Christmas Cheese Ball~Reprise

There is just no good name for a cheese ball. If you can think of one for this recipe~let me know. It is made with Blue Cheese and Blue Cheese Cheese Ball doesn't cut it, in the best of all worlds. Instead of 'name that tune' we can play 'name that cheese ball!' Wanna play?

I have concocted this recipe over the years and we do make it a lot for various gatherings over the holidays. Even people that are not crazy about blue cheese love this. We were looking for a cheese ball that was colorful and Christmasy and delicious. You know how they are normally boring looking with no color and just rolled in nuts? Not this one, it just screams Christmas!

We think we have a winner here. Some people even invite us to their gatherings on the condition we bring this! It takes a little time (especially if you are photographing it) but is easy and I like that part. I am not into a bunch of labor intensive cooking. What I do love is cooking with my hubby, he is a natural in the kitchen. Lucky me! He says food talks to him...OK, so he is a little wacko!

Tomorrow is our big family dinner for our relatives that live in our area, so Jim and I are cooking up a storm. Speaking of wacko, it's Official~ I am totally wacko about blogging! I have discovered it is fun to cook, photograph and to stage the food. It is 10 times more fun that just cooking! Multi-tasking lives on!

Hmmm, people do not always sell their houses but...everybody eats. Maybe I can dabble in a new facet of design for me to supplement the mad money. Actually I am pretty much kidding because these photos need much improvement but we had a lot of fun cooking and shooting the process.  

Chop up some scallions or if you prefer,
some chives or a little finely chopped parsley for color.

Chop up some Craisins or 
dried cranberries
if you prefer calling them that.

Chop up some Walnuts

This is enough for four cheese balls.
Four bricks of softened cream cheese,
a bunch of blue cheese,
(I am not into exact measurements, sorry!)
Craisins, green onions, nuts and some garlic salt~
because everything that isn't sweet need garlic!

I put it in a big mixing bowl and start mixing it together.

Every time I start with a big spoon but soon
find it works best to mix it all by hand and 
shape into balls. Thus the name...cheese balls.
 Brilliant!

Here are the 4 cheese balls I varied 

the sizes for different purposes;

parties, gifts, or whatever.

I put my wedding rings on the cutting board
to remind you to remove them
as it is no fun getting the cheese out of 

the rings if you forget.

Stab it with a cute Christmas Spreader
~Fini~

Here I staged the food for you..
I had to put all these crackers back 
in the box afterwards!
A little Pomegranate Sparkling Cider 
is nice with it!

Try It, You'll Like It!

Roasted Vegetables~So Yummy

Along with our entree for our family dinner on Easter we are serving some roasted vegetables. I got this recipe from my friend, Barb, she is my cooking guru! This is like the best new thing I have cooked in a long, long time. We tried it out the other night to make sure our oven was cooking hot enough, to see if the seasoning was right and to taste it. Jim went into his moaning mode which is usually only reserved for his favorite Holy Schmidt (there is a story) soup!

First I peeled all these little pearl onions.

 
I thought they looked so pretty in the bowl with
the sun streaming into the kitchen onto them

 
These are the veggies on the jelly roll pan
 prior to roasting~
I will spread them out a little more on Easter.

Next I added all the other things into a bag and put some olive oil in to coat them. The other things were, fingerling potatoes, carrots, garlic cloves, hazelnuts, sage, fresh rosemary, sea salt and cracked pepper. After they were coated I spread them out on a jelly roll pan. I had preheated the over to 450 degrees, popped them in the oven and walked away for 20-25 minutes. They were absolutely delicious! The timing was great and the seasoning so perfect. I am not one to spare on the spices. The only thing I will alter in the future is that I won't add in the hazelnuts until about ten minutes into the process. They were a little too dark for our liking.

Valentine's Tea Party

Pinterest

Today I am posting a little interlude to my lovely time with Jennifer and Laura.  I wanted to share some photos from my first attempt at hosting a bonafide afternoon ladies' tea.  Around Christmas time I was blessed to have a chance to spend part of a day with two of my great friends, Maureen and Michelle.

We went to our favorite little tea room in Benicia for lunch to celebrate Maureen's birthday.  We all had such a wonderful time just chatting and sipping herb teas and an idea was born that we should do a tea for some of our favorite people around Valentine's Day.  I volunteered to have it at my house although I hadn't the faintest idea how to do it.  So I started reading and pinning all about teas on Pinterest.  Maureen had done one before and so we just decided to go for it.  It was a lot of work but so much fun to pamper our friends for a few hours.  Here are some of the photos:

This tea was such a group effort
Maureen made the sweet garland of  
sparkly red, pink and white hearts.
Laura helped me design the tablescape.
Doesn't that sound official? ...
OK, we set the table together. 
With Barbara's glass dishes and teapots
 and Lanette's napkins.
 she also brought lemon tarts for the party.

Is it beginning to sound like you 
were the only guest, dear reader,
and everyone else was helping? 

 

These are the actual Valentines Jim and I exchanged.

Not the first time we have chosen similar themes

for our cards. 45 years of practice! 

( Not including 4 years of dating.)

I guess he is keeping me!

Laura brought me the candles from

 the shop where she works in RI

 

Jim set up the tables for us and moved 

a bunch of furniture to make room! 

He did a ton of work to make this

 all happen behind the scenes,

 including making a fabulous frittata.

 The menu you see on the plate above

would be right here if I hadn't

accidentally erased it!

Whoops...too late to fix it now...almost midnight!

Laura and I wrapped all these little boxes of chocolates

 and she made the tiny hearts with the sweet sentiment on them.

I made these tiny little fruit kabobs.  

Took forever like knitting a sweater or something!  

Sheesh!

Stuffed the celery with pineapple cream cheese

 and another plate of pimento cream cheese celery bites.
Gotta get those veggies in somewhere, right?

Mini cornbread muffins with jam 

and a 'simulation' of clotted cream

A little open faced sliced baguette with cheese, onions

 and mayonnaise that Jennifer once had at a

 tea in the UK!

I attempted Scones!  Moi!  I know,
 I can hardly believe it myself!

I dipped some strawberries!
We had some fun little cookies also 
and chocolate of course. 

Maureen made these darling little bits of cupcakes.

  She made them from a wedding cake batter. 

 Scrumptious I tell you!

Maureen also made some chopped 
egg tiny finger sandwiches

 and some olive walnut and cream cheese
 ones and Michelle

 made a delicious bunch of cucumber
 sandwiches. She also washed

all the teapots and filled them all with
 hot water 

and did the major part
 of the clean up.

Everyone participated in this part!

We had a great time laughing and talking.  

There is just nothing like friends 

you have known forever and loved.  

I'd love having any one of them

 for a sister any day of the week.

In fact, that is exactly how I feel about all of them

they truly are my sisters!

Barbara gave me this beautiful Cake Plate/Cloche 

with a double piece of cake

(Marketplace size equaling 

 enough cake for six people!)  She is

most assuredly a Sweetheart!

It is disappearing slowly but 

staying 100% fresh under glass!

Photo taken five days after the tea!

Maureen made one of these gorgeous 
Victorian paper cones called tussy mussies for each of us
 and stuffed them with little treats to take home.
We hung them on our hall tree so all 
the treats would stay inside them. 
We missed those who were unable to make it! 
We'll have to do it again sometime.

I think with a little practice we could give
 The Camillia Tea Room a run for their money!
What do you think?
 
I wish all of YOU could have joined us!

A Simple Woman's Daybook~January 25, 2013

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Saturday, January 12, 2013

 

Outside my window...It is 8:20 am and I have been working for a couple of hours already.  I just sat down and looked out the window.  It is overcast, breezy and 48.  Warm compared to the past few weeks.  Maybe the cold snap is over or at least that is the hope.  It looks like the high clouds may burn off in which case it will be sunny and lovely today.

I am thankful for...having completed this project for family history and a presentation I have done that was quite difficult for me.  It is a presentation I will give 10 times and so now that I have the mechanics under control and my PowerPoint done, I can get caught up on all the things that had to slide in the process.  I am a little nervous as my first two presentations are Sunday but I am thankful for the stretching opportunity it has been to get ready for it.  I do not run track ( I know that conjures up a ridiculous image to those of you that know me...hehe) but there are hurdles in life regardless.  I am running towards it now...I'll let you know if I clear the bar.
 

From the learning room...when the Lord calls us to do something he always prepares a way for us to accomplish it.  That faith is essential when you strive to do something new.  Replacing the fear with some faith in His constancy is the ticket for me.  I can do this, I can do this...with His help.

I am reading...Nothing for the sheer pleasure of it at the moment.  But that will change shortly.  I have a couple of new projects on the back burner but I plan to take a little break before getting into them.

From the kitchen...Oh, I bought a bunch of veggies and fruit that I need to get ready for the week.  Weight Watchers has this really cool thing going on with marketing concepts in the frig.  So we have tried it  and it is fun and effective.  And my hubby has been doing almost all of the cooking.  He loves to do it and who am I to argue with that?  Not stupid, that is for sure.  I am sure it will slow down when the weather is better and he can get back to his construction so I am enjoying it fully right now.

 

Prepare all your veggies for use in advance

Place all the nutritious food 
of high impact/low calories

right at eye level.  Brilliant!

Put other things like condiments you don't use

 often in the "Dead Vegetable" bins down below.

   
I am missing...our family.  It has been too long since we have been together so we are fixing that this next week.  The girls will soon arrive.  I am so excited I can hardly handle it.

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...I have been continually amazed lately about how much the Lord is in the details of our lives.  It is so awesome.  Things continually happen and I am like...Wow, he really knows us up close and personally!   Such a wonderful thing to know for sure.

I am hearing...it is later in the afternoon now and the windows are wide open and it feels like spring.  I have just been breathing the air in and feeling so happy.  I am still putting things away from my once every two months trek to Walmart so no music playing yet.  I hear a piper cub overhead, a dog barking in the distance and my keyboard clicking away.  And I might add, at a speed that would make my old typing teacher from high school roll over in his grave.  He was positive I'd never actually get typing.  Now if he knew how many things I type in a week, he'd pat himself on the back...big time.  I think my problem with it was him.  He made me soooo nervous.  To this day I do not like to have someone stand over me and watch me type.

One of my guilty pleasures...being done with typing class and done with Walmart and just being right here right now enjoying a few minutes in the present.  Pushing all the cares away and just being.  Try it, it is fabulous!


Pet Peeves...birds that like to perch right over our clean car and front porch railing.  Argh!

I am going...To take a little nap very soon.  I have been up since 4:45 am today and on the run.  I am calling "Uncle" for now!


I am quoting...Pinterest:

If I could change one thing it would be...lack of heartaches for us all.  That no one would say and do things that hurt other people so much.  Of course it won't ever happen but it is a nice place to think about.  I think they call it heaven!  I think simple kindness and respect would change the way this world turns on its axis.

An enjoyable movie we have watched lately...Downton of course although not technically a "movie."  I didn't like the first two episodes this season) but the third one pulled me in.  The first two episodes everyone seemed miserable and crabby including the newlyweds.  Are you kidding me after waiting from June to January to see it happen?   Not even one episode of bliss?  Sheesh, I am such a Pollyanna!  I just want to watch happy, warm and fuzzy when I sit down to relax in the evenings and say good-bye to reality.  Funny thing is when I mentioned it to Jim he said he felt exactly the same way but wasn't going to say so!  Anybody else?  I venture to guess our opinion is not a popular one.  But we love, love, love it overall and as I said it redeemed itself substantially in episode 3.

I am curious about...what the girls and I will do once we are all together?  No kids, no Dads what on earth could this mean?  This could be a dangerous experiment!

Plans for the rest of the week...Do some last minute things tomorrow for my classes on Sunday. Sunday do the two classes and finish church, then I have a meeting in Oakland in the late afternoon and then a great opportunity to hear some words of inspiration from our Stake President  and his wife at a Stake Fireside for the women of the church.  Downton Abbey on Monday via PBS and more prep for Laura's arrival and her birthday.  It is going to be a fantastic week.  I am so looking forward to just relaxing and having fun with her.   I am sure the end of the week will include a trip to SF with Jim and Laura.  We're just going to shut the world out and enjoy this special time.

One of my favorite things...Getting old enough to actually realize how much of a blessing time with the kids really is.  Being able to savor it in the moment and not being so caught up in what happens next that I miss something.  I remember thinking that when I was sitting at her wedding reception 15 years ago.  It was our third reception in four months with all three of our children being married that year. Yes, you did read that right!  I remember just thinking this is the culmination of a year's worth of work on weddings.  This will never come again.  The event is happening right now, the time for preparation and details is over.  Just relax and be here, right now, enjoying what it is.  What a blessing that was and still is!  Being present in the present.  That is one of my favorite things!

A photo I am sharing this week...We had a fun dinner with friends this past week on Sunday.  Jim invited the people and did everything himself.  He decided as he was getting into it that he would do it with only what we had in the house.  No grocery shopping!  I was thinking to myself, now this should be interesting.  He knew I was buried in work so he told me not to worry and just come.  I said, "you're on" with a little trepidation in my voice I'm sure.  I was amazed, he did a great job.  I kept thinking he will run out of food for nine people.  Nope.  I need to just trust that food talks to him and he obeys.  He made Ravioli, an Italian fritatta, a green salad with the help of Phyllis, we had sour dough bread and some other things as well.   He served fresh fruit and salted chocolate caramels for dessert.  Perfecto!  It was pretty cool being a guest in my own house!

Patty and Jim and Phyllis and Terry

The Magic Dinner by The Pampering Chef!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon

Photo at the top of the page

Musings of Life An Illustration by Erin

Depicting Jo March from Little Women!

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Orange Almond Molded Jello Salad

My Sister-in-law, Emily, has been making this salad for family gatherings for as long as I can remember.  It is delicious and not your typical jello concoction.  Today we made it ourselves for the first time for Thanksgiving Dinner tomorrow.  Lucky us, that is all we were asked to bring??  Seems criminal, doesn't it while Jim's cousin, Debbie, will be slaving over a hot stove all day. Blessed her heart!  Well, we'll sure give her a hand once we arrive.

Emily said she usually doubles or triples this for large gatherings so we decided to do a triple batch.

 

 ORANGE ALMOND SALAD

Serves 4-6

6-oz can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

2/3 cup water

3-oz pkg. orange flavor jello

3/4 cup lemon-lime carbonated beverage

11-oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 cup slivered almonds

In large saucepan, heat orange juice and water to 

boiling; stir in jello until dissolved. Slowly add 

lemon-lime beverage; chill until thickened.  Fold

in mandarin oranges and almonds.  Pour into 4-cup mold 

Chill until firm.

The above picture is not mine, got it from Google images.  We actually just made it in a festive bowl.  But I like the way the mold looks and the garnish is lovely too.  The orange juice makes this salad opaque and the sprite makes it a little tangy.  The slivered almonds and mandarins are just great combination as well.  It is a winner and so easy!  

What I like is how pretty it will look with that turkey and all the trimmings.  Eye appeal on the plate is important, especially if you like to decorate the plate as much as preparing it.  (Or more!) It just comes with the territory if you are an interior decorator.  Smiling! 

 Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S.  I am thankful for your friendship! ♥

Family Recipes~And Forever Friends

A small section of the murals at The Beach Chalet Restaurant
in San Francisco that I photographed this
week when we went over for dinner.

Don't you just love having your old family recipes? You know what I mean, the ones your mother use to make for you as a child, the ones that were always a part of your traditions, the ones that brought you comfort and still do. Sometimes when I make a recipe of my mom's it is almost like she is right here with me again. And in many ways she is.

Several years ago I set about to create a family cookbook. Well, it never did quite come to fruition but I did manage to collect some of our favorites from older family members that are now gone. Then one time while transferring information from an old computer to a new one the recipes disappeared. I was devastated! Well, fortunately for me, it was a PICNIC problem. This is an acronym for what my friend calls Problem in Chair Not In Computer. PICNIC problems of this nature arise for me a lot so I am use to them. But losing the recipes was not easy to swallow.

So a few weeks ago I was working on organizing my genealogy files and quite appropriately my recipes reappeared. Because aren't family recipes a part of our family history? Definitely. They were filed under one of the obscure titles that one chooses so they won't forget where the files are and then promptly forgets what the chosen name is. Mamma Mia!

One thing I adore about old recipes from the 50s and 60s is their simplicity. The ingredients are simple and straight forward. Basically they are just down home cooking with no fancy frills attached. You never look at a recipe from that era and ask, "What is that ingredient and where on earth can I find it?" Hate that when I am trying to make something.

So this past week we had a dinner party and we decided to make one of our tried and true recipes from my mom. The menu consisted of baby back ribs, macaroni salad, a green salad with lots of veggies and some fruit in it and my Mom's Famous Baked Beans and garlic bread. These beans are delicious with all kind of picnic faire and yummy with autumn comfort foods too.

The recipe for the baked beans is simple and delicious!

Here Jim is has cut up a pound
of bacon and is browning it.

We cook this in this old pan that doesn't even have handles anymore. We use it so it can just go directly into the oven when we are finished assembling the baked beans. He then removed the crispy bacon from the pan.

Next he is chopping one large onion
after this he will do one large bell pepper.

He then sauteed the onion and the pepper
in a tiny bit of the bacon grease
after removing 95% of it.And added the bacon back in.

Taking cooking photos is fun if you can catch some
of the action/movement of what you are doing
like pouring the Ketchup!

Then we put in 2 (29 to 31 oz) cans of pork and beans.

Use as much as you need for your crowd
and then just adjust the other ingredients accordingly.
Pour in a small bottle of ketchup.

Add 2 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce

Add a cup and a half of firmly packed brown sugar

Then we baked it for 3.5 to 4 hours in the oven at 250*
degrees. We then put the baked beans
in our crockpot for reheating the next
night for our dinner party.
We love cooking ahead so we can have a
more relaxed evening with our guests.

Ingredients:
2 cans 31 oz. Pork and Beans
1 lb browned, lean Bacon (oxymoron I know)
1 large Onion~chopped
1 large Bell Pepper~chopped
1 small bottle of Ketchup

Combine ingredients and slow bake
at 250* for 3 to 4 hours. Enjoy!

Here are the baby back ribs.

I got them at Sam's Club, I'm not ashamed to admit.
You can find them in the same case
as the hot roasted chickens.
They were wonderful and all you do is cut apart,
for easier handling and eating
and add a little extra BBQ sauce and cover and
heat for one hour or so before serving
at 250* with a tight foil
cover over your dish.

If you don't have a Sam's Club. Sorry
you will have to make them yourself!
Or serve them with just about any other meat.

The table cloth is a little wild but great for the Fall.

Everything but the guests now complete the tablescape,
and it is time to invite them in from the family room.
I removed my big centerpiece and added
this great candle holder that keeps the ambiance
just perfectly candle lit and you can
actually see everyone without an obstructed view.
Win/Win

And here they are! The best part of the evening!
Our wonderful Family Home Evening Group
minus one couple that could not make it.

To see the recipe for the dessert I made for this dinner go here
http://tinyurl.com/44xry2p

When you host the dinner for the group for the month you do everything including the Gospel related lesson. That makes it so nice for everyone because then for three months you just get to go and not worry about anything for that one evening. Jim and I shared some thoughts on genealogy and family history with them. It was a fun evening for us and we hope they felt the same. Wish you could join us for such an occasion one day!