This to this~
It is always lovely to spend January away from the snow and cold weather but coming home today to 60 degrees isn't bad either. Home is where my heart stays. I don't know what it is about this place but being able to buy his property was one of the happiest days of my life and driving into the driveway always thrills me because it feels like a part of me rests here and will be here forever...even though I will be pushing up daisies one day. .. hopefully a long time off because I have so much to do and things to see and of course promises to make good.Beth picked me up at the airport and she is such a doll and so cheerful and helpful and filled with a loving spirit. The house could have been pictured for a magazine with all of the flowers, clean and healthy dogs, and everything in its place. It just sparkled. She is a blessing for sure. Mike flew down to Florida to drive the old folks home. (Glad I am not included in that description.) Glenda did pretty well this year even with a very bad knee. There are five levels to that beach house so we all got in our exercise every day for a month. It was hardest on her, but she is a trooper. It rained pretty much but on the sunny days we managed to bake our bones and I came home with a really good tan which always looks nice with a yellow cashmere sweater set and pearls. It will soon fade, but I am going to make the most of it.
I always say I will never cook again after a month of non-stop cooking, but already I am putting together a grocery list in my mind for my very clean and organized frig. But Beth and I had Chinese carry out tonight and it was so delicious. Andy and Mike won't be back until very late tomorrow night, so maybe we can work in another carry in meal or two. Steak would be nice since we feasted on seafood for a month.
(Here is a good idea from Pinterest.)
Shrimp Taco Bites. Seasoned shrimp in scoop tortilla chip with sour cream, cilantro, and avocado. Great appetizers
I didn't create anything new on the trip, nor did I find inspiration when we ate out, but I have been watching Netflex and several really good cooking events are on there along with Doc Martin, House of Cards, Nurse Jackie (which I cannot watch the last of the series as she continues to shoot herself in the foot.) I got Joe on Netflex and he is so hooked that it was difficult to get him into the card games. We played over sixty GAMES , not hands, games of Euchre...now I can't stand the name or the game. We were so far ahead, but those Lechler men are made for cards; they passed us by and so I quit! And tore up the running score. Nice lesson for the young, right?
I will try to get on track and give you some good recipes. Ina Garten had a great wild rice salad that I want to make for Easter. Do you realize we are into Lent and Easter is March 27th and everyone is coming? I had better get my head and menu together. Talk to you so. Glad to be back and sorry to have left you hanging for a month.
P.S. I did have one new thing to try while in Florida, well, new to me. Our son David made skillet lasagna one evening to relieve me cooking for once. It was delicious and eaten in one sitting because you simply select the size skillet that fits the needs of those having dinner with you at that time. We had seven that evening so a large deep skillet fit with a lid did the trick. An iron skillet is really great as well.
Buy the no cook sheet noodles which is a wonderful invention I must say and time efficient, or any kind of pasta that you like. Put a layer of your favorite sauce in the bottom of the skillet. Put a layer of chopped ground chuck (cook before but just slightly), then a layer of sauce, then noodles, then cheese cheese...you get the idea just as you would the tedious lasagna recipe but scaled down. End with cheese, put on the lid and set the skillet on a baking sheet to catch the spill, and slide it into the oven for around 40 minutes or until it has a good bubble going. It is special. I found Prego spicy sausage (jar) made it more delicious and I also sprinkled a packet of dried onion soup over each layer of the meat for extra flavor. Then you don't need salt. Pinterest has dozens of recipes for this and you can't go wrong.
