marshhawk

@SusieKIslandGirl

I like Cracker Barrel, I do my candle shopping there, and I like their hash brown casserole for breakfast. But @dfish is correct, the meal looks tan....I hate eating from a plate where everything is the same color. However I did that with the ribs, sweet potato souffle and the corn bread pudding. The meal was brown. Sad. I would eat the meal that @0106posted. When my mom would make beef stew, she would make what she called a dumpling. It looked like a biscuit, but it cooked in the gravy. Came out all big and round, and we would put butter on it, and to me it was the best part of the meal. My taste buds have matured since then, since I would now eat the veggies, and the beef, but I really miss those "dumplings" of hers. When I moved south, and saw chicken and dumplings, I ordered it. I have been disappointed since, and that was more than 50 years ago. I want my mommas dumplings.

Good Tuesday Morning Dailyites! Its still very cloudy and dark, and the weatherman says it will continue to rain on and off today. The computer says its 59 and cloudy. @StLouisCruisers temps will drop severely by Thursday. I don't know when you are coming home, but if it's after Thursday-dress warmly! I hear the alarm going off down the hall, DH must be practicing for tomorrow morning. He has an early MRI at the midtown cancer institute. I was hoping that my boss for the NY campaign would have become Santa and given us the day off today. He had originally, and then changed his mind. He's a mean one, Mr. Grinch.... I got an email a couple of weeks ago, about a clothing drive, and I thought that the pick up was today, for Boxing day, but I never got a follow up email. Guess I had better check SPAM.

@Quartzsite Cruiser Do you think I could use non frozen onions? I'm hoping.

Good Monday morning Dailyites! Merry Christmas! And as Roy said, if not celebrating, then celebrate the fact that traffic is less. Or have a Festivus, for the rest of us. We went to dinner at 5 last night, yes it was early, but we had late breakfast, and no lunch, so an early dinner was a good idea. Except that they closed at 6 last night. They did serve us, and then the staff sat and watched us eat. The main meal was served before the appetizer, and that put DH over the edge. They were just anxious to get off, and enjoy the holiday. Last year, and the year before, they were open until midnight. Even the bar next door had closed. Today is Chinese for lunch. We used to try to eat at a rather popular Chinese restaurant, and the wait was forever. Then we tried a hole in the wall place, that we thought was just right. Food made fresh in front of you, and the menu is extensive! Turns out it is a chain, but we dont care. It's called Half Moon, and how can you go wrong going to Half Moon? Their egg fu yung is fabulous, and DH gets something "Special" every time we go. And we go with our neighbor. So it's always a bit of a party. We are catching up with the movie watching, last night it was The Holiday, and yesterday afternoon it was White Christmas. This afternoon it will probably be Holiday Inn, and Scrooged. It is raining quite heavily now, as it was at 5 this morning when I awoke with leg cramps, the skies are dark, and temperature is 56. Bubbles left the comfort of the porch two days ago. I had put antibiotic cream on his wounds, but he did not come back until late last night. Again I put the antibiotic cream on the wounds, and closed the door. This morning I gave him one of the soups in a sack, and he seemed happy with that. I need to get him healthy. But after finding the large part of a deer skull, I do realize that there are wild bigger beasts in the hood. Have a wonderful day every one, whether on land or sea! And hug yourselves for me from me, because you are the best part of my day, the best part of my life, and you are all wonderful people.!

@ger_77

@Cruzin Terri

@summer slopethat's the best Christmas present ever!

https://jlcards.com/r9tN2r this is a test, so if it doesn't work Happy Holidays......make sure your sound is on!

Good Sunday Morning Dailyites! 46 degrees ....partly sunny? The sun is not really up over the hill, and the sky is that non descript color of early morning gray. I have no idea if its clouds or lack of sunshine. I should know in about 20 minutes. @grapau27Thank you for the message this morning. Interesting information, and a lesson learned. Please tell Sarah to have a wonderful birthday, and a very Happy Christmas to you all! I had an interesting find yesterday in the back yard. I was cutting some greens to put on the table for the dinner last night, and I found a part of an animal skull in the backyard. Actually it was the upper portion of a jaw, of a deer. Teeth still intact, and no other part of the critter to be seen. It was large, and I went back into the house and told DH what I had seen. He thought I had lost my mind. So he came out to see. This find brought up lots of questions, where was the rest of the deer? What was big enough to carry this part into our yard? Probably something I dont want to see. What could take down a deer in our suburban neighborhood? We had a very nice albeit high in carbs dinner last night. After we ate we sat in the den and chatted, and our friend Debbie fell asleep. While holding her cup of tea. I woke her up. I dont think she wanted to be woken by a cup of tea spilling all over her. We talked about our cats, she is down to two, we are down to 3. She usually has 3, and I think the way that Bobbagingee and Furnando were acting around her, they were applying for the job. They usually run away from strangers, not these two. Belly rubs, and skritches were what they wanted. Because she always takes cats that are declawed, I would never let one of mine move in with her. She left around 9, and DH and I watched our first Christmas movie of the season. Love Actually. I think this morning will be Holiday Inn and White Christmas. We did have eggnog last night, so I got that out of the way. I love good eggnog. What we bought, wasnt that good. We are going out for Vietnamese food tonight, and we are taking our neighbor Donna. She told me that this was a tough day for her, as it was her mom's birthday, and her mom passed several years ago. I didnt want her to be alone.

Sandi how scary about your DGD. I know this sounds weird, but after this happened to my neighbor, you might suggest that if she needs to talk about it, or still has fears to see a counselor. (spelling might be wrong)

Good Saturday Morning Dailyites! 42 degrees here, and it is getting quite cloudy, coming in from the southwest. We had a wonderful lunch with our friends, and planned our next trip for Oct. 2024. A land trip, not sea. And then a total debacle at W-M. DH finally figured out what phone he wanted, and the smooth fast talker sales rep talked him into an ATT contract, but then ATT put the sales rep on hold to set up the phone, for more than an hour, ....and DH got fed up and walked out of the store with his phone, no contract, no new phone. I was wandering around the store, looking for stocking stuffers, and other than getting a stuffed stegosaurus for my stocking and a movie for DH, I pretty much walked out with nothing. ( I collect stegosauruses ) Well, off to start fixing tonights meal! Hugs to all!

@Sir PMP

@kochleffel Happy Birthday!

@SusieKIslandGirl Maybe @StLouisCruisers and I can finally meet you when you are in Atlanta?

@Cruzin Terri I always thank the doctors for asking me if I have reviewed the information on their portals. I explain to them, that while I spent my parents money on an education, it was not in medicine, and I know not what they speak. I do have a degree in Creative Writing with a core in education, and if they would like me to teach them to write poetry, or how to draw a horse I would be glad to tell them. And then I ask them to tell me what is going on in plain English. In other words, look at the info, write down your questions, and ask them to be honest and direct in their answers. I personally don't even go to the portals. At all. There is a saying if you are going to pray don't worry. (its in Gods hands) and if you are going to worry, don't pray. I cant control spell check, so you know who I leave my prayers with. Sending you a hug. And we are all here for you. We will all support you. Just reach out.

Good Friday Morning Dailyites! You all know that I am not that great with sending out the right thing to say, you are all more eloquent than I am, but this season has been so hard on many of you, with losses of friends and loved ones, for health problems, with life changes. I am sending you all warm and fuzzy hugs, and I hope that 2024 will bring back joy into your hearts, and good decent doctors into your lives. I'm not sure I ever passed algebra. Really. I suck at math. How I ever ended up with a minor in physics baffled not only me, but my professors. My last physics professor put it down to common sense. Which he said, few people actually have. LOL, for years after I proved him wrong..... DH and I have been to Ketchikan twice, both times it was sunny. Both times we had a great time. The first time we went, we went on a crab boat in some harbor which was followed by the most fantastic all you can eat Dungeness crab. Oh my. We wanted to do that again on this last trip, but our friend wanted to do something not so food oriented, so we took a boat cruise of Misty Fjords.

Good Thursday Morning Dailyites! Computer says it's 34 and clear. Frost again spread across the neighborhood. I went to work yesterday and sometime in the morning, I caught a cold. I called out for the night shift, and only worked a total of 4 hours yesterday. My right eye was running, my nose was running non stop, and by 8 last night I had the hoarsest voice. BUT by 10 all the running had stopped. It was nice to have dinner at the dinner table last night, and not my work station. It was nice to just sit and watch some TV with DH. I had been planning a night time run to W-M and never made it. It was time for me to just STOP. Today is a new day, and I can only procrastinate for so long. I think it was the walking the dog in the cold, with wet hair that did it. No stray seemed interested in the heated porch, Bubbles was asleep in his box in the carport last night. so I turned the heater off. The box was empty this morning, and I called for the cats, no one came. I turned back to go into the house, and there was Bubbles on the porch. No heat, but curled up on the love seat. I put his food on the porch, and turned the heat on, and when I debated about adding a litter box to his shelter, he left.

From the time I posted this morning, until noon, I started a sneezing fit, and that is how I start a cold. Could it be that I went across to walk the dog, with just my vest, and no coat? With wet hair? Who knows. Colds are from germs, and DH has been feeling poorly with a runny nose for the last two days. And now I have a cold. runny eyes, runny nose, and I am so tired! BUT I decided to finish up the Christmas shopping after our dinner tonight, A pre Christmas party at W-M. My second favorite place to shop, after Dollar tree. Bacon and eggs for breakfast, and a grilled cheese for lunch. Now you know how i cook. Gifts to wrap tomorrow night, and we did decide to put ornaments on the tree, that the cats can knock off. WEll time to get ready to work job #2. I read the book Sacagawea, loved it. Going through some of the books that I brought home after my Dad died, I found that I had brought home the Lewis and Clark Journals. Guess I should read them too.

Good Wednesday Morning Dailyites! Computer says it's 30 and there is frost on the roof tops, the grass, and the top of the trash cans. Bubbles got bit by something yesterday, he was oozing from his head last night. I gave him some steak which he ate from my hand, but he is still in the box this morning. He does not allow touching or petting, so to get meds on him will be an adventure. Plans for today -walk the dog, work 3 shifts, break up the day with breaks. With one campaign ending tomorrow until the 2nd and the other campaign cutting work days next week to two, that first paycheck in January will be tiny. This past Saturday the boss gave away 50 buck bonus for the two top sales. I bet there are times he wishes he didn't do that, as I won both bonuses with two not so big sales. But I was the only one who sold anything. I had a sale on Monday night too, (again I was the only one who sold anything) and I got a donation yesterday on the fundraising campaign. I probably just jinxed myself. Still no decorations on the tree, I bought Christmas cards, but not the stamps, so none are done. I still need to figure out what to get my BFF Dan. He is a hoarder of stuff, and I have no idea what stuff he needs. I was going to order him something from Sugarbush Farms ( he does love food) but couldnt order from their site. Maybe they are closed for the holidays? I still need to get stocking stuffers for Chuck, I've just run out of ideas. I need to get into a store, and have visual products give me a hint.

Thank you @Mr. Boston That was a great catch. I think they had the kid write the recipe, and me being a bit of a goof didnt see it. Good eyes! I'll let you know how it turns out.

@kazuthis is the recipe-see post above @smitty34877 and @dfish I will go with the vanilla. 33 years clean, and even a tiny bourbon would be tempting. I hate to admit that. But I am who I am. Dont need temptations.

Sweet Potato Souffle Our Sweet Potato Souffle is a must for the holiday season! Topped with a praline topping, this souffle is easy, unique and always a hit. Prep Time: 20 minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes Servings: 8 Ingredients: 2 (29 oz.) cans Bruce’s Yams Cut Sweet Potatoes, drained and mashed 1 tsp. vegetable seasoning 1/4 cup evaporated milk 1 whole egg 2 tbs. unsalted butter, melted 1 tbs. bourbon Praline topping: 1 stick unsalted butter 1/2 cup light brown sugar 1/4 cup thick cream 1/2 tsp. salt 1/3 pecans Steps to Prepare: Heat oven to 350°F. Place Bruce’s Yams Cut Sweet Potatoes, vegetable seasoning, evaporate milk, egg, unsalted butter and bourbon in a mixing bowl and blend until creamy. Transfer to a 2 quart baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until heated through. While the sweet potato mixture is baking, in a large saucepan combine the butter and brown sugar for the praline topping. Cook over medium heat until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream and salt; bring to a boil. Simmer just until slightly thickened, about 2-3 minutes; remove from heat. Spread the pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for about 5 minutes, until they are lightly browned. Transfer pecans to a wooden cutting board and let them cool. Chop the nuts, stir them into the slightly cooled caramel and spoon over sweet potatoes. Bake the sweet potato souffle with praline topping for an additional 10 minutes.

I have a few questions for all you great chef/cooks out there. I am reading a recipe that says Easy Sweet Potato Souffle- but I really am not sure about some of the ingredients what is vegetable seasoning? Is it a seasoning for veggies, or a seasoning made out of veggies? Is thick cream the same as heavy cream? It calls for one teaspoon of Bourbon. We dont drink, so there is no bourbon in the house...is there bourbon flavoring? Like rum flavoring? (or would it matter if I left it out?)

@StLouisCruisers You posted something last week about someone (governor?) complaining about the mail service. Do you know where I can find this info? My local post office rarely has staff, my mail never gets sent out on time, even though I allow for a week, and if a package is too large for the mailbox, instead of walking it to the door, they stuff the package in the mailbox, and tear it up. I would love to present them with something that tells them, it's not just me that is disgusted with the service. can you email me at anniemounce at yahoo dot com? thanks. I want more info.