Hot Dog! (over a campfire)

We have an old wheelbarrow that we usually use as a "fire pit" for roasting hot dogs. I prefer mine very well done–not black, but almost! Put it on a bun or just roll it up in a slice of bread, add a little mustard and/or ketchup and sometimes a bit of sweet dill relish, and there you go. Just leave room for s'mores to be made when the wood burns down to coals!

Had a bonus day to get something done for this week's Scribble Picnic (which will be on hold until at least mid-August), so did this quick watercolor pencil scribble. Originally thought the hot dog would be larger, but this is what I ended up with! Scoot on over here to see what other hot dogs showed up for the picnic.

In other news... our county fair was this past week, so I entered several items, and brought home some ribbons! I'll try to post about those within a few days.

Strawberry, anyone?

Strawberries are one of my favorite things we grow in our garden. I was just out there pulling weeds earlier this week and saw some little green berries just starting to form. Hooray! Before we know it they'll be large and red, destined for topping a bowl of ice cream or shortcake, or going into a pie, or going into the freezer to be enjoyed throughout the coming year!

Linking with Michael's Scribble Picnic. Check out this page for more fresh-picked strawberries!

Thanks to Sketch Dirt for guiding me through this drawing with her great instructional video.

Creams Sampler Box

Chocolate creams... Y U M !

I do love a good chocolate candy, especially dark chocolate, but milk chocolate works just fine, too! Chocolate cream, caramel, coconut, fudge filling–yes please! Just please don't ruin that delicious chocolate with a nut or fruit-flavored cream filling. What's your favorite chocolate filling?

You can see what others came up with for the "Creams" theme here where I've linked my colored pencil drawing with Scribble Picnic.

Hot and Spicy!

     Thinking about "spicy" for this week's Scribble Picnic theme makes me immediately think of hot peppers or chili. I didn't grow up eating much that was spicy, and subsequently don't cook with very many "hot" spices. (Ginger, cinnamon, cloves, etc. used in baking are another story!) According to an entry in Wikipedia, "Many spices have antimicrobial properties. This may explain why spices are more commonly used in warmer climates, which have more infectious diseases, ..." And perhaps that has just a bit to do with why my Louisiana born and raised daughter-in-law grew up loving her hot spices. Bless her heart, she has been known to tone down her use of them a little if she knows Benny and I will be joining them for a meal! :-)

     You can spice up your life a bit by visiting other contributions to the picnic here.

Yep, It's a Tablecloth

     Today's activities included hosting a few ladies for our monthly gathering of Friendship Club. It's a club that has been around since the 1930s, when my husband's grandmother was one of the original members. Many ladies have been part of it over the years, but there are very few of us in the group now. We always try to have a comforter or quilt made and ready to give in case we know of someone who has had a fire or something. Fortunately that doesn't happen too often. At our meetings we visit, send cards to people who are sick, plan occasional outings, play some simple games, and of course have something tasty to eat! This afternoon I served a Cinnamon Roll Cake that turned out quite tasty!

     At the end of the day I realized the Scribble Picnic deadline had arrived again, so I pulled out my trusty pencils and focused on trying to make a sketch that actually looked like a tablecloth. Went over the original pencil sketch with a water color pencil, then pulled out the Aquash water brush (thanks, Michael!) to see how that would change it. My mind didn't take me on any creative journeys, so it's just a tablecloth this time. You can go here to see how others covered the Tablecloth theme.

     Ah, I should have used a tablecloth for our Club lunch this afternoon. Maybe next time!

Cold... Hot!

After several weeks away, I'm hoping to get back into a posting routine here. Christmas was rather extended for us this season, with the immediate family not being able to gather until Jan. 7. We're just glad that everyone could be together then!

I know we were due for some COLD weather, which has definitely arrived, but I still don't like it. Brrr! Guess I'll have to keep busy using up the hot chocolate mixes I received as a gift. Yummm!

New year–fresh start. For those of you who participate in Scribble Picnic, I have visited and caught up with your blogs. But in the interest of doing that, I had to forego taking time to leave comments. Please know that I thoroughly enjoyed all the interesting activities, thoughts, and art projects that you shared over the past month or so!

Linking with Scribble Picnic. Fill your cup with more "hot chocolate" here.

Cookies Are a Snap!

Gingersnap cookies have been a family favorite as far back as I can remember. Mom used the recipe from a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. Sometime in junior high or high school I typed the recipe (using Dad's trusty manual typewriter) onto a pink 3 x 5 index card. I couldn't begin to count the number of times I've pulled out the card, mixed up the ingredients, rolled the dough into balls, dipped them in sugar, and baked up dozens of the tasty treat!

Scribble Picnic theme for the week is cookie, so of course I had to give these gingersnaps a try with my watercolor pencils. Couldn't figure out how to get the sparkle of the granulated sugar on them. I'm anxious to see here what deliciousness the other participants have stirred up for their cookie jars!

I was curious to see if BH&G still has the recipe, so went to their website. I see the recipe they post now is almost

the same as mine, but not quite. Plus, they call them "ginger cookies" instead of "gingersnaps." So, I'll just post the recipe with the ingredient amounts the way I grew up with it!

Gingersnaps

1 1/2 cups shortening            1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar                         4 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 cup molasses                   2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 eggs                                  2 teaspoons cloves

4 cups flour                           2 teaspoons ginger

Cream shortening and sugar; add molasses and eggs; beat well.

Add sifted dry ingredients; mix well. (A wooden spoon works great, since the dough will be stiff.)

Shape dough into small balls; roll in additional granulated sugar; place 2 inches apart on greased (or lined) cookie sheet.

Bake at 375º until light brown and puffy. Do not over bake!

Let cool a couple of minutes before transferring to wire racks.

Makes around 8 dozen cookies.

Watermelon

     We had a great three days celebrating the Fourth of July, beginning at church on Sunday morning where the offertory was an inspiringly rendered patriotic melody. That afternoon we, plus my brother and his wife, joined up at our daughter's church for a pot-luck, patriotic service, homemade ice cream, and fireworks display. Attended a wedding on Monday, then spent Tuesday with family and friends. The Fourth was a beautiful Kansas summer evening for a picnic that included grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, chips, fruit, and of course watermelon–which was sliced into easy to handle pieces.

Grandchild #3 doing a great job balancing her plate of small watermelon pieces!

     Played some bocce ball, then Grandchild #1 found some fireflies to try to catch. (Edit: Sorry, I don't know why the video won't play. Guess I'll have to try another time.)

Catching fireflies!

     After that we lit our small collection of fireworks, and were also able to see many of those set off in town and in the surrounding countryside.

     Hope you all have a chance to enjoy some watermelon sometime before summer ends!

     I tried a watermelon sketch in my usual black and white first, but decided it might be better with some color this time.

     You can find plenty of other juicy watermelons here for this week's Scribble Picnic. P.S. If you commented on the fox last week, please check back for my group reply.

C–is for Corn Flakes Candy, Cantata and Christmas

Mixed up some Corn Flakes Candy this afternoon.  So simple!

Combine 1 cup corn syrup and 1 cup brown sugar in a 3-quart saucepan.  Cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture bubbles.  Remove from heat.  Stir in 1 cup peanut butter and 6 cups corn flakes until well coated.  Drop by teaspoons on waxed paper.  Or, press into well-buttered 9 x 13 pan and cool until firm before cutting.

I usually make some for Christmas, but we had plenty of other sweets around, so didn't this time.

Christmas–that's my second favorite holiday (after Easter).

In a way, Christmas always begins in October for me, as that is when rehearsals for the community Christmas cantata begin.  I’ve missed a few years, maybe more than a few, but have usually sung in it over the past thirty-eight years!  I had an uncle who taught music here one year in the early 1960s, and apparently he was instrumental in getting the annual event started.  What a joy it is to sing about the birth of Jesus, the real meaning of Christmas!

Our traditional Christmas Eve soup and gifts with Benny’s side of the family was at his sister’s, just up the road.

Usually we go to a Christmas Eve candlelight service, but since Christmas was on Sunday, the Lutheran church (which we attended until a few years ago) had a Julotta (Christmas, just before dawn) candlelight service we went to instead.  Then we went to our Berean church's Christmas Day service.  Had a non-tradtional Christmas Day dinner here of crockpot BBQ pork ribs, followed by a relaxing day of nothing in particular.

Midweek my side of the family gathered for our WWW Christmas, always fun and filled with laughter, food, games (always Nerts), gifts, traditions and memories.

This would be our three (so far) grandkids!

Some of the immediate family was able to stay the entire week. Then we celebrated Christmas again with all the immediate family on New Year's Day!

Blessed, blessed, blessed!

A–is for Apple, of course!

A new year.  A fresh start.  A different approach (at least for today!) Chances are good that forthcoming topics will be random, and they may or may not relate to the current day or season.

Our Apple tree didn't do so good this past year.  This is the beginning of last year's Apple harvest.  

Alas, it is also the end of last year's Apple harvest!  Can't complain though–it produced much good fruit for us for many years.

Apple fritter bread

 

Still have some Applesauce and pie filling in the freezer.  Guess I'd better work on getting that used up!

First Day of Fall

My good friend, Pat, hosted our church's Sarah Circle and our families for a gathering at their cabin at the lake.  It was a pleasant first day of Fall.

Who says you have to have level ground to play croquet!?

The kabobs were quite tasty, as was the rest of the food everyone brought!

Spring Hodge-Podge

It was fun to see these colorful train engines one day.

A pastor from Papua New Guinea visited our area. M, B, and our pastor showed him around. He enjoyed seeing a Kansas farm first-hand.

Pastor C takes a break!
This is taken at Alcove Springs, a stop along the Oregon Trail.
They also took him to the dairy where T used to work, checked out the calves, and helped with the milking!

Then it was back to our place for kite flying and our first picnic of the year!
Another Spring day in April the director of a day care in a nearby town asked M to come over and fly kites with the kids. Good thing B, B's sister K, and I went along to help. They've mostly gone back inside now, but there were bunches of kids who tried their hands at flying kites!

We celebrated Easter at K and A's, their first time hosting family for a holiday. They did a fine job!

A trunk back of the van full of Spring!

Sarah Circle handed out the pansies after church for May Day gifts.

Yes, though it took its sweet time getting here, Spring has sprung!

Miscellaneous Winter Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, someone told me it was Spring! What? I didn't get any pictures from winter posted! So, without further ado, this past winter included.....

A caroling party
Celebrating Christmas (A, K, T, and M)
Gathering with family
A new game... ...or two
Starting the New Year out on the right foot
A little snow and a lot of cold

The basement walls finally getting some border, which we bought years ago, before border was "out of style." Isn't that right, Mom? ;)

A Swedish supper with church and neighborhood friends

And adding a "few" more miles to the van!
(if you enlarge the photo, you'll see that's five zeros after the two)

November Mystery Tour

Last Fall our pastor invited anyone who wanted, to go along on a "Mystery Trip". Only two of us took her up on it, and had a nice, relaxing day as she drove us to Omaha.

Our main destination turned out to be Lauritzen Gardens. Beautiful!
This miniature weeping fig is only 35 years old. They had a miniature lacebark elm that was closer to 75.
I absolutely loved this Mexican Bush Sage. It looks and feels like velvet!
(Easier to tell if you enlarge the photo.)
They had a model railroad track built through part of the area. Would have been fun to see it running.
One of many rose bushes.Purple Hyacinth Bean
An Armillary Sphere. Looks like it was almost 1:00.
Crabapple
More Mexican Bush Sage
All that walking made us hungry. Pastor C. took us to one of her favorite places to eat, Bob Monkey's Noodle Zoo.
Szechuan Noodles--"A spicy grill of chicken, carrots, snow peas, sweet pepper and onion served over Linguini with spinach and tomatoes." In other words... YUM!
After lunch, we spent time shopping/wandering around some fun shops in old downtown Omaha.
I'll close with some "Advice From a Squirrel," taken from a t-shirt made by Your True Nature.
-Look both ways when you cross the road
-Plan ahead
-Stay active
-Eat plenty of fiber
-Spend time in the woods
-Go out on a limb
-It’s OK to be a little nuts!