Menu Plan Monday

June 23, 2008 – 11:13 pm

It’s the week of VBS, which means supper has to be quick and easy.

Monday
sloppy joes
veggies / chips / dip

Tuesday
chicken / noodles
green salad
corn / peas

Wednesday
leftovers

Thursday
turkey sandwiches
veggies / chips / dip

Friday
spaghetti
garlic bread
green salad
corn
zucchini / yellow squash stir-fry

Saturday lunch
BBQ beef / buns
chips / veggies / dip
We tried this BBQ beef recipe last week and everyone loved it. Gonna have it again. 🙂

Saturday supper
brats / hotdogs
buns / pickles / mustard / ketchup / relish
Cowboy Beans
coleslaw
chips / veggies / dip

Sunday
pork chops
mashed potatoes
salad
corn on the cob
sugar snap peas / cherry tomatoes

On Saturday, DS and his family arrive for a week, so it will be a big week, menu-wise. I’m giving it some thought ahead of time. I’ll need to include some lunch ideas, which I usually don’t do as we just have leftovers or a sandwich, etc. But we’ll have five extra people in the house, as well as DD who is home for two weeks, so lunch needs to be planned for and not “catch as catch can.” But more about that next week. 🙂

More menu ideas here.

~~Rhonda

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menu plan monday

June 16, 2008 – 9:17 am

I’m trying two new recipes this week. Last week I made Crash Hot Potatoes and they were a huge hit with DH and DD. Crispy and delicious. I’ll be making those again, soon.

Monday
Sloppy Joes / buns
veggies / chips / dip

Tuesday
spaghetti
garlic bread
sauted peapods
corn
spinach salad

Wednesday
leftovers

Thursday
Crockpot Chicken Cordon Bleu
steamed broccoli
corn
spinach salad

Friday
BBQ Beef / buns
veggies / chips / dip

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
turkey in the crockpot
mashed potatoes
carrots
peas
salad

“Turkey in the crockpot” is a frozen boneless turkey (thawed) with a can of cream of chicken soup over it. So good. Tender and moist. I use the leftover liquid to add to the gravy packet for flavorful gravy. It’s a great dish for Sunday as I can put it on early and it’s ready when we get home from church.

More menu ideas here.

~~Rhonda

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father’s day

June 15, 2008 – 9:59 pm

The day started with gifts for Dad. DD gave him three daylilies, an artemisia, a shovel, garden gloves, and his favorite candy…York mints.

Happy Father's Day!

Then I made a bouquet for church. The hydrangeas are just coming on, so I used them.

bouquet for church

The young people hosted breakfast for dads…pancakes, sausage, tater tots, peaches…delish!

have you hugged a presbyterian today?

Have you hugged a presbyterian today?

kitchen crew

We’re proud of our young people. They’re the best!

they're the best!

Herschel favored us with hymns and songs on his harmonica, including one of my favorites, “Faith of Our Fathers.”

Herschel

It was fun to have breakfast served to us by such willing servants of Christ. The young people did a great job, as usual. 🙂

After church, we had Russell’s favorite meat dish for lunch. He loves marinated pork tenderloin. I made the marinade last night and left the meat in it in the fridge overnight.

Marinated Pork Tenderloin

Saute until golden brown and caramelized:
1 yellow onion, diced
2 T. olive oil
4 T. sugar

Place the following ingredients into a gallon-sized plastic zippered bag and marinate at least six hours or overnight.
3/4 c. apple juice
1/3 c. light soy sauce
2 T. cider vinegar
8 slices fresh ginger root
1 tsp. allspice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
freshly ground black pepper
the caramelized onions (above)
2 pork tenderloins

In the past, I’ve baked the tenderloin on a rack in the oven until done. Today I put them in a crockpot and cooked them on high for three hours. It was SO tender and delicious. Yum! The marinade can be used on chicken, too.

In the afternoon, DD and I made an apple pie for DH. He loves pie. The pie making is fodder for another post, coming soon. 🙂

~~Rhonda

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world’s cutest grandchildren?

June 13, 2008 – 4:51 pm

Mine, of course. 😀

Tabby and Panda

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sketch

June 10, 2008 – 8:54 pm

Sean Cairns, an art major, had done a sketch of a friend’s house and we asked him to do one of ours. He came by this afternoon and produced this lovely drawing.

our home

I asked him to come back when he has time and do a detailed drawing of the front door.

~~Rhonda

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menu plan monday

June 9, 2008 – 2:21 pm

I didn’t post a menu last week as DH and DD were at church camp. That left DD#1 and me at home and we didn’t cook. Just ate as we were hungry. This week, DD has left for NY to go to camp as a counselor and we are back to our regularly scheduled program here at home. So here’s the menu…

Monday
BBQ chicken / buns
veggies / chips / dip

Tuesday
pork chops
rice
spinach salad
green beans
corn

Wednesday
sloppy joes
chips / dip
corn on the cob
asparagus

Thursday
salmon with honey-dijon sauce
peas
corn
green salad

Friday
chicken and noodles
asparagus
carrots

Saturday
leftovers

Sunday
crockpot turkey
mashed potatoes
green beans
corn
green salad

More menu ideas on Laura’s blog.

~~Rhonda

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camp

June 8, 2008 – 10:48 pm

DH and DD spent this past week at church camp. DH is the director, a fact that DD loves. So great to have Dad there when a girl gets tired or homesick or just needs a hug. There were 94 campers and 20 some staff members.

welcome!

The campers enjoyed all kinds of fun activities. Paddle boats and canoes…

paddle boats

Crafts and woodworking…

crafts

woodworking

Kiddy pool kick ball…

kiddy pool kick ball

Camp is for new friends and old…

camp

Dinner time!

dinner time

Celebration and worship.

celebration

Active and involved staff… 😉

resting my eyes

A favorite part of camp is always the Nathan Clark George concert. This year he brought Mark Stoffel with him. Mark was one of the musicians Nathan brought with him to our house concert last Christmas.

The campers loved the concert!

a favorite part of camp

The campers had quite an adventure this year when a tornado warning sent them to the shelter at 4:00 AM one morning. A tree fell hitting the porch of one of the cabins and crushing a counselor’s van. The crown of the tree fell five feet from DH who was going from cabin to cabin hustling campers into the shelter.

4:00 AM storm

Everyone was safe. We can’t say the same for Heather’s car, though.

didn't miss the van

missed the cabin...missed DH

We thank God for His care over the campers and staff this week. He is good indeed!

DH says it was a good camp. The campers were smiling all week and we’re getting reports from parents telling us how much the kids are talking about camp…non-stop. 🙂 We hope we’ll see them all again next year!

the bridge

~~Rhonda 🙂

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thanking God for His watchful care

June 7, 2008 – 10:32 pm

Thursday morning, the winds blew and a tree fell…right on Gary and Laurie’s house. At 5:30 AM, while telling Gary goodbye as he left for work, Laurie watched a hickory tree give way and fall on their house. As it came down, it snapped off a second tree which helped cushion the fall and prevented damage to the house.

ouch...

The bottom of the tree looked like it had some rot in it.

inspection

God’s watchful care was evident. The tree fell around the tall chimney and didn’t disturb it at all.

how did it miss the chimney??

from the south

After the insurance agent came out to take pictures, Gary got started on the first cuts.

first cuts

It didn’t take long for word to get around and members of our church family and friends began to show up to help.

lots of helping hands

It seemed a daunting task at first.

long way to go

But there was a lot of help and a lot of prayers on behalf of Gary and Laurie.

off the north side

“Here Grandpa, you’re gonna need these…”

grandpa's helper

This was as far as they could go without professional help.

as far as we can go

The men took a break while we put out lunch for them. In the afternoon, they were able to procure a crane and had the trees lifted from the house. In all, they lost six trees, including two that had to be cut to make way for the crane to get into position. But after all was said and done, the house was inspected and there was NO damage found other than a few disturbed shingles. We thank God for His watchful care over Gary and Laurie and their home. He is good indeed!

~~Rhonda

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the garden in transition

June 2, 2008 – 11:11 pm

The yard is moving from spring to summer. The soft colors of irises and peonies will soon give way to the harder yellows and oranges and reds of daylilies. I must say the peonies have been holding onto spring. We’ve never had them open so late. And seldom have any blooming now, but some, like ‘Glory Hallelujah’ and ‘Kansas’ just opened this past week.

We bought ‘Kansas’ because my MIL grew up in Kansas. It’s a beautiful dark pink.

Peony 'Kansas'

‘Mons Jules Elie’

Peony 'Mons Jules Elie'

The irises will soon be done blooming. These blue flags just opened this week, though.

blue flag

The yellow flags have been blooming for a week and a half or so. These are in the “ditch” which is a low place in the back yard where rain water drains.

yellow flags

These pink rhododendrons contrasted well with the new yellow-green leaves.

rhodie

Primrose can be aggressive, but it’s easy to pull those we don’t want.

primrose

The next phase of the garden is beginning. Soon we’ll have lots of daylily blossoms to share with you.

daylilies are budding!

‘Bitsy’ is a 2″ lemon-yellow flower which makes it a miniature daylily. It blooms for a long time and is a welcome addition to the garden.

Daylily 'Bitsy'

Black Eyed Stella opened today, as well.

Daylily 'Black Eyed Stella'

And our first purple cone flower opened today. This is a work horse in the garden, though it does reseed itself all over the place. It blooms for a long time, is a pretty color, and doesn’t mind droughts. If the seed heads are left on the plant in the fall, the goldfinches have a feast!

purple cone flower

Coreopsis is a cheerful plant.

coreopsis

I actually took this picture from the mower using the zoom. I was surprised it came out so well.

teeny bee on a coreopsis flower

The poppies can be seen all the way across the yard. What a vibrant color!

amazing color

The dogwood shrub will be blooming soon.

red twig dogwood buds

We don’t have many roses, other than the three old fashioned ones we have on the fence, but we do have ‘Mr. Lincoln.’ A beautiful rose that smells wonderful!

'Mr. Lincoln'

I had a lot more pictures I could have shared, but didn’t want to make the post too long for enjoyable reading. I’ll post more tomorrow.

~~Rhonda

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walking the yard

May 30, 2008 – 3:30 pm

DH and I love to walk the yard. And if we say, “No computer while we’re out,” DD will tag along. 🙂 Not to mention all the kitties.

cat trio

The peonies are beautiful right now. Most are caged to keep the blossoms up, but those that aren’t have fallen with the rain we had Sunday evening. At least they looked beautiful for the picnic. 🙂 And those that *are* caged still look great.

Peony

‘Sorbet’ is my favorite peony.

Peony 'Sorbet'

Of courses, the singles do fine without the extra support. ‘Krinkled White’ is almost done blooming except for the smaller secondary blossoms. This one has a tinge of coral which is very pretty.

Peony 'Krinkled White'

And ‘Nymph’ is just gorgeous this year. We transplanted this one to another bed two years ago and it has multiplied like crazy.

Peony 'Nymph'

These white peonies were in the yard when we bought the house.

Peony

The poppies will be done soon. I would like to get more varieties in other colors. They are so pretty.

papery poppies

The irises are still beautiful. These purply-blue ones are from my mother’s sister Jane. They bloom for a long time and are the most beautifully scented iris we have. You can smell them before you get near them. I want to move some of the paler pink peonies next to them. The colors are so pretty together. I may use these for the church bouquet this Sunday.

iris bed

The dark purple iris ‘Edge of Night’ is in full bloom.

Iris 'Edge of Night'

And the yellow flags are, too.

yellow flag

I love this spirea ‘Goldflame.’ In the spring, the leaves are a brighter yellow than this picture shows. A beautiful contrast with the pink flower.

Spirea 'Goldflame'

I planted two lavender plants in the fenced garden several years ago, and one has survived and grown well. It’s right next to the bench where the lovely scent can be savored while sitting in the garden.

lavender

This beautiful rose gives one lush showing in spring and then lapses, but as Henry Mitchell (love, love, love his garden essays) says, why neglect planting roses that bloom once. No one says we shouldn’t plant lilacs or forsythia because they only bloom once.

roses on the fence

I picked one blossom and put it in the little green toothpick holder I bought while on Sisters’ Weekend. It sits on the sink in the kitchen. Lovely.

one rose

~~Rhonda

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