About Me

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IN, United States
I love the Lord and my big crazy family. My husband and I have been together for 44 years. I am a mother of two grown children and a grandmother to four biological grandchildren and 5 others. Many sites have been sold or did upgrades which messed up back links, if you find a broken link let me know and I will fix it.I have written online articles for Bubblews, Seekyt, TopicSpotter and Triond. You may still find some of my articles on Ehow/Demand Studio.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Flowering Prickly Pear Cactus



I’m betting that most people are like me and assume cactus only grow in the desert. However I know differently now and this is how Wikipedia explains it, “Like all true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Western hemisphere; however, they have been introduced to other parts of the globe. Prickly pear species are found in abundance in Mexico, especially in the central and western regions. They are also found in the Western United States, in arid regions in the Northwest, throughout the mid and lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains such as in Colorado, where species such as Opuntia phaeacantha, Opuntia polyacantha and others become dominant, and especially in the desert Southwest. Prickly pears are also the only types of cactus found to grow natively far east of the Great Plains states; O. humifusa is widespread throughout southern New England and Long Island, where it can be found in Northport, as well as throughout the northern Great Lakes states and southern Ontario, Canada. O. humifusa is also a prominent feature of the flora at Illinois Beach State Park, in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois, north of Chicago, and of Indiana Dunes State Park southeast of Chicago.”
This prickly pear is in Northern Indiana and gets larger and larger every season. It is hard weeding the cactus as the larger spikes hurt but the little hairy fibers stick even in the gloves and hurt even worse. I do love the beautiful flowers of the prickly pear cactus.


This post linked to Macro Flower Saturday

















Monday, June 27, 2011

Back in the USA


Andy with baby sister Zeely


The adventure of Andy and Tucker took them to South Africa to help with the love of gardening, people and children. They left in August 2010 and returned 10 months later in June 2011.  
Jasmine and Dave
  


My son-n-law and daughter had a going away fund raising party for them and a celebration for their safe return. 



 It was a fun filled weekend of food, family and fun.
Saturday morning trampoline fun, food and picture show of Africa.
Andy with brothers Noah and Matthew
Andy with Uncle Chuck and Aunt Petey

                                  Saturday Evening we took the kids to a firework show.




Cool Firework Show
Duck Eggs
After we returned home, Terry was walking our property to see if everything was OK and a duck flew out at him. That bird has a nest with 11 eggs in it on our fence row. 

We are hoping to see little ducks emerge someday and hope they can find water as we don’t have any here. What a Great weekend of Food, Family and Fun.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Lily




 
 











I have at least 3 different varieties of Lily’s growing in my yard. This particular variety I dug up from my mom and dad’s property after mom passed away. I do not know the variety; if anyone could help me out with this information, I would appreciate it.
According to Wikipedia, “Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate northern hemisphere. They comprise a genus of about 110 species in the lily family (Liliaceae). They are important as large showy flowering garden plants. Additionally, they are important culturally and in literature in much of the world. Some species are sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs. The species in this genus are the true lilies. Many other plants exist with "lily" in the common English name, some of which are quite unrelated to the true lilies.”
Flowers are a gift from God, please take time to enjoy them.
This post linked to Macro Flower Saturday

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

How to Make a NO-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake


If you love cheesecake of all kinds Then you will love this recipe for no-bake strawberry cheesecake. This would be great for a birthday cake, Easter, Mother's or Father’s Day, Memorial Day, the 4th of July or any meal you simply want to please your family.
My sister's favorite cheesecake is the jell-o cheesecake our mom made and requested it for her birthdays. Growing organic strawberries, the combination just sounded great to me. I used low-fat cottage cheese and cream cheese along with sugar-free jell-o to reduce the calories and combined the great taste of strawberries and cheesecake. I hope you enjoy it too.

For the recipe go to Seekyt 
This post linked to Foodie Friday 

Friday, June 17, 2011

Clematis the Beautiful Spring Flower

 Clematis and all the springtime flowers God created are so beautiful however come and go far too quickly. We need to literally stop and smell the roses while we have them and can enjoy them.  

Song of Solomon 2:11-13; NKJV, “For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; The time of singing has come, And the voice of the turtledove Is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell. Rise up, my love, my fair one, And come away!”


 
The garden history of the clematis according to Wikipedia is, “The wild Clematis species native to China made their way into Japanese gardens by the 17th century. Japanese garden selections were the first exotic clematises to reach European gardens, in the 18th century, long before the Chinese species were identified in their native haunts at the end of the 19th century.They also explain, “The timing and location of flowers varies; spring-blooming clematis flower on side shoots of the previous year's stems, summer/fall blooming clematis bloom only on the ends of new stems, and twice-flowering clematis do both”

Let's stop to enjoy  the flowers.
This post linked to: Macro Flower Saturday

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Strawberries Dipped in White Chocolate

Its strawberry season and ours are looking so good. I am using them any way I can while they are fresh.
At our daughter's wedding, they had chocolate dipped strawberries but by the time the bridal party and parents got there, the chocolate dipped strawberries were gone. Not to let that stop me from ever tasting this good treat I decided to make my own.
I'll show you how I made my strawberries dipped in white chocolate.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

How to Make Hobo Dinners



During family camp 2012
It's officially hobo dinner and camping season. Have you ever made a hobo dinner at your camp-outs? Well our family does, and has many times. It has been an annual meal for our camp-outs followed with smores for dessert. Over the camping years, your size and age may change however, something's never change and that is a hobo dinner.

 When the Sister 6 is on their annual camping trip we make hobo dinners and it is usually based on what diet the girls are on, however, even with the gluten issue making a hobo dinner is easy. Our hobo dinners typically have chicken breast or ground turkey, potatoes, carrots, onions, green peppers, green beans; basically the vegetables that are fresh and coming out of our gardens. At times we may corn, zucchini and or basil/oregano. There is NO rule of thumb, design them for your family.
 
  1. Since we are camping, wash all the veggies, take them outside set at the picnic table and slice and dice the veggies and meat in bite sized pieces. Maybe a veggie per paper plate.
  2.  Evenly divide the mixture between the extra large sheets of heavy aluminum foil,  roll up the edges tightly. If your foil is cheap you may choose to wrap each packet again as you do not want it to fall apart in the hot fire.
  3. Cook in the hot coals of a campfire until the chicken is opaque and the potatoes are tender, around 40 minutes. 
  4. Remove from the fire, being very careful, unfold and top with cheese. 
Hobo dinners are easy to make, to clean up and delicious.  If you have never made a hobo dinner, at your camp-out, this is the time to start.

                                 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Jewel of Tibet or Allium Flower

Have you ever driven down the road and seen these long stemmed purple balls and wondered what they are? The allium flower or Jewel of Tibet are flower bulbs in the onion family. However, they smell sweeter and look so much prettier than onions.According to alliumflower.net, “Prized for its beauty and non-onion aroma fragrance, the allium flower isused in many perfumes and cosmetics products throughout the world. The ancient native Indians of Peru use this flower for medicinal as well as religious purposes and it was seen as one of the most import plant species of the Mayan culture.”

My father-n-law had a strange sense of humor and fooled many people in our town. After the pretty purple of the petals would fade, he took spray paint and painted them. He would use whatever paint he had on hand, colors like orange, red, yellow or even lime green.  People would think the Jewel of Tibet grew purple and changed its color. He then in the fall, when they dug the bulbs, up would stick those painted dead stems back in the ground. Try fooling your neighbors; paint your Jewel of Tibet your favorite color.
This post linked to Macro  Flower Saturday

Monday, June 6, 2011

Homemade Pizza Roll Recipe

Are you a pizza lover? What about pizza rolls? My little ones love those frozen pizza rolls from the grocery store. I personally have never eaten one of the frozen ones; however, I do love homemade pizza so when I saw this recipe for homemade pizza rolls I knew I had to try them.
As many other recipes I did modify it a bit, as the original recipe called for pre-made crescent rolls, the kind you buy in the refrigerated section in your grocery store. I wanted mine to be homemade, made from scratch.
Read full article on Seekyt 
This post linked to:Foodie Friday
and Friday Potluck
 

Saturday, June 4, 2011

No Crust Mini Quiche Recipe

I love quick and easy recipes and this no-crust mini quiche definitely is that. 
Quiche recipes are so easy to design for your family or guests whether it be for breakfast, dinner or a party snack.
With no crust you have less carbohydrates and a lot of good protein. If you are a vegetarian you can make it even healthier by not using the turkey bacon or turkey ham.

Ingredients for No Crust Mini Quiche Recipe:
  • Cooking spray
  • 2 cups shredded cheese of choice
  • 1  cup half-and-half or milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  • pinch of garlic powder
  • 1 cup diced turkey bacon or turkey ham
  • 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms, canned or fresh
  • 1/4 cup onion finely chopped
  • muffin tin 

Instructions to make No Crust Mini Quiche Recipe:
  1. Preheat your oven  to 350 degrees. Spray your muffin pan with cooking spray.
  2. Combine in a bowl or blender, cheese, half-and-half or milk, eggs, flour, salt, garlic powder and pepper. Mix well.
  3. Slice, dice and chop your meat and vegetables.
  4. Fill each cup with about 1 1/2 tablespoons diced turkey ham or turkey bacon and 1 teaspoon each sliced mushrooms and chopped onion.
  5. Pour equal amount of egg mixture in each cup. Cups will be about half full. Bake 20 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Ovens vary, so keep an eye on yours so they don't burn.
  6. Make a loaf of fresh Garlic Focaccia Bread to make your meal complete.

Tips:
  • I like Cheddar,Colby cheese or Muenster.
  • You could double up on vegetables and leave the meat out for the vegetarians in your life.

This post linked to: Everyday Sisters and Foodie Friday

Friday, June 3, 2011

Purple Iris Flower


I love all my flowers and would not want to live without the beautiful smell they provide. Wikipedia describes the flower scientifically; however, I just want to think of it as God’s great art.

According to Wikipedia, “Irises are perennial herbs, growing from creeping rhizomes (rhizomatous irises), or, in drier climates, from bulbs (bulbous irises). They have long, erect flowering stems, which may be simple or branched, solid or hollow, and flattened or have a circular cross-section. The rhizomatous species usually have 3–10 basal, sword-shaped leaves growing in dense clumps. The bulbous species have cylindrical, basal leaves.”
My lover has gone down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to browse in the gardens and to gather lilies. I am my lover's and my lover is mine; he 
browses among the lilies. Song of Solomon 6:2-3; NIV


This post linked to: Macro Flowers Saturday