English Muffins

I love English muffins!  and until  recently I never knew how easy they were to make.  You can make this batter the night before as long as you take it out an hour or so to get to room temp.

Here is all you need:

2 cups of sifted flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tablespoon of sugar or splenda
1 cup of room temperature water
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast.. " I use SAF professional yeast"  it's  no fault and will never fail you  and it is so economical.
1/2 teaspoon salt
 Pam or non stick spray
1/2 cup cornmeal  "optional"  but I use it because it makes it so authentic.

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl with the exception of the cornmeal, add the water and mix well,  cover, let rise 30 minutes or so.
Pre-heat your griddle or cast iron pan to 300 degrees
spray English muffin rings with your non stick spray
sprinkle the cornmeal on the griddle where you'll put your four rings
scoop equal amounts of the batter in each ring
cook between 4-5 minutes,  flip with spatula,  cook the other side the same
remove them to a plate and slip off the rings carefully because they will be hot to the touch.


You can serve them as is or split them and toast them on the griddle and add butter and honey , or your favorite jam or jelly.  This makes 4 nice size muffins.

Reasons married couples argue.

You fight.  You don't want to,  but, you do.  You fight because of things she does that you don't like and things you do she doesn't like.  Most case's they aren't even important.  What's important after a lot of years you both still always do them.   Habits overall are inextinguishable.  Your fighting because your married,  and fighting is as intrinsic to marriage as sex.

If you want to stay married,  you don't have to stop fighting,  you have to keep the fighting less personal. Most fights they are volatile,  often imaginative, and always terribly personal.  They are in other words what sex should be.

I think in the back of our minds when we argue,  were thinking who's going to win?  The question is not who can win,  because anyone can win if they're wiling to win at the cost of love and hurt.  The big question is who can abstain from winning,  who can resist the temptation of winning,  which like all marital temptation, is always there.

So how do you do that?  Well you don't go to bed angry or in different rooms. And you try like hell not to say things that can't be unsaid or hard to take back.  And NEVER  end a fight by having sex with someone else other than each other,  and that includes going on line and chatting or seeking out someone else because someone else don't know the real you like your spouse. Infidelity is the final measure of defeat and victory in the worst possible form.  And most times you may never be able to recover from it.

Fighting is just another way of voicing your objections to the person you both chose to live out your life with.  All things matter to marriage.  Sex matters to marriage,  fidelity matters to marriage, equal ground matters, and even fighting matters to marriage,.

What matters most to marriage?  forgiveness,  and forgiveness doesn't come free.  You have to fight for it!  So go kiss your spouse and think of whats most important to you as a couple.

Make Over Monday

  Fish and Chips!  Good Lord if there is ever a reason I miss New England it's for an order of Horton's Fish & Chips.  Unfortunately seeing it's battered and deep fried,  the calories  in this is crazy!  when you think it starts off with a nice fresh piece of cod and a Idaho potato. I hope your sitting because it will cost you a whopping....1,133 calories that's not including Cole slaw but does include tarter sauce.








My version still taste great but much better on the arteries!  Here is what you'll need.

6-8 oz of fresh cod or haddock
1/4 cup egg beaters
1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Pam
1 Idaho potato
sea salt & pepper
2 tablespoons Hellman's lite mayonnaise
1 dill pickle chopped
 Preheat Oven to 400 degrees
Spay Pam on cookie sheet
Dip fish into egg beaters then panko, salt & pepper, place on cookie sheet..
wash, slice potato, dry in paper towel, spread out on cookie sheet, spay with Pam
Bake Fish 10-12 minutes, take out and cover, while fries finish up another 5 minutes or so.
Meanwhile mix your mayonnaise, pickle, salt& pepper for your tarter sauce and a wedge of lemon if you like...  This about 490 calories and hardly any fat!


 

So Far so good.....

So its been eleven days since Mandy and Fallon has been in NY visiting Tim and it's been pretty quiet.   Steve and I have only hit a bump or two so far, NO major arguments.  He's even swept the floor a couple of times and picked up Belles poop when she's had an accident " she's still learning".  We did miss our shooting and breakfast date once again because he had a sugar headache but hopefully will have one Monday right after we drop Miss Belle to get fixed!  No puppies for her.  I just want her to be happy and carefree with her parents!

I have a few project I want to start and now that it's becoming less humid out maybe I can get started on those before for my trip to RI.  I also want to can a few more things before all those wonderful apples, pears, squash, and pumpkins come into harvest!

 I'm sitting here waiting for Steve to take me out on errands and a trip through the forest!  That should be nice!  I love doing things with him.

Our Hero is Home

 It's been so quiet and cool here the last few days from all the rain so when the phone rang it seemed louder than normal.  I was going to ignore it and let them leave a message but I answered it only to hear our son in laws voice on the other end.   I can't say enough how nice it was to talk to him.  We've talked a few times over the last year while he was on deployment but this morning was different,  it was different because I knew he was back on home ground.
 
Though you could hear how tired he was,  you could hear how happy he was to be back with Mandy and Fallon.  He said it was so wonderful to sleep in a real bed and to have a ice cold drink at hand and going to a late supper where they could sit and catch up was so nice. 

So many of these little things we take for granted.  So many of us don't realize how tough it is over there.  Of course in the earlier wars like the Revolution, Civil and so on,  those men and women really knew what sacrifice was and what it was to go without food, drink, sleep.  Their families had to wait weeks to months just to receive word from their loved ones.  Even when someone they loved got killed sometimes they didn't know for so long.
Wives and small children had to work their farms to keep the family going.  There was so much sacrifice all the way around.

Today it's much better for our men and women as far as having food and drinks.  They have more communication with their families via the phone, Internet and so on.  Our country helps provide for the families while the men and women are gone but,  they still are away from us, they still live on small means,  and they still never know if they are going to die today.... and for that I am so grateful for ALL the men and women that serve our Country proud.

Welcome home Tim!  We love you Dearly!

What a sight!!

Rain Rain Rain

 I woke up this morning and it was so dark I thought it was the middle of the night but it was 6 am and pouring out!  We haven't got rain in months!  My first thought was the husband is going to be so happy that it's raining because everything around us is dying despite Steve's efforts.

The second thing to mind was this is the perfect kind of morning to just snuggle and make love all day long!  Something about the suttle darkness and the sound of the rain just makes it the perfect setting for a romantic morning.  I don't think your ever too old to love the romance of it all.

That vision popped out of my mind when I heard Steve sit up and I sat next to him and held his hand a few minutes and said " good morning " then he laid back down and started to snore..lol  The three dogs started jumping on me to let them out and to be fed. I let them out one by one and just stared out the window a few minutes.  Of course they came in soaking wet and full of demands.  And so my day begins....

A little Trivia

Since today is Labor Day,  I thought for fun I gave a little trivia'
 September5, 1882 In New York was the first Labor Day.

Originally it was a workers holiday.

 Soon enough many states followed and it 1894
 congress passed an act making the first Monday of September
 a legal holiday..

Oregon was the first state to declare Labor Day as law.

In the late 1800"s  the average American worker worked 12 hour days, seven days a week.

Children as young as 5-6 years old toiled in mills and earned a fraction of the adult workers and the adult workers made next to nothing!

Canada  also celebrates Labor day

Some fun facts:

Unofficially Labor Day marks the end of Summer
Wearing white clothes was unacceptable.
Most families wouldn't grill or BBQ after labor day
Children went back to school the next day.
In 1912 Mass.  was the only state to set a minimum wage for woman and children
In 1938 act was to general employees and they made .25 cents an hour.
You always got paid in cash in a envelope


   Here's a blast from the past ~~

I never tire....

 I was just getting ready to do my housework when Steve cane in to tell me we had baby fawn eating in our front yard with the Mama on the side lines watching.  It's been two years here and I never ever get tired or bored looking out my window and see such a sight!

I think to myself...maybe this was what it was all for,  because now I have all this beauty and nature surrounding us on a daily basis.  I never take it for granted.  The birds, deer, bunnies, lizards, and even snakes  live here on our land.  They nibble at the seed we put out and drink from our creek when it isn't dry.  If I never left here I could be content as long as I have Steve to enjoy it with.


She is young mom,  I was able to go outside just close enough to grab a couple of pictures.  They aren't the best because I didn't want to scare them.

Another Labor Day Weekend

 I think it's true when they say the older you get the faster the days seem to fly by.  I can not believe  this is the beginning of our third Labor Day here in Good Ole Tennessee!   Seems like yesterday Me and my oldest daughter Holly was painting and cleaning to get ready for my daughter Mandy and Fallon to come stay with us when Tim was on deployment.  Now before we know it she'll be moving on around the first of the year.  Time is just flying flying by.

For me it really has taken me back a bit to think about this life and how much more of it is left?  There was so much more I wanted to see and do.  Now we are older, slower, and a little stiffer..lol  Sometimes I sit and think how I am going to approach my next move for the day.  Yesterday I worked around the house like a dog and it seems lately when I have a day like that,  it takes about two days to recover from it!  though I try to keep plugging along.

Right now all I can think of is me and Steve having a nice long weekend together,  who knows if both of us will be here next year.  When I was a med tech I had a lot of elderly patients and they all said the same thing.... make each day count!  because you just never ever know.  When your young you think we are invincible and have all the time in the world.  Unfortunately that isn't always true.

Last night was a good night.  Steve did forget we had a date to watch a few shows together but I rolled it off my shoulder and thought I just don't want to fight about it.  So we ended up watching a good movie and snuggled and chatted.  To me that was golden!  I even scored a kiss... " that's even better "  I love the simple things,  that's what means the most to me.  When someone you care about gives you time.  And time is free.  My Mom always said...the best thing in life are for free and I still believe that today.  Thanks Mom..

Puppies are here!

 The puppies have arrived early this morning.  Poor Dixie was so so stressed out!  Steve stayed with her all night long on his study floor to keep her company and calm.  I gave her the royal treatment this morning with breakfast served right to her with a nice dose of her favorite nog full of extra protein and she loved it!  They are so cute.  She only had eight this time around and that's just fine with me.

 The next several weeks will be so so busy taking care of her and the puppies but we don't mind,  they are our family and we spoil them rotton.  Here is one of the first pics..  Dixie chewed up a couple of pillows when she was in labor.