Saturday, May 29, 2010

Schools Out

The last day of school.
This was my favorite day of the entire school year.
Freedom
No more school
No more books (except the ones I wanted to read)
No more teachers dirty looks.
The warm Summer days
stretched out before me.
Time to sit under a tree & daydream.
Play in the woods.
Go swimming & on picnics.
Elgin Oregon, the town I grew up in has a fabulous drive thru . They have the best BBQ fries you have ever tasted!
You could get an ice cream cone for a dime. Each student would get a dime to go to Ceasers and buy a chocolate or vanilla cone on the last day of school.
The first part of the day would be spent turning in your books. By lunch time we where free to do as we pleased.
Hanging around outside soaking up the sun & visiting with friends. I even remember one year a few of us sneaking down to the river to play for awhile.
What fun!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Lilacs


Old fashioned purple Lilacs give me such a homey feeling.
Grandma Simmons had rows of huge lilac bush's surrounding her house.
As children we would spend hours playing in these bush's, where we had houses and stores. The green leafs we used as money.
What a wonderful make believe town we had with the heady scent of Lilac flower and many song birds flitting in and out singing there tunes.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Norwegian Culture

I'm learning some Norwegian culture here in North Dakota. May,17th is "Syttende Mai" This day in 1905 Norway gained its independence from Sweden.

We celebrated by making Lefsa, a flat bread made of potatoes, flour & cream.
You boil, peel & rice the potatoes the day before and keep them cool in the fridge. On the day of preparation you mix in the flour and form balls from the potato mixture which are rolled flat and thin on a lefsa board. They are then picked up with a colorful lefsa stick and grilled on a lefsa grill. Quite an undertaking.

When the last lefsa is on the grill you throw up your hands and shout "Uphta"

I did pretty well for my first time making lefsa. It helped to get allot of pointers from the true blue Norwegians in the crowd.

The lefsa's are rolled up with butter, sugar & Cinnamon to make a tasty treat.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

I'm a Winner


I'm a winner! I won "Story Book Stitches" a contest Paula @ http://www.onarainynight.blogspot.com/ hosted. Check out her blog to see what fun things Paula is up to.


These awesome prizes just arrived in the mail.
Check out these book tags. Now when I loan out my favorite novels the borrowers will know who to give them back to.


Thanks Paula!

Monday, May 10, 2010

Cheesy Biscuits

I found this recipe in a cookbook given to me by my aunt Judy.
It was made up by the Hulse family and dedicated to Grandma Lida.
I remember visiting her farm in the Wallowa Valley. There was always plenty of food & fun to be had by all.
This Cheesy biscuit recipe is every bit as tasty as the biscuits you get at Red Lobster.

2 cups Bisquick
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup grated cheese
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Mix together.
Drop on greased cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 12 minutes.
Remove from oven, brush with melted butter and garlic powder.
Makes one dozen.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

America's Favorite Beef Recipes

Today is Turn the Page Tuesday. Adrienne @ www.someofakind.blogspot.com hosts this event every month & those of us that join in always look forward to the great book reviews.

I found this great cook book while searching for treasures at "Worn a Bit" a thrift store we found in Rugby N.D.
Just looking at the cover makes my mouth water. This cook book is full of savory recipe's from "Pesto Beef Sandwich" to "Steak Soft Taco's"
Each Delicious recipe has a full color picture to go along with it.
Since we raise beef we've got a freezer full of meat to try out on these recipes. I can't wait to get started.

Come on over for a taste test.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Retro Chairs

You know that chair fetish I have. I think I have passed it on to my daughter.
She has been after me since last fall to buy her a little old fashioned chair she found at an Antic shop. I never did get that particular chair.

Shopping at the city wide yard sales, through the rain and cold wind, we spotted one last garage door still opened, so stopped to take a peek.
Dawn zeroed in on this pair of retro chairs. The vender's parents had owned them and they sat in their foyer which was used so infrequently that these two chairs had rarely been sat in. There are no worn marks at all on the upholstery. They look like they just came off the show room floor and talk about comfy. When you sit in them you don't want to get up.

We got them for $25 each. Quite a bargain I would say.