup mix.  It's one of our favorite soups ...though some people have a hard time getting past the weird green.

Had some leftover ham ... so decided to make it this evening and have an easy lunch tomorrow.

 Green Garden Soup?   

That's a different name for Split Pea ... oh well, it's only a name ....

 Hang on a minute.... 

the ingredient says the number one ingredient is Great Northern Beans ....

Nope ... not a white bean to be seen...

Oh well,,, it was accidentally mis-labeled ... no biggie.

Found a sorta HoneyBaked Ham Split Pea soup recipe on the web -

soup turned out fairly well ... 

but it is missing something - probably the ham bone.  

Never the mind ... we'll enjoy the soup ... and the love that sent it ....

Holly

Icy fruits ..

Yesterday's snowfall was light enough to just make things pretty ... not like the three or four or eight feet of snow falling in the US Northeast region as part of Storm Juno 2015.

It's our lava table (a fond reminder of our life in Sicily) shows off the dusting ... it really does seem like granulated sugar has been sprinkled over it ...

Love the granada (pomegranate) ~   

Holly

Spring is coming ....

It may be snowy here ... but my tulips are starting to peek out of the ground ... Spring is on its way!

Do you see any signs of the coming season in your corner of the world?

Holly

It's snowy ... it's not ... it's .. winter in Germany

 Started snowing a few days ago ...

 

Then it cleared up and the snow all melted away ... but ....

Yesterday ... it snowed again... a little

Well .. since it was only a little, it looked pretty and didn't take long to clear the walkways in compliance with German law ...

Our sun from Thailand sports a new hair style in his place under the tree....

A light dusting on one of our potted plants on the terrace ..... while the needles of our rosemary bush on the slope caught some flakes as well...

Definitely winter in southern Germany!

What is it like in your corner of the world?

Holly