Another Blast from the Past

My two nieces have birthdays in October and November. This is an old picture of them, back when they were little - now they are both old, married ladies.

Winter is almost here.

Thanksgiving Prayer

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord he is God; it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise;be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations. The Bible, Psalm 100

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/8812/indexthanks.html

Batard, you say!

Earlier this week I bought a Rosemary Batard (a loaf of Italian bread made with Rosemary). It was very good, but went stale quickly, so this morning I used the end piece to make a casserole for brunch because I wanted to try a recipe from the on-line course I'm taking, Quick Meals. (This is a free, 6-lesson course from the Ohio State University Extension Office.)

It made a very tasty brunch dish with a tossed salad. As a matter of fact, it was so good I thought I'd share it. I made a half recipe, using bacon bits and about half the salt, and baked it in a 24 oz casserole. I probably had more than 2 slices of bread, but not much more, and the casserole was exacly the right size.

Egg and Cheese Casserole (Serves 4)

4 slices bread
4 ounces sharp American cheese, sliced or grated
2 Tablespoons minced onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon dry mustard
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups milk

Cut the bread into rectangles, squares, or triangles. In a well-greased 1-quart casserole dish, arrange the bread, then the cheese.
Beat eggs and milk together. Add onion, salt, and mustard.
Slowly pour the egg mixture over the casserole mixture. Let stand 1 hour or in the refrigerator overnight.
Bake 40 minutes at 350ºF or until puffy and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Idea: Optional ingredients: 1 cup cubed cooked ham, cooked bacon bits, or cooked sausage, crumbled, could be sprinkled over the bread and cheese mixture before baking.

To make two servings: Cut all ingredients in half and bake in a 3- x 5-inch loaf pan (or a 24 oz casserole).

Hint: If the edges turn brown, the casserole can be placed in a pan of hot water while baking.


Source: Adapted from a recipe developed by Harriet Kohn, former coordinator of Nebraska’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program, University of Nebraska Extension.

Nutrients per Serving:
Calories 260 Total Fat 14g
Cholesterol 140 mg Total Carbohydrates 17g
Calories from fat 130 Saturated Fat 8g
Sodium 930 mg Protein 13 g

I'm an Investigator

I took a personality test today. Mainly to see if I still have one.

I found out I'm a Type Five, The Investigator.

Perceptive and cerebral.
Alert, insightful, and curious.
Able to concentrate and focus on developing complex ideas and skills.
Independent, innovative, and inventive,
Preoccupied with thoughts and imaginary constructs.
Detached, yet high-strung and intense.
Problems with eccentricity, nihilism, and isolation.

At their best, Type Fives are:
Visionary pioneers,
Often ahead of their time, and
Able to see the world in an entirely new way.

It's surprisingly accurate. At least to my imagination if not to my reality.

free enneagram test

Happy Birthday!

Somebody is 37 years old today. That's getting to be pretty darn close to 40.

This is a picture of the birthday boy and his grandpa, years and years and years ago.

Veterans Day 2007

Yesterday was Veterans Day. You may have thought it was today if you have the day off or if you missed getting the mail, but it was yesterday.

So thanks to the men and women who have served the United States of America, and the world, honorably and heroically for the last 230 some years.

What time is it anyway?

I keep hearing commericials with Christmas themes on TV and I wonder why, then I remember it's almost the middle of November and only a month till the Holidays.

I'm not sure why I lost track of time. I think I can blame it on (1) daylight saving time, (2) global warming, (3) stress, (4) maturity, or (5) old age.

1. Daylight saving time has thrown off my inner clock forever.
2. It used to snow in October, but this October the temperature in the mid-west soared and dipped around the 80's. How was I supposed to know it was fall when everybody was running around in shorts?
3. If all you can think about is how you're going to make it another year at work without walking off the jobs, you don't have time to pay attention to the changing months. It's better not to talk about time.
4. I'm mature now. Going back to school, halloween, Christmas vacation - they're all celebrations in the past.
5. Yeah, I'm old. But I'm not that old.

Would you believe ...

after changing all my clocks from the artificial time called Daylight Saving Time last weekend, I came home from work this evening to find the electricity had been off sometime during the day and all digital clocks had to be re-set?

Turos Csusza

This is an interesting dish that is suppose to be Hungary's national dish. Europe's cottage cheese and sour cream are slightly different than America's and I changed the recipe a little so it's now a Hoosier/Hungary dish (or a Hungry Hoosier dish, if you prefer). It was surprisingly, can't-get-enough good.

INGREDIENTS:

1 (16 ounce) package short egg noodles
3 - 4 heaping teaspoons Real Bacon Bits (or cook 3 - 4 strips smoky bacon, drain)
2 cups sour cream
1 (12 ounce) container dry cottage cheese
salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

• Cook noodles according to package directions until al dente, 8 – 10 minutes; drain well.


• Place the drained noodles in a large baking dish. Stir the sour cream and bacon into the noodles.


• Spoon the cottage cheese evenly over the top; season with salt if you insist.


• Bake in preheated oven until the cottage cheese softens, about 15 minutes.

I added bread crumbs to the top of mine before baking. The recipe I used said to cook the bacon & set it aside, but it never actually used the bacon. If you use bacon, it should have a smoky flavor to be more authentic.

You can omit the bacon if you didn't have any, though the taste might be somewhat bland. I read that if you omit the bacon, you can sprinkle powdered sugar on top.

Serves 8 as a side dish.

Cutest little punkin in the pumpkin patch

I HATE DST