Day Three Hundred Twenty Seven 2013

Chilly night! Chili night! Happy Saturday!

Day Three Hundred One 2013

Bought a new Crockpot yesterday and thought I’d take it for a spin today. It’s the first time I’ve ever actually bought a slow cooker even though I’ve been using them since I’ve been married [40 years and counting]. Crockpots made their debut way back in the seventies. Someone gave us our first one for a wedding gift. It is burnt orange. I still have it. My daughter Holly gave me one of her slow cookers after she got married ~ she and her hubs ended up with three as wedding presents.  I was happy to have a modern one where you can remove the crock from the pot. Easier to wash. It was time for a new one, though. Spent twenty bucks for it at Wal-Mart. Not too shabby. Works great, especially after the smells-like-I’m-cooking-batteries odor wore off and the sweet and sour chicken and broccoli aroma took over. Tasted great, too.

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 One Hundred Fifty Four 2013

Daughter Kelly and son in law Kerry treated Neil and me to a fabulous dinner at House of Thai this evening here in our little town. This restaurant has been here forever, and we’ve heard the food is delicious, but we have become set- in- our- ways old fogies who never try anything new. Neil and I had no idea what to expect, but we were pleasantly surprised by how wonderful the food is. I enjoyed the Avocado Shrimp [with onions, asparagus and almonds with rice]. I’m sure a return visit is in order in the near future. Thanks, Kelly and Kerry, for encouraging us to step outside our little box and try something totally different.

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 Thirteen 2013

Fresh out of the Pizza Hut oven, a hot gooey personal pan supreme hit the spot for supper—comfort food on a rain-drenched evening. A huge storm blew through our town, lots of rain and wind and lightning and thunder and flooding and tree limbs everywhere. When Neil and I got to Pizza Hut, the outside temperature was 64 degrees. When we left, it was 60, and on our way home, less than two miles away, we watched the temperature drop to 46 degrees on the truck thermometer. So the forecasted cold front blew into town after the storm. Monday is going to feel like winter again.

Day Three 2013

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.

~Mark Twain (1835~1910)  

That’s what Neil and I did this evening for supper at Ocha Thai food deli. After surviving the demon stomach virus, we decided we could handle something hot and spicy. If the food decides to fight it out inside, at least it tasted yummy on the way down.

Day Two Hundred Seventy Six 2012

For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average - hey, let's get a pizza!
~Jay Leno  (You know what else? There is a quote for everything.)

Neil and I enjoyed our fabulous mushroom pizza at Gondola tonight. Neil did not always enjoy mushroom pizza. I think it was on our second date, waaay back in early 1972, we landed at Gondola, only it was in a different location then. They had, and still do have, some of the best pizza on the planet (and they still cut it into squares, not triangles, which I think makes it taste even better.) I guess he thought he’d be sweet and let me order the pizza. Much to his horror, I ordered a mushroom pizza. I didn’t learn, until years later, that he was horrified at the time, because he ate it and didn’t complain. Sweet, huh? He has since changed his tune about mushroom pizza and enjoys it as much as I do. I reminded him tonight about that second date and how we seem to have come full circle. Like a pizza.

Day Two Hundred Forty One 2012

We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner at Fazoli’s this evening, and this is how my hubby Neil eats his pasta—he uses a spoon to twirl it onto a fork, which he says/argues is the correct way to eat spaghetti. I, on the other hand, cut my spaghetti (hack it to pieces, he claims)  into bite sized forkfuls and think nothing of it. Different process, same results, I say. He says it tastes better his way. I roll my eyes. We agree to disagree, and now we’re both stuffed with spaghetti.  È squisito!

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.

Day Two Hundred Seven 2010

It's What's For Supper

Fresh salmon to grill, fresh corn on the cob (thanks, Ann and Terry!), green beans and fresh tomatoes from the garden (thanks again, Ann and Terry!)~ our delicious summertime supper. It was most excellent.