Christmas Notebook

The garden is beginning to make the move to autumn. The Sunday bouquet was made of Jerusalem Artichoke, hydrangeas, and ‘Becky’ daisies.

We had a nice weekend and enjoyed the extra day to relax. Our son and his family came for lunch today. DH grilled, I made peach/blueberry cobbler, and DH made peach ice cream. It was fun to sit down together, to have time to chat and to enjoy the grands. DH took a picture of the spread. It was a delicious meal!

Monday
BBQ Pork Steaks
Rosemary Ranch Chicken
Corn Casserole
Roasted Potatoes, Carrots, Fennel
Corn on the Cob
Steamed Broccoli
Garden Tomatoes / Sliced Cucumbers
Peach / Blueberry Cobbler
Homemade Peach Ice Cream

Tuesday
Fridge Food

Wednesday
Hamburgers
Homemade Buns
Red Grapes
Chips

Thursday
Crock Pot Turkey
Rice
Corn on the Cob
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas
Garden Tomatoes

Friday
Chinese Take Out

Saturday
Alton Brown’s Pot Roast
Homemade Buns
Fruit Salad
Celery / Carrot Sticks

Sunday
Spaghetti
Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
Garden Salad
Homemade Rolls
Steamed Sugar Snap Peas

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

We’re enjoying the Spiced Peach Jam that we made on Saturday. My only caveat is that the link suggests turning the hot jam over and sealing the jars without a hot water bath. I don’t recommend that. We put the 8-oz jars into a hot water bath for 10 minutes. Safely sealed. Delicious jam. Especially when spread across homemade bread.

The cats enjoyed the Sunday flowers, as usual. Buttercup even ate a few of the leaves from the flowers.

Amy didn’t eat the flowers, but she sniffed at them for a long time.

I decided to go with a pink theme for the Sunday bouquet. The Black-Eyed Susans look good, but the surprise lilies won me over. They are nearing the end of their bloom time, and I wanted to use them while I could.

Here’s the menu for the week. With school starting, I’ll need to keep the schedule in mind, as timing may be an issue, depending on what’s going on.

Monday
Turkey Sandwiches

Tuesday
Beans and Ham
Cornbread
Green Salad

Wednesday
Bacon-Provolone Chicken Sandwich
Oven Fried Potato Wedges
Red Grapes

Thursday
Tacoritos
Tortilla Chips
Lettuce / Tomatoes / Sour Cream

Friday
Homemade Pizza

Saturday
Alton Brown’s Pot Roast
Homemade Buns
Cowboy Beans
Cold-Fashioned Potato Salad

Sunday
Baked Ziti
Garlic Bread
Steamed Broccoli
Corn on the Cob

Get those kidlets off to school with a good breakfast! Plan ahead and make it easy on yourself. Here’s a link with a lot of breakfast ideas from the Food Network.

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

With many thanks to a dear friend, we have canning in our future. He brought peaches with promises of more, if we want them. Yes! Peach jam, peach pie, peach cobbler, canned peaches…what’s not to want? Buttercup set up guard. I think she liked the smell of the fresh fruit.

The house cats have been entertaining. Amy has taken to sleeping in this box of office supplies.

Cedar loves the kitchen stool for nap time, but she’s getting a bit long for it.

The grands got their school exams this week. Poor Miss Laurie had to give them their shots. Snow White took it in stride. Rose Red was less happy about it. But they did fine and now are ready for the first day of school. They liked the fact that Miss Laurie wrote their heights and weights on the exam table cover.

Pa was happy to get home from a week as camp director. Camp is great, but home is better. He brought camp t-shirts for the girls and they immediately had him on the floor doing some “art.”

The bouquet for church last Sunday was made of surprise lilies, hydrangeas and butterfly bush. We have surprise lilies all over the yard. Such a delicate looking flower for this usually hot part of the summer.

Here’s the menu for the week. The peach cobbler was delicious. I added some frozen blueberries to the fresh peaches. Very good!

Monday
BBQ Chicken and Pork Steaks
Rice
Sauteed Garden Squash with Garlic
Garden Salad
Fresh Peach Cobbler

Tuesday
Homemade Pizza

Wednesday
Crock Pot Turkey Tetrazzini
Garden Salad
Mozzarella Garlic Bread

Thursday
Ham and Beans
Cornbread
Garden Salad

Friday
Tacoritos
Tortilla Chips
Lettuce and Sliced Tomatoes

Saturday
Fridge Food

Sunday
Pork Chops and Potato Casserole
Corn on the Cob
Green Beans with Mushroom Sauce
Garden Salad

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

Last weekend was long and busy. But the weather has been outstanding and we’ve had the windows open. That’s are real treat for July. So nice to hear the birds singing and the locust calling. It’s high summer, even if the temps are way below average. Snow White heard the loud bugs one evening at dusk and said, “The bats are singing!” You never know what’s going to pop out of her mouth. I googled “singing bats” just for fun and found out that of all mammals, only humans are more vocal that bats. We just can’t hear them because the pitch is so high. So they really are out there singing and talking to each other. We are part of an amazing creation!

Having the grands over is always a good thing. Pa has time to read several stories at bedtime. A tradition he kept with our own children. Snow White is already reading at a fourth grade level. It’s pretty amazing to hear her reading cereal boxes, milk cartons and anything else that comes into view. She read “Peter Rabbit” to me the other night. After reading the word “mischief” she asked me what mischief meant. No problem reading it, though.

I got sidetracked from menu making this week. I started, then realized it was time to start working on the Christmas Notebook class I lead each fall, with the first articles going out today, August 1. That will keep me busy for quite a while.

So far this week, we’ve had homemade pizza, Fridge Food, Chinese Take Out and Baked Ziti with homemade Rosemary Bread.

The rest of the week looks like this:

Friday
Sandwiches with leftovers: ham, turkey, roast beef…diner’s choice.

Saturday
Grill Time…chicken wings and pork steaks
Grilled Veggies / potatoes, carrots, fennel with olive oil and rosemary
Garden Salad

Sunday
Roast Chicken
Rice Pilaf
Garden Salad
Steamed Green Beans
Creamy Mushroom Bake

You can find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday. I, on the other hand, am tired. Like Amy, I need a cozy bed and a long night’s sleep. Night, all!

~~Rhonda