MMM.. . . MMM. . . .GOOD!!

Do you need something quick, easy and delicious to serve with coffee to your friends or family? Have I got a treat for you! Only 6 ingredients and 5 minutes needed to make it, and 40-45 minutes to bake, for a piece of heaven. Quick, easy and delicious. . . . my kind of recipe.

I just tried this recipe today and it is a keeper for sure. For my Dutch friends who love almond patties, this tastes a lot like them, without the flaky pastry. You gotta give this a try.

5-MINUTE ALMOND CAKE

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons almond extract (I use Watkins)
2 Tablespoons sliced almonds
Powdered sugar (optional)


1. Preheat oven to 325 F.

2. Melt butter in glass bowl in microwave. Using a fork, beat the eggs into butter. Add the flour, sugar and almond extract and mix well. Pour into a small (8-inch) pie plate or an 8-inch cake pan and sprinkle sliced almonds on top. Bake 45 minutes, or until golden brown and a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar, if using. Serves 8.

No mistake, there is no leavening in this recipe. And when it says 'pour' into pie plate, I think it should read 'spread' as the batter is thick. I did not add the powdered sugar on top as it is sweet enough and I think is only used for appearance, plus I didn't feel like going back out to the pantry to find the powdered sugar. I thought I had put plenty of sliced almonds on top but after baking I wish I had added more because I love nuts (all kinds, even human ones).

Naturally I had to have a piece right away to see if it was any good, so it was still warm, and I love it that way!

Come have a cup of coffee with me as I go have another slice. I will share.

LOST MY FOCUS

I have lost my focus. I did not get very far with decluttering or cleaning since I last wrote about them.

It is high time I get back to them, as well as back to blogging. Maybe now that we are getting a few sunny days my outlook will also be brighter instead of funky.

I have also been dealing with a health issue that has been my focus of late. I had some tests done earlier this week and am waiting on the results, but I already feel better, knowing the ball is rolling in dealing with the issue.

Where does time go? Does anyone know? It is so easy to fritter it away and not accomplish a thing.

BOOKS

I just finished reading this book and really enjoyed it. It is a Christian novel and I so appreciated there being no filthy words. I just hate it when an otherwise great story and plot has so many filthy words that are not necessary to the story at all.

The story takes place in England in the 1800's and depicts what life was probably like in that country of that era.

Here is a quote from a book review by Carrie Daws found here.

A husband’s unexpected death sets off a series of events in the historical novel The Widow of Larkspur Inn by Lawana Blackwell. A family used to a large house in the city full of servants must move to an abandoned inn in the country and figure out how to do everything from clean to cook to serve others. A cast that includes three children round out the fun and challenges, while a faithful servant adds mystery to the story.



I happened to get this on my Kindle as a free book at the time. I see it is not free right now, but you never know when it might show up on the free list again.

SAVINGS CATCHER

As some of you know, I do almost all my shopping at the local Walmart store. I do that because they have the electric carts that I can ride around the store, since my bad knees will not stand all that walking. Because the store is 10+ miles away, I don't run there every time I need a few items, but try to stock up on everything I need for at least 2 weeks.

I know that some of you hate Walmart for various reasons, and some of you do not have a nice, clean store like I have, with great employees, so I don't blame you if you prefer to shop elsewhere. I would shop in a few other stores as well, if they had carts to ride on.

In my area, Walmart usually has lower prices on the things I buy than the other grocery stores here. We don't have an Aldi within 60 miles, and I don't feel I can save enough to pay for driving that far, plus the extra time it takes. Walmart will also match prices from other stores, but I don't always get all those ads so that I can check their sales. Since Walmart has started their Savings Catcher program, I signed up in early December and I have already saved almost $17.

The best way to save with this is to read all your local ads to check the things you need that might be on sale. Sometimes I find things at a really good price that I may not have on the list but use regularly, so add those to my list, including their sale prices, so that I can compare the prices in the store when I get there. (bad memory, you know) Then I go ahead and buy the rest on my list.

When I get home I enter the receipt number and date, and the program checks all the store ads to match prices, and usually they find some that I was not aware of. Sometimes I just don't take the time to check ads and still end up with some price matches, but later when I do look at the ads I find some that I wish had seen earlier as I would have stocked up. Oh well. Such is life, right?

Here are two examples of savings I was not aware of before shopping. I bought a gallon of Land O'Lakes milk. I paid $3.75 at WM, and they usually have the cheapest daily prices on milk here. But Fareway had it in their ad that week for $2.88, so I got a 'refund' of 87 cents.

Another time I bought 4 Banquet pot pies @ 80 cents each for a total of $3.20, but Savings Catcher found them priced @ 59 cents for a total of $2.36 in HyVee, for a savings of 84 cents. I had seen that Fareway had Yoplait yogurt on sale for 50 cents and usually WM's price is 60 cents, so I bought the required 10 cartons, but they didn't show up as a savings. Then I looked at my receipt again and found WM had reduced their price to 42 cents each! I didn't even notice that when I was shopping, or I might have bought more since I always try to keep that on hand. So for just a few minutes of your time to enter the receipt number, you can save quite a bit. And if you also have manufacturer's coupons for those items, you save even more.

I don't have a smart phone, but if you do, you can download their Savings Catcher app and then just scan your receipt. I have to go to the website and type in the receipt number, but when I do that I can also check which stores had the cheaper prices.

I am not as good as my friend Rhonda over at http://ifyoudostuff.blogspot.com where she has shared all her savings at CVS. But we do not have CVS stores here so I can't work on that like she does. Rhonda, you do amazing things with that store!

HOME. . . .

MY HOME

I recently found these quotes about Home in the October, 2004 issue of Real Simple that I fell in love with.

I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"The woman is the home. 

That's where she used to be, 

and that's where she is. 

You might ask me, What if a 

man tries to be part of the 

home -- will the woman let him? 

I answer yes. Because then he 

becomes one of the children."

-Marguerite Duras, Practicalities

(I bet there are several wives who will agree with that!)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

" 'Home is the place where, 

when you have to go there, 

They have to take YOU in.' "

- Robert Frost, "The Death of the Hired Man"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Home sings me of SWEET things

My life there has its own wings

To fly over the mountain, though

I'm standing still."

-Karla Bonoff, "Home"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Keep the home fires burning,

While your hearts are yearning,

Though your lads are far away

They DREAM of home.

There's a silver lining

Through the dark cloud shining,

Turn the dark cloud inside out,

'Til the boys come home."

-Lena Guilbert Ford, "Keep the Home Fires Burning"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

"It's the sweetest thing I know of,

just spending TIME with you.

It's the little things that make a house a home,

Like a fire softly burning and supper on the stove,

And the light in your eyes that makes me warm."

-John Denver, "Back Home Again"

(I love that song)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"Home is a place not only of strong affections, 

but of entire UNRESERVE; 

it is life's undress rehearsal, 

its backroom, its dressing room, 

from which we go forth to more 

careful and guarded intercourse."

-Hariet Beecher Stowe, Little Foxes

IN THE ZONE. . . . . . WITH CORTISONE

Life has been a little busy again and I have not had the energy to even think, much less write a blog. I have had a series of doctor and dentist visits the past couple of weeks and that wore me out.

My knees have finally become bad enough that I am ready for knee replacement, I think. They are just making life too difficult and painful, even the limited amount that I was still able to do, so it is time I do something. I have a busy summer ahead and am not sure I want to be recovering from knee surgery during those activities, a granddaughter's wedding for one.

So, I had decided to ask my doctor about cortisone shots to tide me over the busy summer when I went to see her for my 6 month med checkup. She doesn't give those shots so referred me to an orthopedic surgeon that does a specialty clinic in our local hospital. I had an appointment with him this past Wednesday.

I didn't get to see the surgeon, but visited with his PA instead. Since this was an initial visit I also needed to get x-rays taken. That was the hardest part of the whole thing! Why do they make you become a contortionist to get the pictures they want??? Here I am, barely able to stand any length of time - just normal standing - and now I am expected to strike all those poses while standing and bending very painful knees, and not only posing but holding that pose for an eternity! I was so thrilled when they finally said they had all they needed. I am very thankful they got good one on the first try and didn't have to retake any. I think there were about 8 in total.

Then it was back to the exam room. I was able to see the x-rays and saw how really bad my knees are. The PA was more than happy to do cortisone shots and said I can have as many as I want - forever - as long as they keep working. He is not sure that the surgeon will take me as a surgical patient because of my excess weight. I will find that out when I finally get to visit with him in 6 weeks.

But for now I am happy. I am able to rise from chairs much easier and without much pain, able to walk with minimal pain, and what is really nice is that I can lay flat on my back in bed and not feel like my knees are caving in, and without any pain. Now I am able to sleep much better, so am hoping I will have a little more energy and a clearer brain again.

I must still be very careful walking since my knees are still very unstable because of no cartilage at all and being bone on bone. That means my joint is very loose and the bones can slide around. But things are a whole lot better than they were!

I had heard that there is a limit of how many cortisone shots you can get, and you probably have too. So I asked him about that, and he said that is true IF you still have some cartilage left. It seems the cortisone softens the cartilage over time and ends up causing more damage and loss of more cartilage. So now you know in case you end up with bad knees some day.

I had also been told by others that those shots are very painful. So when the PA was ready to do them I asked if I needed a bullet to bite on. He just laughed and said it shouldn't be that bad, and besides, they were out of bullets. haha. I found the only painful part was when he started to inject the numbing med first. That stings for a second or two until the numbing starts. I didn't feel the cortisone going in at all. And then I was done, and happy.

ANOTHER AFGHAN

 CHURCH AUCTION AFGHAN

2015

I had a hard time figuring out how to get good pictures of this to show it off the best. I don't think I did a very good job but at least you get an idea of what it looks like.

It ended up being quite large. It was made from a kit and I was concerned I would run out of yarn before it was finished, as that has happened to me in the past. But I made it . . . . with only a small 2" ball of yarn left! That is really cutting it close!

I am writing this the middle of January, and the auction doesn't take place until February 4, so this is not being published until after the auction. I will let you know how well it does either as an update to this post or in a new post.

UPDATE: 
Just got the news that the afghan made $1000 for the church! I thank the gals that suggested this pattern as well as the color.