QUIET WEEKEND PLANNED

Have a carefree, but busy Saturday planned.  I have a lot of things to do on my "To Do" list, but they are all small and easy.  Just finished painting my grandson's bathroom wall.  Now ready to go down the lane, to take care of business on my homefront.  Life is good!

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED

A friend sent these to my husband - funny, but so true!

GREAT TRUTHS 

THAT ADULTS 

HAVE LEARNED


Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.


Wrinkles don't hurt.


Families are like fudge,
mostly sweet - with a few nuts.


Today's mighty oak 
is yesterday's nut that held its ground.


Laughing is good exercise;
it's like jogging on the inside.


Middle age is when you choose your cereal
for the fiber, not the toy.

BROWNIES ON A STICK

Brownies on a Stick

INGREDIENTS

• Betty Crocker Original Supreme Premium Brownie Mix (1 lb. 2.4 oz)
• Water, vegetable oil, and egg as called for on brownie box
• 15 craft sticks (flat wooden sticks with rounded ends)
• 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips (4 oz)
• 1 1/2 tsp. shortening
• assorted decorating decors candy sprinkles

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pan). Line 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with foil so foil extends about 2 inches over sides of pan. Spray foil with cooking spray. 
2. Make brownies as directed on box. Cool completely, about 1 hour.
3. Place brownies in freezer for 30 minutes. 
4. Remove brownies from pan by lifting foil; peel foil from sides of brownies. Cut brownies into 15 rectangular bars, 5 rows by 3 rows. 
5. Gently insert craft stick into end of each bar, peeling foil from bars. Place on cookie sheet; freeze 30 minutes.
6. In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate chips and shortening uncovered on High about 1 minute; stir until smooth. If necessary, microwave additional 5 seconds at a time. 
7. Dip top 1/3 to 1/2 of each brownie into chocolate; sprinkle with candy sprinkles. Lay flat on waxed paper or foil to dry

Variation:  Use white baking chips for the chocolate chips.  

YUCATAN TACO STAND and SWEET SAMMIES

Yesterday my daughter took me to lunch at 

Yucatan Taco Stand

on 

W. Magnolia Street in Ft. Worth.  

Wonderful nachos!

Since it was so hot out,
we finished with a cold dessert
at
Sweet Sammies
on
Currie Street.

FT. WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY

Today I took my daughter and grandkids 

to the 

Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History.  

The museum recently underwent a major renovation.  It has a terrific children's section with lots of hands-on activities.

ASK HOW HOT IT IS IN TEXAS

It was so hot today, 

I saw a chicken lay a hardboiled egg.
DFW area had over 14 days of 100+ temp.

WHERE OH WHERE ARE MY BACK UP FILES ?

I re-installed my Windows XP and Canon Printer software disks, so I am up and running in that area.  I bought and installed a new anti-virus software last night.  I am still looking for my "back up" files.  My son says he figured out which drive they were in, but didn't know how to retrieve the files.  He's checking with some of his "computer" friends, so hopefully, I can restore them sometime in the near future.  This would be the ideal theme for a songwriter to make a funny jingle about, "Where Oh Where Are My Backup Files?".

COMPUTERS: A LOVE - HATE RELATIONSIP

I admit I am technically challenged, but  I do love using my computer.  For the past 30 years I used one everyday for teaching and personal usage.  But there is a down side to my computers - when they don't work; I don't have a clue how to fix them.  I guess I have been lucky that I only experienced a couple of incidents that were easily resolved.  Recently, I had my HP prompt me to do a system restore.  Dumb me. I followed their instructions and made the mistake of backing up my files on the hard drive.  Now I am having problems finding those files.  I tried and tried, but I still can't find them.  Luckily, most files were backed up on thumb drives or CDs.  Alas, I do not have unconditional LOVE for my computer - I HATE my computer when it doesn't work the way I want it to work.

TIP ON CLEANING CELERY

To save time, whenever you clean a bunch of celery, cut off the root far enough up on the bunch to loosen all the stalks at one time.  Then clean.

WILL IT MATTER IN THE FUTURE?

Whenever little diasters stress me out I ask myself, "Will this matter one year from now?"  If the answer is no, I try to let it go and move on to other things that are more important.

JOE T. GARCIA RESTAURANT STATS

Since I live in the DFW area, I found this interesting article in the April 2010 issue of Southern Living regarding our famous authentic Mexican restaurant, Joe T. Garcia's, located in Ft. Worth, Texas.  It is a family-owned restaurant (Garcia-Lancarte) in business for 75 years.  Here are some interesting stats on the restaurant:

 1,300 

number of seats

550

gallons of salsa made and served in a week

275

pounds of refried beans served in a day

1,500

number of family-style dinners served on a typical Saturday

1935

year opened on the 4th of July

1998

year won the coveted James Beard Foundation Award for America's Classics

2,000

pounds of Cheddar cheese used every week

18,000

number of tortillas hand-rolled per week   

If you have never been to Joe T's - it's time to experience this iconic Ft. Worth establishment! 

SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOM APPETIZERS

I ate several of these tasty mushroom appetizers at a recent neighborhood happy hour.  I am not a mushroom fan, but these were absolutely delicious! 

SAUSAGE STUFFED MUSHROOM APPETIZERS

INGREDIENTS

3 Italian hot sausages, casings removed
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1 large egg yolk

Olive oil
24 large (about 2-inch-diameter) mushrooms, stemmed
1/3 cup dry white wine

PREPARATION  (preheat oven to 350°F )

1. Saute sausage and oregano in heavy large skillet over medium - high heat until sausage is cooked through and brown, breaking into small pieces with back of fork.  (about 7 minutes)
2. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage mixture to large bowl and cool.
3. Mix in 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and then cream cheese.
4. Season filling with salt and pepper before mixing in egg yolk.
5. Brush 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish with olive oil to coat.
6. Brush cavity of each mushroom cap with white wine.
7. Fill each mushroom cap with scant 1 tablespoon filling and sprinkle with some of remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
8. Arrange mushrooms, filling side up, in prepared dish.
9. Bake uncovered until mushrooms are tender and filing is brown on top; about 25 minutes.

         (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Yield:  24 appetizers
 
Bon Appétit
November 2002

TOO MANY TASKS AND NOT ENOUGH TIME

Whenever I feel overwhelmed with what seems like a million things to do in a short amount of time, I ask myself "What is the absolute most important thing I should spend my time doing today?"  That seems to put everything in perspective for me.  I usually make a list and check things off as I do them.  This helps me keep on task and accomplish tasks in a quicker fashion.

AUTUMN 2010 MODERN HANDMADE CHILD

Check out the

Autumn 2010 issue

of 

Modern Handmade Child

CHIC HOSTESS APRONS

Do you remember a time when your mother or grandmother always wore an apron whenever she cooked or cleaned house?  Sweet memories of times when mothers were the main caregivers of the home and children would spend carefree days playing in the neighborhood.  Similar to the "Leave It To Beaver" show, except my mother never wore pearls!

Believe it or not, the apron is making a comeback - updating the classic apron as a fashion accessory for today's entertaining.  For years, this is what Southern ladies referred to as a hostess apron.  Today's hostess aprons are usually made of designer or trendy fabrics and are primarily stylish rather than functional.  They are used as the perfect accessory to your attire when serving family and friends at a dinner party at home.  Casual hostess aprons are also on the comeback with themes or funny sayings printed on them.  Whether it is for a family dinner, backyard BBQ, or happy hour; please check out this collection of aprons. 

by

Lover Dovers

 

by

Bambino amore

by

4 Retro Sisters 

You can find more unique aprons at etsy .