Sunday, January 28, 2024

It's Sunday Morning Y'all

good Sunday morning my friends.            it's 39* here in my neck of the woods and I'm  not loving it.         an old old friend of mine has come to visit and I'm not very happy about it.           I had hoped and prayed that I would never see this friend again, but alas, this friend showed up and now this friend is here and I have to deal with this friend.        what is this friend?          a horrible flareup of my body when we have a lot of cold, cool, damp weather.           I started feeling it thursday, but pushed on thursday.            with all the rain we've had, it actually popped into my head on tuesday or wednesday of this past week that I haven't had any signs yet and then there it was thursday morning but I ignored it.        a little worse on friday, I still ignored it.         yesterday, I couldn't ignore it any longer.         I did get a batch of bread made yesterday and by the time I got that done, I was done for the day.        I got my shoulder heating pad on and wrapped up in that and the heat in my recliner going.        I had a tear in the muscles across my back at the lower part of my shoulder blades about 40 years ago and I guess that's why this particular area of my body is so affected by arthritis and ra.         not only my upper back and shoulders and neck, but my wrists and certain fingers and my ankles and certain bones in my feet along with my hip joints.        so it seems to be everywhere.          it's everywhere, it's everywhere!!!!         hahaha          oh well, just wells to get a little grin out of it.          hahaha            my good friend that lives in arizona sent me some essential oil blends and that is what I'm using to get me thru this.          I'm so grateful to her for all she has done for me.         it's about the only thing that has helped me keep my sanity.

so, I didn't make a post yesterday and that's why.          I think I've missed 2 days since I got started back to blogging in november.         that's the best record for me, ever.          I've got to get it worked out so I can post about 3 days a week and keep the routein.            especially with spring and summer just around the corner.          so we'll see what I can come up with.

thursday, I filled my dehydrator with produce in the fridge that needed to be dehydrated.        plus a bag of frozen corn and some oranges.         I got all that going and took a couple of pictures in the process and I truly wish I had taken more.           this is where I feel like I'm failing right now, not getting enough pictures for good explainations.         I guess that's something to work on.          anyway, I'll share what I did get done.

this is the pictures that I did get.            first off, let me say that I dehydrated oranges, bell peppers, tomatoes, green onions and a bag of frozen corn.           the corn went on the bottom tray.         next tray up from the bottom was the bell peppers cut up and that took only a half tray.          so I filled that tray with cherry tomatoes,    the next tray up, was another tray of tomatoes.         the next tray up from the bottom was orange slices and then the top 2 trays was green onions.  

when you learn how to use your trays, in a stackable dehydrator, you can dehydrate all kinds of thing together.          my heat comes from the bottom, so I start with what ever has the least aroma on the bottom, working my way to the top with the most aromatic on the top.          if you have a stackable that has the heat unit on the top forcing heat downward, then you would reverse that order.         this right here is how you can dehydrate all kinds of produce together and not have apples smelling like onions or garlic.           it works.         I've been doing it this way for years. 

when I got my produce from the fridge, tomatoes and bell peppers were well shriveled.            I look at that as a lot of the dehydrating having already been done for me.             wash and inspect each piece really well before you cut and maybe get some bad pieces mixed in with the good pieces.           as you can see, when I got to the tomatoes and bell peppers, there was stuff I had to cut away.              notice on the left hand side of the picture, some of the stem ends of the tomatoes had started turning black.         so with my good sharp knife I just sliced that off and then cut the tomatoes in half as usual.           just inspect each piece and do a good smell test and if you have to, taste a piece and see if it tastes funky.         if so, toss the other half.           

in the bottom right hand corner is where I was cleaning the bell peppers.            I washed them and cut the tops off them.         I had 4 bell peppers and when I got the tops cut off, I started cutting away the flesh from around the stem area.            gotta save all that good yumminess.           when I got to the last one, the biggest one, I turned the stem end over and it was molded on the inside, just at the stem.          so I made another cut across the pepper, cutting off a ring about 1/4 inch thick and then sliced off another sliver and tasted it and it was fine, so I cut that one up too.           but that's something that you have to watch for in bell peppers, especially the little snacking bell peppers.           those stems get hollow as they get dried out in the fridge and will allow bacteria to come up thru the stem into the pepper.           so when you're cutting them, be sure and check for mold on the inside, especially if they have started to shrivel a little bit.

at the top of the plate is the way I cut my tomatoes in order to expose the insides in the best way.         the top one is how I used to cut them, the bottom one is the way I now cut them.           yes, the top ones will get dry, but not as quickly as the bottom ones.            I would suggest you to try it next time you dehydrate grape tomatoes.               



so this is what was in the top pic, just a more closeup shot of it.           cutting them east to west always exposes the most of the insides possible.            you can see the top one looks like it still has seeds hidden by the interior design of the tomato and it does.



this is my green onions that I dehydrated.          notice all those lovely roots.            I let that pkg of green onions stay in the fridge until the roots had grown.           there was 15 green onions in that pkg and all but 1 grew roots.         the root area of the onions had been cut away from that onion in the pkging process.           but the others still had the root bed intact, so that's why they grew.          



this is how much I cut away from the green onions to save.            I got them all cut up and on my dehydrator and then the fun started.             once I got the dehydrator completely loaded, I went outside, in the 60* temps on thursday and planted all these lovely green onion roots and I fully expect them to make it.          if they don't, it's no great loss, but if they do, wow, free onion blades all summer long!!!!          

green onions make a wonderful powder that is super fantastic used as a garnish with a ton of flavor.       I also love to just crush into fine flakes and use it that way as a garnish.         I love to use it on deviled eggs, potato salad, pasta salads, open faced tuna salad and the list goes on.            larger crushed flakes is good in salsa.       if you buy a jar of salsa and it's lacking something, try adding some green onion flakes.         it's always good to put in stews, soups and casseroles.           I always say that I'm only limited by what I can't think of, when it comes to using my dehydrated goods.           there are no hard and fast rules when it comes to using them, we just have to use them.          and have fun.



this next little picture is a pic of my little measuring spoons.            the tiny little things are so hard to take a picture of.          I think they are shy because they are so small.           hahaha           these are the "bees knees" as far as I'm concerned.             the tiny one on the left, the "nip" is what I use in my vanilla powder when I make my breakfast bowls.          these came from a local Amish store.          I'm sure there are other places to get them too.         



well, I think I'm gonna get off here and try to get a little rest for this dreary body.           I feel good other than where I don't.           hahaha           but I keep thanking God for the winter I've had up to this point and I know He'll see me thru this bump in the road.         Lord give me some sunshine.            but I'll take what ever You give me.           it did feel so good to get out thursday and get my hands in the dirt while I was planting the onion roots.          if/when they come up, I'll take a picture of them. 

I pray that you all have a wonderful Sunday.          let's keep God at the top of our list and keep Him first place, and even the days that hurt won't hurt so bad.           you'll still have your joy that comes from knowing Him, and with that joy, we can handle it all.          Lord, bless us all with a great day and may we share Your love with someone that needs to know You.    

blessings of love, joy, and peace be yours today.          hugs and love, patty

Friday, January 26, 2024

Happy Friday Afternoon!!!

good afternoon y'all.          it is your friendly weather lady coming to you direct from her neck of the woods.          hahaha            the temp is 60*, yay!!!            the sun is not shining and it feels really cool just because of it.        but I was outside for a little bit before lunch and got my hands dirty and that felt really good!!!         I'll share that in another post though.        

before I went outside, I had a couple of things to get done.          I needed to make the filling for my husbands breakfast sandwiches for 12 days.          if I had a couple more of those silicons muffin top pans, I would make 24 at a time.           so I may get a couple more of those just to make that time a lot more prosperous.

I took pictures as I was going thru the process of packaging them for the freezer.          this is some of my short term freezer cooking.

 


here in this first picture, the first tray that came from the oven is now flipped over and cooling the bottoms off.         I try to get them cooled down pretty good before I put them in the freezer.


once I get the cooled enough to take them from the muffin top pan, I'll set them on my trivet for a few minutes more.         while they are cooling, I'll get my fllip top sandwich bags out and ready.


once they are cooled, they go into the sandwich bags.             they smell so good while they are cooking.          hahaha            I thought hubby was gonna just eat thim right off the trivet.


once I get them bagged in the sandwich bags, then I'll put them in my freezer bags and press out as much air as I can.         they are only in the freezer at a maximum of 10 days, so I'm not really concerned about any kind of frost  on them.         but if they were going to be in the freezer for an extended period of time, I would use vac seal bags once I had them in the fllip top sandwich bags.      the vac seal bags will keep them for a long time.

so I have 5 freezer bags with 2 each in the freezer and a container in the fridge with 2 in it.          when I use the last one in the container, I'll take a bag from the freezer and put those 2 in the container and they will be thawed by the next morning and ready to put in a skillet and reheat while I'm toasting his brioche bun.

hope you enjoyed this little tine in the kitchen with me today.       I thank you for your time and I hope you come back soon.          let's keep God first in all we do.         hugs and love, patty

Thursday, January 25, 2024

Good Rainy Thursday Y'all!!

good evening one and all.           you're friendly neighborhood weather lady with the latest goings on in my neck of the woods.            it''s been a balmy 60* all day today.         guess what it's been doing here all day.          go ahead, one guess.          well, if you guessed rain, that would be 100% correct.              but hey, I'm not complaining, really I'm not.           wanna know why I'm not complaining, because it's not ice or snow.         yup, that's right.        it's supposed to be pretty tomorrow and I'll take that.          next week, we're supposed to start drying out, so I'll be looking forward to that.          

anyway, I hope to get a little grocery shopping done in the morning early.         nothing would please me any more than to get that done and behind me.          I don't really have a lot going on today, but just wanted to touch base.           I don't have any pictures of anything I've done to show you and I don't think you'd be interested in knowing if I took a nap today or not.          hahahaha           well, I didn't, but that don't mean I didn't try.         hahaha            my husband on the other hand, he just kicked back in his recliner, ready to take a nap for the 4th time today.           hahahaha           oh and sppeaking of my sweet husband, I did give him a haircut today.         I don't mind telling ya, I'm getting pretty good at cutting his hair.        the only thing I don't like is that I never get a tip.        I really don't understand why.       hahaha

I also put on a big old electric pressure cooker of pinto beans and we had some for supper and they are delicious.         so we'll be eating good for a few days with these.         I love having several big bowls of good stuff in the fridge at all times.        I have some soup and also some corn chowder.       that's what I always call our "fast food".          plus I keep a lot of homemade bread on hand at all times too.        tomorrow I'll make a batch of cornbread wedges to have with our beans.           and I need to bring in a loaf of my homemade brioche from the freezer in the garage.          I love having that ready to thaw out and eat.           so everytime I make a batch of brioche rolls for my husbands breakfast, I'll be able to make a loaf of bread, maybe 2 loaves.          I think I shared the recipe for that and if you haven't tried it, well, why not?          go ahead, make a loaf, I'll wait for ya.         then you can come back here and tell me how much you love it too.         hahaha

well, I guess I'll sign off for now.        lets remember to keep God first in all that we do and acknowledge Him in all of our ways.            our days will be much better when we put Him first.         I want to thank you all for hanging out with me for a few minutes this evening.          your time is valuable and you can be anywhere, but you're right here for the time being and I do appreciate it.         I hope to see you back here real soon.           have a great evening and a wonderful night of refreshing rest and sleep.         

hugs and love, patty


Wednesday, January 24, 2024

Happy Hump Day from the Giraffe, hahahaha

good afternoon and happy hump day from your wild and crazy weather lady out here in her neck of the woods.          hahahaha            it's a glorious 59*!!!!!           can you believe that???!!!!?!           one week ago today it was a frozen tundra around here coming in at NEGATIVE 9!!!!!!        yes, -9*!!!!!            a temp change of 68* in a weeks time.         and I'm not compaining one little bit.         it's raining and has been raining a solid 48 hours with that many or more hours to come.         that's ok.         it's not ice and it's not snow, so I'm good.       hahaha           I'm praying that it will reflect nicely on our utility bill.

we got out  for a few minutes this morning and done a little shopping in the town over from us a little ways.          it's still in our county, just on  the other side of the county.           got a few staples back in supply that we used when we didn't get out of the house all the time it was snow and ice and a frozen mess. 

one of the things that I got that wasn't on the list was fig newtons.         my hubby loves them and they were good price, so I picked up a couple packages.        I stocked up on my coconut milk in cartons.         I couldn't find my canned canned coconut milk like I usually get, so I guess I'll order it from amazon and get that back in stock in my pantry.

now is the time to stock back up and get ready for the next round of bad weather that may be rolling thru sometime in February.            we've already had the heads up for that and we could get another snow and ice storm worse than what we just had.          so, now is the time to stock up.          and pray that it doesn't happen.      get prepared.          plan for the worst and pray for the best.       and when you do that, you can rest assured you've done all you can do to be prepared and know the rest of it is in God's hand.        I do believe that He expects us to do a little/lot for ourselves and not wait for someone else to do it for us, if we're able to do it for ourselves.

so if you're on the other side of the bad weather that a lot of us have had, just know that there is no time like the present to get prepared.            take stock of your cabinets and fridge and freezers and shop according to your needs.        for the next couple of weeks, I'll only be replacing things that we used while I couldn't get out and go to the store.         once that goal is accomplished, then I can get the extras and frivolties, so to speak.         

check your fresh fruits and veggies, eggs and cheeses, flours and cornmeal, oils and butter, meats, chicken, fish and seafood, breakfast meats, popcorn, coffee and tea, sugars and sweeteners and creamer, shelf stable nut milks, quick canned goods, peanut butter and crackers, canned tuna and whatever else that you like to keep on hand in your prepared pantry.         and plenty of food that can be eaten without any heat, because we could have a power outage.     just think about all the things that can be eaten without heating or cooking and stock up on some of that.  

just be prepared.          it's always good to be prepared.

************************************************

a funny little story:  I don't even know how this came about over the last couple days, but my hubby and I were picking at each other and he said something like, "you're a keeper!!"         I laughed and said that I "guess" he was too.          and he questioned me for using the word "guess".           I just laughed and told him that he still owed me.           he wanted to know what he owed me for.         I just told him that I can't believe that he would ever forget the debt  he owed me.           he kept looking at me with seriously questioning eyes.           he finally asked me what he had forgotten.         and I laughed real big and told him that he had forgotten all about being a bought, kept and paid for man.          and we both cracked up.           he said "and I would have it NO other way!!!"           so that has been our running joke for going on 45 years.     

if you want to know the back story to him being a bought and paid for man, well, here it is.           we were and still are as poor as Jobs turkeys, but when we went to get our marriage license in september of 1979, he didn't have to money to pay for them, but I did.         later on when we sorta got on our feet a little bit financially, we laughed about it.        and he's the one that said he was a bought and paid for man.          so that has been our running joke for all these years and we still get a laugh out of it.       I'll have to say that it was the best $10.00 I ever spent!!!          who knew it would be the best investment I ever made????    

I'll tell you who knew, God!!!!           He knew!!!!!!!          He has been in the midst of our marriage even before we knew  would get married.         He knew we would!!          and I am so thankful to Him that He has been such an integral part of our lives as one together in Him and as individuals.         He knew what He was doing when we didn't think we knew.         

the last Friday in January is the first night we had a date.          it started snowing that night when he was bringing me home and it was 3 weeks before we had another date.         sometime in February, we had another date and you guessed it, it snowed again that night and it was another 3 weeks before we had another date.        all the people that I worked with told me that I couldn't go out with him anymore until it got to 100* outside so there would be no chance of snow.         hahaha

so even thru all the snow, we have a lot to be thankful for.           45 years of being best friends!!!       I am so thankful to God every day for him and all that we have been thru over the years.         we've been thru enough that would cause others to throw in towel.          truth be known, we both may have thought about it over the years, but we always kept God where He belongs.         if God is the head of all you both do, then He will keep you thinking right and straight.  

so while this little story was kinda funny, it's something that we cherish and hold on to, because we know that God has been first place in all of our days.         have we both always been perfect to each other?             absolutley not!!!           but we've always kept God in first place and that makes a difference.  

I hope if you haven't put God first place in your lives that you will do it today.          He can make all the difference.            He will make all the difference.           but you got to want Him.            I pray that you do.           He is readily available, tthru the shed blood of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.        He has provided a way for us to be in right relationship with Him thru Jesus.        that's it.         that's the only way to the Father, is thru the Son.         I hope you know Jesus.         Jesus sure wants to know you.        my prayer is that for everyone who has ever read my blog to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and that we can all hang out one of these days in heaven.         wouldn't that be a wonderful gathering, it sure would!!!           so I'm just gonna say it, I'll see ya in heaven one of these days.        

well, that's all I have today.         blessings of warm weather and warm hearts and fond memories and exciting days ahead.        hugs and love, patty

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

"Jesus Loves Me This I Know", do you know this?

good morning wonderful people!!!    you're friendly neighborhood weather  lady reporting in with a rainy 47* this morning!!!!!          yes, you read that right and I'm pleased as punch!!         hahaha         most of the snow and ice is already gone, what a blessing!!  

I don't think I could ever thank God enough for His hand of protection over us during this arctic blast that lasted for what seemed life forever.        while it was bad enough, if the electricity had gone off, it could have been a whole different scene with losts sorry and heartache.         so while nature done it's "thang", our wonderful God was watching out for us.         Thank You so much God for your protection!!!

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I found this on the internet today and thought it worthy of sharing with you all, so I copied it.        sometimes we do forget just how much Jesus loves us.          let this be a fun reminder to have a childlike faith and trust in Him.   

everything copied is between ******, at the beginning and the end.

******A church in Atlanta was honoring one of its senior pastors who had been retired many years. He was 92 at that time and I wondered why the church even bothered to ask the old gentleman to preach at that age.

After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as the applause quieted down, he rose from his high back chair and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gait to the podium.

Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he began to speak....

"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever learned in my 50-odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain and fear and sorrow paralyzed me...

The only thing that would comfort was this verse....

"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak but He is strong.....
Yes, Jesus loves me....
The Bible tells me so."

The old pastor stated, "I always noticed that it was the adults who chose the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' (for the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the best."

"Here for you now is a Senior version of Jesus Loves Me":

JESUS LOVES ME
Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me trust in Him.

(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME, FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO.
Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.

(verse 2)
When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song..
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."

(Verse 3)
When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love.

(CHORUS)
I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.******

what a lovely sentiment to remember as our age becomes more and more evident in our lives.          may we always be found as an example of believers who loves Jesus and know that beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus loves us.          let us have that childlike faith to sing this song, that believes and knows that Jesus loves us even if the sky is falling around us.          let's remember this song and sing it loud to anyone who will listen.

***********************************
just a little short and sweet post today.         I hope this is a little bit of encouragement for anyone who needs it.          I sure did.          and it gave me some perspective that I didn't have.          let's keep God in the forefront of all we do today and maybe sing our senior song today as we go about serving Him.

blessings of love, joy and peace be upon us all.       hugs, patty