FAKE PECAN PIE

This is an easy recipe and really delicious.  They taste like mini pecan pie pieces.  I don't have a clue what you call them, maybe I just named my recipe.

FAKE PECAN PIE

Cover cookie sheet with Graham crackers (leave the crackers whole).  Pour mixture over the crackers and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Mixture:  1 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
                2 sticks butter
                1 cup chopped pecans

Melt butter and add sugar, cook until mixture is syrupy.  Pour over crackers, then sprinkle with chopped pecans.  Note to self:  Do NOT use dark cookie sheet they will stick!

Allow to cool completely.  Break into small pieces along dotted lines on the crackers.  Store in air tight container. 

A GREAT RECIPE

CRANBERRY-ORANGE SALAD

1-9 oz. (1 cup) crushed pineapple

1-3 oz. package cherry gelatin

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup hot water

1 Tbl. lemon juice

1 cup ground fresh cranberries (grind before measuring)

1 cup chopped celery

1 small orange (peel included, but remove seeds, then grind)

1/2 cup walnuts or pecans

Drain pineapple (save syrup/juice).  Add enough water to syrup to make 1/2 cup liquid.  Dissolve gelatin and sugar in hot water.  Add reserve syrup and lemon juice.  Chill until partially set.  Then add crushed pineapple, chopped celery, ground cranberries, ground orange and pecans.  Mix well.  Pour into 5 cup ring mold.  Chill overnight.  Makes 8 to 10 servings.

   

END OF AN ERA

In 1991 we had a vehicle that I hated.  It had quit on me/us four times, the last time being on my way to work in a frog strangler of a rain storm.  When I finally arrived to work I called my husband in tears and told him he could come and get the unnamed, European make of vehicle and I didn't care what he did with said car, he could drive it over a cliff, I didn't care and I wasn't going to drive it because it was unreliable and cost an arm and a leg to repair anything on said vehicle.  So the quest for another vehicle began.  I decided I wanted a mini van, which was at the opposite end of the spectrum from what I had been driving.

We had a friend that was a broker for high line vehicles, so he helped us dump hated car and find the right mini van.  We had a specific color and interior we wanted and a list of options we were looking for on the new ride.  Bingo.  Scott called, he had found the perfect mini van.  A 1991 Dodge Caravan LE, gold with gold interior and all the options we had requested.  He purchased the vehicle for us and put it on a flat bed truck and drove it from Lawrenceville to East Point, where my office was located.  I was so excited.

When Scott arrived with the new mini van my entire office followed me to the parking lot to see this new ride.  It was really pretty, all sporty, two toned, the top part was gold and the bottom was a dark taupe with a tiny horizontal red strip down the side with lots of bells and whistles that we had never had on a vehicle.  As soon as I opened the door I was sick.  It had red and taupe stripes on the seats!  I didn't want seats with stripes, I wanted the light gold interior.  Scott was sick, because he has purchased the vehicle.  Wouldn't you know it, my husband was out of town and here I am trying to make a life decision without him.  We only buy vehicles about every 15 years or so and this was a major decision.  One of my dear friends, Robin, said the stripes would hide all the dirt on the seats.  She had two little boys and was thinking practical.  I was thinking, "I don't want those stripes."  I finally made a management decision for our household and decided we would keep the minivan in spite of the stripes on the seats.  Robin also suggested we couldn't see the strips with our back side on the seats.  She was right.  When we took possession of the van it has 18 miles on the odometer.

End of an era.

Last week, after 22 years and 255,614 miles, we parted with our Lowe's mobile, lovingly called "Ole Faithful".  We had a log book that we had recorded all the gasoline, maintenance and lots of repairs the entire time we owner it.   I had made a list of "known" deficiencies with the number one item being the gas gauge was broken, so you had to fill her up every 200 miles.  The reason I called it our Lowe's mobile?  I didn't want to drive it any further that Lowe's, which is only 1.3 miles from our home and I certainly didn't want to drive it further than town, which only four miles.

It was a bitter/sweet sight as the truck hauled our van away ending an era.  Actually my husband was greatly relieved, as soon as we fixed one problem another one would pop up, so he wasn't as sad as I was to see it leave.  Now I have to figure out how to deal with another deficiency...oil on the driveway.  A lot of oil.  Any suggestions? 

THE PURPLE HEART

The Purple Heart is awarded to soldiers that are wounded in combat.  My dad was in World War II and was wounded twice.  I have all of his metals, except for the Purple Heart with an Oakleaf Cluster.  I found a copy of the orders that awarded him the second Purple Heart.  I sent a copy off to the Veterans Administration months ago and recently the metal arrived in the mail.  It is beautiful.  My husband is going to build a shadow box for all his metals and a flag awarded by the VA in his honor.

This will be displayed with the first Purple Heart he received, along with his Combat Infantry Badge, his unit insignia and the other metals.  I have to find out the order in which they would have been placed on his uniform and I need to have some one fold the flag properly in to a triangle for the box. 

CHICKEN MARINADE

1 stick butter
1 finely chopped onion
1 cup soy sauce (can use lite soy sauce)
4-5 good dashes worchestershire
juice of 1 lemon
2 T fresh parsley cut up
2 tsp. garlic powder
pepper to taste

Saute onions in butter.  Add remaining ingredients.  Allow to cool down.  Marinate chicken at least 1/2 day or longer.  Turn the chicken occasionally while marinating.  Grill chicken.  Baste the chicken with the marinade the last ten minutes it is on the grill.

Enjoy!

VIDALIA ONION CASSEROLE

5-7 large onions sliced
Butter
Grated Parmesan cheese
Crushed Ritz cracker crumbs 

Separate the sliced onions into individual rings.
In a skillet melt enough butter to saute the onion rings. 
In a large casserole dish place a layer of the sauted onions. 
Sprinkle with the grated Parmesan cheese.
Top with crushed Ritz crackers.
Repeat the onion, cheese and cracker layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.   

HOT CHICKEN SALAD

4 cups cooked chicken, diced
3 cups chopped celery
2 cans cream of chicken soup (undiluted)
1 cup mayonnaise
4 T. fresh lemon juice
1/2-1 cup slivered almonds (toasted)
2 T. grated onion (can chop rather than grate)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
4 T. pimento
1 cup grated sharp cheese
3 cups crushed potato chips

Mix all ingredients, except cheese and potato chips.  Place in 9x13 baking dish.  Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  Top with cheese and chips, return to oven until brown.  Garnish with paprika and parsley.

MEET EMMA

Before

 

Hubby has been working diligently on this tractor that he "saved from the junk pile" (his words not mine).  He has sanded, scraped and painted the exterior and our trusted lawn mower repairman did a major maintenance on the tractor. 

After

The tractor even got a new horn.  Now the little boy that lives over the fence from us has  discovered there is a REAL tractor just over the fence and wants to come over all the time to ride on it.  Last weekend he had friends over to play and they begged his dad to take them all over for a ride.  They came over and all five of them loved the tractor rides, even the little girls. 


Last week a friend helped Hubby build a shed for the tractor, so she has been moved from a temporary tent made out of a tarp to her permanent home.  Last night we decided the ole girl needed a name, so let me introduce Emma to you. 

Say Hi to EMMA!

Emma's new house.

EASY COCONUT CAKE

1-Box yellow or white cake mix
1-Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1-12 oz. Cool Whip
Coconut

Prepare cake mix as directed on box.  Bake in a 9" x 13" pan.
After baking, punch holes in the top of the cake with a wooden spoon handle.  Allow to cool for a little before pouring the sweetened condensed milk over the top of the cake.  Allow to cool completely.  Top with Cool Whip, then sprinkle with coconut.  Store in refrigerator.  The cake is better if made the day before serving.  

KATIE'S 95

Today my mom turned 95.  We had a little party for her this afternoon and she had a ball.

She has seen a lot of changes in her lifetime, from living in rural Georgia as a share cropper's child with only a wagon and mule for transportation, raising all their own food, living through the depression, and WWII to the present.  She is certainly part of the greatest generation and is a tough lady.  She has outlived all of her four siblings, even though she is the second oldest.  She says she's going to live to be 100.    
   

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Today was the memorial service for Denny, Hubby's brother and only sibling.  It was at the Carillon at Stone Mountain down by the lake.  It was overcast, but not cold, which was nice.  

Becky, Denny's only child made all the arrangements.  At 2:00 p.m. the Carillon began playing some prearranged music, romantic and religious.  As soon as the music started I could not stop crying. 

Becky shared about her dad.  A long-time friend and former co-worker shared as well.  The friend nicknamed him Hammer.  He made some very kind and moving remarks about Denny, then he pulled a hammer, minus the handle, out of his back pocket and shouted, "SO LONG HAMMER, I'M GOING TO MISS YOU."  He then hurled the hammer in to the lake. 

Becky had a photo of her mom and dad when they were 44 and 47 respectively.  She said that was the way she remembers both of them.  Their ashes had been mixed together and equally divided between two biodegradable containers.  She poured one container of ashes into the lake and Hubby poured the other container into the lake.  Becky read a prayer she had written.

Hubby read a store out of his book that he has written about Denny and how he help their family during really rough times and then read John  11:25, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.'" and then he read John 14:1-4, "Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.  And you know the way where I am going."  Hubby talked about how Denny knew the Lord and he was with Him in a perfect place and he was with his beloved wife and all the other loved ones and friends that have gone before him.  Then Hubby prayed. 

Lots of tears.

Ken (Denny) and Bev at their prime

Containers with mixed ashes

Becky pouring ashes into lake

Hubby pouring ashing into lake

Hubby reading his story about Denny helping their family during hard times

L-R:  Family friend, Tee, Hubby, Joel (Bec's husband) Becky