Sewing on a Snowy Saturday and Memories

My very petite mother recently purchased a new pair of pink, fuzzy pjs. I volunteered to alter the pants.  

As I cut and pinned the new hems on this snowy morning, I thought about how lucky I was to have learned the basics of sewing in junior high home economics classes. I believe the teacher's name was Mrs. Wireth at Gilcrease Jr High School in the early 1970's. 

The metal seam gauge pictured above came from my 7th grade sewing kit. The white measuring tape did not, but I do have the yellow tape from that kit as well. It's just not the first one I grabbed this morning. Speaking of my 7th grade sewing kit, I threw it away just a few years ago. The plastic lid was broken and I thought, "My goodness. Get rid of it!"

I thought about my Granny Jewel, who was a great seamstress. She gave me praise (which could be hard to come by from Granny) and feedback on my first sewing attempts. I'll also never forget my Great Aunt Clorine, another great seamstress, who gave me her old sewing machine as my first machine at home.

Thinking of Home Ec, I remember the cooking classes and eating what we cooked. Before we could eat, we had to set the table properly. I always thought the dishes at school were pretty. Fast forward several years and I discovered my soon to be husband's mother had the same dishes, Franciscan Desert Rose.  Her dishes now live with her youngest grand daughter.

Home Ec is where I learned to make Chocolate Oatmeal drop cookies. I've made many a batch of these since that time!

The simple act of doing something for my Mom brought back a lot of good memories this snowy morning.

As I prepare to sign off, I look at the back window and there sits a bright red Cardinal on the fence. Beautiful, with the snow falling around him.

Enjoy your Saturday!

Vintage Tulsa Show

The Sister and I went to the Vintage Tulsa Show today. 

We had a great time and saw a lot of beautiful items.

Especially oak furniture.

Oh, the oak furniture.

Be still my heart!

I did not purchase this mega phone.  

I think I may regret it for the rest of my life.  

Especially since I went to school in NORTH Tulsa!

Yay, McLain Fighting Scots!

I sorted through a tangled pile of jewelry 

and found one of these fabulous King Tut earrings.

(Pre broken beard!)

I continued to sort through the pile and found the mate.

I laid them together on the table, outside of the tangled pile.

I told The Sister if they were still there when we went through the show, 

I would take them home with me.

They are FABULOUS, yes?

I would have loved to have brought this beauty home 

to live in the Peacock Room.

Alas, he was much too expensive.

He would have felt totally out of place with his cheaper cousins. 

It was a good show and better than that, is the fact I had a fun time with The Sister!

Christmas Eve Dinner & Christmas Morning Breakfast

We spent the night at The Sister's house on Christmas Eve, as is our long standing tradition.

The Sister, as always, had set a pretty dinner table for us.

The Brother-in-Law fixed us pretty Blue Christmas Martinis.

The Sister and The Brother-in-Law fixed a fabulous meal.

Pernil (Puerto Rican Roast Pork)

Arroz con Gandules (Rice and Pigeon Peas)

Steamed Broccoli (cheese optional)

I made Holiday Salad, which is a favorite of ours.

We all confessed it's a favorite in large part because 

of the prosciutto goat cheese packets on top!

Dessert was mini brownie bundt cakes.

Christmas morning started later than in years past. 

The girls slept until after 8:00am.  What?

Fun was had by all opening the gifts. 

There was the traditional "bow on the head" moment.

The Husband has been "under the weather" recently, but was feeling good this morning.

 

To quote the nieces, "This is the best Christmas ever!"

For breakfast we had a "new to us" casserole.

Crescent Rolls

Breakfast Sausage

Cream Cheese

Grated Colby Jack Cheese 

Cover the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Brown sausage; remove from hot skillet 

Place cream cheese in hot skillet to soften 

When the cream cheese is soft, stir in the sausage and mix well 

Pour mixture in the casserole pan 

Sprinkle grated cheese over the mixture 

Top with a layer of Crescent Rolls 

Bake according to Crescent Roll directions 

Thanks to my sister-in-law's sister, Margaret for the above recipe.

It was a BIG hit!

I'll end this post with my new favorite picture of myself with the older niece.

I hope your holidays were merry & bright!

Thanksgiving Recap - 2014

We spent the day with The Sister and her family.

A lovely time was had by all.

The Sister with the beautiful table she put together for us. 

Another view of the table. 

The food was delicious and plentiful.

We started with my deviled eggs and 

a fruit and cheese selection prepared by our own Sweet Baby L.

We then progressed to the the standard Thanksgiving fare.

Turkey

(I don't know why I don't have a picture of the bird before carving?)

Tasty side dishes.

So many tasty side dishes, they all didn't fit on the small table.

During dinner we discussed what we were each thankful for this year.  

All the adults mentioned good healthcare. 

We are all fortunate to have it and have had to use it this year.

The kids were thankful for family and friends and food

I love The Sister, The Brother-in-Law and Niece 1 and Niece 2!

 And I love The Husband.

What were you thankful for yesterday?

What are you thankful for today and in the future?

Smothered Steak

I made my sister-in-law's Smothered Steak tonight.

I served it to The Husband with mashed potatoes (real butter, sour cream, salt & pepper).

Yum! Yum! Yum!

Claudia's Smothered Steak

• 2 1/2 pounds of boneless round steak, cut in serving pieces 
• Season with salt and pepper
• Dredge in flour
• Heat 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in a large skillet
• Brown meat on both sides

Combine and whisk until smooth:

• 3 Tablespoons of flour
• 1 Teaspoon of Garlic Salt
• 1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Dash of Hot Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon of Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons of Water

After the above mixture is smooth, add 2 cups of water and whisk until well blended.

Pour mixture over steak.  

Cover and cook over medium heat 50-60 minutes or until tender.

Serve with mashed potatoes. (Or, egg noodles!)

I'm planning to take the leftovers to Mom to see how they taste re-heated.

What are you cooking?

Meat and Potato Pie

I made this recipe recently.

If you look at the detail of the url, you see it was published in 2009.

Yes, it only took me FIVE years to try it.

Let me just say, this is an awesome, comfort food recipe.

I loved it.

Mom loved it.

No one else in our family has tried it, but they are not important.

The only important opinions are from Mom and me!

I'm looking for recipes like this that I can prepare for Mom and that are easy to portion out and freeze for later consumption.

I'll report back on the success of freezing a cooked slice of this pie, thawing it and re-heating it in the microwave.

Do you have any dishes that you cook, portion out, freeze and then thaw/reheat it later?

Impossibly Easy Mini Chicken Pot Pies

I made this recipe a couple of weeks ago for my Mom.

Did I tell you she had her second knee replacement on Monday, 9/22/2014?

No?

Well, she did.

Surgery went great.

Rehab was going great, until a blood clot developed in her leg.

Blood thinners began dissolving the clot, reducing the pain and swelling.

During this healing time, she tore her right rotator cuff using the walker.

Why, yes!  It IS the rotator cuff she had repaired last year!

Now, she is in pain trying to lift her arm or move her shoulder.

The Sister and I are alternating days to take care of her.

I'm planning to make this recipe again, putting the pot pies into cupcake liners.

We will see how they taste after they are mixed, baked, frozen, thawed, and re-heated.

More stories to come.

The Kiss

 20 years ago we kissed in The Husband's backyard, 

in front of family and friends.

20 years later we kiss where ever the mood strikes us!

Sister Trip

My Sister and I took a trip together last week.

No Husbands.

No Children.

Just Sisters.

Four days on the beach in Destin, FL.

The Sea Oats Motel. 

It was awesome.

Birthday Cards

The Husband's birthday was last week.  The Sister's 10 and 7 year old daughters made cards for him.

The 10 year old's card:

The 7 year old's 3 page card:

She even made a special art gift from a paper plate a pink yarn.

She made one for me also.  I think she is watching me.

Sweet girls.

The 7 year old stopped the "light the candle, sing the song" portion of the evening because there were no sprinkles on the cake.  

Uncle Steve must have sprinkles!

After she applied a sufficient number of sprinkles, 

we proceeded with the "light the cnadle, sing the song" portion of the evening.

A good time was had by all.

Happy birthday to The Husband!

Remembering Daddy

Billy Wayne Carnahan

July 17, 1928 - September 10, 2001

Photo taken August 27, 1994

Labor Day and Gooey Butter Cake

Hi. How was your holiday weekend? Ours was great. We were invited to cook outs on both Sunday and Monday. My contribution on both days was Mom's Macaroni Salad.

A few years ago, my sister-in-law started making Paula Deen's Gooey Butter Cake. My niece had a piece at a family function and the rest is history. I believe the quote from the niece was, "I want to marry this cake, I love it so much!"

The cake was made today:

A happy niece!

Funny thing, when I googled "gooey butter cake" to find the recipe I found a Wikipedia page about the history of the cake. Very interesting!

The Sister also wanted to make Mom's Banana Pudding. She tricked Mom into standing and stirring it for her. (That's the B-i-L in the background.)

Finished product. The individual servings of pudding without the bananas or the wafers are for me and the little niece. We are picky.

This is a long standing family favorite.

Mom's Banana Pudding

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
dash salt
3 eggs
2 cups cold milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
Nilla Wafers
4 or 5 bananas sliced

Mix sugar, flour and salt in a cast iron skillet. Blend in 3 eggs and milk. Cook, uncovered, 10 to 12 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla.

Layer custard, bananas, Nilla wafers on the bottom of a 1 1/2 quart dish. Repeat layers twice.

Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Top with Nilla Wafers just before serving.

Mom Update & Comfort Food

Today, 12 days after surgery, the staples in Mom's knee were removed. Her incision is healing nicely. She continues to work hard at rehab, meeting and/or exceeding all the goals set by the doctor and enforced by the physical therapist. Good job, Mom!

The Sister and I are no longer staying at night with her. We are, however, in and out at her house multiple times a day. She still can't cook for herself, so we are either cooking at her house or taking food to her.

This evening I made an old family favorite for her dinner, Ground Beef & Spinach. I served it with tomatoes and cucumbers fresh from the Cherry Street Farmer's Market. She loved it!

Mom's Knee Update

The Mother had knee replacement surgery 5 days ago. She is doing GREAT! Yes, she is in pain, but she has medication to manage it.

Her home health care physical therapist visited yesterday. She gave Mom a great report. Mom's mobility is very good and the extension on her new knee is great. The original goal was 110° and today she measured at 108°. Her new goal is now 120°!

Mom spends 6 hours a day on a CPM machine. 

Mom wants to get the right knee rehabbed and healed ASAP, because that pesky left knee is the next on the "chopping block!"

The Sister and I are so proud of how hard she is working her rehab.

Mom is rehabbing at her home. It's one level and easy for her to navigate, even with a walker. The challenge for The Sister and I is being away from our families, homes and schedules. We are working through the challenges. This is made easier because of how well Mom is doing. We are both thankful for that!

We will stay with Mom as long as necessary, but jeeeeeeezzzzz...it's hard to move back into your Mom's house! Especially when you are in your late 40's and early 50's and she's in her early 80's and REALLY, REALLY STUBBORN!

At what point do we get to tell our parent what to do? 

People & Hospitals

The Mother had one of her knees replaced this week.

As a result, The Family and I have spent a lot of time at the hospital. 

A. Lot. Of. Time.

When is the last time you have spent
A. Lot. Of. Time.
at a hospital?

You see
All. Kinds. Of. People.

All. Kinds.

My. Goodness!

We felt out of place.

Why?

We shower every day.
We try to wear more, instead of less, clothing.
We don't have visible tattoos.
We don't curse publicly and loudly.
We don't tailgate in the parking lot with family & friends.

My goodness.

We'll be glad to get The Mother home!

NOTE:

Lest you think we are stiff, judgemental people,

please rest assured we are not.

We are some of the most liberal people you could ever meet!

This recent hospital experience has caused us to reminisce

about a time when people dressed up to:

go on a car/train/airplane trips

visit people in the hospital

 keep an appointment

go out to shop

go out to dine

Acknowledgement:
Every person who walks into a hospital has issues, concerns
and decisions to make that are invisible to the people they encounter.

Please know that I am not judging those people on those issues.
I'm not even judging them on their appearance,
contrary to what the above post may say.

I'm simply thinking about a time in the past
(which was my childhood)
where people dressed up in public.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Do you dress up for the public?

Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone has a great day today, whatever your plans may be.

I whipped up this appetizer to share with friends poolside this afternoon. It's not red, white and blue, but it sure is pretty!

Crescent rolls, cooked flat
Covered in cream cheese
Finely diced peppers (red, yellow, orange) sprinkled on cream cheese
Finely diced cucumber sprinkled on cream cheese
Finely shredded colby/jack cheese sprinkled on top
Cut in bite size pieces

Yum yum!

Grocery Shopping

I called The Mother this afternoon to tell her I was on the way over to visit. She was just leaving to go to the grocery store, so I told her to wait and I would take her. I'm glad I did.

Shopping is getting harder for her. Walking through the store tires her out. Loading the groceries in the car, driving home, carrying the groceries in the house and putting them away exhausts her.

She's told me her neighbor and her mailman have both recently helped her carry groceries from the car to the house.

 

The Sister and I have told her repeatedly to just let us know when she needs groceries and we will either 1) shop for her or 2) take her to the store. She says she hates to bother us. 

I know to her this must feel like losing bits of independence. I've got to figure out how to get her to ask us for more help. She's so dang stubborn!

What is a Funeral?

I babysat The Sister's girls this morning so she could attend a very sad funeral.

Yes, I know ALL funerals are sad.

However, when the deceased is in their late 30's and unexpectedly/tragically leaves a spouse and three children, it's a bit more sad than when a 70+ year old person dies.

Unless, of course, that 70+ year old person is related to you.

Or me.

You know what I mean.

Anyway...the 7 year old niece asked me (after Mommy left), what exactly is a funeral? We talked about when someone dies, how people like to:

• get together and talk about the person 
• share fun pictures of the person through all the stages of their life and doing fun things with their family and friends 
• tell funny stories about the person 
• discuss where the person is now

She seemed happy with the discussion and didn't ask any additional questions.

The Sister came home and we were discussing the funeral. I told The Sister the 7 year old niece was asking about what a funeral is and The Sister said to her, "Remember when Grandma Nancy died? That was a funeral."

Which lead to a much deeper discusion of:

"Cousin Katie touched Grandma and she was cold. Why are dead people cold?"

Kids.

They cut right to the heart of issues, don't they?

Good conversations to have, in bad situations, with our little people.

"This is what they dug my baby out of..."

The title of this post and the photo above were texted to me by my niece a day after the Moore, OK tornado.

This is my sweet grand niece Ella with her babysitter, Ms. Dena, in front of what was Ms. Dena's house.

There were 6 adults and 5 children in the house when it was destroyed in the tornado. Everyone survived. One person had a cut on their foot, but other than that there were no injuries.

Ella told her daddy, "Ms Dena's house is broke", when he arrived after the tornado.

As I said in my previous post, my family in Moore, OK was very fortunate no one was hurt and their properties were not damaged. We so very grateful to Ms Dena for keeping our sweet grand niece safe during the storm. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I Was Either Going To Have A Heart Attack or Throw Up

Moore, Oklahoma was hit by a devastating tornado today.

As of this moment, at least 51 are dead. 
Correction: The death toll was revised to 24. 

Again. 

The Husband and I have one adult nephew, wife and child + two adult nieces, husbands and children who live in Moore. In addition to all of their extended family and friends. As well as The Husband's cousin's son and family.

In Moore.

Where the tornado hit.

At the highway exit we take when we visit.

At almost the exact same time I heard about the tornado at work, my Mother turned on the TV and called The Husband. I was trying to phone him, as he was speaking to Mom.

I immediately started texting and calling relatives.

"Are you okay?"

"Have you heard from XXXX?"

"Call me!!!!"

My chest got so tight and I was in such a panic.

Fortunately, we began to receive reports that our family was okay.

There was a scary situation at a home day care center (which was destroyed) where our precious grand nieces stay. THEY are okay. All the children there are OKAY.

They are okay.

Other precious children, at a local school, are not okay.

Once The Husband and I knew that our immediate family was safe, we were relieved. Later, we found out their houses were intact.

And then we began to truly realize how the situation could have turned out so different.

At this point, we both thought we were going to throw up.

Hug your family. Tell them you love them. Kiss and cuddle the babies in your life. Hell, kiss and cuddle the adults in your life.

You never know what is going to happen tomorrow. Or, today.

************************************************************************

Please consider donating to the American Red Cross for Moore, OK relief.  Thank you.
People who wish to make a donation to support the Red Cross response can visitredcross.org, dial 1-800-REDCROSS, or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.