• Family - In the Kitchen - Potpourri

    Thanksgiving prepping…

    The Thanksgiving preparations are underway at our house… the different breads have been cooked and cubed and are drying in preparation for the dressing in a couple of days.  I made cranberry relish (finely chopped cranberries, oranges and sugar) and it’s in the fridge melding.  Yep, melding… it’s the key to most all good soups and sauces (and people, too).   Next, I have put the bread ‘n butter pickles in the fridge to chill — these are the pickles I made at the end of August… mmm, mmmm, mmm!!  I got the freezer jam out of the freezer and…

  • Family - Potpourri

    boys.

    So,I forgot that on election night our boys had a soccer (I know, Timothy:  futbol!!) game and Sam was playing and in a close and exciting match there was a bit of fancy footwork and an ensuing fall… and he came up with a broken finger.  I attempted to call Wes so that he could take Sam to the ER – but Wes was with Hannah at the obedience school for her new dog (yes, that’s another long story!).  Well… in the midst of groaning over the very sore hand and the groaning over the election results – Wes returned…

  • NewsDuJour - Political stuff - Potpourri

    Thoughts on the election.

    As I begin this blog entry, I’m staring out at the white heart-picket fence and the weeping willow tree branches are swaying in the rainy breeze… willow leaves cover the grass and puddles have formed in the wheel ruts of the lane… a squirrel just hopped out of the tire swing to make another nut run. My thoughts are interrupted… and I begin to ponder: day after day the squirrels run back and forth — gathering and hoarding nuts for the winter.  I wonder if I ought to take lessons from them or attempt to brush off a lingering uneasiness…

  • NewsDuJour - Political stuff - Potpourri

    Rendezvous With Destiny – Ronald Reagan – 1964

    Go get a cuppa… this is long, but very worth the read. October 27, 1964 Rendezvous with Destiny Address on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater A Time of Choosing Ronald Reagan Thank you very much. Thank you and good evening. The sponsor has been identified, but unlike most television programs, the performer hasn’t been provided with a script. As a matter of fact, I have been permitted to choose my own ideas regarding the choice that we face in the next few weeks. I have spent most of my life as a Democrat. I recently have seen fit to follow…

  • Potpourri

    Remember I told you about butchering the chickens?

    Well, butchering chickens is sort of like most other jobs you don’t want to do but do them anyway — both obligation and necessity reign over preference and desire.  Butchering chickens is instructive — both to butchers and to consumers.  The butchers see the incredible handiwork of the LORD, the “fruit” of much labour and the conquest satisfies that deep-seated hunter-gatherer disposition and is great consolation to the provider of the family.  The consumers?  Well, they just consume.  But they do dishes, too.  So, butchering and consuming is a win-win situation. We have yet to eat one of our “meat…

  • Political stuff - Potpourri - Society

    ditditdit dahdahdah ditditdit

    A little weekend reading…  Okay, a lot of weekend reading… especially if you connect the dots. I think I hear it… the faint call is becoming louder:  … – – – …  is becoming …- – -… I started thinking along this line recently as I have been thinking more and more: dot, dot, dot… connect the dots.  American people: dot, dot, dot… connect the dots!  The I considered Morse Code and the sound of dots and dashes or dits and dah’s.  So, in these days, if people are of a mind to hear, they’ll hear the dits…and the connecting…

  • Potpourri

    Pick a Cake

    My sister in law sent me this… fun!! ‘Night Before Christmas’ Coffee Cake    Real New York Style’ Cheesecake Supreme Cake That’s Fit For A Queen Amaretto Italian Sour Cream Cake Amazing Tropical Fruit Cake Apple and Nut Cake Apple Cake Apple Cake Apple Sauce Cake Applesauce Fruitcake Apricot Nectar Pound Cake Baby Cheescakes  Banana Cake Barron Family Cheesecake Baumtorte (Tree Cake) Becky’s Pumpkin Cupcakes Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Angel Cake With Chocolate Chips Candied Fruit Cake Carmel Coffee Cake Carrot Cake with Hot Glaze Carrot-Pineapple Cake Cherry Cake Cherry Cake Sauce Cherry Cheesecake Cups Cherry-Pineapple Dump Cake…

  • Homeschooling - Potpourri - Recipes

    What’s for dinner? And more questions.

    Every day… every day… day after day, there’s the dilemma:  what’s for dinner? Or… for many, the daily questions are more like: What’s for breakfast? When’s coffee? What’s for lunch? What’s for snack? What’s for dinner? Where’s the chocolate for me? Here are a few dinner recipes and you might also want to print up a couple of these… “Dozens of Dinners” dinner ideas and a page of “Bunches of Lunches” lunch ideas I wrote up for a cookbook a long time ago. As an aid for the kitchen sink ponderings as to what to have for dinner, I posted…