22 posts tagged “cooking”
Another moon shot from sometime, I'm not sure. Recently, to be sure. I remember it was cold. Perhaps it was Friday after I got home from work. I used to just collapse as soon as I got home, but I'm trying to make myself cook a wee bit so hubby will have something good the next day while I'm gone. On Friday night, it was just garlic toasts and pudding. I can't remember what I did Saturday night. Last night I just watched Sunday night football. It was a good game, even though I did pass out before it was over.
We were cleaning out the top part of the frig this morning. Found a pie crust that I had forgotten about, so I made a pumpkin pie. And turkey a la king. Yummy! I ate mine with brown rice. I've spent the entire afternoon on the computer, just trying to catch up.
I worked by myself on Sunday. Not much time to be creative. I wanted to get started on our Christmas cupcakes, but never got around to it. On Friday, we had decorated four racks of cakes for Saturday. That is a lot! We got most of Sunday's cakes done on Saturday, just a couple left for me to do on Sunday, but then several more came in late, so I was busy.
I need to finish putting our records on a spreadsheet and order some magazines for the grandkids for Christmas. I won't do much shopping this year. Doing Christmas activities and cooking and decorating help me get in the Christmas spirit, but there won't be much of that this year. Bummer! We did get a dusting of snow last night. It didn't last very long. It has been a grey, dreary day.
I rarely have a Monday off from work. Don't know how I managed it this week. I called the eye doctor first things 'cause I need to get my eye pressure checked. He was supposed to call me right back, so I was a good girl. I stayed off the phone and the internet all morning waiting for him to call. After lunch, I gave up and did a little computer work. Never did hear from him. I did get some laundry done, and some cleaning. Also got the carcass from the 24 pound turkey we had at our daughter's on Saturday broken up into two soup pots so I could get all the meat off the bones. Working up the turkey took most of the afternoon, but I got 8 cups of nice chucks of turkey to use later. I also made another cheesecake like the one I took to our daughter's on Saturday.
Tonight was our church women's group's annual Christmas dinner. We left half an hour earlier than we needed to so we could check out the new Walmart store in our home town. I'm glad I stayed at the one where I work. I could have transfered. I did get started on some of my Christmas shopping. A ring for myself, some gift wrap and tags, tape, tumblers for our Christmas dinner, etc. It's nice to have a few things out of the way.
The dinner was nice, especially after being sick for a week. I had eaten a plate of plain spaghetti for lunch and didn't have any complains, so I felt that it was safe to eat a small plate of food. I skipped the salad and the dessert, but I did eat a piece of my own cheesecake as soon as I got home. No cramps so far. This is good.
Sunday was an absolutely crazy day at work. I should have gone in at 7:00 because I was working for L who had worked for me on Saturday, but I wanted to go to 8:00 Mass so it was 9:00 before I got there. Then I had forgotten to take my work shoes, so I had to buy a pair of shoes just to go to work. I had a 10:00 order. No problem, even though it was a freebie. Then I couldn't find the 11:00 order, or the next one, or the next one. I was about to loose my mind! I called management and ask for someone to please come and help me figure out what was going on. All's well that ends well, as they say. Someone had pushed a cart of cakes into a corner of the cooler where we never put our cakes. I hadn't even looked there! The rest of the day wasn't bad, just weird. It was 2:30 before I got to go to lunch. I had tried to take a break earlier, but they had paged me to come back to the bakery. Phew! This was the last cake of the day. You can tell I was tired; the edges are sloppy. Plus the icing was so stiff that it was hard to do anything with.
We celebrated Thanksgiving with our family on Saturday. It was such a nice day. And a wonderful celebration. Everyone got to come, even my daughter's husband. The food was delicious, even though there was enough to feed an army, except for the stuffing and the turkey. We ran out of stuffing and I had used 20 cups of bread. I used French bread this year and it was really good. I'll post the recipe. I should have taken a picture. It is pretty.
I took my camera with me, but didn't take any pictures. I was having too much fun talking to everyone and playing with the kids, especially our new little great grandson. He is almost 3 months old now, and he is adorable. He is just about the happiest, chubbiest, most laid back baby I've ever seen. I'm sure I'm not prejudiced at all. LOL
I'm glad I get to sleep in in the morning. I do have to work, but I go in late. Hope I have a better day than I did on Sunday. It was nice and sunny today, but it sounds like the weather is going to change. Is tonight a full moon? It was nice and bright tonight. I was afraid there would be a lot of deer out, but I only saw one.
I really will get around to getting some recipes posted. I work tomorrow, but then I'm off for a couple of days. Posting recipes will be on my list!
I felt like an antique today, so I made a photo of one of my flowers look old. I worked yesterday morning, got home at 2:00 and left at 3:00 to go to our son's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. I had been feeling out of sorts since Tuesday, but just thought I was tired. We hadn't much more than finished eating when I began to feel bad, still just thinking I was tired since I had gotten up early, etc. We just barely made it home before I had to make a bee line for the bathroom. I guess I must have picked up a GI tract bug last week from the grandkids. I promptly took myself off to bed, but never got to sleep more than two hours before it was back to the bathroom. Most of the time, it was only an hour.
Today wasn't too much better. I got down a piece of toast for breakfast, but the yogurt and banana that I ate for lunch had a war party. Still I was able to do quite a bit of cooking. We are going to my daughter's tomorrow for a second turkey dinner. I didn't have to bring anything on Thursday, but I'm bringing several dishes tomorrow. My cooking today included blueberry applesauce, applesauce salad, cheesecake, mashed sweet potatoes, and custard pie. The first four things are going with us. The custard pie is staying here. The recipe I use is straight out of Betty Crocker. I'll try to post recipes for the rest yet this evening. By dinner time, I was running out of steam, so I made super easy creamed tuna and peas using a can of mushroom soup. I ate mine with some brown rice, and so far, none of it has come back up.
Today was a beautiful day, but I didn't go outside. I should have. We won't have too many more days like today.
It was cloudy this morning when we got up, and by 9:00 it was raining. We had to leave to drive to the city to go to Grandparent's Day at the school our granddaughters attend. We got to visit each one's classroom, meet their teachers, and see some of their work. We also filled out worksheets comparing how school today is different from school 50 years ago. This school is pretty informal with small square rooms without walls. There isn't room for more than 20 students per class. Certainly a lot different from the straight rows of desks with a teacher's desk in front. It was interesting, and the girls seem to really like it. No complaining about having to go to school. Some moaning about homework, but not too much.
We stopped by our daughter's house for a little while after we left school because it is easier to visit with her without the kids jumping around. The 2 year old was taking a nap. We didn't stay too late because we didn't want to get hung up in afternoon traffic. The sun had come out by the time we left.
Got home just in time to fix dinner. I knew what I wanted to fix, so it wasn't too bad. I wasn't trying any new recipes!
I need to pay a couple of bills tonight. I don't have to go to work until 11:00, but I need to fix some more food in the morning. I also need to find some new batteries for our phones. Ours won't hold a charge any more. Hubby is always getting cut off. It doesn't bother me, 'cause I rarely talk to anyone on the phone. I tried getting some at Walmart, where we got the phones, but they didn't work. Ugh!
Sounds like it is going to feel like winter by tomorrow. Time to get out the long johns!
Here's the four things I use most often as I prepare my soft foods. I make all of my cream sauces in the microwave in one of these Pyrex bowls. I use the spiral whisk to stir everything I cook in the microwave. If you ever see one of these, buy a dozen and let me know. I've had this one for years, don't know where I got it, and can't find another one like it. The hand held blender is my new purchase. It is so handy to puree a whole pot full of hot soup, or one cup of vegetables. Mine is a Hamilton Beach. I still use the big blender for some stuff like cauliflower and sweet pototoes, but this little one gets used lots of times every day.
It finally stopped raining, after several days and four inches, but it was still cloudy yesterday and today. I got a couple of shots of the clouds.
I have been trying to figure out the best way to document the recipes that I have come up with that work with my hubby's soft food diet, but are good enough for everyone. I have decided to enter each recipe as a separate blog so it will be easier to search for them. Most of them take some time, so they aren't very good if you are short on time, but most of them are good cold or warmed over. I can only cook on the days I don't work, so I have to make enough for extras. Here's one of the few meat recipes that is really good, yet soft enough for him to eat.
SALMON LOAF WITH CREAM GRAVY
1 can (5 oz) tuna, drained
1 can (16 oz) salmon, drained, and bones and skin removed
2 cups soft bread crumbs
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sour cream
1 TBSP instant chopped onion
1 TBSP dried parsley flakes
1 TSP salt
pepper to taste
Mash salmon and tuna. Combine with remaining ingredients. Pour into sprayed loaf pan, about 9 x 5. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until loaf is firm. Serves 4. Serve plain or with cream gravy.
CREAM GRAVY
3 TBSP butter or margarine
3 TBSP flour
1 cup water
2 cups milk
3/4 TSP salt
pepper to taste
Place butter in microwave safe bowl. (I use a four cup Pyrex measuring cup.) Melt butter in microwave. Whisk in flour. Whisk in water and milk. Cook at high power for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring after each minute, until mixture begins to boil. Stir in salt and pepper. Use more flour for a thicker gravy.
Both the gravy and the salmon loaf can be reheated in the microwave. The salmon loaf recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on About.com.
I took time to make a cake this morning using one of the new kits we received yesterday. This is one of the kits for Princess Tiana. Our store is in a culturally diverse area, so it will be interesting to see how well these kits sell.
I usually try to avoid doing cakes in whipped icing, especially chocolate whipped. This order called for lots of flowers. I didn't leave too much open space!
Here's a close-up of the border of flowers.
I thought we had most of the Friday cakes done when I went home yesterday, but I spent most of the day today working on cakes for today. I only had time to make two cakes for tomorrow. We really needed a third person doing cakes today.
I left work an hour early today because I had already worked four days this week. I got home before the sun went down for the first time in ages!
I made homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. I hit hubby's with the blender. Worked great. Much healthier than the creamy soups I have been making. This whole soft food diet is going to take some getting used to.
I go to work late tomorrow and Sunday. I'll have to try to get something else made before I leave in the morning. I baked a custard pie tonight while the soup was cooking.
We will have lots of deer hunters here tomorrow. May not be able to get to the computer!
This my my version of a cake with teal, lime green, and brown flowers. It didn't get picked up before I left on Monday so I'm not sure if this is really what they wanted or not. But I'm happy with it. Brown flowers are hard, but I like the way these turned out.
This is my favorite cake from Monday. My directions on this one was yellow and peach roses. I made another one almost exactly like this one to put out in the cake case.
We had a cloudy, cool, windy day today. I didn't go outside except to water the dogs.
I spent most of the day today cooking. I did take a nap and wash a couple of loads of clothes, and catch up on some computer stuff. I finally took time to check my iStock account, and was happy to note that I had sold another photo. It was one of the tomato worm from last year. I haven't uploaded any photos in a long time. Too time consuming. I should go down to my sewing room and do some sewing tonight, but I don't know if I will make it. I will more than likely go to bed early. There is always tomorrow!
I have really missed posting my meager thoughts and activities (such as they are) on my blog. I have also missed going out with my camera. So I'm doing both today, and making you sit though it! LOL
This is the table that is out on my screened in porch. Not a necessarily attractive arrangement, but I liked the way sun was slanting in.
I still have a few petunia plants on the south side of the house that haven't given up. The leaves are protecting them from freezing.
Here's some of the leaves that have collected in the bird bath. We live on the edge of a rise, so all of the leaves blow out of our yard. The wind does the raking for us, thank goodness!
Time to go fix dinner. I'm going to try meatloaf tonight. Hope I can get it mushed up enough that hubby can eat it!
I worked by myself on Monday and Tuesday of this week, but didn't have time to be very creative. I did do this cake, which I was rather proud of.
I'm finally digging out from under the pile of paperwork that has accumulated on my desk. I still have a way to go, but at least it is all on my desk now and not spilling over onto the floor. I think I have most of the bills paid. Still need to check my bank balances. I had received an Etsy order back in October, but didn't have time to get it shipped until today. I was totally out of practice. I hadn't received any orders in some time. I've been too busy to make any new things and get them listed. I'm still working on dresses for my granddaughter.
I'm also sending a lot more time fixing food than I usually do. I haven't found much good information on the web about soft food diets, but I did find a good site today about making homemade baby food. I've been afraid to try anything with meat in it. I'm going to give it a try today and see how it goes. My handheld blender has been a big help. I'm going to try to add a little ham to some navy bean soup. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all your prayers. If you think of any good ideas for soft food, let me know. If we can keep body and soul together without surgery, that is the way we are leaning now. He will still have a test on Monday, and a consult with his doctor on Wednesday.
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