I’m not quite sure when I’ll be going grocery shopping next, but I’ve got all of the ingredients on the shopping list – I think it sounds yummy, don’t you? My hubby might even eat it if I promise him that there will be no onions in it!

Not long ago a friend of mine was going to McDonald’s for lunch and asked me if I wanted anything. She told me that they sell large “sweet tea” for one dollar. So I said, sure, I’d like that, and I gave her a dollar ten (the extra ten for tax) and when she came back with my large cup of sweetened ice tea I was quite surprised exactly how yummy that was! Whenever I order sweet ice tea anywhere else it just is not as yummy. Even if I add tons of sugar, it just is not as yummy. I wish I knew exactly how they made it; I’d try to duplicate it at home! And I wish that they had it available in a sugar-substitute form so that it was zero calorie. I’m sure I could drink a lot of this stuff, but I hate to think of the weight I’ll gain if I do!

To make matters more complicated, I can’t seem to find a spice rack that actually holds most of the spices that I use. Spices come in such a variety of boxes and cans and bottles, and different sizes. I’m the kind of person that would like to have all of the spices lined up in alphabetical order so that I could find the spice that I need quickly and easily. But since they are all different sizes and shapes I can’t get them organized very well at all. I’ve heard that the world will beat a path to your door if you invent a better mouse-trap. Well, I would beat a path to the door of the person who created the perfect spice rack!

Well, first of all, let me say that I really like Paula Deen. And yes, that recipe does sound very easy. But, and this is an important but, it is different than the way I normally cook peas. I usually dump some peas in a microwave safe bowl, add a couple of splashes of water (I do not use canned peas, they are gross!) and then I cover the pan with a plate and nuke the peas for a couple of minutes, stir, nuke again.

Then I serve the peas with a slotted spoon and let each individual diner choose whether to add butter or not. Some people prefer their veggies very plain, not drowning in butter. And you know what, I don’t like cooking with butter because it burns too easily. Give Paula a break, guys!

What a guy!  He came into the bedroom with my cup of tea and told me to “come and get’em while they’re warm” so I’m gonna go grab one or two while they are still warm from the oven! Today is going to be a great day!

One drawback to having so much rain is that mildew and fungus are flourishing. My yard has several different types of mushrooms sprouting in different places. I doubt that any of these mushrooms are edible, but I have never really done any research on mushrooms. I wonder if there are any good online sources to find out about the different types of mushrooms and which ones are edible?

After I bought some cold cuts, cheeses and sub rolls, I went to buy some lettuce. I was pleasantly surprised to see that you can buy a small bag of lettuce for less than a buck and it is already shredded for you. I love that idea!

When I have the need to take a look at my resume to update and edit it, I find myself thinking back to that first full-time job. That was where I learned that if I wanted to take a break I had to be smoking a cigarette. And that if I were so brave as to correct my boss’s terrible spelling and grammar on a letter that he wanted me to type up that he would get really angry and threaten to fire me even though I was right and he was wrong. I learned a lot of real-life lessons back then about how unfair life is and that biting my lip and holding my tongue was a very hard, but very important thing to do if I wanted to keep my job.

From time to time I find myself thinking back to that job, and remembering that even though the people there were difficult to work with, that the place really did have good prices, good quality, and a good selection of things that are not normally available to the retail customer going to a mainstream department store. So when I decide that I want to buy something for my house that just might be available from a place like that I will go online and see if I can buy it from a website like the PeachSuite Wholesale Hotel Supply & Restaurant Equipment Company website. You can find some really cool items on there, like a seven-piece pie cutter for under ten dollars. I think that is a great little gadget to have!

I decided to cut back on the coffee and switch to water or a flavored water while at work. If I was going to cut back to just one cup of coffee, it was going to have to be GOOD coffee. So I bought a bag of ground Columbian beans from Starbucks.

But that is too strong for my taste. I finally figured out how to make my own personal blend of coffee to make from home. I take a small canister and fill it halfway with Starbucks Columbian coffee, and then fill the canister the rest of the way with Folgers brand Columbian coffee. When I mix them together, the coffee is not too strong and it retains the special taste of Columbian beans.

I have a really hard time getting my family to eat the right foods. 

I only have one son that is interested in eating right, and he is living on his own now.  So I am here at home struggling with trying to get the rest of my family to eat right and stay healthy.  It seems to be a losing battle.

I cook healthy and tasty meals, but apparently no one wants to eat healthy tasty meals.  I get discouraged from cooking so much food and sitting down at the table by myself to eat. At least it is easy to get fresh fruits locally so I can grab some fruit to snack on without having to cook a large portion of anything. The only drawback to that is I have found that after I eat fresh fruit I feel hungrier than I did before I ate it. So then I try to have some quick protein – one of those Baby Bel cheeses. I really like them a lot, but I keep hearing from a lot of people that cheese is not a healthy food to eat. In fact I have one nephew that insists that cheese is really bad for you. I don’t understand how it can be really bad for you unless you eat a lot of it.

It’s really nice that our family has agreed to keep the cottage in the family for as long as we have been able to keep it. There are lots of good memories associated with summers there. Many crab feasts have been served on the sturdy wood picnic tables on the side porch. My favorite picnic table is the one that has the tree growing up through the middle of it. The tree even goes through the porch roof!

Many ghost stories have been told around the camp fires while the children roasted marshmallows on their sticks and then took the marshmallows to the adults that were sitting nearby on the park benches for the adults to squish them between the graham crackers and Hershey’s chocolate bars pieces. I hope that future generations of our family will enjoy the cottage as much as we have.

My grandmother seemed to spend most of her day in the kitchen, cooking the meals and canning fruits and vegetables while my grandfather tended the animals and crops. 

Seems to me that’s all anyone that I knew had in the way of kitchen appliances.  If you wanted coffee, it was percolated in a pot on the stove-top.  If you wanted to open a can, you used a manual can opener.   The day’s garbage was fed to the pets, or thrown in the garbage can.

I look around my kitchen today and see my range, refrigerator/freezer, two microwave ovens, a bread machine, an electric coffeepot, a food processor, three slow-cookers, a George Forman-type grill, an automatic dishwasher, a hands-free battery operated can opener, a blender, an electric mixer, an electric waffle maker, and a toaster oven.  (Note:  some of these are tucked away in kitchen cupboards.)  I COULD have, but don’t want, a trash compactor and a garbage disposal. 

I’m really glad that technological advances have provided for all of these conveniences.  I don’t think I would have the time or energy to live the way my grandparents did!

Dark chocolate may be healthy for you to eat, but I have not become accustomed to the bitterness of it. I much prefer semi-sweet or milk chocolate. Of course we progress through the different types of chocolates and wines, until we reach my favorite – a sweet dessert wine with white chocolate. I understand that white chocolate is really made from almonds, and not the cocoa bean, but that’s Okay with me – I like it the best. By the end of the sampling party, several of the ladies are really glad that they live next door to the queen so they can walk home! As for me, I usually don’t drink more than a sip or two of the samples so I’m fine to drive home. I’m really just there for the chocolate!