CHEF BROTHER LUCK

One more thing and I promise I will not post another thing today. I have to get some work done while I am up to it. Anyhow, to check out a great interesting blog, check out my nephew's blog. He has amazing pictures and recipe ideas there. Just click on the link on our blog and it will take you right to him. Enjoy. I always get such a kick checking out his site.

Now I am really gone for the day!

SEAFOOD PASTA SALAD

Since I have this recipe out, I figured I may as well put that on here, too. I got it years ago from my stepmother, Marie, and it is delicious. Whenever I take it for a potluck supper everyone loves it. This is what I just sent to Sue. It has all the attributes of a good dish - delicious, inexpensive & quick to make!

SEAFOOD PASTA SALAD

1 pkg small pasta shells

1 (10 oz) pkg frozen green peas

1can water-packed tuna, drained well

1 -2 lbs imitation crabmeat

1 small onion, chopped fine

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup grated carrots

1 - 2 tsp dillweed

Mayonnaise, to taste

Mix all together & chill several hours or overnight.

Now I am going go separate my wash and get started on my week long pile of dirty clothes!

REALLY RICH AND EXPENSIVE CHICKEN RECIPE

I was looking for a pasta recipe for my daughter, Sue, that I knew was in my junk recipe drawer somewhere. I found it, but, also, came across this old recipe that I got years ago from the Pittsburgh 2Day show when their celebrity chef of the day , Robin Leach of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, was on. You could send in and request any recipes that they had on their show. That was before all the emailing and stuff. It is dated Feb. 21, 1989. I am throwing it in here for fun. I did make it before, though, and it is really very good. The recipe name will make you laugh.

REALLY RICH AND EXPENSIVE CHICKEN

1 whole chicken, cut-up

few dashes worcestershire sauce

3 tsp. Dijon mustard

juice from half a lemon

1 stick butter

herbs & spices, such as black pepper, fresh basil, fresh oregano

2 large onions, sliced

1 bottle champagne (the more expensive the label, the better)

1 medium can petit pois

1medium can baby carrots

1medium can baby peeled potatoes

1 can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted

Wash and dry chicken. Combine Worcestershire sauce, mustard and lemon juice. Sprinkle over chicken. Dot chicken with few pats of butter and sprinkle with spices.

Place onion slices and some butter in bottom of large cooking pot; pour in a little champagne. Place chicken on top of onions, pour in more champagne. Place peas on top of chicken, pour in small quantity of chicken. Sprinkle herbs and spices on peas; add carrots. Sprinkle carrots with herbs and spices. Place three pats of butter on top of carrots; pour in a little more champagne.

Swirl mushroom soup on top of vegetables. Sink potatoes into mushroom soup, allowing tops of potatoes to be exposed. Pour in remaining champagne, allowing liquid to reach level of vegetables.

Place in 425 Degrees F oven and bake, covered for 1 hour. After 1 hour, remove lid and continue baking for 15 minutes to brown potatoes. Serves 4.

Serve immediately with another bottle of champagne!

Try it, you'll like it! In fact, I think I'll make it again soon since I haven't made it since '89. I'm glad I found it again.

Sorry I was gone so long, but, things happen. Bill is still recovering from his back surgery, slowly but coming along. In fact, he wanted to go to Florida to see our other daughter, Sue, so we went there at the end of last month for a week. I drove and we made several stops so he could get out and stretch. We didn't do the park thing and still had a great time. We went to the flea market, an Outlet Mall and to Old Town several times. In fact, we are supposed to go back next month for his birthday and are staying across from Old Town. This was planned and reserved before he decided for us to go last month. Old Town in Kissimmee is great and has so much to do and it's not expensive. They have one evening that bikers bring in their motorcycles and they are on display. Another day cars people bring their cars from the '70's & '80's & are on display. Another day there is a vintage car cruise-in. It was all so much fun. It will be great staying across the street from there.

I have been not feeling so good for the last week from the flu. Yuck. Not the swine flu, thank God. After I started feeling a little better I would get on my laptop to check my email, play Iwon.com to try to win some money and, yes, I am still ChaCha'ing. That little money comes in handy for my little runs to the store.

Our granddaughter, Dominique, now lives with us & I had to take her to the doctor the other day because she was feeling awful. They diagnosed her with pharyngitis and she is on antibiotics and ibuprofen for her sore throat, headache and body pain. She hopes to go to work this evening even though she has a doctor's excuse to go back to work tomorrow. She is working and doing her Junior High School year online and loving it. Luckily, Bill has not come down with any of this.

Since I am feeling better, I decided to do this blog and will once again try to do it regularly. Now I am going to get my wash done that has been piling up for a week. Have a super great day and I hope to be in touch again soon!

STALE SANDWICH BREAD

In today's economy we all have to really be as frugal as possible. In my house with just Bill, Marcy & I a loaf of bread sometimes goes fast & then sometimes it sits there for awhile. Even when I buy the smaller loaf. If it is not stale, stale but a little not as spongey as I like it, I make the sandwich and put it in the microwave for a quick zap. I remember when microwaves first came out, I would eat nothing but heated sandwiches for the longest time. Now I'm doing it again. Since I am trying to diet I am not eating many sandwiches these days, though. But, I just happened to think this is one tip that can save people a little bit of money. We do it, too, with leftover biscuits and garlic bread. Just moisten a paper towel and place over the bread on a microwaveable plate and microwave a few seconds. Nice and soft again!

Yesterday Bill went with the Knights to donate wheelchairs to vets at the V.A. that they volunteer at. CNN showed the donating today. Pretty neat.

Last night we went to the Knights St. Patrick's Day party & had a good time. The food was good, company great & rocking d.j. What more could you want? Maybe a younger or more in shape body? I don't exercise, but, sure got a workout last night! Bill hasn't danced much in a few years since he has had his medical problems. The music finally got to him and he got up & he really danced. Earlier one of the women had seen me bouncing around at my table because one of my favorite songs "That Old Time Rock & Roll" came in. She came over and said her husband loved to dance and would I dance with him if he came over when another song came on. I said sure & he did & was I tired after we got done! I finally got Bill up & we danced a lot. We both were exhausted when we left & are just relaxing today. We went to Golden Corral after church so I don't have to worry about cooking today! Now I am just resting and checking the web. I haven't even ChaCha'ed today.

Have a great evening and week!

MEATLESS FRIDAY

I am still recovering from my bout with bronchitis and my appetite hasn't fully returned. No big deal since I really need to lose weight. However, yesterday after Bill and I went to Bible Study we went past Arby's to use our coupons for a free roastburger which are so delicious. I had eaten a bit of pizza before we went to church which I shouldn't have since I wasn't really hungry by the time we got home. Bill had an endoscopy done that morning so he just ordered a milkshake. Greedy me orders the roastburger and curly fries. My drink is still sitting in the fridge with my sandwich. And I can't eat the sandwich today since it is Friday! Oh, well. So goes life. Now for the next few weeks I have to think of different ways to fix fish on Fridays during Lent.

Today I am going to make some catfish bits for dinner. I'm not going to fry them, though. I will season them and let them sit in the fridge for awhile. Then I will brush them with mayo & roll them in mashed potato flakes & parmesan or mixed Italian cheeses. Or I just roll in the potato flakes & sprinkle the cheese on. Depends on what I feel like at the time. I line a pan with aluminum foil and spray or brush with olive oil. Then I place the fish in the pan and put in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes or until the fish flakes. I'm not following a particular recipe, but, remember that I made this a couple of times before and my family liked it.

Tomorrow Bill is going with some of the Knights from his Council to donate wheelchairs to the V.A. hospital that they do volunteer work at. He is a 4th Degree Knight & will be wearing the 4th Degree regalia that they wear as the color guard. Later that evening we will go to a St. Patrick's day party at the Knight's hall. Bill really enjoys being a part of the Knights.

I have been resting and ChaCha'ing since I got up this morning. Trying to get rid of these old cold feelings that keep plaguing me. Marcy and Chris keep having problems, too. Luckily, Bill hasn't been as bothered. Well, now I better go figure what else I will fix for dinner. When I was growing up we always had mac & cheese & fried fish or salmon croquettes (my dad made the best!) and we loved it! Sunday dinners was always fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green peas (we called them sugar peas) and biscuits. But, I digress! I better get to thinking about today's dinner. Have a fantastic day!

SIMPLE WAY TO GIVE DIRECTIONS TO YOUR HOME

I heard about someone doing this a long time ago and thought it was a great idea. For some reason, everytime I think of it Bill Cosby comes to mind. So maybe I heard or saw something about him saying this.

Anyhow, it is always hard for me to give someone directions to my home from the Interstate because there are so many twists and turns. I know others must have the same problem. A good remedy for this is to drive the route and have an audio recorder on. Describe what you are doing - what turns you make, road you are on, places or buildings you pass, etc. Do this all the way to your home. Transfer this to a dvd & send it to someone when they are going to need directions to your home if you have time. If you have a webcam, you can relay the info to it and email it. Pretty simple, huh? To tell you the truth, I have not done this yet, but, it is such a great idea. Each time someone comes to visit and gets lost, I think of it. The last one was my sister-in-law Kim who was visiting from AZ. What made it even worse is that she was traveling at night and a lot of the roads here have no street lights. When my brother, Andy, visits he makes sure he is here before it gets dark because it really gets dark! I have to get around to making that dvd myself!

I've been enjoying talking by video calls to my brother in Arizona and my niece in the Netherlands by Skype. The really great thing is that computer to computer it is free! Boy, this technical age is so awesome!

Have a great day! This is going to be a lazy day for me since I have decided to do nothing for the next 2 days to give my body a chance to heal. I will be doing my ChaCha (yep, I am still making a little ChaCha money) and watching t.v.

KNITS AND BUMPS

I just read this and thought I would pass this tip on to you.

Picking pills off your knits----use a sweater stone. Yes, I have the same question, what is a sweater stone? A natural sweater stone ($7.95 vermontcountrystore.com) sells them and you gently rub it over the pills. If this works, it sure beats picking them off, or getting rid of the sweater.

Hope your day is full of laughs---we need a good laugh!

DRY SKIN

Overcome dry skin by using an inexpensive moisturizer with petrolatum listed as one of the 3 top ingredients on the label. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get great results.

Yesterday I said hello to someone and turn away to speak to another. I was rude not to say goodbye or acknowledge them instead of leaving them stand there. I plan on phoning them to apologize. They are the Nice's person and did not deserve my rudeness.
It bothered me all day and this morning I will make my apologies. A good lesson to be learned, I would not want to be left standing there. Have a good day!

HEART AND WOMEN

Women and heart problems are over looked very often. My friend is dealing with symptoms right now and unfortunately--NO HEALTH INSURANCE. Please be aware of these symptoms and don't let your doctor off the hook when checking you completely. Please pray that my friend gets the care all people deserve. She has worked hard all her life and is 2 years from Medicare. Please take a look at this list...........................
EXTREME FATIGUE
NAUSEA
SHORTNESS OF BREATH
SWEATING
PAIN IN THE SHOULDER BLADES
PAIN IN ARMS
HEART FLUTTERS
FAMILY HISTORY--(I have this)
FAMILY HISTORY OF DIABETES
BAD HABITS LIKE SMOKING--(I gave that up in 1992, Mom had triple by-pass that year)
I am sure there are others symptoms, these are the ones I just read and wanted to pass them on to you. We have to take charge of our own health. No one can tell us how we feel but us. NEVER FEEL STUPID FOR TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF. A DOCTOR TELLING YOU THAT YOU ARE FINE IS GREAT NEWS. BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY!
I WISH EVERYONE GOOD HEALTH! HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!
Just remembered-- HAPPY HEART DAY-- tomorrow

Broken Glass--TINY SHARDS

Here is a safe way to pick up those tiny shards of glass. Cut a raw potato in half and use it to wipe the floor. The shards stick to the potato and not your hands. Wipe the floor with a wet towel when done. I have tried this and it does work. Take you time and remember glass flies all over the place and sometimes it takes days to find all those little pieces. I have a habit of walking barefoot most of the time and MUST remind myself to wear shoes etc. Better safe than sorry....

I have been on the computer to find Bamboo plants for an outdoor hedge. Not cheap. Have a good day!

GO, STEELERS! GOT ONE FOR THE OTHER THUMB!

I've been missing in action for quite awhile from here. I have to apologize profusely for shirking my duty & my promise. My duty to my wonderful sister/friend, Chris. My promise to my beautiful Aunt Irene & my wonderful nephew, Brother aka Chef Luck. I started this project & promised to keep it up & haven't. Chris has been doing a good job of keeping it going and never gets on me about it even though we talk every day. I will just say that I am and have been mentally going through some things that have wore me down. But, I am slowly coming back & I know I have a lot to be thankful for. So very, very much to be thankful for. I will not mention it again and really don't want to talk about it. But, I will slowly start getting back to writing here as I slowly start getting my head back together.

Have a beautiful blessed day! And, what about those Steelers!

SLOW FLOW SHOWER HEAD

Fill a freezer bag with equal parts of warm water and vinegar. Place bag over shower head and use a tie or rubber band to secure in place. Leave on for 2 hours. The acetic acid loosens built-up minerals. Remove bag and run hot water through shower head to flush.

I ordered some flower bulbs today and hope to get up and going in the yard soon. Need energy to even get up most days. Hope to snap out of this funk soon. Weather really makes a difference as to how I feel. Happy Birthday to my grandson Lukas. He is six years old and my heart. Have a good day and I hope great things come your way....................

CLEAN STAINLESS APPLIANCES

I found this trick the other day and wanted to share it with you. I myself have not been convinced that your kitchen is not up to date unless you have stainless appliances. But for those who do have them........
To get those appliances clean fast, squirt a dab of hand sanitizer onto a clean dry cloth. Gently polish the surface. They say the gel's alcohol base lifts the dirt and oil from the fingerprints and gives you super shiny stainless. Hope this works for you.
Days have been very overcast and I hope everyone has a great day. We all need them!

Pencil marks on walls

I have more problems with my computer and I hate it. It took 11 minutes to get on line. I have been spring cleaning early and found that Scrubbing Bubbles takes off pencil marks on walls with very little work. Worth a try............
Pulled a muscle in back moving a mattress, so things are going great. I say great because I finally have some ambition. I have not had ambition in a very long time. It must be the iron I am taking. Jackie is fine but very busy.
Take time to laugh with someone!

SCRATCHED CD

Put a dab of toothpaste (yes that's what they say) on your finger, rub it from the middle of the CD outward,then raised with warm water and dry with a soft cloth. The abrasives in the toothpaste (WHITE TOOTHPASTE NOT GEL) even out the surface. Good luck in finding white toothpaste. Look for the inexpensive brand.
Hope you had a good day. I got a lot of work done in the house and it feels great. Take some time and donate unwanted items in your house. Jackie and I see a lot of people that need help through our church.................

DYING PLANT

I love reading magazines when I travel on a plane and unfortunately I have been on a few planes over the last months. I would rather drive but because of road conditions during the winter and time, I flew. HATE IT!
Here is a tip I read about on my travels.............
Next time your plant is due for a drink, grate a clove of garlic into 2 cups of water and give the plant enough to soak the roots. Garlic, they say is an antifungal compound called phytoncide. This prevents disease and gives healthy antioxidants. I will try this, they claim your leaves will perk right up. Have a good evening.

HAPPY 2009

Hello, hope everyone enjoyed their holidays. I will be back with recipes and tips for 2009 starting the 12th. Time has been very busy and we were lucky to spend most our time with family and friends. Thanks for looking in on our blog. Have a great evening!

JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

Last but not least the great Thumbprint cookie. I thought I would end this Christmas cookie and bar series with this old favorite.

1 1/2C unsalted butter, softened

1C granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 1/2C all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon water

7 ounces flaked coconut

Raspberry or apricot jam



Using electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until just combined; add vanilla. Sift flour and salt together. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix until the dough starts to come together. Transfer dough to floured surface; shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly beat together the egg and water. Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Dip each ball into egg wash; then roll it in coconut. Place on ungreased cookie sheet. With thumb, make an indentation into the top of each ball. Drop 1/4 teaspoon jam into each indentation. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until coconut is golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes about 3 dozen.

Please have a SAFE AND WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS!!!!! The best to all of us in the NEW YEAR 2009. Be back after the holidays...................................

BUCKEYES

1 (16ounce) jar crunchy peanut butter

4C (1 pound) powdered sugar

1/2C butter, softened

2C (12 ounce package) chocolate chips

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Mix peanut butter, sugar, and butter. Roll into balls. Melt chocolate and oil. Roll balls in chocolate and place on cookie sheets lined with wax paper. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Makes about 3 dozen. Never made these but it got great reviews. Hope you like them.

SANTA CLAUS COOKIES

3 3/4C sifted all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

2 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 1/2C butter, softened

2C brown sugar, packed

1 egg

Sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Cream butter; add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy. Add egg and mix. Gradually mix in sifted dry ingredients. Chill dough thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 350. On floured surface, roll dough about 1/8 inch thick, cut with floured cookie cutters. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Cool on wire cooling racks. Decorate as desired. Makes about 6 dozen, depending on size of cookie cutters.

This is a good recipe for the kids to decorate and have fun. They can't mess them up with their decorating skills. Something to remember in many years to come. Take pictures of their finished sweets.................