Choice Morsels

The Mama Kat prompt today was to, "Recycle a July post from ANY year I've been blogging." And the winner is...Stuffed Flank Steak from July 2013! This is a delicious way to fix up a flank steak that I found on Pinterest!  If you can find a flank steak on sale, I highly recommend it! Stuffed Flank Steak Makes:  6 servings Prep:  20 minutes Roast:  at 425 degrees F. for 35 minutes Broil:  10 minutes Ingredients 1 flank steak (1 1/2 to 2 pounds) 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed  1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese  1 jar (7 ounces) roasted red peppers, drained and chopped  (Or use just half of a 16 oz size jar.) 2 tablespoons seasoned dry bread crumbs 1 egg yolk 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt  (I substituted minced fresh garlic and sea salt.) 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 Tbsp olive oil Directions: Carefully slice flank steak in half along long side edge, but not all the way through, so you can fold it open. (Basically butterfly it.) Flatten if needed to

Today I got out and got my tray of Broccoli planted. (9 plants) It did rain on my lightly while I was working on this. I also bought a tray of Red Romaine and planted it, but I don't think lettuce likes to be transplanted. I think maybe it prefers to be direct-sown.  I just planted the Broccoli on one side of the garden, opposite the melon. Also planted Curly Parsley 2 container gardens and Red Petunias in 4. Today's Garden Pic is my lovely Pink Pampas Grass that's out front.  "Pink Floosie," is my pet name for this Pampas Grass that blooms all these extravagantly fluffy plumes every September! I haven't counted this year, but 25 or more is the norm. Of course, a fter days in the Florida sun, the plumes turn a light tan color, but they are a pretty baby pink when they first open. From base to tip-top of the tallest bloom is about 8 to 9 feet tall. That's it for today! Stop back for Mama Kat tomorrow!

We had a company visiting this weekend, all the way through Monday, and it really threw my Monday routine off, so I'm not getting to my Good Eating post a day late! Today I have another Pinterest recipe I tried out. It was for "Mama's No Yeast Dinner Rolls,"---which is just another way of saying "Baking Powder Biscuits." The thing with Pinterest recipes, though, is sometimes the picture being passed around with a certain recipe IS NOT what that recipe actually looks like. This recipe was one of those. This is the Pin that recipe was attached to: Pinterest Pin showing Yeast Rolls However, these rolls pictured  ARE yeast rolls. You can tell by the fine, even texture and shape. I also know these are yeast rolls because this recipe is for a Baking Powder Biscuit called a  Drop or Spoon Biscuit and, as such, always have a rough texture. Plus this recipe actually only makes a total of  5 small biscuits--and the muffin tin is clearly filled with

Today's Mama Kat is to share, "A Back to School Memory."      The scent of autumn was in the air and golden rod was in bloom when I started school in 1963.  I wore a dress, since dresses were what all girls wore to school back then, and carried a red & black plaid book bag, such as the one pictured.       I carried all my books back and forth to school everyday. Initially, I don't recall we could leave books in the our desks and I remember not enjoying how heavy trundling that loaded book bag back and forth was.  At some point in grade school, we had assigned desks and could leave our stuff there. I think desk styles changed maybe, though I can't remember. I do remember I wasn't carrying that thing back and forth in 2nd grade. 50's/60's Book Bag      I would wait for the bus at the end of the driveway and on this particular day I recall going sitting at the very farthest back seat. The bus's next stop was at the bottom of th

Since I'm going to talk about rocks today, it seems appropriate to mention this item that was in last weeks Police Blotter from our local paper: "On August 22, Niceville Police received a report from a woman who said someone had stolen her painted pet rock." I'm still laughing about that one. For today's Garden Pics I have a "before" & "after" of a project to "hide" the big root that got tilted up out of the ground when a big windstorm blew over our Aspen tree. Before : That root is like a huge elbow sticking out of the ground with a big hole under it. It's in the front yard next to our large Gardenia. Very visible. No way to push the elbow back down and I didn't want to have it ground-out because of all the Shamrocks and bulbs and lilies in the vicinity.  After: We purchased 10 flagstones. My plan was to layer the stones in around the root and blend it back into the landscape in such a way it would l

Call them Barbecue Pineapple Meatballs or call them Hawaiian--either way this recipe from Pinterest I tried out is delicious! I highly recommend it. Just 3 ingredients:  frozen meatballs, barbecue sauce & crushed pineapple!  Easy & tasty! I served it as "Hawaiian Meatball Sandwiches," but it makes a great appetizer, too! The recipe is easy to adjust to serve more people! Now the original recipe was made on the stove top and heated in 15 minutes, but I doubled the recipe and heated it in a slow-cooker. So you could do either. First the original recipe, then the doubled recipe for two bags of meatballs.  In general, to increase the recipe quantity, you need 1/2 cup Barbecue sauce per 16 oz bag of meatballs. With the pineapple, a whole 20 oz can should be good for up to 3 (16 oz) bags. Barbecue Pineapple Meatballs 1 (16 oz) bag frozen plain Meatballs  1/2 cup Barbecue sauce 1  (8 oz) can crushed Pineapple with juice (or a generous 1/2 cup if

I worked outside about an hour today and a half cleaning up sticks, cones and cone-cobs. (Cone cobs are the pine cone core that is left after the squirrels burr off all the petals to get to the seeds.) I also racked up a stack of pine cone petals scattered about the walkway and bit of yard just in front of the entryway. That area is under a couple pines trees, directly beneath where squirrels are busily cobbing-cones. I also planted beet seeds in a very large container in the back yard--hoping I'll get beet greens all winter. The melon in the garden that I thought was dead, recent sprouted a couple new vines. I guess the roots aren't dead. If it wants to keep going that's okay by me, though I will be planting Broccoli soon in on the other end of the garden that's empty. I have a small breed of Bell Pepper seeds I've been sprouting in the house. It's designed for containers, but I'm going to plant them in the bed next to the front door where they'll

Apples season is upon us and with that comes eating sliced apples with caramel sauce! We bought some dipping caramel at the grocery the other day in anticipation of getting some apples for this coming Sunday.  But the downside of sliced apples is they gradually turn brown,  I've tried the lemon juice, but that only seems to delay the browning only slightly. So today, I found this tip on Pinterest for using honey & water as a method to prevent browning: To Keep Apples From Browning   Step 1 : Mix 2 Tablespoons of honey in 1 cup of water Step 2 : Let the apple slices soak a few minutes in this solution. Step 3 : Drain, but DO NOT rinse apples. Then serve & enjoy. **** What Did I Think After I Tried It   Pretty effective. I wanted the slices out on a plate for serving and the honey kept them looking really nice out on the table a couple hours. However, nothing can totally stop apples from browning, but I just opened a plastic container that I put left

Today's "find" is another interesting Florida State Park: Manatee Springs ! If you enjoy camping, fishing, kayaking, hiking, swimming in pure spring water and seeing Manatees--this is the place to go! Apparently, they even have a service providing in-park take-out Barbecue! Located on the west side of Florida along the Suwanee River, Manatee Springs State Park is just north of the Lower Suwanee National Wildlife Refuge, west of of Highway 19/98. Abundant Cypress Trees are a unique feature of this park. They're common throughout Florida. I see them here in the fall.Their feathery leaves turn a brilliant orange! Plus the park has a lovely boardwalk for you to enjoy viewing the Cypress grove,  since Cypress are trees that like standing in water and bog. There's Manatees, of course, and to protect them, no boating is allowed on the Springs.  Just Canoes & Kayaks, which are available for rent in the park can be used on the

...a cup full of Hens & Chicks!  Old teacups and coffee cups make excellent "Garden Art" for flower beds--especially with hardy succulents & sedums! I see this set of mugs and chicks out of den window when I'm working on my computer!  :) ***** That's it for today!  Since I'll be quite busy on Thursday this week, I won't be doing a Mama Kat! But come back for Friday Finds!

The Mama Kat for today was to, "write a post in 13 lines." I really didn't have any ideas, so I wrote about that. I must find an idea But here to look? Under the sofa? Just dust bunnies there. In the cabinet? Hmm, I could eat a snack How some coffee? Maybe Pinterest will inspire me. 3 hours and 2 mugs of coffee later... Still nothing. Under my closed eyelids? Maybe tomorrow. ***** (Really, I didn't look at Pinterest at all or eat a snack, I just started typing and let it free flow to come up with this. I did have a cup of coffee.) Thanks for Visiting! Join the Mama Kat fun! Sign up for her Writing Prompt list email!  Remember the Link-up is for posts on one of the Weekly topics!