Noodling Hot Dogs and Leaves

This was one of those recipes you find on a blog from a blog...

We used thin wheat spaghetti noodles.  If i were to make this again, I'd use regular spag. noodles.  The thin ones broke too easy.

 After boiled in water.

 I added canned cheese (first time using, and probably last).

 Served with my new favorite vegie.

Overall rating...ok.  Probably won't make again, but fun for daughter and I to make.  We had the guys guess how the noodles got in the hot dogs.

Saw this idea here today and had to do it. 

I have had this container of dried leaves from Vermont for years just sitting there.

Oh, I forgot to take a photo of the wax. 

It's canning wax. 

I cut part of a section off and melted.

Put them on foil, as wax paper stuck too much.

 Hang them as you wish.

 The fellow in the bottom row on the far left is hubby's grandfather.

This was a quick and addicting craft. 

I want to wax everything!

It all looks better in real life.

The yellow leaves are from our yard.

just talkin'

okay...the MJ answer is the african chant.  i knew what he was singing, but not the it was an african chant until i looked it up to clear up the discussion with hubby and i.

boy...anonymous, you really know your stuff!

..........................................................

on another note, it is finally chilly here!  YEAH!

i bought an end table this friday, sanded it painted it...it's almost done. 

would've loved to take a longer nap today.

am having some ladies over this week for lunch!

you can bake a pumpkin pie in one of those premade shortbread crusts.  it does get a bit brown, but tastes good.  will try the graham cracker crust next.

hope you're having a great weekend.

Quiz

This topic came up in our house recently...in the Micheal Jackson song Wanna be Starting Something (playing below) what are they saying at the end (4:44) of the song?

1. Mama se mama sa ma ma ma coo sa...an African chant.

2.  I'm gonna sing from the side of the mountain side?

Try to guess from memory. 

The discussion was between my hubby and I.  One of us was an MJ fan!

There was another song from my high school days (I can't remember who or what is was) where the words got confused.  We were watching MTV and the video had cherokee indians riding on horses.  My mom asked "Why are they singing about Cheryl Tiggs?"  I will never forget that.

good news!

I saw a kidney specialist today.

He said and I quote "You're going to live forever!"  PRAISE GOD!

In a nutshell, my low potassium was from my blood pressure meds and my high protein levels from a natural supplement I was taking for my stomach.  He had me get off three of my meds for two weeks and all is back to normal.

After looking through my chart he said, "They really worked you over."

Having not finding anything wrong, he said that most of my problems are my nerves (anxiety).  He wanted to put me on some meds, but I passed.  I hate to admit that the whole thing got the best of me.

Another praise report, while I was off of the blood pressure medicine I prayed that God work make it go back to normal.  After two weeks of being off, it was 124 over 78!!  Normal is 120 over 80! 

Another one...my stomach (except for two days) without the meds is fine too!

God is good!

3 meds gone, three more to go.  I am believing for a total healing!

Thank you all who have prayed.  It is so nice to know that I am not alone in this.

random

so many things to write about...

summer's over

 a craft that i don't know if i will hang up next fall...

but it adds to the door.

 son=class clown..."this book really grabs me."

 three things i made with old cabinet doors from the restore...

 #1...sold

 #2...much needed, the pizza guy couldn't find our house

 #3...as halloween as i get

 we were in a puzzle phase.  we almost completed this big boy.

have a great day!

Fabric Winner

The winner is Patti!  Congrats!

I will send you an email for your address!

catching up

Note: none of the photos have been touched up.  No time.

I made a very YUMMY syrup Monday morning.  Super Sweet.

Here's the recipe: Essential Buttermilk Syrup.

 Perfect for my favorite Peak Tea bottles.  {Can't fine them in glass anymore. :( }

Columbus Day we went to the mtns. looking for foilage (too early) and to get the BEST malt shakes in these here parts!  Burger Trolley, an old trolley that you could totally miss if you didn't know about it! 

Mmmm...the chocolate malt is so worth the wait. 

I dyed my hair a couple of weeks ago.  It came out a bit too dark, but it's growing on me. 

I was so tired of the highlights.

Yesterday we went to the Science Museum 1 1/2 hours away.  We have waited for hubby to have a day off to join us down there.  I have to say we were disappointed.   We did the activities they had, but didn't really get them, since there wasn't much explaination as to what you were doing.  Excuse the photos, the lighting was horrible.

 Coolest shot...hubby's hand on...well, ?  something cool.

 They had our nail experiment mega sized.  Much harder.

This thingy was fun.  You get on and give it a little push and whoosh you are spinning like c.r.a.z.y.

I bought these two lap blankets for $1 each!  Lovely bargain.

In the car for another trip out of town soon.  Dermatologist for our daughter. 

On a good note our cinderblock is getting fixed as I type.

I will pick the winner of the fabric tomorrow, so you still have a bit of time. 

Oh, Mandi...here's the recipe for the pork.

Fill Your Tummy

What makes a man say "That smells heavenly."? 

Slow Cooked Puerto Rican Pork

This big old butt shoulder marinated all last night and cooked all day.

I removed the meat after it was falling apart,

added cut carrots and asparagus to the broth and cooked until done.   YUM!

 Here is one of my FAVORITE all time recipes.  I could eat this one for dessert.  I don't remember where I got it exactly...somewhere online.  I don't really measure with this one, so add the goodies to your taste.  You can't really put too much!

Sweet Potato Bake

Here I used 2 BIG sweet potatoes, peeled, cubed and cooked.  Drain.

Add brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, and milk.  (I could've added more.)

 Mash and mix.

 Put into ungreased 8 x 8 baker.  Set aside.

 Topping...this is what makes this dish.

Melt about 1/2 a stick butter.

 Add a really good amount pecans. 
I have used too little before and the family wasn't too happy.
Mix until pecans are all good and buttery.

 Add brown sugar, powdered sugar, flour, some salt (too much here), and cinnamon.

 Stir until well blended.  If there's some butter on the bottom of the bowl add more flour.

You want to really cover the peacns.

 This is better.  You could even add more of the sugars here if you want.

 Top the sweet potatoes until well covered.

 Bake @ 375 for 15-20 minutes. 

You want the pecans to be browned and hard.

Wait until cool (if you can) and eat up!

I want another helping!

Don't forget about the GIVEAWAY in the last post!

Kielbasa Cabbage Soup & A Giveaway

Here's one of the recipes I made from In My Kitchen.

Kielbasa Cabbage Soup

Yikes!  The photos are out of order and Blogger is giving me a pain. (maybe it's me.)

This is photo #2...onions, garlic, tomatoes and kielbasa cooking...can you smell the goodness?

Photo #3...The finished product!  It was YUM good.  The kids did not like it though.  Hubby and I love it!  Such a good comfort food.  Will def cook this again when the weather cools down.

 Photo #1...The ingredients.  I made my own navy beans and cooked a diced fresh tomato.

I also have a GIVEAWAY!  2 yards of the above fabric.  It is washed already, hence the wrinkled look.  I loved it when I saw it on Etsy, but it doesn't go with anything in our house.  Check out Down Shadow Lane's shop.  Such cute and fun fabric.  She is a nice lady and very professional.

So, here's the deal: (only number one is needed, but you can better your chances with the other dealies!)
1. Leave a comment (with your email address).
2. Blog about it (link me to your post)
3. Tweet/Facebook about it (again link me)

I will pick a winner in a few days!

Thanks!

Yum Yum Yum

Every other Saturday I plan out the menu for the next two weeks. Though I have lots of recipe books (my hubby and I are addicted) I get tired of the same old same old. So I look online. One of my favorite sites is the Tasty Kitchen. I learned something new too. When you click on the recipes some will have a link to the related blog post.  So I found another favorite blog! In My Kitchen...I emptied the rest of the black ink printing up recipes!   

I am going to make these goodies.

Garlic Fried Rice

Fruit-on-the-Bottom Baked Oatmeal

Essential Buttermilk Syrup (perfect since we just ran out of syrup)

I will try to post photos on my attempts.  Have great weekend!