Stuff and Things
Hi Y'all!
Well, it's been a few weeks since I've sat down and wrote a thing on my Blog! So, first of all, I hope everybody survived the loss of an hour's sleep! Did I dream it, or is this the last year that "they" are going to mess with Father Time? Let's hope so! Seriously, I'm sure all of you survived in fine style and that not one of you were late to church! Brings new meaning to the saying ... "just get me to the church on time!"
Don't know how it was where you are, but we just about blew away on Saturday! A dear friend, Stacy Story, and I attempted - well, we had good intentions, anyway - of taking a walk, aka, a few laps around the walking track that is not too far from our homes. We decided that first of all - before our coiffures got totally wind-blown - that we would visit another friend, Kate Hughes, who is in our local hospital! Hopefully, we would not scare her too badly after the wind did it's thing walking from the parking lot! Of course, Stacy is blessed with a perfect head of hair and the wind could not damage her "do" even if it got to 100MPH! But, me - well, that's another story! As we walked from the parking lot to the hospital entrance, a little bad devil was already speaking to me: It's too windy and too cold to walk, okay? Sure enough, when we got done with our visit (which is another story), we both agreed that the winds were just too fierce and the wind chill factor was just too chilly, if you will, that we simply must delay the walking! Any excuse will do, right? We both decided that we deserved extra credit for wanting to walk and that our walking to/from the parking lot surely would suffice and cause up to drop double-digit pounds! Yeah, right.
Back to the other story about visiting Kate: now you need to know that Kate is an icon here in Lancaster. She celebrated her 89th birthday on Sunday; she is a walking commentary on the Bible; she plays our piano at church on Wednesday nights; she teaches a Sunday School class; she teaches private piano lessons and has, for years; she is active in local civic clubs such as the Lancaster Music Club ... those are just my feeble attempt to describe this remarkable woman who I've only know a few short years. She is loved and respected by everyone!
When Stacy and I first got to Kate's room, she was nowhere to be found, BUT there was a spectacular arrangement of red roses arriving at her room at the very moment Stacy and I arrived. Stacy signed for them and we oohed and ahhed to ourselves as to their beauty. (I hope Stacy wasn't signing for the bill! Just kidding!). Anyway, we found Kate waiting her turn in the exercise/therapy room, so we quietly snuck (is that a word? It is now) out and decided that we would go find some coffee to warm up ourselves (after all, we had taken that long hike from the parking lot, remember?) and then come back to visit Kate. We found our way to Dunkin' Donuts and enjoyed a cup of Hazelnut Cappuccino ... yum, yum. I would readily confess if we had indulged in more than coffee ... trust me.
Then we made a couple of stops in a nearby shopping center trying to educate me on just what these things are called Webkinz animals, for Heaven's sake! Have y'all heard about them? Our great-nieces, Maryanna and Macy Lee from Amite, LA., are coming to visit later this month and I wanted to have a special surprise for them. Their mom, Beth, said they are really into Webkinz toys! I was totally clueless as to what Beth was talking about. After all, Art and Andy were raised in the Bozo the Clown, Captain Kangaroo era, so I am slightly behind the times!
In case you aren't in the know (as I wasn't), Webkinz are these delightful little stuffed animals (remember Beanie Babies?) and you get one of them and then you play with them on the Internet! Sounds simple, huh? We'll see! Anyway, we were not able to locate the little creatures at either place, but a delivery is expected mid-week. Now, I know you are all excited to receive this FREE education about these delightful little animals. You all get an A+ in Webkinz 101. Here's what their website says:
Webkinz - the stuffed animal that comes alive online in Webkinz World. Keep your pet happy and healthy and build a home for it with our cool furniture..... that's just for starters. I'm thinking of buying into this latest craze and only wish it had been MY idea in the first place! Now, if these little animals come alive in the guest room, I'll let you know; hopefully, they will just come alive when Maryanna and Macy put in their code words on the Internet and start having fun with them! I can't wait to get in on the action! I may even buy myself one - then I can say I have a pet and be "up" with most of my friends! They won't need to know that mine just happens to be accessible in Cyberspace!
After all of that fruitless search - oh, I forgot to mention that Stacy and I DID walk at least a mile or two in the parking lot at the strip mall where we were searching for Webkinz .... (I'll confess later, ok?)
Well, after our trek back up the hospital parking lot, we found Kate back in her room. As usual, she was sitting up and conversing, even after going through all that physical therapy. You can mention a word - any word, about anything or anyone - and Kate will start a long explanation. She is full of so much knowledge it literally oozes out! She was describing a certain facility in Newberry - an opera hall that is well known for its wonderful productions ... - it has a rather commodious entrance, she said .... Stacy and I looked at each other ... okay, the word sounded good, but I could not recall having used it or knowing precisely what it meant. And Kate said it with such confidence, one would never doubt that it was a good and proper word. I thought maybe it meant large, based on her further description. At any rate, we both nodded our heads like we were in total agreement with her description of the opera hall entrance. Stacy, being the lover of words that she is, looked it up later. Now, we can all know about the new word we learned from Kate!
[kuh-moh-dee-uh
s]
Now, let's see what else is going on. I tried a new recipe last week. I rate it at least a good "Fair". Bill thought they were pretty good and would probably give it more like a strong "Good". The original recipe comes from a cookbook - Country Fresh Recipes - from Lakeview Baptist Church, out from Longview, TX, where my sister Bea goes. But I did tweak it quite a bit. If you'd like a quick, easy dessert, here is one to think about: (It's sugar free which is why I made some substitutions)
APPLE ENCHILADAS
1 (10-CT.) PKG. FLOUR TORTILLAS
2 CANS LUCK'S FAT FREE FRIED APPLES (not pie filling), DRAINED, RESERVE JUICE
2 CUPS WATER (including reserved juice from apples)
1 CUP SPLENDA (I use Wal-Mart Altern sugar substitute) OR 1 cup sugar
1 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1 STICK BUTTER
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEG. PLACE 3 OR 4 APPLE SLICES ON TORTILLA; ROLL UP AND PLACE IN 13" X 9" PAN, OPEN SIDE DOWN. REPEAT PROCESS, USING ALL TORTILLAS AND APPLES; SET ASIDE. BRING WATER AND RESERVED JUICE, SPLENDA OR SUGAR, CINNAMON AND BUTTER TO BOIL; POUR OVER TORTILLA ROLLS; BAKE ABOUT 30 MINUTES. M-M-M-M- GOOD, THE BOOK SAYS.
SUGGESTION: I THINK NEXT TIME I WILL CUT THE TORTILLAS INTO WEDGES AND JUST LAYER THEM AND THE APPLES. THEY MAKE A REALLY LARGE SERVING IF YOU SERVE AN ENTIRE ENCHILADA, BUT I REALLY DON'T THINK IT MATTERS. IT ALL ENDS UP TOGETHER, ANYWAY. OF COURSE, TO TOP IT OFF PROPERLY, ADD EITHER COOL WHIP OR SUGAR FREE ICE CREAM TO GET THE FULL EFFECT!
ALSO, I THINK I WILL ADD ANOTHER CAN OF APPLES TO HAVE MORE FRUIT AND JUICE. THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CALLED FOR CANNED APPLES, BUT I COULD NOT FIND THEM, SO I USED THE FRIED APPLES AS A SUBSTITUTE. THE CAN SAYS "FAT FREE" ... THAT'S FOOD FOR THOUGHT! FRIED ... FREE ... SOMEHOW DOESN'T COMPUTE!
Even if the recipe doesn't turn out just right, at least if someone drops by they will smell the cinnamon and think you are up to something remotely resembling cooking! (I was talking with my friend Benita Miller the other day and mentioned that I needed to mop my kitchen - that I saw stuff that shouldn't be there and that I was about to start sticking to the floor. She had some excellent advice for me: stay out of that room! Works for me!)
Anyway, thanks for stopping in and listening to my Monday morning ramblings. It's 12:30, so I suppose it's time to do something productive around here!
Love you all,
Velta
(You can see I didn't stay out of the kitchen too long!)
Well, it's been a few weeks since I've sat down and wrote a thing on my Blog! So, first of all, I hope everybody survived the loss of an hour's sleep! Did I dream it, or is this the last year that "they" are going to mess with Father Time? Let's hope so! Seriously, I'm sure all of you survived in fine style and that not one of you were late to church! Brings new meaning to the saying ... "just get me to the church on time!"
Don't know how it was where you are, but we just about blew away on Saturday! A dear friend, Stacy Story, and I attempted - well, we had good intentions, anyway - of taking a walk, aka, a few laps around the walking track that is not too far from our homes. We decided that first of all - before our coiffures got totally wind-blown - that we would visit another friend, Kate Hughes, who is in our local hospital! Hopefully, we would not scare her too badly after the wind did it's thing walking from the parking lot! Of course, Stacy is blessed with a perfect head of hair and the wind could not damage her "do" even if it got to 100MPH! But, me - well, that's another story! As we walked from the parking lot to the hospital entrance, a little bad devil was already speaking to me: It's too windy and too cold to walk, okay? Sure enough, when we got done with our visit (which is another story), we both agreed that the winds were just too fierce and the wind chill factor was just too chilly, if you will, that we simply must delay the walking! Any excuse will do, right? We both decided that we deserved extra credit for wanting to walk and that our walking to/from the parking lot surely would suffice and cause up to drop double-digit pounds! Yeah, right.
Back to the other story about visiting Kate: now you need to know that Kate is an icon here in Lancaster. She celebrated her 89th birthday on Sunday; she is a walking commentary on the Bible; she plays our piano at church on Wednesday nights; she teaches a Sunday School class; she teaches private piano lessons and has, for years; she is active in local civic clubs such as the Lancaster Music Club ... those are just my feeble attempt to describe this remarkable woman who I've only know a few short years. She is loved and respected by everyone!
When Stacy and I first got to Kate's room, she was nowhere to be found, BUT there was a spectacular arrangement of red roses arriving at her room at the very moment Stacy and I arrived. Stacy signed for them and we oohed and ahhed to ourselves as to their beauty. (I hope Stacy wasn't signing for the bill! Just kidding!). Anyway, we found Kate waiting her turn in the exercise/therapy room, so we quietly snuck (is that a word? It is now) out and decided that we would go find some coffee to warm up ourselves (after all, we had taken that long hike from the parking lot, remember?) and then come back to visit Kate. We found our way to Dunkin' Donuts and enjoyed a cup of Hazelnut Cappuccino ... yum, yum. I would readily confess if we had indulged in more than coffee ... trust me.
Then we made a couple of stops in a nearby shopping center trying to educate me on just what these things are called Webkinz animals, for Heaven's sake! Have y'all heard about them? Our great-nieces, Maryanna and Macy Lee from Amite, LA., are coming to visit later this month and I wanted to have a special surprise for them. Their mom, Beth, said they are really into Webkinz toys! I was totally clueless as to what Beth was talking about. After all, Art and Andy were raised in the Bozo the Clown, Captain Kangaroo era, so I am slightly behind the times!
In case you aren't in the know (as I wasn't), Webkinz are these delightful little stuffed animals (remember Beanie Babies?) and you get one of them and then you play with them on the Internet! Sounds simple, huh? We'll see! Anyway, we were not able to locate the little creatures at either place, but a delivery is expected mid-week. Now, I know you are all excited to receive this FREE education about these delightful little animals. You all get an A+ in Webkinz 101. Here's what their website says:
Webkinz - the stuffed animal that comes alive online in Webkinz World. Keep your pet happy and healthy and build a home for it with our cool furniture..... that's just for starters. I'm thinking of buying into this latest craze and only wish it had been MY idea in the first place! Now, if these little animals come alive in the guest room, I'll let you know; hopefully, they will just come alive when Maryanna and Macy put in their code words on the Internet and start having fun with them! I can't wait to get in on the action! I may even buy myself one - then I can say I have a pet and be "up" with most of my friends! They won't need to know that mine just happens to be accessible in Cyberspace!
After all of that fruitless search - oh, I forgot to mention that Stacy and I DID walk at least a mile or two in the parking lot at the strip mall where we were searching for Webkinz .... (I'll confess later, ok?)
Well, after our trek back up the hospital parking lot, we found Kate back in her room. As usual, she was sitting up and conversing, even after going through all that physical therapy. You can mention a word - any word, about anything or anyone - and Kate will start a long explanation. She is full of so much knowledge it literally oozes out! She was describing a certain facility in Newberry - an opera hall that is well known for its wonderful productions ... - it has a rather commodious entrance, she said .... Stacy and I looked at each other ... okay, the word sounded good, but I could not recall having used it or knowing precisely what it meant. And Kate said it with such confidence, one would never doubt that it was a good and proper word. I thought maybe it meant large, based on her further description. At any rate, we both nodded our heads like we were in total agreement with her description of the opera hall entrance. Stacy, being the lover of words that she is, looked it up later. Now, we can all know about the new word we learned from Kate!
[kuh-moh-dee-uh
s] | 1. | spacious and convenient; roomy: a commodious apartment. |
| 2. | ample or adequate for a particular purpose: a commodious harbor. |
Now, let's see what else is going on. I tried a new recipe last week. I rate it at least a good "Fair". Bill thought they were pretty good and would probably give it more like a strong "Good". The original recipe comes from a cookbook - Country Fresh Recipes - from Lakeview Baptist Church, out from Longview, TX, where my sister Bea goes. But I did tweak it quite a bit. If you'd like a quick, easy dessert, here is one to think about: (It's sugar free which is why I made some substitutions)
APPLE ENCHILADAS
1 (10-CT.) PKG. FLOUR TORTILLAS
2 CANS LUCK'S FAT FREE FRIED APPLES (not pie filling), DRAINED, RESERVE JUICE
2 CUPS WATER (including reserved juice from apples)
1 CUP SPLENDA (I use Wal-Mart Altern sugar substitute) OR 1 cup sugar
1 TEASPOON CINNAMON
1 STICK BUTTER
PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 DEG. PLACE 3 OR 4 APPLE SLICES ON TORTILLA; ROLL UP AND PLACE IN 13" X 9" PAN, OPEN SIDE DOWN. REPEAT PROCESS, USING ALL TORTILLAS AND APPLES; SET ASIDE. BRING WATER AND RESERVED JUICE, SPLENDA OR SUGAR, CINNAMON AND BUTTER TO BOIL; POUR OVER TORTILLA ROLLS; BAKE ABOUT 30 MINUTES. M-M-M-M- GOOD, THE BOOK SAYS.
SUGGESTION: I THINK NEXT TIME I WILL CUT THE TORTILLAS INTO WEDGES AND JUST LAYER THEM AND THE APPLES. THEY MAKE A REALLY LARGE SERVING IF YOU SERVE AN ENTIRE ENCHILADA, BUT I REALLY DON'T THINK IT MATTERS. IT ALL ENDS UP TOGETHER, ANYWAY. OF COURSE, TO TOP IT OFF PROPERLY, ADD EITHER COOL WHIP OR SUGAR FREE ICE CREAM TO GET THE FULL EFFECT!
ALSO, I THINK I WILL ADD ANOTHER CAN OF APPLES TO HAVE MORE FRUIT AND JUICE. THE ORIGINAL RECIPE CALLED FOR CANNED APPLES, BUT I COULD NOT FIND THEM, SO I USED THE FRIED APPLES AS A SUBSTITUTE. THE CAN SAYS "FAT FREE" ... THAT'S FOOD FOR THOUGHT! FRIED ... FREE ... SOMEHOW DOESN'T COMPUTE!
Even if the recipe doesn't turn out just right, at least if someone drops by they will smell the cinnamon and think you are up to something remotely resembling cooking! (I was talking with my friend Benita Miller the other day and mentioned that I needed to mop my kitchen - that I saw stuff that shouldn't be there and that I was about to start sticking to the floor. She had some excellent advice for me: stay out of that room! Works for me!)
Anyway, thanks for stopping in and listening to my Monday morning ramblings. It's 12:30, so I suppose it's time to do something productive around here!
Love you all,
Velta
(You can see I didn't stay out of the kitchen too long!)
We really did TRY to walk Saturday! At least we did get some exercise on Sunday. And the only reason the wind didn't damage my hairdo is because it was already a frizzy mess that was sticking out in all directions! I'm also glad to not be the only one who had never heard the word "commodious." I am plumb going to try to work that into a conversation very soon! Love you...that's a pretty picture of you! I also liked the ones at the end of your last entry. Sounds like y'all had a fun trip!
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