Katharine Hepburn, she was the BEST!!!

Now this was a woman, who didn’t admire feisty Kate, she was an 100% American original.

I was going through pictures this morning and came across this one of myself from a couple of years ago.  Notice the resemblance???  Of course you don’t, I don’t have chiseled cheeks, I’m not thin, I look nothing like her, but we both do have on a white turtleneck.  Oh well, a girl can dream can’t she……

Maybe if I make the picture greyscale.  Oh for pete’s sake Jan, give it up!  There is no way that you will ever look like Katharine Hepburn.  Not even a little bit. 

Actually I’m more of a Sally Struthers kinda girl, but with straight hair.  Damn!

Abby’s art class, Grammie just had to share ;o)

A Beach House on the Cornish Coast, heart be STILL!!!!!

I not only want to be here right now, I want to take all of you with me.

I saw this blog post on Hooked on Houses this morning.  You have to click on this link and see the wonderful pictures.  It will transport you to another world and soothe your summer weary soul.

Thanks for posting this, Julia, and now for the fantastic pictures.  Here’s the click…

Pioneer Woman’s Easy Dinner Idea

                                                                 photo reprinted from The Pioneer Woman website

You all know I’m a huge fan of The Pioneer Woman and I shamelessly promote her whenever I can. 

I just found another video in her  Land O’ Lakes Series, and posted it to Jan CAN Cook.  I hope this lady makes a boatload of money from Land O’ Lakes, I love to see corporate America giving money to (extra)ordinary people.

Here’s a quick link to her latest video, and mark your calendars for Saturday August 4th, 9:30 am Central, when her new season premieres on Food Network.

I just finished The Color of Heaven

It’s now 8pm, I sat down at 4pm and started reading this book, and didn’t quit until I finished it.  Yes, I know, I’m a really fast reader, well I am!

Was it good, oh yeah, it was.  It was sad and uplifting, disappointing and hopeful, it was just spectacular, and it was above all else, a tear jerker.

So get out the Kleenex if you decide to read it ladies, it’s a great book!

The Color of Heaven

Once in awhile, a book comes along that takes your breath away and stays with you long after you've finished reading it. THE COLOR OF HEAVEN by E.V.Mitchell is such a book. This is a one-of-a-kind story that will take you back to the thrill and heartache of your first love... to the fears and challenges we all face as we go through life. Mitchell weaves a tale with characters so real that you'll feel their tragedies and victories as if they were your own. You won't want this book to end, but when it does, you'll feel as if you've just spent an unforgettable evening talking with an old friend.

Mitchell is a gifted writer who puts her heart on the page, and in turn, touches the hearts of her readers. THE COLOR OF HEAVEN is one of the best books you will read this year.

Sounds good, doesn’t it.  I’m going to give this a read tonight.  We’ll see if it lives up to the hype…

I wish I had a porch swing…

Doesn’t this picture just invite you to sit awhile, drink some iced tea, do a little bird watching…

We had a front porch with a swing when I was growing up.  There is nothing better in the summertime.  Breakfast on the swing, or a place to read a good book on a lazy afternoon,  but those days are long gone, and I have no where to put one now.  And my memory has grown a bit fuzzy over the years, actually the movement of the swing did make me a bit nauseous, and I never could rock and read, and I didn’t like breakfast as a child either, actually just thinking about eating breakfast on a swing is enough to turn me green, even now. Ugh!  And the one above needs a nice, soft pad, preferably in blue and yellow, a nice french provincial print would be nice, or even better, a cute little retro print of cherries, all done up in red and yellow, oh and it must have a ruffle, I do like ruffles on porch swing pads, they’re so inviting.

But I’m ruining the moment.  Just look at this beauty made from an old door and an old table.  People are so inventive.  I would have done something similar a few years ago, maybe I still would, if I had a place for a swing.  Well, actually poor hubby would be the one making it, I’m sure he’s delighted we have no place to put one. And I would still get nauseous and he wouldn’t be a happy camper, taking the time to make it, and me not being able to sit on it.  So maybe it’s for the best to just dream a little bit…

And I need to give proper credit to the clever person that thought of this idea.  You can read all about this clever beauty at Huckleberry Lane.  Here’s the link…

Oh, when I read about the swing on their website and clicked thru to a duplicate that they are selling, the cost is $975.  NINE HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE DOLLARS!  Holy Schmoly, that’s a pricey swing!  It is an original though, and I hope they sell it, making it was a lot of work and somebody had a great imagination…

Food and childhood memories…

When I was a little girl, mother’s best friend was a lady named Helen McGuire.  This woman was amazing, I’ve never known anyone else like Helen in my entire life.  There wasn’t a lot of money in her house, but the woman was a genius with stretching a dollar.

We ate at her house often, she served the most wonderful food, things I’ve never forgotten, like her small cubes of fried potatoes, loaded with pepper and fried in bacon drippings.  And her hamburgers, oh I thought she made the most wonderful hamburgers in the world, never knowing that she made them the way she did to stretch the meat, and I adored them.

Why it’s taken me sixty-two years to make mine like hers, I’ll never know, but last night hubby was grilling, I took out probably a generous half pound of ground sirloin to make the burgers, I put them in a bowl, added salt, pepper and Worchestershire sauce, onion and a bit of green pepper, and on a whim, I broke an egg into the mixture.

Well, since I only had used a half a pound of meat, I had a gloppy mess.  So I decided to do what Helen did, I used my Bullet Blender to make crumbs of one large slice of 12 grain bread, I added it to the meat mixture, formed it into two patties and onto the grill it went.

Meanwhile I sauteed mushrooms in butter for the top, and when DH came into the house with those burgers, oh did they bring back memories.  They were brown and crispy from the egg mixture, and the taste was just like Helens.  I’m sure she never used ground sirloin, but the egg gave it moisture so the burgers weren’t dry.

I gave up 10 carbs for that bread in my burger, and it was so worth it.  I’ll be making these again and again. 

I snapped a picture with my phone, oh wow, they tasted just like wonderful childhood memories…

Pioneer Woman, Season 3 is coming…

Saturday, August 4th, at 9:30 am Central, Pioneer Woman’s new season begins on FoodTV.  I know I’ll be watching and recording every show, how about you? 

I have recorded every episode she’s ever done and dear hubby has strict instructions to not delete any of them.  Oh, if he did, it would be World War III around here…

Remember when you went to Grandma’s for Sunday dinner…

No, this isn’t a picture of my family, but it’s the way life is “supposed” to be.  Sunday dinner at Grandmas, with the family gathered ‘round, but life isn’t like that anymore.  Families are scattered to the wind, Grandma is living down at Shady Acres Assisted Living, Sunday family dinners only happen a few times a year if we’re lucky,  and I don’t like it one bit!

I was raised going to Grandma’s for Sunday dinner.  It was wonderful, too.  Roast beef, fried chicken, homemade noodles, tomatoes and string beans fresh from the garden, pies and cakes and a big crock of fresh peaches, cousins to play with, kittens and puppies, all the things that kids love.  And the older I get, the more I long for the simpler times when Sundays like the picture above was a regular occurrence.  I miss screen doors banging, pitchers of sweet tea, the sound of children’s laughter, sitting under shade trees, porch swings, I even miss dusty country roads

I think this weather is just getting to me.  It’s so isolating, I don’t go outside and sit on the patio, evening rides on Milly are not enjoyable, the lawns are dead, the landscaping stressed, and once again we’re going to 104 degrees by Wednesday.

And, I had a fun day planned tomorrow, but that went to hell in a handbasket, too, because of a “commitment”  that I totally forgot about. I don’t like those either.  I’m not liking a lot this Sunday afternoon, Little Miss Merry Sunshine is not in a good mood!  So there, I vented, I feel better!  Well, not really, but a girl’s gotta try…