Home Made Dog Treats... Recipe

I love the flourless Peanut Butter Cookies.  So does my husband.  So do our poodles, Sam and Katie.  It has become almost impossible for us to have them without giving some to the dogs.  Soooo... I decided to come up with a doggy recipe that doesn't have so much sugar in it.

I use the 1 cup peanut butter, 1 egg but I halve the sugar and use only 1/2 cup.  To that I add 1/2 cup flour and enough chicken broth to make a soft cookie dough.  (Believe me.. they are not too worried if I get too much of one thing and not enough of the other..lol )

I first tried making a BIG FLAT SQUARE COOKIE-LIKE THING and cutting it into tiny squares.  It didn't work.  So I got out my cake decorating bags and just didn't put a tip of any kind on it.  It dots out the perfect size tiny cookies onto the cookie sheet.  I bake them at 350° for about 7 to 8 minutes.   The time will vary with individual ovens so just bake until golden brown.  After cooling, I keep them in a gallon size ziploc bag.  They love them.... and we get to eat our own cookies.  :)

Peasant Wheat Bread ... Free Recipe

Beginning in January last year I decided to start cooking.  (Yes, I was already cooking... but I mean "cooking" ).   I came across this recipe for No Knead Bread in some way I can't remember.  I LOVE IT!!  The recipe is at Alexandra Cooks where she has photos for every step.  Her recipe is for regular white bread but she also has hints, tips and other things.  The recipe is on THIS PAGE.

While you're over there, have a look around.  She has some really wonderful recipes!

It's been quite nice the least few days here in North Texas.  Temps in high 50s to mid 70s.  Prior to that we had a truly unseasonable arctic front come through that was seriously out of character for us.  My grandmother always said that "If winter comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb."  We can surely hope so.. :)

Have a wonderful day.

OMG!!! I Actually Got In to My Account!!!

I've been trying for almost a year to find a way to get back in here!  Google kept trying to use a different email addy and wouldn't let me into Blogger!  Yayyy!!  Happy dance!!

This is a Verbena.. I love it.  It made such a beautiful showing this year.  It seems there are so many things to catch up on. 

I think I will begin to print off my blog a month at a time.  I find that when something happens, I blog about it.  Then when I need to remember WHEN that something happened I can go back to my blog to see... :)

It's very cold here today.  Down in the 20s overnight.  It's up to about 42° F right now.  Hopefully will continue with the warming for a couple of days.

I'm so excited to be able to blog I can't decide what to blog..lol   But hang in there with me and I'll come up with something.. :)    Have a wonderful day!

Winter's Blast

It's been very cold and icy for the last several days here in North Texas. They are calling it an arctic blast.  We get them every so many years.  There's lots of staying inside, schools closed, businesses closed.  It's very hard on several of the small businesses here that are trying to make it day by day and this long period of inactivity is putting some in very dire straits.. It's difficult to even imagine the hardships for the people who have no place to go or are caught in their cars and vehicles along the roadsides.  Our heart goes out to them.

The ice began to drop (not snow... ice) on December 5.  Very softly.  As I took this photo there was just the tenderest kiss on my cheek as the tiny drops touched me.  Each spearmint leaf is totally encased in a thin icy sheath .

By sundown the sleet/ice has drifted to 6 inches deep just outside our front door.  It is so strange to see so much white and ice with not one single icicle... The ice fell and the temperatures were so cold that there was no water to drip and form the icicles.. 

This is that small mound of ice the next morning.. December 6.  We cannot get out our front door.. or the back door where another smaller drift of ice has accumulated. 










The streets are covered in a sheet of 2 to 3" of ice.  So is everything as far as a person can see in every direction.  Officials have been begging everyone to stay off the roads.  Vehicles have been piling up all along the main roads and our county (and surrounding counties)  was totally unprepared for a storm of this magnitude.

Today is December 9.  As you can see the drift at the front door has dropped about an inch.  My sweet DH tried yesterday to chop it out some so a person could squeeze between it and the door, but this is solid ice and will require more tools than what we have. (You can bet that will change!  :))

The good news is that the sun is shining today.  And what a glorious sight it is.  The temperatures should remain above freezing for the entire day.  Hopefully most of the ice will be gone by evening.

As for us, we've been toasty and warm.. for which we are extremely thankful. 

Allen Grady Ingram, Jr...

We lost my uncle Allen Ingram, Jr. on November 7, 2013. 
Allen was just younger than my dad by a few years.  He was a warm and loving man who has 2 wonderful daughters and a loving extended family. When we were kids we called him Uncle Bug... until he decided enough was enough.. :)  He will be missed.

Phlubliefitttzzz... :(

I have another blog.  It's called Fabric Follies Two and on it I have put up some free crochet and knit patterns for anyone who would like to use them.  But... I did NOT plan on Lion Brand taking them and calling them their own!  When they took the scarf pattern I sent them an email... this time I won't bother.  These patterns are the most popular on my blog and are listed as mine on Ravelry.  I'm not sure why I am so upset about this, but I am!







On a happier note, I have a new scarf pattern that I put together for one of my sons.  It's a combination pattern scarf using ribbing, long cable and short cable.  It's made from I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby.  It is 100% wool and knits up really well. It should be toasty this coming winter.. :)

The weather here has cooled.. and that's a good thing.  However, I am still having those "personal vacations in the tropics" causing rivers of sweat to cascade from my being every time I walk across the room.  My sweet DH has started wearing long sleeve shirts while I, for the first time, spend most of my time in shorts.. phew  I suppose if it keeps up much longer I will have to make a trip to the Dr. to see what's up with the hormones .. :(

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
― H. Jackson Brown Jr.

Have a great day.. :)

Gluten Free Buckwheat Waffles

My sweet DH has diabetes.  In an effort to find something he would enjoy for breakfast and could eat without his sugar skyrocketing, I tried buckwheat.  What a hit!  He loves them. 

Today was a buckwheat waffles day.  I found the recipe at Cooks.com ... here .  I made a few changes to the recipe.. well, not really changes.  I just added some stuff.  I always add 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon allspice and 1 cup chopped pecans.  Sometimes I add 1/2 cup finely chopped apple.  He can eat these and not raise his blood sugar.. sugar free syrup is a must.. :)

The recipe calls for an overnight wait to let the buckwheat thicken.  This is always best.  Today was a hurry up day, so no waiting.  It's a good thing this makes a lot of batter...  now I can let it set for a couple of hours and then make up what is left into waffles for the freezer.  Love those days when no cooking is necessary for breakfast.. sigh  My sweet DH just grabs some out of the freezer and pops them into the toaster.  Great!

The sun is shining out there today.  Guess this may be the day that I have to go clean the mess off the back porch.  I've been putting it off claiming the heat was too bad... then the wind was too bad.. then I was too tired... hmmm  Are we seeing a pattern here?  lol

Have a wonderful day... Hug anyone who will let you and enjoy that sweet warm feeling.. :)

The Garden, The Shawl, and Lunch

I think the garden is almost finished for the year.  The okra is still going strong but is putting on very little okra.  However, I did get enough to cook up the other day...

We're only about 3 days away from Daylight Savings Time ending.  That means cold weather is near.  And look what my sweet DD knitted for me.  :)

This is the softest, warmest and most adorable shawl I've ever had.  It will stay on my office chair where I sit right under the air conditioner vent in the summer and just in front of a window in the winter.  Thank you, Paula.  It's perfect.

Had lunch with my buddy Pat B. yesterday.  I stuffed myself with 1/2 order Roast Turkey Fuji Apple Salad and  1/2 Chicken Salad Sandwich.  Oh My Goodness!  Top that off with Sweet Tea and a Cobblestone goodie.. and needless to say, I had to bring the Cobblestone home... Very nice visit and catch up time since Pat has been gone for a while visiting her sweet daughter and family with the  newborn grandson.

It evidently rained again last night.  I opened the front curtains and blinds this morning for Sam and there was a shiny sheen on the road, the drive and the grass.  We so need all this rain, but am getting a little tired of the gray days... and the fact that Sam has to be carried out to do his business since he cannot possibly get his feet wet.. :/

Looking forward to working on The Big Blue Quilt today.  The only thing I got done on it yesterday was to rip out the parts that I had sewn in wrong.. :(   Perhaps I can get the body of it finished today and decide on a border and binding..

Hope you have a wonderful day.  Sing a little, smile a lot.. :)

Freecycle Dolls and Potato Soup Recipe

Got an email from my Freecycle account the other day.  It showed some pictures of the cutest little ceramic dolls and I just had to have them.  It took a couple of days to find the person who had posted them because her posts were showing up in the the emails but not on the group site.. wonder what's up with that?   Anyway, I finally reached her and I did get the dolls.  Love them.. ♥

 I keep thinking this might be a Bye Lo Baby, but then I think not. She is a full body ceramic, anatomically correct baby girl.  There is a broken piece on the neck and the cording that holds her together is loose so I'm not sure I am educated enough in the "Doll Hospital" techniques to fix her by myself.  Guess we'll see how good my searches on the net will be as I try to find information..

I have seen these two faces before but can't remember what they are called.  These two have ceramic face and hands with full cloth bodies.  I expected them to be much dirtier than they are and they should not be too difficult to clean.

The dressing of these babies is what I am looking forward to (and yes... I do realize that I left that sentence ending in a preposition..lol )   I'm hoping I can find a baby doll clothing pattern with multi sizes since I really don't want to spend huge amounts of money on several patterns..  hmmm

My sweet DH asked me about Potato Soup last night.  He says that I used to make a potato soup that he could eat with his diabetes.  Since my mind deserted me about 5 years ago I have no idea what he is talking about, but I will definitely try to find something if he wants it.   Sooo, I got on my trusty internet steed and galloped off into the sunset on a search for the perfect potato soup.  When I found this recipe that I think will be perfect and in the bargain found myself laughing... well.. I just had to share it.

Take a look ..   The Pioneer Woman Cooks   Her writing reminds me so much of  Dear Oldest Son's writing that I was chuckling all the way thru... While you're there, click at the top of her page and see more of her delicious recipes.  Love this site... (By the way, I am only a fan of this page and not affiliated in any way. )

Messed up the Big Blue Quilt yesterday.  I guess I was just too tired to be working on it and now I have to rip out a big part of it.  But that's ok..

Fog has us blanketed in today and it looks like we're going to have cloudy and rain thru Thursday and a sunny weekend... Now is that not a change from the usual??.. lol 

Hope you have a good today..

Phew!!

I'm tired today.  Yesterday was an exciting, wonderful.. "I get to see my Dear Daughter, Dear GrandSon and his baby.. my Dear Great Grandson".. kind of day.  I just don't think babies can be any sweeter than when they are yours.. ;)

Meet Nathan.. :)

Older brother DGGS Lucas also had his picture taken, but he wasn't too happy about it. lol  Got to go to lunch with DGS and Lucas and what a joy that was.  Couldn't have been a better day.

This only required a 4 hour drive..2 ways.. lol  So 13 hours after I left,  I got back home last night.  But it was so worth it.

DGSons back surgery seems to be going well.  Of course he wasn't totally comfortable and still has to take pain meds, but the incision looks clean, dry and in good shape.  Hopefully after a few more days it will ease up even more for him.

Had terrible rain on the way home last night.  Downpour so heavy that if there had not been a big 18 wheeler in front of me with all those lights I would have had to pull over because I could hardly see the road.  This lasted for about 30 or 40 minutes, but finally slowed down as I got closer to home.  Whoever you are, kind sir, that was in that truck.. Thank you for being there and for not being one of those cowboy truck drivers who think they can manage that truck at 80 mph in any kind of weather.. :)

Gonna go rest and maybe nap the day away.. :)  Gonna give my honey a big hug and kiss because when I walked in the door last night at 7pm  he had supper ready.  And no.. you cannot have him. :)

Have a good Sunday.