Paula Deen has type 2 diabetes

Yesterday, Paula Deen announced she had type 2 diabetes and the internet was all over her like mayo on white bread.  I have never read such negative posts in my life, people were absolutely gleeful, making fun of her, her “supposed” eating habits, and I thought it was just horrid!

Sure the woman is over the top, she cooks with fat, butter and grease, it’s her shtick people.  She’s a broad, not a lady, had she been a lady we wouldn’t be seeing her on television.  I’ve always found her funny, outrageous and her food divine.  I’m a southern woman, I’ve known versions of Paula Deen my entire life.  I cooked exactly like her back in the day, as well as most other people I know.  And it was wonderful, satisfying, glorious, wonderful food.

So for all the naysayers out there that are ridiculing her and the fact that she now has diabetes, shame on you.  This could be your mother, or aunt or someone you love. 

I’m off my soapbox, but I was just livid and had to vent. That is all…

Mother always said….

I find myself saying that a lot to my family and friends.  As I grow older and remember the things she told us, I realize how much she knew just observing nature and the world around her.  My boys talk about Grandma every time we’re together.  It’s the best part of her, I think, reliving  her memory from their perception, because a grandparent is so different with their grandchildren than it is with their children, something I’m finding out with Abby.

Some of the things that she always “said,” we’ll see if they come true this winter.

• You don’t get big snows when it’s really cold, the biggest accumulations come when the temperatures hover in the high twenties and low thirties.
• Winter doesn’t really kick in until about the third week in January, then look out.
• If you have a mild winter on the front end, you pay for it later and spring will be late.

So we’ll see how this pans out, we’re getting snow this morning in Heavensville, 1-3 inches predicted.  It’s not quite yet the third week of the month, but it looks like nasty weather is beginning.  And it’s 32 degrees right now, hmmmmm, just the right temperature, maybe it will be more in the 3” range than the 1” if ma’s predictions hold true.

And, we have had a mild winter thus far, so I hope it doesn’t bring a late spring. It’s only been snowing for an hour, and I already have cabin fever.

We’re tucked in for the day, glad that hubby doesn’t have to drive back and forth to work in this nasty weather.  I  made soup yesterday, so it’s a lazy day here, just playing on the computer, listening to some smooth jazz with a dog in my lap, works for me…

It's a great day to read a book...

It's rainy, cloudy, snow is forecasted for tomorrow, so the girls and I are snuggled in by the fire for the afternoon, me with a mug of hot lemon tea, and I'm reading all about Julia Child and her life in France.


I watched Julie and Julia the other night, decided I wanted to know more about this remarkable woman, so here I sit, enjoying this book immensely. Now if I just had a pot of her boeuf bourgiourgnon simmering on the stove. BON APPETIT!!!

Pioneer Woman's Second Season

 It starts Saturday morning on FoodTv.  I tape it, and hubby has strict instructions to not delete the shows, EVER!

 

I'm such a fan, I enjoy seeing the kids, Charlie, the ranch. Yeah, I do...

60 Years of Today

This week is Today Show’s anniversary, sixty years on the air, and as of late, I’ve started watching it again.  I was such a fan in the day, loved the Dinah Shore Chevrolet commercials, wasn’t a fan of Dave Garroway but I liked Hugh Downs. I’m so old I even remember when it went from black and white to color!

When LC and I were newly married, we lived in Indianapolis and Jane Pauley was hosting local news on WISH television.  She was cute and perky, and I followed her to the big time on Today.  I continued to watch it until that pompous ass Bryant Gumble became an anchor, I couldn’t tolerate the man or his chipmunk cheeked sidekick, Katie Couric, so I switched to GMA.

But now, with my all time favorite Diane Sawyer absent from GMA,  I’m once again watching Today, especially the 9am timeslot, as I don’t enjoy a Regisless Kelly Ripa, on a competing network.  Without Reeg, the magic is gone. :(  But what I really enjoy these days is the last hour of Today with Kathie Lee and Hoda.  I know, I know, Kathie Lee is annoying, she has always been annoying and always will be, but perhaps she’s mellowed a bit, or I’m a bit more tolerant, or maybe it’s nostalgia because I watched her in my younger years.  It’s campy, like girlfriends getting together without all the backstabbing that The View offers, and I enjoy it.

Here’s a clip from a couple of years ago with Jane Pauley in Indianapolis.  She’s in her 60’s now, and looks amazing.  It’s so nice to see a woman age without all the plastic surgery enhancements.  A long and rambling interview, but I thought you all might enjoy seeing how she looks “today”

Our little Crimson Tide fan…

It started out being such a great morning…

The sun is shining, I slept in, got up, showered, hubby was making breakfast, I wandered into the kitchen, put a K-Cup in my Cuisinart brewer, and NOTHING!  It’s totally DEAD, Fred!  So I had breakfast with hot tea, and it’s good, but it’s not COFFEE!!!!!

So DH, is in the kitchen, taking the blasted thing apart to see if he can figure out what the problem is.  So this song’s for him, he deserves it this morning…

Slurpee Straws aka Aluminum Straws

This, ladies is the damndest thing I’ve seen in awhile.  Hubby and I were getting gas today, and he comes out of the convenience store with a drink and this straw.  It’s big and fat, it’s aluminum, and it makes every drink you take icy cold.

One sip and I was hooked, oh my it’s amazing.  I came home and Googled it, these are known as Slurpee Straws,  we don’t have 7-Eleven’s in our part of the country, but apparently other convenience store chains have jumped on the bandwagon and are selling them as well.

You know what they remind me of?  If you’re of a certain age, I bet your mom or grandma had an aluminum pitcher and a set of stackable aluminum glasses when you were a kid.  Oh my, did they make your drink cold. 

I found these pictures online, talk about a walk down memory lane.  I always drank iced tea out of glasses similar to this when I was a little girl.  Maybe I need to be checking the antique stores and buying them again.

Or maybe I should just enjoy the aluminum straw.  Hey it’s a great straw, it’s icy cold, and best of all it’s red.  Such a cheap thrill chill on a gloomy Sunday afternoon.  I know, it’s a stretch, but there isn’t much to get excited about  in January around here. 

Woohoo, works for me…

Happy Sunday ~ Jan

Does this sound familiar?

Bigelow Vanilla Chai Tea, it’s amazing…

Deanna tucked packets of this tea in my Christmas stocking, and I have been enjoying it with a splash of Fat Free Half and Half, but apparently never in the evening.  However, last night it seemed like a good idea, and I had a mug about 8pm.

Fast forward to 1:30 am, still wide awake, tossing and turning.  I just Googled the tea, it has caffeine.  Just another thing to mark off my list in the evening.  Let’s see now, no greasy food, no spicy food, now no Chai Tea, what’s left??? 

I know what you’re all thinking, the obvious, salad.  Shut yo moufs, wimmen, shame on you!!! 

Salad In A Jar Review….

Oh-oh, here I go again, gushing about that Salad-In-a-Jar, but it’s time for an update.  Despite the fact that my friends think I’m a bona-fide fruit-loop, and my family groans and rolls their eyes,  I ignore everyone and continue to be in awe of not only making salads that last for a week or more, but sealing other things as well in my Ball jars.

A few more tweaks include:

• Not adding spinach, it makes the salad bitter, I now prefer just romaine, iceberg, carrots, celery and radishes. 
• I continue to freeze in jars.  It’s a throwback to when I was a child.  Mother always used glass jars to freeze things, she also froze her fish and chicken in water to preserve freshness, but of course now that I use a FoodSaver to seal the jars, this isn’t necessary.
• I’m using it for lots of dry products, as well, including cereal and popcorn.
• I always have problems with big jars of applesauce molding before we eat it, so now I put applesauce in a sealed quart jar in the fridge and have no problems.
• Same with salsa.  I seal it, store it in the refrigerator and don’t worry about opening a jar and seeing mold on the lid.  It’s a beautiful thing ;o)

Obviously, I could go on and on, and I do, but it’s just so amazing, the things you can find to seal in jars.  Hubby loves auctions, I hate them, so he goes and brings me home all kinds of things.  Last week it was three dozen wide mouth Ball quart jars, and a dozen and a half half pint jars, all new in boxes, never opened, for the grand total of $15!  I was so excited, now I have enough jars to redo my pantry and store all kinds of things, which no doubt you will hear about, and my friends will just shake their heads and my family will once again groan and roll their eyes, but hey, it works for me!

If you’ve stumbled on this blog and are clueless about what I’m talking about, you can read about my sealing obsession here and here and here.  If you’re interested, read all of the posts, as I started out using onions and green peppers, and quickly found out that didn’t work, and I address it in the later posts.

And my blackeyed pea casserole from my last post, the leftovers are in pint jars, all sealed, labeled and ready to go into the freezer for a quick meal.  I know, I know, I’m such a nerd…

Amazing Black Eyed Peas for New Years

If you’re one of those people who makes black-eyed peas on New Years Day, I have a wonderful recipe for you.  My neighbor, the one with the fantastic German Potato Salad recipe, makes these every year, and it’s a fabulous dish!

2 cans black-eyed peas, I drain and rinse for a more subtle flavor
2 cans italian stewed tomatoes
1 lb. sweet italian sausage, with casing removed
1 large onion
2 tablespoons of italian seasoning
1 teaspoon of oregano, if desired

Brown onion and sausage, drain, crumble and dump all in a crockpot, simmer on high for 3-4 hours, meanwhile cook a cup or so of pasta, any small pasta will work and stir it in at the end. 
This is so good, and so easy….

Enjoy and Happy New Year

~ jan

Reflecting, I’m not normally a fan…

Christmas is gone, the hustle and bustle is over, and everywhere you look people are reflecting back to this past year.  I usually avoid this, trying to move forward instead.  But every time I see Abby, and how much she is changing, it forces me to look back and face just how much she has changed from a baby to a busy little girl.

She no longer says awesome to just about everything that happens in her little life.  She talks now, actually non-stop, and as her vocabulary has increased, her favorite word has taken a back seat.  These days her favorite words are “really, really fast.”  She loves to do everything really fast, run, eat, ride in the car, she’s a regular little speed demon.  She no longer wants her favorite little sheep story at bedtime, much to her parent’s dismay, they’ve read the same book to her every single night since she was an infant, but now she wants them to read her other stories and it’s a reminder that she’s left her babyhood behind.

She had a stuffy nose last week and told her Daddy that her nose was broken and she wanted him to fix it.  Such wonderful little memories to reflect back on as she grows.

She has what she thinks is a phone, and talks into it much as her momma and daddy do into theirs.  I hear her saying things like “yah, yah, um hmmmmm, sure, okay, okay” and it’s so funny.

I went with Lindsay to her little music class last week where she was totally showing off for me.  Yelling “Hi Grammie” multiple times to me, and of course I was cracking up.  Her mother wasn’t amused at some of her antics, her teacher probably wasn’t either, but I thought it was hilarious.  Ahhhhh, the joy of being a grandparent.

And now we’re home, settling in this week, getting ready for the long month of January.  But I have multiple projects to keep me busy, and it hasn’t really been cold, and by March, the weather will be warming.  That isn’t so far away, March.  Well, okay, ask me that again about the middle of February, but today the grass is green, the temps are in the 50’s, and the sun is shining...

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and that the coming year will be filled with good health and prosperity.

Enough reflecting from this old(er) girl, I’m ready for move forward to the new year.

~ jan

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays from our family to yours......

Abigail Leigh, our little Christmas angel....

At our age, you just don't give a shit!

My friend, Carlene, sent me this. It just about sums it all up....

This is a deceptively simple philosophy that I have been working on and refining for most of my adult life. I am delighted to now say that I believe I have refined it down to its utmost essence, and sufficiently enough to share it with a select band of friends that may appreciate its elegance and simplicity.

 

Susan Branch has a wonderful blog...

Susan Branch is one of my very favorite talented people.  Her blog is just delightful, complete with little birdy chirps.  She has some wonderful Christmas pictures posted, and a delightful little gingerbread house that looks pretty simple to create.  Here's a snippet of a video with the gingerbread house, this site is such a fun little escape this busy week.  If you're not reading her, you're really missing out - you can check her out here...

Enjoy!  ~ jan

Jergens Overnight Repair Lotion, it's a good thing...

Last year Deanna introduced me to Jergen's Ultra Healing Lotion and it became a nighttime ritual for me.  Oh, I'm all about the smell and as you regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of Original Scent Jergens, it's my go to daytime lotion.  I have a bottle sitting right beside me at the computer and I slather it on just for the aroma.  But the Ultra Healing was more intense, it worked well for me at bedtime.

So, I'm on a run to Walgreens this afternoon to replenish my empty bottle of Ultra Healing, and I spot this Overnight Repair.  I bought it instead, and oh my, the smell is amazing!  Not as good as original scent, nothing will ever replace that wonderful cherry almond scent for me, but this is a close second and it does really hydrate your skin.  I think this one's a winner, ladies and I always share my finds.

Like the rest of you, I've tried all the lotions, can't handle Nivea's smell, Lubriderm smells terrible, too, I've tried that gawdawful Neutragena Norwegian Forumla, and pewee it's stinks! I've even tried Bag Balm and Cornhusker's Lotion. But Jergens goes back to my childhood, and since I seem to be reliving it, it's working for me.  And we all know, for me, it's all about the 'odour,' and this one is kickass!

Give it a try if you need a new bottle this winter, it's a great find!

~ Jan

My favorite birthday gift of all…

 

This is my card from Abby.  She’s quite the little writer, and obviously had a lot to say to Grammie.  I will treasure this always, it’s dated and tucked away to show to her someday when she’s older.  I thought you would all enjoy a smile this Saturday…

Sierra Mist Diet Cranberry Splash Soda

 

It's this time of year again, they only have drink in the stores at holiday time.  I've drank it for a couple of years now, ever since my buddy V told me about it.  The diet version is sometimes hard to find, but worth looking for.  This stuff is wonderful!

~ jan

Our little Miss Abigail is out shopping today, LOVE the Yorkie hat!