pirate cat

September 9, 2008 – 9:17 pm

DD was not feeling well today and stayed home from school. She found several projects that kept her quietly occupied. She read all the comic books in her sister’s room. She played on the computer for a while. And she designed a pirate costume for Buttercup.

does the hat fit OK, Buttercup?

She began by making a bandanna from red fabric. Then she designed a hat. We looked online and found a pattern for the basic shape on a page for kindergarten projects. I cut it out for her and she sewed the two pieces of felt together by hand. Then she cut the skull and crossbones from white fabric and used tacky glue to adhere it to the hat.

the world's most compliant cat

This is the world’s most compliant cat. Bar none.

how do I look in my pirate hat?

A red vest and sword/belt were the final touches.

the dread pirate Buttercup

complete outfit

Buttercup is such a sweet cat. She adores DD and lets her do anything she wants with her. She’s dressed and packed and toted and hauled all over the house. She puts up with it all. And when DD is done, Buttercup takes a long nap.

sleeping in the sunshine...dreaming of other worlds...

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cats | Tagged | Comments (2)

40 minute rolls

September 9, 2008 – 12:44 pm

I planned the 40-minute hamburger buns (as rolls) for tonight, but DD wanted to make them yesterday, so we made them into bread sticks and had them with spaghetti last night. They were easy and delicious!

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water, plus 2 tablespoons warm water (115*)
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3-3 1/2 cups flour

We didn’t have any eggs on hand, so left the egg out. Still delicious. And we used 3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour plus 1/2 c. whole wheat flour.

ingredients

DD measures the sugar.

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5 minute rest…

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Adding flour.

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We let the mixer do the kneading.

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It’s hard to tell, but there *is* a plastic cutting mat on the counter for this step. DD cut the dough ball in half, then half again, then into thirds.

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She rolled the dough balls into sticks…

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…and sprayed the tops with butter flavored cooking spray, then sprinkled basil and powdered garlic on nine of the rolls. She left the others plain.

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Resting for ten minutes, then ready to bake at 425* for 8 to 12 minutes.

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Wish you could smell these…we baked them for 10 minutes, but they could have used a minute or two more.

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Supper was delicious! Spaghetti with home made sauce, stir-fried zucchini with garlic, corn on the cob, and fresh bread.

spaghetti supper

Try this bread! It can be made into hamburger buns, bread sticks, rolls, whatever. Easy and very tasty. The recipe was simple enough for DD to make and she really enjoyed getting such a quick return on her bread making efforts.

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Tagged , , | Comments (0)

menu plan monday ~ september 8, 2008

September 8, 2008 – 8:53 am

Back to a schedule today. Seems the weekend always throws me off… Here’s our menu for this week.

Monday
spaghetti / meatballs
focaccia
spinach salad
peas
corn on the cob

Tuesday
crock pot turkey tetrazzini
40 minute rolls
peas
corn on the cob
pear-walnut salad

Wednesday
baked Parmesan tilapia
steamed red potato
stir-fried peapods with cherry tomatoes

Thursday
chicken and noodles
green beans
corn
green salad

Friday
BBQ pork steaks in the oven
lima beans
corn
carrots / celery sticks
tomatoes / cucumber slices

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
tortellini with mushrooms and ham
40 min. rolls made as bread sticks
green salad

There are more menu ideas at Laura’s site.

Stop by and see how our caterpillars are doing. They are fascinating to watch!

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in menu | Tagged | Comments (0)

butterfly babies

September 7, 2008 – 10:05 pm

It seems every time we pick more parsley for the caterpillars, we also bring in a caterpillar or two. Or three. We’re up to 15 or 16. So some of the cats in the fish tank are very small and some are getting very large! I think we have every instar represented in the tank.

wide range of sizes

This afternoon, I watched two caterpillars molt their skin, which I had never been able to catch them doing before.

molting caterpillar

molting caterpillar

molting caterpillar

After they molt, they rest for a while, then turn around and eat the old skin.

molted caterpillar

Have you ever watched a caterpillar have lunch? They are eating machines! BTW, this video is in real time, no speeding up.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Bethel, candy, our garden | Tagged | Comments (2)

crock pot BBQ chicken and cornbread

September 6, 2008 – 10:13 pm

I found this BBQ chicken and cornbread casserole recipe. Thought it sounded interesting, and decided to do something similar.

I sprayed the crock pot with cooking spray and put raw boneless skinless chicken breasts and thighs in the bottom. The recipe called for cooking the chicken prior to putting it in the crock pot, but I didn’t think that had to be done.

I drained a can of corn (reserving the liquid) and poured the corn over the chicken. Then I doused the chicken with some BBQ sauce…not as much as the recipe called for though.

Here’s the crock pot prior to adding the BBQ sauce.

chicken and corn

I made two boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix, omitting the butter and using the corn liquid for part of the milk, and poured that over the chicken.

making the corn muffin mixture

cornbread batter over chicken

I cooked it on high for two hours and on low for four hours. The finished product…

cornbread and BBQ chicken

Review…I liked it. The chicken was delicious, though I would leave the corn out if I made it again. The cornbread was dense. Not sure if that’s a result of the mix I used or the corn liquid I substituted for part of the milk. I’m not being critical, though. I liked it. It’s just that the cornbread I make from scratch is much lighter in texture. I should post that recipe for you some time…it’s good!

DH said “I don’t think the cornbread went real well with this.” Or something to that effect. He meant he’d rather not have it again. DD wouldn’t eat the chicken and wanted the bottom of the cornbread cut off. She didn’t like the BBQ sauce on it. Which I tend to agree with. I kept thinking, “this should be pork and beans.” Not sure where that thought came from. But it made me think about making a similar dish but using sliced kielbasa sausage instead of chicken, with pork and beans poured on top, and then topped with cornbread. Wonder what that would taste like??

~~Rhonda

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in Recipes | Tagged | Comments (0)

Zilli and Buttercup

September 5, 2008 – 4:12 pm

It’s been two years since we adopted Buttercup, Zilli, and Zak. They are fun additions to the family. I came across these pictures today while looking for something else. Zilli and Buttercup still play together almost every morning, early, chasing each other around the house at break-neck speed.

get the tail...get the tail...get the tail

get Zilli!

get away!

And here they are on the ladder and the library shelves. They are about six feet off the ground here.

"Wild Animals"

Zak was a cutie, too.

soaking up the sunshine

Here is Buttercup now. She’s keeping an interested eye on the caterpillars in the fish tank. So far she hasn’t bothered them.

keeping an eye on the cats

And Zilli, being cute.

are you lookin' at me??

And Zak, relaxing.

Zak in the hosta garden

Funny how they have such distinct and separate personalities. A source of endless fun.

~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cats | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

ooey-gooey, moist and chewy brownies

September 4, 2008 – 10:24 am

These brownies are delicious served with fresh strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate syrup. I need a picture of that…

Brownies

  • 1 c. butter or margarine (2 sticks), softened
  • 2 c. sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 c. flour
  • 1/2 c. cocoa
  • 12 oz bag mini chocolate chips, divided

Cream the butter and sugar until light.

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Add the eggs and vanilla, mixing until well blended.

Add the flour and the cocoa. Mix slowly to prevent the dry ingredients from flying everywhere.

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Set aside 1/2 c. of the chocolate chips and add the rest to the dough, stirring well. You can stir them in by hand, if you like, but I use the mixer.

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Everyone will want to lick the beater when you’re done. 🙂

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Spread in a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350*F for 25 minutes.

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When the brownies come out of the oven, sprinkle the remaining chocolate chips on top. When melted (just takes a few minutes), use a fork to spread the chocolate across the top of the brownies.

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Enjoy! ~~Rhonda 🙂

By ~~Rhonda | Posted in cookies, Recipes | Comments (3)

microwave corn on the cob

September 3, 2008 – 9:26 am

We eat a lot of corn on the cob. So good! We only need three ears for supper, so I wrap them in wet paper towels and cook them in the microwave rather than in a pot of boiling water. It’s easy, fast, and leaves no pot to clean. Before cooking, husk and clean the ears of corn.

DD demonstrates how easy it is to prepare the corn for cooking. We use a square of DRY paper toweling. We’ll wet it after wrapping.

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Place the ear diagonally across the corner.

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Roll it to the opposite corner.

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Don’t tuck under the side corners of the paper towel until the ear is completely rolled, corner to corner. If tucked in before the ear is completely rolled, it will be harder to unroll when it is hot and steaming.

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Wrapped and ready for the next step.

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Wet each wrapped ear of corn at the sink. Soak all the paper toweling.

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Place the ears on a microwave plate or platter. When cooking three ears, we place them in a triangle to aid in even cooking. I cook three ears on high for five minutes, turn them over and cook for one more minute. You will need to try your own microwave a few times to determine the best cooking time.

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Carefully unwrap each ear of corn. Be careful! It will be very hot and steaming.

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Butter, freshly cracked salt and black pepper…so good!

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~~Rhonda 🙂

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weekend company

September 2, 2008 – 11:30 am

Scott and Chris will be going back to work overseas next week, and we won’t see them for a while, so it was really wonderful to be able to spend some time with them this past weekend. I meant to get a nice family portrait of our friends while they were here, but we were too busy doing other things. 🙂

We grilled pork steaks and hot dogs in the back yard. The meal that Chris described as “summer food” included corn on the cob, tomatoes and sweet and sour cucumbers, fruit salad (strawberries, peaches, and blueberries), and my favorite spinach salad. After supper, we made S’mores. Their three young boys enjoyed that, though the youngest skipped the graham crackers and the marshmallows and went straight for the chocolate. Smart boy! 😉

makin' s'mores

When all was cleared and put away, we played Apples to Apples, which is one of our favorite family games. Even though two of their children weren’t reading yet, they still had a fun time playing. DH helped a bit when it came time to decide which card should be played.

watcha think?

It was fun to play something we could enjoy together.

apples to apples

I should have taken pictures of the train track they built and the marble game they constructed, as well! They had a full evening!

I try to keep the guest room cat free for the sake of our guests, but after company was gone, Happy found her way in and decided to check out the youth bed we had set up for the youngest little boy.

snoozin'

We always enjoy having company. Wonder who will drop in next time…?

~~Rhonda

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menu plan monday ~ september 1, 2008

September 1, 2008 – 11:33 am

We had a good weekend. Found out friends were coming through to visit the church family, so we invited them to spend Saturday overnight at our house. We grilled pork steaks and hot dogs on the grill and made S’Mores after supper. It was a lot of fun.

Today is Labor Day. DH is out on a long bike ride, I’m catching up on some computer time, and DD is practicing guitar. No big plans for the day.

Monday
chuck wagon casserole
salad
corn / peas

Tuesday
pork chops in the crockpot w/ stuffing
spinach salad
asparagus
corn

Wednesday
BBQ chicken in the crockpot / buns
veggies / chips / dip
grapes

Thursday
salmon
rice
corn / peas
pear/walnut salad

Friday
sloppy joes / buns
jello with strawberries
chips
cuke / tomatoes

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday ~ dinner at church
crockpot lasagna
Triple Chocolate Mess
ice cream

There are always more menu ideas on Laura’s blog.

I thought yesterday was dinner at church, but it turns out it is this coming Sunday. Hence the return of lasagna and triple chocolate mess.  🙂  We were leaving Sunday afternoon to travel a few hours north to celebrate my mother’s 75th birthday, so we had leftovers from Saturday’s supper for a quick Sunday lunch before leaving.

~~Rhonda

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