"Pecan Pie" was featured ;->

    Christi at, 'The King's Court IV' and Diane at, 'Turning the Clock Back', host the weekly blogging link up party, 'What's Cooking Wednesday('s)'. "This is your chance to showcase your recipes each and every week! Just to make things even sweeter -- each week, post your fabulous recipes for the opportunity to have your recipe featured on 'What's Cooking Wednesday' the following week!!"
    This week they chose our posting about Pecan Pie as their featured recipe. :->
    You can go HERE to both see us featured, as well as see what recipes others have linked up this week.
    Thanks for featuring us girls! We definitely consider it an honor! :-D

                                                 

chuckles tonight via Pinterest ;-p

   Brian and I have been talking about all of these recipes we have saved to try 'someday'. We want to start trying at least one a week. At least one. Preferably more.
   Some are saved in my in-house files. I promise to show them to you someday. o;-p
   But others have been saved in an email file. The big challenge with those, is that I don't always know what they are by the title of the email, or even by the name of the dish in some instances. ;-p
   This evening we decided that since I am currently so 'in' to doing my pinterest boards, I should transfer as many of the recipes from emails onto my 'Recipes I'd like to try' board as possible. That will make scanning through them ever so much easier and then if we want to get the recipe for it, we just have to click on the picture.
    So I just spent the last hour and a half doing that. First off, with the current physical symptoms I'm experiencing, sitting still is a good thing! Secondly, I didn't think to read the number of emails in the one file before I got started. Oh  my  word! There were a LOT!!!
    I'd open the email, click on the title of the email so that the computer took me to that particular posting on the site I'd saved it from, go up and click on 'Bookmarks' and then on the 'pin it' button. Once the box came up, I'd pick a picture, type in a description of the dish, as well as where I'd gotten it from, click to post, close that tab, delete that email and start all over again.
    I made wondrous progress! Man do we have a lot of good eating ahead of us!
    I was going to sign off and go fix something to eat, but then the number of new emails in my box caught my attention and curiosity. Turns out, we're not the only ones interested in trying those recipes!!! Oh my goodness!!! ;-p So-o many people on pinterest either clicked that they liked one of the recipes, or they repinned it to their own boards. Again my curiosity got tweaked, so I counted up how many had re-posted recipes total. That's when I got to chuckling. You know there's a lot when... ONE email title states, "So and so (okay, they listed a name. ;-p) and 53 others repinnned your pin on pinterest." 
     As I said, I counted only all of the re-pins and the total was 385!!! Honest! CRAZY!!! And I bet more people will still do so. Chuckling..... 
    Go HERE if you'd like to see what I pinned too. (still shaking my head and chuckling...)

p.s. - I posted this and went back to my emails. There was one new one. It's title reads, "So and so and 97 others..."  WOW!!!
       You know, I should have included some of my own recipes in there... o;-p

Whit and Wisdom's from Brian

copied and pasted here from his Facebook page -

he had posted this one on January 12th, 2012 -
"I'm starting to really struggle with my New Year's resolution. I ran around the block six times this morning as I had resolved, but I was in so much pain I could barely pick the block up off the floor to put it back in the toy box!"

A rolling he goes ... (a grandma tale ;->)

     This particular tale happened several weeks ago, but I smile every time I think of it, so I'm sharing it.

      As I had mentioned way back when, Elliot wasn't even a week old when he started rolling over. At first it was more like throwing himself over. But he has perfected it. Most of the time, that is. You can see him focus in on something, his brow tighten up, and then a rolling he goes. It's almost like he had been contemplating which direction he had to roll, and how many rolls it would take him to get to the desired object. So cute!
     One morning he had been the first one up. Turned out that he was only awake due to being soaked and hungry again. I had gotten him changed, wrapped him up in a warm blanket, and he fell sound asleep while drinking his bottle. But I got all of it down him. Slowly start to pull the bottle back out of his mouth, twisting it as you do and he takes off sucking at it again. Works most every time. :->  You just have to remember not to twist it when he's done with it. Lesson I learned!
      After just holding and cuddling his cuteness for a bit, I had leaned down and placed the bundle containing him on the floor, about two feet in front of the chair I was in. I went to the staircase and listened, no sounds of Analyse yet, so I went in to sneak some on line time.
      As was often the case, I didn't get far before I heard her calling upstairs. I went up and got her, got her changed, gave her some juice, and thought maybe she would stand next to me while I continued on the computer. Silly grandma! ;-b!
      She ended up sitting in my lap, trying to work the key board herself. So I backed out of everything I had been in and went to the pictures file. She thourally enjoyed viewing all of the pictures from her 2nd birthday party!
      We were just starting to look through them again (there are a LOT of them!), when Mr. Elliot went from making small little noises, to shouting for me! Not crying, mind you, but shouting! Honest! He's such a character!!
      I started chuckling the minute I rounded the corner into the living room. Remember, I had left him bundled up in a thick throw blanket, laying at least two feet in front of the chair.  The throw blanket was laying where I had left it, minus it's baby. All I could at first see of him, was his legs, from his knees down, sticking out from under the wing back chair. So-o funny!
      I asked him what he was doing under there and suddenly his little body torqued enough that I could see his face. His expression clearly told me that he had no idea how he'd gotten in that predicament, but that he expected me to fix it! So-o funny!
       I pulled him out and picked him up, cherishing how he beamed at me. But then he got to wiggling making it clear he wanted back down. This time I laid him further out, again on the blanket.
      I went into the kitchen to fix Analyse and myself some breakfast. It wasn't long before I started hearing his bouncy seat going up and down, in rhythm. ??? I knew Analyse hadn't decided to climb into it, she was "helping" me.
     What I found when I went to investigate, was again comical. He was laying sideways, dead center underneath the seat. I had attached one of those plastic link ring thingies to the front of the seat. He had a hold of it, and seemed to be trying to pull himself up into the seat. I mean, he'd arch his back, and kick his legs and sort of sit up, all the while pulling with all of his might on those rings.  It was just comical. And cute. And crazy, seeings how he wasn't quite six months old at the time.
     I scooped him up and asked if he wanted to be put in the seat. I swear he gave me a "Duh!! Grandma" look. ;-p!! The second his feet hit the floor, he took off bouncing so fast my eyes couldn't stay focused on his face. But man did they want to, for he was beaming at me for all he was worth - which is a TON!

     I know I've showed you this picture before, but I'm doing so again... I'm missing their silliness, and smiles, and cuddles.... But I am getting more sleep. o;-p

What do you have on hand?

    As those of you whom visit our blog often know, I frequently go through what's in our fridge and pantry and make something up for dinner, dubbing it a "Tonight's Special". Some of you have commented that you wish you had the ability to 'think beyond the box or can' like that. ;-p
     Well, as I just learned via something our friend Angela Gladden pinned onto one of her Pinterest(R) boards, there is a web site which will come up with something for you! Anglea's comment on her pin read, "You click on the ingredients you have in your fridge, and it comes up with a recipe for you! ".
    I remembered what some of you had told me, and knew you too would benefit from knowing about such a site. So here it is -

                                                My Fridge Food 
                                 (http://www.myfridgefood.com/index.php)

                                            (found picture on line HERE)


    PLEASE, let me know if you use it, what you think of the site, and what you ended up making!!

    And yes, I think I shall add this info. along our side bar too, just in case you forget the web address, it will make it easier for you to re-find. Your Welcome. o;->

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:
  ~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Creative Monday's", are hosted by Clair Justine, at 'Clairejustineoxox' (http://clairejustineoxox.blogspot.com/), and Judy, at 'Judy-H-JS Thoughts' (http://judyh-jsthoughts.blogspot.com/)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/). 
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).
     (taste wonderful served as a pie!)
  ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
  ~ "What's Cooking Wednesday('s)" (shall we say # 1 ?), are hosted by Cristi, at 'The King's Court IV' (http://www.thekingscourt4.blogspot.com/), and by  Diane, at 'Turning The Clock Back' ("one eco friendly step at a time") (http://turning-the-clock-back.blogspot.com/)).   ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/).     
  ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)   
  

Still wondering ... ;-p

     I finally remembered to take my watch with me, when we were headed some place that I knew could put a new battery in it. I wanted to be able to wear a watch again, for numerous different reasons. They put it in and I have been wearing it and been glad I got it fixed.
    But then the other day, every time I looked down at it, I could not figure out why I couldn't make out what time it was. 'Are my eyes worse than I think they are?'  'Is my recently increased vertigo symptoms (activities? The weather? The throb in my neck? Who knows...) affecting my eyes t-h-a-t much?!?' 'What the heck?!' .
    Then later, when I had my glasses on and was in the process of removing the watch to take a shower, I realized that I had put it on upside down. 8-/
    No wonder no matter how hard I squinted, I couldn't read those numbers, nor figure out why the hands were the way they were. (insert head shaking and eye roll here).
    Yup, I was still wondering about myself.

    And then yesterday morning, as I was just starting to wake up, my feet felt weird. The more awake I became, the weirder they felt. Then finally I was awake enough to figure it out. One foot had a sock on it, the other did not. 'What?!?'
     Yes, in the winter I go to bed with socks on. Always have. It's just been the last couple of years, that due to these oh so warming menopausal symptoms, I often remove them part way through the night. Both of them. I just fold in half, reach down and take them off and always place them in the exact same spot on my night stand.
    But there I lay, with one sock on, and one off. The off one was laying in the designated spot. Crazy.
    The only possibly acceptable explanation I could come up with, was I must have been very close to falling all of the way to sleep, when I got a bit to warm, so started to take my socks off. Doing just that much, must have dropped my body temp just enough, to allow me to drop off into a deep sleep. And I must have dropped really fast. Because normally, I can NOT stand having only one on.
     Crazy! So yes, in case you were wondering, I'm still wondering about myself. o;-p

    And for those of you whom I know asked the questions - No, my name is not John. And no, I am not a son.  o;-p
    [the old Nursery Rhyme - "Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John,  Went to bed with his trousers on.  One sock off, and one sock on, Diddle, diddle, dumpling, my son John.]

   So-o-o, what have you done recently that leaves you wondering about yourself?

Brownie Cake

    They say that 'Necessity is the mother of invention'. This here posting, is yet another case in point, proving the truth of that saying.
    A long cherished member of our church congregation, had gone home to heaven last week. The family chose to have a memorial service, where cake was served. I volunteered to bake a cake. No biggie for me, right?
    Well, the fact that I had done so, came back to mind Sat. evening. Around nine o'clock Saturday evening. Still no big deal for me, right? That's what I thought too. Until I went in to make one. I was sure I had the ingredients for my chocolate cake. If I do, could you please let me know where they are? 8-/
    'Fine, I'll just make a different cake'. Look at recipe, check cupboards and pantry. Next. Next. Next. 'Great. There's going to be a huge turn out for that service and they will probably need every cake they can get! What am I going to send?!'
    Brian wasn't home and I had no idea what time he would be. I knew how busy his day had been and didn't want to add a store stop to it.  Amy was home across the alley. I knew I could borrow ingredients from her... Which ingredients did I want to borrow? Which cake did I want to make, that I knew she'd have the ingredients for? Do I just borrow a boxed cake mix from her?
    Humm.. 'I have that big bag of chocolate chips. If I melted them down, could I use them instead of the Coco Bake, to make my chocolate cake?'
    And then the idea hit me. And I loved it. And right out loud, I said, "Thank-you Lord!".
    I remembered how back when I use to make brownies from a box mix, the instructions on the box always said, to make regular brownies, you add this many eggs. But to make more cake like brownies, you add this many eggs. I would just add more eggs to my regular brownie recipe and make them cake like.
    'But cakes always have some kind of frosting on them'. Humm... again. 'I don't have any cream cheese, so I'd have to just make regular butter frosting. But the brownies are already so sweet. Do I really want that type of frosting on them? Not really'. Think... think.. Look in pantry again. Ah hah! There was a bottle of carmel ice cream topping in there. I could thicken it up with some flour and smear it on top. 'Oh, that's gonna be yummy!'
    And that folks, was necessity being the mother of invention. A delicious invention!!
    I made sure I tried a piece at the memorial service. First bite told me I'd done good.  But to make sure, I finished the whole piece. o;-p
    I was thrilled when Elizabeth B. brought my pan out to me, still half full. Now I could go home and have a piece, with a tall glass of cold milk. It was even better that way. o;->
    Benson's friend Dana was over the other evening and I offered her a piece, calling it 'Brownie Cake'. She questioned whether it was more like brownies or cake, due to not caring much for cake. I assured her it was far more brownie like. She giggled after her first bite and said, "This is w-a-y better than I thought it was going to be! It looks kind of like a cake. But it definitely tastes like brownies. This is g-o-o-d!!!"   :-D (<-- My facial response)

       Here is one picture of the 'leftovers' -

       (I had made a double recipe and baked both together in a 12 x 15" (?) pan)

    Instructions so that you can make them yourself -
       Make up my Fudge Brownie Recipe
       add one additional egg to the recipe (so that your putting in four eggs total, for a single recipe)
        Put the dough into a sprayed baking pan (9 x 13 for a single recipe) and bake according to recipe directions. (I did not have to bake them any longer for the double recipe, in the larger pan.)
       While they are baking, scrape the container of one 12 ounce jar of Carmel Ice Cream Topping, out into a bowl. Add four Tablespoons white flour to it. Stir until they are completely blended.
       After removing the pan from the oven, let it cool at least half way before GENTLY spreading the carmel mixture on top. (I used a metal frosting spreader.)
      Cover tightly with plastic wrap, attaching a note asking Brian to take it with him first thing in the morning, then go to bed and relax. Mission accomplished. Or at least that's what I did. ;-p

       Here's another picture. As you can see, somebody else (here at home) wasn't as careful when they reapplied the plastic wrap and it removed some of the carmel sauce with it, when it was reopened. :-[  I tried scraping it off the plastic wrap. Doesn't work. :-[ ! B-u-t, the brownie cake is still delicious! :->

  
~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;-> ~ ~ ;->

      This is the third time now that I've "experimented" with ways to make those brownies. And every time has been a success. It just might become my 'go to' recipe. Chuckle, chuckle.

   Here's links to the other two ways -
~ Brownie Cups

~ Adding a secret ingredient that just WOWS! them

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I 'plan' on linking this particular posting up to:
  ~ "Full Plate Thursday('s)", are hosted by Miz Helen, at 'Miz Helen's Country Cottage' (http://mizhelenscountrycottage.blogspot.com/).     
  ~ "Foodie Friday('s)", are hosted by "Gollum" (aka: Michael), at 'Designs by Gollum' (http://designsbygollum.blogspot.com/)   
  ~ "Sweets For A Saturday", hosted by Lisa, at 'Sweet As Sugar Cookies' (http://sweet-as-sugar-cookies.blogspot.com) 
  ~ "Simply Delish Sunday('s)", are hosted by KB and Whitesnakes, at 'KB and Whitesnakes Home' (http://kbandwhitesnakeshome.blogspot.com)
 ~ "Creative Monday's", are hosted by Clair Justine, at 'Clairejustineoxox' (http://clairejustineoxox.blogspot.com/), and Judy, at 'Judy-H-JS Thoughts' (http://judyh-jsthoughts.blogspot.com/)
  ~ "Homemaker Mondays ... Yours, Mine & Ours", are hosted by Jen, at '11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven'  (http://rtheyallyours.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Making Your Home Sing Monday('s)", are hosted by Nan, at 'Mom's the Word (I love to hear)'  (http://momstheword--livingforhim.blogspot.com/).
  ~  "Kitchen Tip Tuesday('s)", hosted by Tammy, at 'Tammy's Recipes'  (http://www.tammysrecipes.com/). 
 ~ "Tuesday's Tasty Tidbits", hosted by Susan, at 'Permanent Posies / Creative Chaos' (http://permanentposies.com/)
 ~ "Totally Tasty Tuesdays", are hosted by Mandy, at 'Mandy's Recipe Box' (http://www.mandysrecipebox.blogspot.com/).
  ~ "Tempt My Tummy Tuesday('s)", are hosted by Lisa, at 'Blessed with Grace'  (http://www.blessedwithgrace.net/).
     (taste wonderful served as a pie!)
  ~ "Foodie Wednesday('s)", are hosted by Bibi, at 'Daily Organized Chaos' (http://www.dailyorganizedchaos.com/). 
   ~ "These Chicks Cooked Link Party", hosted by Katie L, at 'This Chick Cooks' (http://thischickcooks.blogspot.com)
  ~ "What's Cooking Wednesday('s)" (shall we say # 1 ?), are hosted by Cristi, at 'The King's Court IV' (http://www.thekingscourt4.blogspot.com/), and by  Diane, at 'Turning The Clock Back' ("one eco friendly step at a time") (http://turning-the-clock-back.blogspot.com/)).