Choice Morsels

Today was a nice cold sunny day; the first after several days of rain, so it was a chance to get some outside things done: #1 on my list was laying down some Scott's Winterguard with Weed Control Turf Builder.  I've never used it before, but decided I would this year because the weed growth is ridiculous between now and spring. I thought it'd put me ahead. It's for fall application after temps get under 60 degrees. Also requires the grass be wet for application, so I had to hose it down lightly before hand. Then weather needs to be clear of rain for 24 hours afterwards. This is different then Weed & Feed, which needs to be watered in. #2 on my list was trimming back the lower portion of one of the front yard Pampas Grass clumps because it was becoming intrusive. Also pulled up frost-killed Vinca plants--though there are plenty of infant Vinca's around that weren't frost-killed and I'm sure a host of them will pop up fresh from scattered seed co

Greetings!  Hope you'll have an excellent Thanksgiving this week! We'll be up on base helping out with a Thanksgiving meal for the Airman at the Chapel Annex this year. The dining facility, which normally puts on a huge feast, is closed temporarily for some remodeling.  No Mama Kat prompt post this week.  Today's Good Eating recipe is "Cheese Danish" made with refrigerated Crescent Roll dough, The friend who gave me the Honey Bun Cake recipe I posted a couple weeks ago, also gave me this recipe. It's more of a breakfast treat; something to serve on Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's morning! I haven't made it, but I've tasted it when my friend made some and it's to die-for delicious!  And easy to make! Cheese Danish Ingredients:  2  8oz packages of cream cheese, softened  2 cans refrigerated Crescent Rolls  1/2 cup sugar  1/2 teaspoon vanilla  1 egg yolk Glaze Topping: 1 1/2 Tablespoons warm milk 1/2

The Mama Kat blog prompt topic for today is: "Tell us how your pet came to be a member of your family." It's an interesting story really.  I mean, when you want to adopt to cat and you're standing in a shelter surrounded by 40 choices, how do you pick the right one? Sunni, age 13. She's not allowed outside on the ground, but Hubby will hold her on his lap on the patio. Luckily, Sunni picked us. It was 2003 and we'd been without a cat for 3 years.--it took me awhile to feel ready to face the decision of choosing a new one after the death of our previous beloved.  There's a no-kill shelter located on our Air Force Base and we went there. It was my first trip to a shelter. I also prayed hard before-hand for a way to know which cat to choose, one that would be a good companion for us. Our goal was to adopt a mature, indoor cat of docile character, younger then 5 years.   We walked into the cat room. It was overwhelming. So many cats

It was cold last night--- near 24 degrees. For north Florida, that's chilly . Not when average daytime temps should be 70! I put a clear Leaf bag over my bell pepper Monday and a foam cover on my only remaining outdoor faucet. I already brought in all my little ceramic cats from my pots a couple weeks ago---I learned my lesson last winter about exploding ceramic! So Garden Pic of the Day is a recent picture of a cheery pink Petunia to brighten your winter! This pot is located near my front door and gets southern sun all day. That's why stuff in will will survive Florida winter. It's funny--a few days after I took this picture, I added a couple Pansies to this pot and discovered these petunias didn't have much root base. This lovely green broke off and I couldn't find any roots. Luckily, in another pot, I still had one last pink Petunia that had regrown fresh leaves and was looking pretty healthy, so I moved that to this pot to replace the one you

With the holidays coming, maybe you'd like to try a new sweet treat? Today I'm sharing one of my favorite baked goodies: Italian Cheesecake Brownies!   Italian Cheesecake Brownie This easy recipe starts with a box of family size brownies for a 13x9 pan!  Then you just top it with a ricotta-egg mixture, marble it into the brownie, bake and, voila, a brownie delight your friends & family will rave over! The young military guys from our Bible study gobble these things up! The picture  is what they look like when done. Ingredients : 1 container (15oz) Ricotta Cheese (regular, lite or fat-free) 1/2 cup sugar (white, Sugar in the Raw or coconut sugar) 2 eggs 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 box of "family size" brownies for 13x9 pan (which will take 2 more eggs plus oil & water.) Directions: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9 inch baking pan with foil; spray with cooking oil spray. Beat ricotta cheese, sugar, eg

The Mama Kat blog prompt for today is: "Share a favorite song from when you were 16 yrs old...and is it still a favorite?" Wow, that takes me back---all the way to 1972!  That's when I was 16. The world was still reeling with Flower Children and Vietnam. Everyone, guys and girls, in high school wore shoulder-length hair parted down the middle. Teachers were being busted for pot.  We only had 3 television channels to choose from and Princess phones were the "in" thing because they had push-buttons instead of a rotary dial.  Turbulent times, those days. That's about the time I started listening to the radio. I can't say any one piece of music was ever my favorite, though one had to hear whatever was popularover and over and over on the school bus all the way to school, then back again. They tended to stick in your head, but generally not for 42 years--with the exception of one that's still with me: that song "Lime in The Coconut&qu

Today I mowed the back yard--not so much for the grass, but to pick up the pine needles & bay tree leaves. You can get a look in today's photo of what my kind of pine needles look like: they have 2 blades and range from 6 to 8 inches in length. Today's Garden Pic of the Week is my Winter Broccoli & Peppers: The bell pepper has been there all summer, but now that fall is here, it's taken on fresh life again!  I had to dust the broccoli yesterday to get of some cabbage worms I saw, but soon the temperatures will cool off enough to prevent that problem altogether! I also have a young tomato I grew from a sucker and planted late there next to the stake. It's blooming now. I decided to draped large clear plastic Yard bag over the stake to cover the tomato to create a hot-house for it. I thought it might like it better. That means, however, I have to fertilize the flowers myself! The bedraggled pair in the back garden are also blooming again and one has

Today I decided was a good day to collect my Greek Oregano for drying before it turns really chilly this weekend.  Not that the cold bothers it. It stays green all year round, but slows down on growth. The dehydrator is out in the garage, so the garage is rich with the fragrance of Oregano! Today's Good Eating recipe is one a friend of ours gave me some years ago: Honey Bun Cake. She was newly married then and practicing cooking by baking all sorts of things and found this recipe.  This is a very easy snack cake for a 9 X 13 pan that is fantastic for pot-lucks or anytime you need a quick dessert or coffee cake. Like so many of my favorite recipes, it starts with a box of yellow cake mix! Honey Bun Cake Cake: 1 box yellow cake mix 1/2 cup oil (or substitute unsweetened applesauce) 4 eggs 8 oz. Sour Cream (regular, lite or fat-free) 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup brown sugar, packed 2 teaspoons cinnamon Icing: 2 cups confectioners sugar 6 Tablespoo

Today's Mama Kat blog prompt challenge: "Write a post just 12 lines long": This Week In Our Local Police Blotter: Dude owns a gray 4-door GMC truck. Drives it home. Parks it in his driveway. Leaves the doors unlocked. Leaves key in the ignition. Goes to bed. Gets up in morning. Finds truck gone. Calls the police. Doesn't understand why his truck got stolen. Duh. ******* True Story. Want to read other posts in the Mama Kat blog prompt link-up? Go here .   Kat's post is first, followed by the linky list. Thanks for visiting!

I have a number of Gerbera Daisy's planted in my front bed that bloom according to their own whim. Some only bloom in the spring, others bloom randomly throughout the year. Just about Halloween, even as temps were starting to drop into the 40's at night, my orange gerber, below, decided to put up a head! Perfect timing! I like to wear a costume for possible Trick or Treaters. Here I am in my Musketeer costume with my fencing sword, complete with little drawn on mustache. I made the outfit many years ago, back when I still worked at the flower shop and we all wore costumes to work on Halloween. It's modeled after the costume Musketeer uniform from the 1993 "Three Musketeers" movie: Stop by tomorrow for Mama Kat!

Welcome to the first week of November! I noticed today I'd missed bringing in my Mother-In-Law Tongue house plant and got it inside today! Since it's been dipping into the 40's at night now. Still in low 70's during the day. In Florida, when it gets to be 60 degrees out, everyone starts looking for their parkas! That's kind of a joke around here. Today's Good Eating recipe is African Beef Stew! I actually love this recipe, but since I've yet to find frozen Butternut Squash chunks at the base commissary, I seldom make it because I have to use a fresh Butternut and that calls boiling, then peeling. I'd prefer to find some ready-to-go frozen! I'll keep looking. In the meantime, you can try rich & tasty recipe out! It calls for ground beef, peanut butter & chunks of Butternut Squash served over steamed rice! African Beef Stew: Ingredients: 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 1/2 cups chopped onion 1 lb lean ground beef 1 1/2 cups c