Choice Morsels

This one is my own recipe for a quick dinner: Cabbage Kielbasa Skillet! All you need is cabbage, onions, an apple & your favorite kind of Kielbasa &  This recipe makes about 2 - 3 servings, depending on how hungry those 2 people are. The photo is my own, right in the iron skillet I was cooking it in. Ingredients 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil 1/4 head of cabbage (a quarter wedge), thinly sliced 1 Kielbasa, sliced 1 medium onion, sliced thinly 1 apple, thinly sliced Directions: In large skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil, then add sliced cabbage & onions & saute until cabbage wilts and onion is starting to look transparent. Add sliced Kielbasa and cooke 2 or 3 minutes, then add apple slices and stir in. Turn down heat slightly and continue cooking, giving a stir every so often until apples are tender. Can be served alone or over hot, steamed rice. A simple & filling we enjoy often! ***  

The Mama Kat blogging writing option I've chosen today is to share the "7 Things I Would Love to Eat Guilt Free..." ....and by "guilt free" I mean being able to gobble them down without having to worry about calories, though most things on my list are okay, healthy even, if eaten in moderation. So, with that in mind, here goes... #1)  Chocolate Candy Bars. Preferably Mounds or various dark chocolate options. #2)  Peanut Butter.   On anything. In anything. #3)  Cake. A different cake every week to have a big slice of for dessert after dinner every night. Boston Cream Pie is one of my favorite cakes. #4) Steak.  I'd cook out a steak every night if I could afford it. #5) Cheese . I love cheese. All kinds of cheese. I'd eat hunks of it. #6)  Dried Fruit. I adore dried fruit. Dates. Raisins. Apricots. Peaches. Apples.  Pineapple. Especially Pineapple.  And if it's chocolate

Today I have an interesting December shot of Asparagus berries going from green to red! It's probably the most festive thing I have growing outdoors during winter! Birds can eat the berries. It also spreads easily, but unwanted starts are also easily pulled up. In Florida, it's a drought hardy landscape plant, but be warned---it's thorny! When I was a florist, we'd use it for garlands sometimes and I'd come home with my fingers all pricked and scratched on those days.  Stop back to see what's up for Mama Kat tomorrow!

The Mama Kat blog writing prompt I chose today is, "Tell us about the last time you dressed up? What was the occasion? Ever been invited to a Murder Mystery Party? It's a role playing game that comes in a box that lets a group of 8 people play Columbo or Jessica Fletcher in trying to figure out who killed a someone all the game characters knew and perhaps even had motive to kill.  Like in Clue, someone has killed "Mr. Body," and you've got to figure out who. The Murder Party box generally contains invitations, character descriptions and costume suggestions, booklets with dialogue and character information to be revealed or concealed, clues and even sometimes food suggestions. This particular Murder Party was set in New York, in an Italian restaurant belonging to a Mr. Peppi Roni, who been murdered by gunshot right in the restaurant sometime during the night. Now all the family & friends have come together for his funeral and drama ensues as each of

I was really nice today--about 70. We saw my friend Megan off to the airport this morning, then this afternoon, I trimmed down Pink Pampas out front. The electric hedge trimmer makes that job so much easier!   Also pulled up frozen Vinca's and trimmed back several Mexican Heather shrubs out front, too. Today's Garden Pic is Button Pincushion Mums. This shot is from early December. There are in the border between sidewalk and kitchen window. The white thrive better then any color and actually need dividing. Time, too, to trim off the winter growth to make room for new spring growth for spring blooms! I saw the Daisy Mums had all kinds of fresh growth popping up! Stop back for Mama Kat tomorrow!

I've not been in a good mood today. My friend of 10 years is moving away. And I'm mad at Zazzle because they've messed up all the in-store share link codes this week for promoting anything. So, I've just been playing Star Wars: The Old Republic. Anyway, today's Good Eating recipe is another Pinterest I tried over the holidays for Banana Dark Chocolate Chip Bread! I like to make mini-loaves for gifts. I did throw some dried Cranberries in, too, but---really, it's just best with the dark chocolate chunks or chips. I used Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate, but you can use any you prefer. The photo is a general one from Pinterest, banana bread with chocolate chips all looks about the same. Banana Dark Chocolate Bread Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup granulated white sugar* 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (1/2 stick) 2 large eggs 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 medi

The Mama Kat blog writing prompt I chose today is to share a blog post inspired by the word, "Icy." I grew up in Indiana where long, graceful icicles were a common sight along the edges of our roof during winter. I saw a news story  on TV recently about something that happened to a foolish group of people in Minnesota standing at the base of the frozen Minnehaha Waterfalls in Minneapolis, looking up and admiring the giant frozen waterfall "icicles" when a big chunk suddenly broke off and fell on right on them . A Park Ranger pointed out that these people ignored all the warning signs not to go down there.  I said to Hubby, " You know, my Mom taught me to know better then stand under icicles." She taught me that because, as a general rule,  hanging ice is heavy, sometimes sharp and can do you great harm if it falls on the uninformed. However, here in Northwest Florida, ice is a much rarer sight. Except in January 2014, when temps  dropped to -

I have 3 things I'm sad about this week: * The hard freeze last week burnt everything  sensitive to deep cold in my flower beds and containers! Despite my trying to cover some.The problem is, it rained first, then froze hard. So much for fabric coverings. One bell pepper plant did survive--and that's good news! Plus it's warmed back up again. *  My friend, Megan, whom I've been having dinner with every other Thursday for 10 years now, is moving to Lancaster, CA to work at Edwards AFB. She leaves next week . The new job option came only 10 days ago, so it's been a big rush!  * My camera broke. Actually, the memory card slot spring broke, so it won't take a memory card anymore and it won't work without one. Repair proved unfeasible. Just no one local to do it and Nikon wants a blank check credit card number to charge whatever they see fit for repair and I'm not doing  that . It'd probably cost more then I paid for the camera originally a

This recipe was a new holiday cookies recipe I tried from Pinterest for the 2016 holiday season! It's a shortbread, so it's a mild, buttery cookie with a festive touch of Maraschino cherry and rich semi-sweet or dark chocolate bits! They're a "refrigerator cookie," meaning you mix it up, roll it up in wax paper, refrigerate then cut and bake a couple hours later. They're best made in advance before serving--as much as 2 to 3 weeks and should stored in the refrigerator until you're ready to put them out. They do get a richer flavor over time! Shortbread cookies should be made with real butter for best performance & flavor! Maraschino Cherry & Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies Ingredients: 1 cup Unsalted Butter, softened at room temperature. (that's 2 sticks) 1/2 cup Confectioners Sugar 1/2 Tablespoon Vanilla 1 cups all-purpose Flour 2/3 cup Semi-Sweet or Dark Chocolate Chips 3/4 cup Maraschino cherries, chopped, then

The Mama Kat prompt choice I'm doing today is list of my,  "Top 12 Blog Posts for 2016!" Drum roll, please....and the winners are: #1)  My most popular post ever with 566 visits: Oriental Ramen Noodle Salad ! In search for the perfect Ramen Salad, I combined ideas from several Pinterest recipes to come up with this gem!  It's a great summer side I use often! #2) With 114 visits: Between the Lines Choice Morsels: Blogging Over Age 50!   I wrote this as part of being on a guest blogger link-up about how, I a woman over 50, got into blogging.  #3)  With 89 visits:  My Favorite Cat Quotes ! A selection of my favorite sayings about cats! Inspired by a Mama Kat prompt. #4) With 88 visits: Frosted Banana Bars! A recipe given to me my a friend that uses ripe bananas & sour cream! #5)  With 82 visits: Cereal Bran Muffins! This is a recipe from a collection of m

It's been warmish here in Florida most of December and I hadn't checked my Broccoli for a couple and days and when I went out to pick some I discovered...cabbage worms! Quick treatment with Sevin dust. I  had to wash the assortment of broccoli side shoots carefully. Here's a trick: add a tablespoon of salt to a bowl, fill it with water and drop your potentially pest-infested veggies in! Salt water kills them. Many will fall off and sink. Still--both Hubby and I inspected those little heads very thoroughly. before I cooked them.  Some of the buggers didn't fall off into the water. Really, the thing I like about winter gardening is it's usually too chilly for pests. Thank goodness a cold front is coming soon! Today's Garden Pic is a really lovely late afternoon winter shot of a few"lucky" pink Shamrock blossoms peeking up around a blue-green Hen! Stop back tomorrow to see what's up for Mama Kat!