Wednesday, June 30, 2010

wordless wednesday

fireworks


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Tuesday, June 29, 2010

in the mirror

It's been a week of looking into the mirror that reflects my heart and seeing just how much I am not the person I want to be - or thought I was.


... may there be mercy in the growth that's coming...

Sunday, June 27, 2010

savory sundays

My friend, Jenna, over at A Light Inside has a cool blog. One of the fun things she does is called Tasty Tuesdays. Her recipes are yummy and simply reading them will always make me hungry. I've decided to take a page from her story, (pun intended since she is an author and I'm eagerly anticipating her publication date!), and begin with my own weekly recipe. 


Of course, add to that the fact that Mama and Daddy had a restaurant all my growing up years. I keep asking Mama how they made something. There are bits of paper with recipes scratched on 'em in so many places in this house! This will help me to transcribe those notes into a more useable format.


I hope you enjoy Savory Sundays. Let me know if you try any recipe - and your honest opinion. I really do want to know if your family liked it or not!

Pork Stroganoff

Ingredients:
4 (1 1/4 inch) thick pork chops (boneless will work nicely if you prefer)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions:
1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook chops until well browned on both sides. Remove chops and set aside.
2. Add onion and mushrooms to the skillet and cook until tender, stirring occasionally. Return chops to skillet. Add water, mustard and salt. Raise heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 1 hour.
3. Remove chops to a warm platter. Into skillet add sour cream and heat through (do not boil). Pour sauce over pork chops. Garnish with parsley and serve.

...may there be mercy in the breaking of bread at your table...

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

wordless wednesday

our favorite train




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Saturday, June 19, 2010

saturday ramblings

Saturday morning, waiting for the Man to finish his shower so we can go do fun stuff together. Thought I'd drop a few words here. Nothing important, just a few rambles to get me back on the blogging mode a little.

on turning 50:  way cool! I've been blessed to have friends and family who all wanted to celebrate this milestone with me. So much that my celebrations began the last weekend in March and ended with a trip to San Diego the first week of June. Yes, the entire point of the trip to San Diego was for me to be spoiled beyond belief by Mama. It works every time. In between were parties, lunches, weekend getaways, photography classes, dinners and more. It's been amazing fun!

on work:  economy still isn't good enough for us to get back to our normal 40-hour work week. Am hoping that this reduced hours thing only lasts this year.

on losses:  a dear friend lost her beloved husband last week. He was only 54 and a wonderful man. I've spent a lot of time talking with her as she deals with her grief and the overwhelming sense of the rest of her life. She told me the best advice given from anyone came from me:  "Don't look at the rest of your life. Don't look at the year, the month or the week. Don't even look at the hour ahead. Right now you only have to deal with the next 5 minutes. You can manage 5 minutes at a time. When that 5 minutes is up, deal with the next 5 minutes." She's dealing with life in this way for now. When she can, she will take on 10 minute increments.

on the Man:  am so thankful he is all healed up from his adventures in the medical world in May. Between a fall down a flight of stairs, hitting his head and a nasty bout with pneumonia, he scared me quite a bit. Thankfully the fall ended up with a minor whiplash that healed quickly. Thankfully the pneumonia cleared. Oh, and then there was the accident last week. Yep, he got rear-ended while driving our truck. Truck is still in the truck hospital, but is being fixed. The young man who hit him has great insurance and they are being extremely reasonable and kind to us. Again, no injury to the Man makes me happy.

on family:  it's hard to see Mama aging, but age she must. Despite that, she's doing very well for a 77year-old woman. My sister is doing spectacularly well, which makes me so very happy. She's finally learning how to be herself and that she's a beautiful person. My brothers... well, yeah, they are my brothers. Big brother is showing the ravages of his major illness that should have killed him. He still works, but his body shows many changes from the strong and healthy big brother in my head. Middle brother is still absolutely crazy, silly, and has learned next to nothing since his heart attack and bypass surgery. Youngest brother breaks my heart. Heroin. Nuff said.

on quilting:  haven't had enough time to do much since the weekend with Kim at the beach. But I've been planning and have some fun projects lined up. Not to mention new gorgeous fabrics!

on knitting:  a dear friend gave me a coupon for knitting lessons with her! I mentioned that I might like to learn to knit one evening while at her home. When my birthday rolled around, there was a gift of a knitting book, some yarn and her time. Can hardly wait to cash in that coupon!

on camera time:  definitely planning some serious camera time this summer. Between Mama and some friends, I was given the gift of a serious one-on-one class with an award winning photographer. Wow!!! Another item on my can hardly wait list!

...may there be mercy on my family, my friends, the Man and in my ramblings...

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

belated wordless wednesday

balance


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Wednesday, June 09, 2010

wordless wednesday

under the waterfall





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Tuesday, June 01, 2010

wordless wednesday

draped peacock tail


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For more Wordless Wednesday, click here.