Tasty Tuesday ~ 1/10/12

 

I’ve been in the mood for fresh baked goods lately.  One day last week, I made cloverleaf rolls from scratch.  They were a big hit on the supper table.  We had pizza from scratch on both Christmas and New Year’s Days. 

 

There is something therapeutic for me to make bread dough.  Perhaps it is the creating or maybe it is kneading…  I can’t tell you which or why.  I just love getting my hands into some good bread dough.

So…yesterday…I had the urge again.  We were having spaghetti for supper and I decided that some garlic knots would be a wonderful addition to the meal.  Because I rarely measure anything, I threw my dough together quickly, then let it rise.   I really didn’t intend to make so much dough…it just happened.   So, in addition to the garlic knots, I made some cinnamon rolls with lots and lots of pecans.  Yummy…

The garlic knots were even better…

 

BECAUSE WE ATE THEM ALL.  LOL… Sometimes I crack me up!!!

But, here’s a pic I stole from the internet:

Now you see why they are all gone?   Mmmmmm….

 

If you want a recipe, don’t ask me because, as stated earlier, I don’t measure.  After some 50 years or so in a kitchen, I have little use for measuring tools unless I’m trying a new recipe.  There are some wonderful recipe sites on the internet…  Just do a Google search… 

MY MIND UNLEASED for GBE2 ~ Week #32

 

THE CHALLENGE:

WEEK #32 (12-25-11 to 12-31-11): 15 Minute Free Write
This week, we’re doing something a little different. Instead of a word or picture prompt, we’ll be free writing. For those of you unfamiliar with the process, it is exactly what it sounds like. You sit down and write whatever comes into your mind for 15 straight minutes. The goal is not to write a story, article, or even anything coherent.

It’s a word purge. A stream of consciousness babble-fest, and it’s a wonderful way to unleash your creativity. Will what you write be crap? Almost certainly. Will the resulting paragraphs (if there are even paragraphs) be dull, repetitive, gripe-o-ramas, list-o-worries, and inventories of what’s been gnawing at you lately? Yep. When you are done, will you look at what you’ve written and decide that it’s simply too revealing to publish? Very likely.

 ME:  YEP, IT’S CRAP, BUT I’M PUBLISHING…LOL…  So, without further ado, here it is:

GBE challenge this week is to spend 15 minutes in free writing. This is a first for me – well, except for journaling which I haven’t done in quite a while.

So…here goes… I tried all week to find 15 minutes to do this exercise. If you think I didn’t try very hard, you are right. LOL My life isn’t that busy, but bright shiny things are distracting for me. Every time I sat down to write, I got distracted. Also, if it isn’t something bright and shiney, it’s one of my pets demanding my attention…or my husband…or the phone. I long for the days when I was able to multi-task. On second thought, maybe I don’t.

I am so guilty of assaulting my senses. It seems like I need constant stimulation. I can read blogs and watch TV – neither gets my full attention. I go to sleep with the TV on. I am quite good at sleeping through anything loud. Like the time I slept like a baby through a tornado that was approx one mile away, but my husband said was loud as a train even here. I wish he had woke me up. I would have liked to hear what it sounded like. You can’t count the tornado that raced through our yard during Hurricane Charlie in 2004 because the wind was already loud enough to drown out any train.

We are going out for Chinese dinner today. We love Chinese food. Back when we both worked, it was our Saturday date. After retirement, we scaled back to once every other week. I don’t know why except that I just love living in my pj’s and I would rather lounge around the house in my pj’s than go out to eat. Is that wrong? Well, I don’t care. I love being retired. I think retirement brought the sassy rebel out into the open. I just don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I know I’m a good person…in spite of what I see people write about me on the internet. If you haven’t seen any of it, well, let me say that I have a former friend or two who are quite brutal. But, here again, I really don’t care. I love and I love well. If I don’t love you, there is a good reason. End of that…

I was really disappointed in the weather we had for Christmas this year. I HATE the heat. I hate that my parents dragged us to Florida. I hate that I never left! Now I’m retired, I have a whole new attitude. I didn’t, after all, have the hassle of moving to FL to retire because I am already here…LOL. But, I still need to do something about the property up north where I will never live. I still dream a bit about building a log cabin up on the hill so that I can spend summers there, but…that probably won’t happen. It nags at the back of my mind…

Tomorrow is 2012. I wonder what the new year will hold for us. 2004 was a really bad year. 2008 was worst. Just 4 years apart each. Now here comes 2012 after another 4 years. If I had more than 2 minutes left, I would ponder 2000, but all I can remember about that year is that my 17 year old dog died and my heart was soooo broken.

Well, I have about one minute left and I am stumped, so I will just say that I enjoyed this exercise! (end of time)

BFF 153 ~ I RESOLVE TO LOVE

WRITTEN FOR BFF 153 ~ MY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION

I resolve to LOVE more…

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

My Grandmother had an expression that I think of often. She used to say that “It doesn’t cost a dime to be decent”. In today’s world, it is common for persons to speak their mind. Personally, I’m all for speaking my mind, however, that does not give me the right to hurt another person. A point of view can be stated without condemning another person for not thinking the exact way that I think. Along the same vein, I would add that it costs nothing to love, but the return is priceless.

My Mother used to tell me that if I couldn’t say anything nice, then say nothing at all. I forgot that for a while… I’m sorry. Sorry enough that I have repented for several months now. I am happier being “decent”. My tongue has been bruised a few times as I bite back a retort. Mostly, retorts are not necessary. Just move on…nothing to see here folks…

Mom also taught me the Golden Rule. I could recite the Golden Rule from memory by the time I was 4 years old.

I believe that I was given a good moral foundation. I strayed for a time, but I resolve to be better.

So…my resolutions for 2012 are these:

1. I resolve to be patient and kind

2. I resolve to be humble, without envy or pride

3. I resolve to treat other people with respect

4. I resolve to not be self seeking or to be easily angered

5. I will not keep track of wrongs, but instead, forgive quickly

6. I resolve to delight in truth and to avoid evil

7. I resolve to remember to always protect, always trust, always hope, always persevere for those I love.

8. I resolve to be ever reminded that everything comes down to faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

9. Last, but not least…I resolve to live by the Golden Rule.

Mostly, it comes easy to me to Love and treat others as I like to be treated, but 2012 is an election year, which will make it a little hard. I should attach one more resolution to stay out of political debates, but I’m afraid I will break that one. So, let me say that I will try really hard to stay out of political discussions and please forgive me if I fail…

Happy New Year my friends!

Tasty Tuesday ~ Cheese Biscuits

 

 

2 c Bisquick

2/3 c milk

1/2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Mix Bisquick and milk.  Stir in cheese.  Using ice cream scoop, spoon onto well greased cookie sheet.  Bake @ 450 degrees for 10 minutes.

While the biscuits are baking, melt 1/2 stick of butter with 1/4 tsp garlic powder.  As soon as biscuits are done, brush melted butter on the hot biscuits, then sprinkle with parsley flakes.

Makes 6 large biscuits. 

Mmmm….yummy!

Wordless Wednesday ~ 12/7/11