Category: LIFE AS IT HAPPENS

HAPPY HOMEMAKER & MENU PLAN MONDAY

As you know hubby and I have been very excited about buying my grandparents house and our cross country move to rehab it to bring it up to date.

My cousin had been living here since my grandfather’s death in 1993.  Sadly, she passed away in 2014 and the house had been sitting here empty (or so we thought).  We thought from what my uncle said that the house was virtually empty, that he had been cleaning it out the past 6 months.  Sadly, that too was not the case.  I am so shocked by the state of the house.  My cousin was the creative type and I knew she wasn’t the best of housekeepers, but I am seriously shocked and appalled by what we found here.  Honestly, if we hadn’t had 3 aging animals traveling with us and spent a small fortune to move here, we would have turned around and gone back after what we saw that first day.

As you read this hubby and I have put in a total of 287 hours over the past 12 days and it is barely livable. The house is virtually empty (now), but the garage is still full. There is not a fixture, cabinet, faucet, wall or appliance that doesn’t need replaced or majorly repaired at the very least including the kitchen sink. The dumpster will arrive Thursday and then the fun will begin. I will post pictures soon to keep this chronicle up to date.

WEATHER OUTSIDE
Looks like the weather will be all over the place this week.  I’m looking forward to some cooler wet weather.

TO DO FOR THE WEEK

  • Unload moving trucks.
  • Empty garage.
  • Wreck out ALL of kitchen and ALL appliances.
  • Wreck out carpeting.
  • Peel wallpaper from 3 rooms.

CURRENTLY READING
Read? Who has time to read? LOL I read every night as I fall asleep. This week is book #5 from Marie Force’s Green Mountain series and book #9 from Barbara Freethy’s Callaway series.

TELEVISION / DVR
No internet yet so we’re catching a few shows on stream after the fact.
 
CRAFTS & PROJECTS
I do hope to get some crafting for the holidays in after the worst of the clean up is done.

HOUSE PROJECTS
WOW Where do I begin?  

  • EVERYTHING!

KITCHEN WISHES
That the kitchen fairies show up while I sleep and help make this nightmare become a glorious dream.
 
MENU PLANS FOR THE WEEK
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
BREAKFAST
YOGURT & FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
FRUIT SMOOTHIE
YOGURT &  FRUIT
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
MAPLE OATMEAL & RAISINS
 OUT
LUNCH
FRUIT & CHEESE
SOUP & CRACKERS
SANDWICH
OUT
MEAT & CHEESE
~~
~~
DINNER
 S#*% on a Shingle
C.O.R.N.
DESSERT







I may not have a kitchen, but I will have my hot plate, griddle, waffle maker and crock pots.

THINGS THAT ARE MAKING ME HAPPY
On the upside I have lost 15 pounds from all the back breaking work this past 2 weeks.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA
We bought a small dorm sized fridge, a hot plate and added the only surviving furniture and voila we have a makeshift kitchen dining area.  I’ll add a slow cooker, griddle, waffle maker and we will be fine for a few weeks.

INSPIRATION

Be sure to link up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom for Happy homemaker Monday and with Laura at I’m an Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday.

My cuts have cuts, My bruises have bruises – The Chronicles of a Misguided Cousin and Rehabbing Grams and Gramps house

As you know hubby and I have been very excited about our move to my grandparents house and rehabbing it to bring it up to date.  My cousin had been living here since my grandfather’s death in 1993.  Sadly, she passed away in 2014 and the house had been sitting here empty (or so we thought).  We thought from what my uncle said that the house was virtually empty, that he had been cleaning it out the past 6 months.  Sadly, that too was not the case. 
As you read this, hubby and I have put in a total of 287 hours over the past 12 days and it is barely livable.  The house is virtually empty, but the garage is still full.  There is not a fixture, cabinet, faucet, wall or appliance that doesn’t need replaced or majorly repaired at the very least including the kitchen sink.  The dumpster will arrive Thursday and then the fun will begin. I will post pictures soon to keep this chronicle up to date.
My cousin was known as the Aji Queen, Lady Savory spices and her pepper seeds were sought after from around the world.  Unfortunately she had chile peppers everywhere and everything was peppers from her dishes to her Christmas ornaments.  She had no less than 300 bottles of collectible hot sauces. Each bottle had to be wiped down and packed up.  She was also an avid collector of Barbies.  Let me just say if I ever see another chile pepper themed knick knack or a designer Barbie doll, it will be too soon.

TYING LOOSE ENDS UP INTO A PRETTY BOW

We’ve hit another snag on our move which will delay it a bit more and I realize that I’m very much feeling like I am at loose ends. I think I feel this way mainly because almost everything is packed since our original move date was 2 weeks ago! Just day to day life becomes difficult when everything is taped into boxes and you can no longer remember which box is which. While I was searching for images to accompany what I wanted to say here, it was then that I realized the term “loose ends” has primarily negative connotations – from business to nooses, the term is almost always a bad thing.

So, I’m choosing to think positively about the “loose ends” and how to tie them up into pretty bows. While I have had to buy a few things for the cooler weather there are some real positives to go along with that.

  1. Traveling with animals will be easier since the weather will be nicer.
  2. We’re doing U-packs which require serious manual labor which will be easier with cooler weather especially at stop two in the desert.
  3. We’ll get to see some changing of the colors along the way making it a much prettier drive.
  4. It will be cooler when we arrive which will make for more comfortable weather to unload the moving trucks.
  5. The cooler weather will make the initial shopping for supplies more enjoyable, not to mention easier. a good camera and so many of the food pictures are horrible! so I’m appreciating the chance to make them better.

I’m also not recipe experimenting and this is giving me the chance to remake some favorites and do decent pictures since I did not have a very good camera when I first began blogging.

CHATTY CATCH UP TIME

When I started blogging it was an outlet for some serious frustration on an investment house that we were lied to and misled, and cheated and… and… that story is the Chronicles of a Bungled Real Estate Deal and something that is long in the past and we don’t talk about!  But, the bottom line is that I have met some truly wonderful people here in the blogosphere and made some real life friends!

I found this graph on facebook last week that truly and accurately depicts my life!  I made a few adjustments to keep with my positive attitude LOL.  Life has certainly taken some serious twists and turns…

  • Hubby was forced to retire from his civilian job after a bad deployment and bungled surgery that prevented him from doing his job and we set off from the west coast to God’s Country to restore a Queen Anne Victorian investment house while we were working on hubby’s VA claim.
  • A few years later FIL called asking for help to close their house as they were in their late 80’s and so we packed up everything and headed cross country again to the desert putting all our things in storage there.
  • From there we ended up in the southern midwest helping care for my aunt with advanced Parkinson’s disease which in the end was advantageous for me as we were where I needed to be when I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. 
  • After a year and a half we headed back across country, twice and ended up here in the Pacific Northwest where we spent several seasons trading houses with my mom and getting projects accomplished for her so we can now head across country again to settle once and for all for ourselves.
  • Now we’re headed back to the south, voluntarily and are happy about it since we have family and friends there.

Our life has been in storage for several years now in 2 different states!  It is not going to be an easy move, but it is a move we are anxious to make.  We’ve made multiple lists and plans for the work on the fixer upper and are ready to get it done!

The collage below was day one in the local storage unit getting ready.  When we brought these belongings here in a two part move we had a HORRIBLE experience with not one, but two moving companies that left us missing multiple things, broken things and missing paperwork – original articles here.  The second company at least settled with us so I did remove the negative comments about them.  So, this time we are ty-wrapping all the totes closed, labeling, taking inventory and numbering each piece.   Today was a a little slow going, but as you can see it is a bit more organized.

Because these items won’t arrive for a week or so after we do I am also looking for certain things as we go and pulling them out to take with us which makes it a little slow going.  The biggest thing is my rainbow vacuum and all the pieces!  We’re purchasing a fixer upper (my grandparents old place) and it has been unoccupied for almost a year so will be in need of some deep cleaning and LOL I do have my favorite cleaning tools.

And now a BIG FINAL move to start a new project. Let the Good Times roll!

GRAFFITI WEEKEND SHOW-N-SHINE

This was the annual Graffiti Weekend.  There were events for everyone – from cruising down main street, to a visit to the nursing home, to the pancake breakfast, cruise night along the boulevard to show-n-shine at the river as well as a car auction.  We chose to start out downtown seeing the cars, went to a late breakfast at one of our favorite haunts the Jersey Lily Tavern (best I can tell Jersey Lily  was named for Lillie Langtry aka Jersey Lily whose story was told in The Life and times of Judge Roy Bean) and then to the river to see the hundreds of cars and finished with the antique sale at the Grange.

The weather was overcast which was great for a nice cool morning, but as the sun tried to come out it became quite muggy and made for not so great pictures. There really were some beautiful cars, but there were some real projects there also.  I especially like the one that reminded me of the movie Christine.  Overall I prefer a vintage original restoration – right down to the radio.  The country station that was sponsoring the show even arranged to broadcast on AM radio for those vehicles that were AM radio only. I think my favorite today was the avocado 1968 Pontiac GTO – such a great year.

CHAT TIME

It feels like years since I’ve just sat down with my thoughts and chatted with my blog. Seems like life has been just too busy!  For the past 5 years we’ve been traveling and taking care of family, dealing with the VA for as long as I can remember and then dealing with my cancer and other health issues.

Well, it looks like life is finally slowing down for us.  We’re looking forward to finally settling once and for all and hoping that ALL the pieces will fall into place next month. We have the framework of a plan and are just waiting on a few final things (structural reports and such) to fall into place.  I’ll give more details after we’re sure it is all going to work out.  Once we know, there will be a lot of foot work to get us there since things have been stored in 2 different states for all these years, but we are SOOOOO looking forward to the move and having everything ALL in one place for a change!  The house (my grandparents old place) is in need of quite a bit of work, but we really don’t care – we’re actually looking forward to the project and have been making lists and designs to update and make it our own space.  We’re really looking forward to being back in a town that we know – near shopping, restaurants, churches, volunteering and medical that we like.  More importantly being near family and friends. We are just plain looking forward to getting back to a day to day routine.

After the move and everything we own is ALL in one place I already know there will be many piles for donation and piles for ebaying and piles for a rummage sale and probably piles for trash after all this time.  I am really looking forward to minimalizing our life.  After all these years we have learned how little we really need and want to be get by and be happy.

Larry Geddis Photography

My brother will be getting married here in 3 weeks so we have been preparing for that.  My awesome neighbor and friend, Heather is making the cake (gourmet cupcakes)! I’m really looking forward to my new sister-in-law being part of the family officially AND to the time on the coast where the weather will be 25-30 degrees cooler.  Thank you Chris & Amy for picking such a beautiful spot for your wedding!

I ALL but finished our Christmas cards this week, yep you read that right.  They still need addresses and personal notes which will be done nearer the holiday, but the craft work is done. I want them to be ready to mail after just after Thanksgiving since they will also be our change of address cards.

We had an early 4th of July with our neighbors.  We are really going to miss them when we move.  I’m still trying to find a way to take them with us.  We’ll be eating leftovers for days, but with a smile on our face of the pleasant evening we had to remember them by.  I’m really going to miss the kids especially as they are at that age where they change everyday.  But even more, I’m going to miss their smiles and hugs!  We did fireworks in the street until the wind started and we shut down for the night, but we’ll do more on the 5th.  Had to skip the actual 4th as their dad is a fireman on duty that night and why we had to celebrate early anyway.  LOL we had VERY safe fireworks with a fireman leading the way!  Lots of preparedness, buckets and water on hand.

EPIPHANIES, GOALS & RESOLUTIONS

I like the idea of having even one epiphany this next year, especially if it happens as the New Year begins. Epiphanies can lead to resolutions and my one and only resolution is the follow through it takes to make those Epiphanies come to life. See the pattern here?  A nice big circle of completion!

While I don’t make a specific resolution list as I believe these lists can be a key to failure when you don’t/can’t accomplish the individual items, I do tend to make lists of the things I need to accomplish as a whole!  This year I am NOT making a list Per Se, but committing to completing all the projects on my desk and in my pending file as soon as humanly possible.  Unfortunately and realistically many of these can only be completed with divine intervention as they pertain to the VA and all the entanglements that go along with the biggest ball of bureaucratic red tape you have ever seen. My aim though is to become the SQUEAKIEST WHEEL EVER and clear my desk!

So I am scaring myself a little (okay ~ A LOT) with this commitment, but remember the age-old question is: ‘HOW DO YOU EAT AN ELEPHANT?’ And the answer will always be “ONE BITE AT A TIME!”  Some bites will be smaller than others, but that’s okay too!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, ONE AND ALL, AND MAY YOU TOO SEE THE LIGHT OF YOUR EPIPHANY!

It also can’t hurt to start the year out with a little old fashioned good luck – Black Eyed Peas.  I am making this year’s batch with the left over prime rib from Christmas – YUMMY!

MANY people swear by starting their year out with black-eyed peas for luck.  I’m not a superstitious person, but hey it can’t hurt!
As a kid I HATED black-eyed peas, but I recently found the Trappey’s brand and they are fantastic! Hubs and I ate them plain and polished off the whole can. In fact they were so good that I can’t wait to try their other beans in soups, field peas, navy, black-eyed peas with jalapenos, etc…
BLACK-EYED PEA CHILI

1 can Trappey’s Black-eyed peas with bacon
+/- 2 cups shredded left over pot roast
1 can original Rotel tomatoes
1 1/2 cups V8
1 small HUNT’S tomato sauce 
1 tablespoon Frank’s red hot sauce
1 package Williams Chili Seasoning packet
salt and pepper, to taste
water to desired consistency*
cheese bread or corn muffins
sour cream and onions to garnish

  • Mix together everything except the bread and garnish in a stock pot.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Reduce heat and simmer several hours until you can smell the chili calling you to the kitchen.
  • Ladle into bowls and garnish.
  • Enjoy!

*I use about 2 cups.  I like to start thin and simmer until thick (2-3 hours) to allow the flavors to blend together.

THE TABLECLOTH – BLOGMAS 2014 – DAY 21

This story originally came across my email and I was reminded that it is a beautiful way to celebrate Christmas Holiday spirit so I thought I’d share. This is such a beautiful story that makes you understand that things truly do happen for a reason. Don’t forget to grab the tissue box.

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work. They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve.

They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc… and on December 18th they were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19th a terrible tempest – a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days.

On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginning about head high.

The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home. On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flea market type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it had started to snow. An older woman running from the opposite direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc… to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet.. ‘Pastor,’ she asked, ‘where did you get that tablecloth?’ The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria.
The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the Tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again.

The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth, but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home, that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a house cleaning job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve The church was almost full. The music and the spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor and his wife greeted everyone at the door and many said that they would return. One older man, whom the pastor recognized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of the pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn’t leaving.

The man asked him where he got the Tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike.

He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follow her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier.

He helped the man climb the three flights of stairs to the woman’s apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

This true Story was submitted by Pastor Rob Reid.

More entries over at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom’s BLOGMAS.

BLOGMAS 2014 – DAY 3

Today’s category is an easy one for me.  I start taping Christmas movies on Lifetime, Hallmark and INSP as soon as they air so I can watch all year long.  I’m a sucker for a happy ending and let’s face it, Christmas movies have happy endings.

So this list could be reallllllllllly long, but I will just keep it to the top 5 MUST watch each and every year movies.

 It’s a toss up for me about whether White Christmas with Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera Ellen and Danny Kaye or It’s a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart, Lionel Barrymore and Donna Reed is my absolute favorite, but I think I’m leaning towards It’s a Wonderful life!
 Which Miracle on 34th street version (the original with Natalie Wood or the remake with Richard Attenborough) is the best?  BOTH versions of course!
The Santa Clause with Tim Allen quickly became a favorite – who could resist visiting the North Pole every year?
 Now Home Alone is just silly, but it never fails to make me laugh!

BLACK FRIDAY THANKSGIVING WRAP UP with NEW RECIPES for GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE, CRANBERRY POMEGRANATE TANGERINE SAUCE, PUMPKIN PECAN BUTTER CAKE with CARAMEL SAUCE & CINNAMON PECANS

As I mentioned before, I DO NOT shop Black Friday, unless it’s from the comfort of my desk chair talking to a computer.  Thanksgiving weekend for us is and always has been casual.  This year was no exception. With just 2 of us this year I bought a turkey breast only.  So my questions is, where does the rest of the turkey go?

Our range is on the way out also – losing the heating elements one by one and the oven is now 75 degrees under temperature.  I didn’t want to take a chance so I started the turkey breast in the slow cooker and then used the oven to only brown the top.  Amazingly, it turned out PERFECT!  I see great turkey sandwiches tomorrow! And there are plenty of leftovers until the new range is installed next week.

Our morning started out foggy and drizzly before turning to serious cold and rain.  I did manage to capture this Robin hanging out in the old garden bed.

And the first opening bloom of the Christmas Cactus this season.

99.9% of my recipes are made from scratch, but every now and then I do cheat a bit.  Part of Thanksgiving’s dessert, PUMPKIN PECAN BUTTER CAKE with CARAMEL SAUCE & CINNAMON PECAN was one of those small cheats and believe me I will cheat again, but next time I’ll add some fresh whipped cream.  MOST of the recipe is scratch ingredients, but it called for a Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow cake mix.  Instead I used a SuperMoist BUTTER PECAN cake mix and it was FABULOUS!  I’ll give you the original recipe (which for the life of me I can’t remember where it came from – probably pinterest) with my changes in red.

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE
3-15 ounce cans cut green beans, drained VERY WELL!
2 1/2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons Wondra
1 1/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon each, paprika, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Savory Spice Shop Hidden Cove Lemon Garlic Blend
1 teaspoon celery flakes
2 tablespoons Riverhouse Parmesan Herb dressing **
3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 cup +/- French’s French fried onion rings

  • Over medium heat melt butter in saucepan.
  • Whisk in Wondra until golden.
  • Add milk and heavy cream gradually, bringing to a boil JUST SLIGHTLY!
  • Reduce heat and simmer, stirring continuously until sauce begins to thicken.
  • While still stirring add in paprika, salt, pepper, Lemon Garlic and celery flakes. When you reach your desired consistency set pan aside to cool slightly.
  • In a large mixing bowl toss the green beans with the Riverhouse Parmesan Herb dressing.
  • Pour sauce over beans and gently toss and coat.
  • Pour into a baking dish and top with crumbled bacon and fried onion rings.
  • Bake 20-30 minutes until heated through.

**If you can’t find this brand, Litehouse Parmesan Caesar is a great substitute.

CRANBERRY POMEGRANATE TANGERINE SAUCE
1 bag cranberries
1 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup fresh squeezed tangerine juice with pulp*
1/2 cup pineapple juice*
2 cups sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange peel
  • Wash cranberries and drain in colander.
  • Mix tangerine juice, pineapple juice and sugar in saucepan until dissolved.
  • Add cinnamon and orange peel. Stir well.
  • Add the cranberries and pomegranate seeds simmering over medium high heat until bubbling, stirring often.
  • When the mixture begins to boil, reduce heat.
  • Cook uncovered or until all cranberries and pomegranate seeds have ’popped’.
  • Sauce will thicken as it cools.
  • Can be stored in the refrigerator for a week or frozen for future holidays.

Yields: 2 cups
*You can use ALL orange juice if you prefer

***I like to make a double batch at Thanksgiving and freeze half for Christmas.

PUMPKIN PECAN BUTTER CAKE with CARAMEL SAUCE & CINNAMON PECANS
CAKE BOTTOM 
1 Betty Crocker SuperMoist yellow cake mix (Butter Pecan)
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 Egg

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Line the bottom of your 10 inch springform pan with parchment paper. I cut a square sheet and close it into the seam of the bottom with the latch and then trim into a circle. Lightly spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray.
  • NOTE: you can use a 9×13 cake pan, but coat it well with non-stick cooking spray. In a large mixing bowl combine the cake mix, melted butter and egg until well blended.Press batter into the bottom of your springform pan.

FILLING 
8 ounces softened cream cheese
15 ounce can pumpkin
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon PURE vanilla
1/2 teaspoon orange peel 
3 eggs
2 cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
Caramel sauce (recipe follows) 
Candied pecans (I used Fisher’s Cinnamon Pecans) 
Kraft Caramel Balls 
Smucker’s Pineapple Sauce, slightly warmed (optional)

  • In a large mixing bowl beat together the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth.
  • Add melted butter, vanilla and eggs, beating until well combined.
  • Fold in powdered sugar, orange peel and pumpkin pie spice until just mixed.
  • Pour batter over cake base and smooth even.
  • Bake 60-75 minutes until cake is set and top is only slightly wobbly (similar to a cheesecake consistency).
  • COOL COMPLETELY on a wire rack BEFORE removing the pan.
  • Serve sliced with Caramel sauce, pineapple sauce, caramel balls and pecans.

NOTE: YOU WILL NEED LESS TIME USING A 9X13 PAN!

CARAMEL SAUCE 
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup sugar
2+ tablespoons water

  • Combine the cream and butter in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.
  • Remove from the heat.
  • In a medium saucepan cook the corn syrup over a medium heat until bubbly.
  • Fold in 1/4 cup of the sugar and continue to cook until the edges begin to turn a light amber color.
  • Add in 1/4 cup sugar more and repeat until all the sugar is blended in.
  • Continue cooking until amber color darkens stirring constantly.
  • Remove from the heat and carefully fold in the cream mixture.
  • Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until caramel is bubbling.
  • Serve warm.
  • Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Microwave 20-30 seconds to soften refrigerated caramel before serving.

I’m off to wrap Christmas presents – Have a great weekend! 

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BUFFALO KISSES to CELEBRATE the BIG Nascar Championship Race

Life is settling down a bit for this leg of our journey and I’ve gotten organized enough to play with a few new recipes. We love appetizers for football and race days so I’m always on the lookout for new recipes.  LOL this recipe is SO NOT like the original Buffalo Wing Poppers  it really isn’t funny, but ironically they do look similar. 

So, like so many other recipes I will give you the original ingredients in black and my changes in red – you choose what you like.  This recipe makes a wonderful tailgate or party appetizer! 

NOTE: I had an unfortunate accident with jalapeno peppers 5 years or so ago so I ALWAYS use gloves when working with peppers.  The original recipe called for “piping” the cheese mixture into the peppers, but I find since I already have gloves on that they are easy to form with a spoon and my fingers.

BUFFALO KISSES
20 Jalapeno peppers, washed well 10 Jalapeno peppers, washed well
8 ounces cream cheese softened
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella 1 + 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
1 cup diced cooked chicken 1 1/2 cups shredded/diced rotisserie chicken
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot)
1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing  1/2 cup RiverHouse Parmesan Herb dressing*
Tortilla Chips

  • Preheat oven to 325-350 degrees.
  • Grease a 6 inch casserole dish and small cookie sheet.
  • Cut peppers in half lengthwise leaving stems in tact.  Remove seeds.
  • In a mixing bowl blend together the cream cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella shredded cheese and Parmesan cheese.
  • Add hot sauce and dressing, blending well.
  • Fold in chicken until well blended.
  • Fill peppers and place on greased cookie sheet. 
  • Fill baking dish with remaining cheese mixture.
  • Top with remaining mozzarella cheese.
  • Baked uncovered for 20-40 minutes depending on your desired level of spice.  The longer they cook, the milder they get.
  • Serve with Tortilla chips.

*LiteHouse makes a good one if you can’t find RiverHouse

MOVING ON UP…

I guess I’m just a kid of the 70’s. LOL Every time I move I get the Jefferson’s theme song stuck in my head. I’ve been busy packing, painting, cleaning etc… around here getting ready for the BIG move. I’ll be back to regular blogging at the end of the week.

In the meantime her’s a couple of pictures of my favorite fur children.