Be Still and Know...Then and Now

Sometime I get on a culinary tangent. Some weeks I am just inspired to get in the kitchen and then others my only desire is to slap some peanut butter on a piece of toast and call it a night. With my success in the Reuben department I was on a roll. I also found myself with some ingredients that were in a time sensitive position! Banana’s are one of my favorite fruits, however I seem to be the only one who eats them. Last week I found myself with multiple banana’s that if not used that day would end up in the trash. What to do…. Banana Bread…..na to hot….. I consulted the culinary expert in all things southern, my Paula Deen cookbooks and found just what I needed! Paula has the best recipe for Banana Pudding I have found, simple, classic and exactly what banana pudding should be! The recipe called for two cups of milk, all I had was skim milk so I off set the fat by adding an additional egg yolk to the recipe and it worked just fine. Not to mention that gave me four egg w...

I have no excuse other than the thought of sauerkraut just did not sound good to me. I am not a huge fan of olives or dill pickles so I just heaped all my already established dislikes upon the Reuben. Lord forgive me for letting my preconceived notions of sauerkraut keep me away from this wonderful culinary experience. When I got back from New York I could not stop thinking about the Reuben I had while we were there. I began to think…..How Hard Could It Be…. After my customary Food Network search and reviewing several recipes I made myself a list and headed to the grocery store. You will need a good rye bread, corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut and the ingredients for the Russian dressing (recipe to follow) and butter or margarine. I followed the recipe for the Russian dressing except for a few minor alterations noted with an asterisk* Russian Dressing: 3/4 cups mayonnaise * (I used low fat mayo) 1/4 cup plus 2 to 3 tablespoons chili sauce 2 tablespoons sour cream * (redu...

Well it was a typical summer week here. It has been so hot (in the 100’s…YIKES!!!) lately that our activity has been confined to spending time with a good book in the pleasant air conditioning of the house. I am loving my Kindle and all the free downloads….. Sunday, June 24 There was a wedding at church on Saturday. I tried to capture the scale of these roses but this photographs just does not do it justice. They were the biggest roses I have ever seen. I pulled one out and laid it across the palm of my hand and it went diagonally across the full span of the palm of my hand. It was HUGE! and Gorgeous! Well they are finally coming in. As predicted I have a gazillion cherry tomatoes. You can bet I will be planting this Sweet 100 again! It has been a HUGE success! No pictures on Monday, June 25… Tuesday, June 26 We met for Prayer Shawl this morning and after our meeting I invited Skoots1mom back to the house for lunch. Ever since my New York Reuben experience I have not been a...

7:30 A.M. There was a pleasantly warm breeze, the blue sky was dotted with wispy white clouds, the birds were enjoying the landscape, the butterflies were darting about and the bee’s were hovering over the blossoms. My new patio umbrella was providing the perfect refuge from the morning sun, my coffee was steaming and I just sat and enjoyed the moment. I think at times there is heavenly perfection here on earth in small human doses… Happy Friday Y’all Blessings R

Sunday, June 17 It’s a love hate relationship really. I love my summer veggies but I hate the reality that I am still struggling to figure this gardening thing out. I commented on FB that I was still waiting to make a first harvest in my garden. One of my wonderful church sisters brought me a whole bag full from her garden. She is a much more experienced gardener than I am and has much better success. Monday, June 18 My next favorite thing about summer is fresh fruit. I have about given up on ever getting any decent produce at the grocery store and have decided to refrain from wasting any more hard earned money on inferior fruits and veggies. Yes it means an additional trip up to Chadwick's every so often but it is so worth the extra effort. I can not tell you when I have enjoyed a cantaloupe more. It was simply the best cantaloupe I have had in such a long time. There is just nothing better in my book that enjoining the wonderful flavors that God provides of us in the simple...

Our last full day in New York was a jam packed day. Our hotel was a good ways away from the 9/11 Memorial. There was NO way I was hiking it down the million city blocks to get to Battery Park where we were to catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty, so we hoped a taxi and gave our tired feet a rest. Since the 9/11 memorial was only a few blocks from Battery Park we made our way over to catch the ferry after our visit to the memorial. Again more waiting in line, about an hour, more security lines, more x-ray machines and finally we made it on the ferry! Regrettably there was some renovations still going so there was no access to the interior of the statue. We had a leisurely stroll about the island, is is not very big and I snapped of a lot of very good pictures of Miss Liberty! Before we hopped the ferry to Ellis Island we had lunch at the cafe. It was worth the $25.00 dollars just to get a cool spot under a tree to eat our lunch… or so I thought until I noticed this not so ...