Day Two Hundred Ninety Five 2013

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on the feelings, as now in October." 
~Nathaniel Hawthorne


Red maple leaves and jack o’ lanterns and pumpkin doughnuts ~ just to name a few things that make me wish October would stay all year.

Day Two Hundred Seventeen 2013

What’s For Supper?





Sweet and sour chicken with broccoli over rice. It is crazy easy. For just the two of us, I cut two thawed chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and put it in the slow cooker. Salt and pepper it. Stir in two 10 oz.  jars of  La Choy Sweet and Sour Duck Sauce. Add several handfuls of frozen broccoli florets. Stir it all up until well coated with the sauce. Cook on Low heat setting for 5 to 5 1/2 hours, or, if you’re in a hurry, cook on High heat setting for 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 hours. Serve it over cooked rice [I use one big bag of Success Rice for the two of us]. You can also use the La Choy Sweet and Sour Sauce which is red and has a bit of a different flavor than the yellow duck sauce, but Neil and I like the duck sauce better. You can also use a bag of loose pack frozen broccoli, carrots and water chestnuts. I can’t seem to find these anymore. We enjoy it with only broccoli. I found this recipe a long time ago in the Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes and tweaked it to suit myself. That’s what’s for supper. And it sure was good! Happy Monday, y’all!

Day Two Hundred Four 2013

If it could only be like this always - always summer… the fruit always ripe... ~Evelyn Waugh

Summertime on a plate

Day Twenty Eight 2013

I haven’t made meatloaf in, like, forever. So I made meatloaf for supper tonight (here in the South, we call it supper, not dinner). I know. It kind of looks like dog food because apparently I didn’t give it enough time to ‘set’ in the pan before greedily and hungrily shoveling it onto our plates, but it was pretty tasty, the second helping was more loaf-like, and the carrots and baked potatoes (microwaved, actually) weren’t too shabby, either. Plus, I get a kick out of using our square Fiesta plates. It’s about as festive as a Monday is going to get around here.

Here’s a fun fact for you (not about meatloaf): A ranch owner in Fort Keogh, Montana, discovered the largest reported snowflake on this day in 1887. It measured 15 inches wide and 8 inches thick.

Day Twenty Two 2013

Squirrel finds comfort food on a cold day in January.

Comfort food for hubby Neil and me on a cold January night. Thanks to my sister Jane for the veggie beef stew recipe. It was totally delicious! And much better than peanut butter.

Day Three Hundred Thirty Two 2012

"Beautiful soup! Who cares for fish, game or any other dish? Who would not give all else for two pennyworth of beautiful soup?" ~Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
 "You're through, Soup Nazi. Pack it up. No more soup for you. Next!"~Elaine, in "The Soup Nazi"
  {Crockpot chicken noodle soup for supper. Good stuff.}

Day One Hundred Forty Seven 2012

It’s that time of year again—sweet corn! Found some yummy ears at Kroger this afternoon. Wish I’d bought more.

Also bought some Salmon for two. This was farm grown Atlantic Salmon for $4.99 a pound. The lady in front of me at the seafood counter bought the wild Alaskan Salmon for $14.99 a pound. I’ll bet mine tasted every bit as good as hers did.

We bought these Fiesta plates at the Nashville Flea Market yesterday. It was the only thing I bought. I love that they’re square, and I love the colors of Fiesta ware. I told Neil that some grilled Salmon would taste great on these plates. And some fresh corn on the cob.

And it did! Neil grilled some of the best Salmon I’ve ever eaten. And the corn was sweet and juicy. Are you hungry yet?

This is me, enjoying my scrumptious meal.

Juicy red sweet seedless watermelon for dessert! It is officially summertime!

We drove over to Dogwood Park to see what that awesome fountain looks like at night. It is lit up with ever-changing colors—red, yellow, purple, blue, green, gold. Really beautiful. Lots of people there, splashing in the water, even at 9:30 pm.





















Neil and I plan to hang out here as often as possible.