Choice Morsels

The Mama Kat blog writing prompt today is to," Share a Favorite Slow Cooker Recipe": And the winner is: Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan! This is the best slow cooker recipe I've tried this year. I make it often and it's going to be the "Recipe of the Year" our Christmas letter this year! The secret to this recipe is to use frozen breaded breast chicken  pieces or chunks or nuggets and a sliced block of Mozzarella cheese to give it that ooey-gooeyness of  classic Chicken Parm! This dish is very warm and filling! A great meal for winter! ********** Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan Recipe Ingredients: 1 bag fully cooked  Breaded   Chicken , thawed (it can be nuggets, sliced or larger pieces you cut in half.) 1 8oz block of Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese, cut into 1/4 inch slices halved tenders For Sauce: 1 28 oz can Diced Tomatoes 1 15 oz can Diced Tomatoes with Onion & Garlic  1 6 oz can of Tomato Paste 2 cloves garlic, min...

Just a little seasonal color for October! Electric Jack O' Lanterns by the Front Door! You'll notice the Vinca are still blooming! Bright Yellow 4 O'Clocks Still Open into the Afternoon! All my 4 O'Clocks are staying open into afternoon right now. I think it has to do  with the shorter hours of sunlight. These are across the sidewalk from the Jack O' Lantern.

This is one of my absolute favorite 10 x 13 snack cake recipes! It's moist, full of lemony goodness and super easy! It's a vintage Jello recipe calling for a lemon cake mix, a lemon jello, water, eggs, oil & lemon juice plus confectioners sugar for the glaze! I made one this past Sunday for someone's birthday who happens to love anything lemon, so I got some pictures! Vintage Glazed Lemon Cake Ingredients: 1 box Lemon Cake Mix 1 3oz box Lemon Jello 1 cup water 1/2 cup oil (or sub unsweetened applesauce for less   fat) 3 large eggs, beaten 2 Tablespoons lemon juice Glaze: 2 cups Confectioners sugar 5 Tablespoons lemon juice Optional : 1 teaspoon lemon zest Directions: Spray a 10 x 13 baking pan with oil cooking spraying. In a large bowl: mix water, oil & add dry ingredients. Beat for 1 minute with electric beater. Add beaten eggs & lemon juice. Pour into pan and bake at 350 degrees for  35 to 45 minutes. While cake...

The Mama Kat writing prompt today is on the topic of, "Write about the last thing that spooked...your pet." This is our cat, Sunni. She's exclusively an indoor cat.(Because fleas will bite Hubby and we can't have that) Sunni is very companionable and has us well trained. She sits at the table with us for dinner, then runs to the bedroom and "calls" for one of us to come make a "cave" for her in a blanket, so she can get in it and be covered up. Her one penchant is she doesn't like other cats. She doesn't even like seeing one walking around in her range of sight outside.  Several neighbors have outdoor/indoor cats and they walk through my yard; sometimes even approaching the sliding glass door to peer within. Sunni flattens as low as she can and watches them intently till they leave. If they get too close to the sliding glass door, she'll sniff loudly and growl and even yowl menacingly at them. Currently, with the A/C off...

This is the time of year my Red Saliva recover from the heat of summer and put on a show until it freezes! I have lots of orange Marigolds and pink & yellow 4 O'Clocks adding brightness to autumn, too! Today, I planted that Dwarf Butterfly Bush that came in the mail recently. I also moved a Bridal Veil shrub to a new spot, since it wasn't doing well where it was. Hopefully it will take off and really look good there!  Bridal Veils bushes have long arching branches that get covered with small, white flower clusters in spring, thus giving them the name. I also moved planted a pink Lantana I hadn't gotten around to planting until now and moved several small volunteer Mexican Heathers.  Both the Lantana and the Mexican Heathers are along the new edge of the back bed I enlarged slightly.

The Mama Kat writing prompt today is, "You won an award sometime in your life...what was it for?" After the military I went to a two-year college to study Commercial Art.  During the course of that study, our instructor presented us with an class project for the Indiana State Fair. They wanted to decorate their Pioneer Building on the State Fair Grounds in Indianapolis with 6 symbolic logos representing topics like Agriculture, Industry, Hoosier Travel and so on. It was a class contest and the State Fair committee would select the winning design. Indiana State Fair Grounds Now the Indiana State Fair is a massive affair. It's huge.  It has two sides with a horse track in the middle. This photo shows the main side that includes the Coliseum, numerous permanent barns for livestock and horses plus the permanent exhibit halls that showcase exhibits, like 4-H projects from clubs all over the state. The other side of the grounds was called the  "Pioneer...

This pine tree stump is out front in a flower bed next to my Gardenia bush.  When we bought this house, this pine was about 7 inches in diameter; 28 years later, it was this: 3 years ago I had it cut down and used it as a nice place to set a large container garden.  But termites and moisture did their work, eating it away and, suddenly, this summer I find my container garden flopped over sideways in a hole in the stump.  I moved the container garden to a spot in the ground among the day lilies, then filled that stump hole with dirt and planted it with  Chinese Stonecrop and Hen & Chick succulents---turning nature into garden art! The succulents will eventually take over and be quite attractive. Here's the container in it's new location: It will be much happier here I think. Gladiola bulbs surround that bamboo stake and maybe they'll bloom better. A Dusty Miller and Creeping Jenny are planted on top. Funny Pampas Bent By Hurricane Nate...

A couple weeks ago, my climbing rose & wood trellis were pushed over by wind and I had to replace the trellis and cut everything of the rose down accept this lone stem. Here is it now, covered in new growth!  Yay, my new Dwarf Butterfly Bush came in the mail today! I ordered this past spring for delivery at proper planting time!   It's Lavender. Hubby will help me on Friday dig a spot for it! 

This past weekend we enjoyed a USO show on base: Gary Sinise & The Lt. Dan Band! It was just for those with base access. They put on a fabulous show with a wide variety of songs with plenty of audience interaction! Mr. Sinise played Lt. Dan in the film Forrest Gump, portraying a handicapped Vietnam Veteran who struggled with life after the war, a character real military veterans connected to.  (He asked our audience if there was anyone older then 15 who hadn't seen Forrest Gump? A lady raised her hand and he humorously said, "Well you keep watching TV. You're bound to run into it sometime, since it's on somewhere in the world everyday, all the time."   Everyone laughed. Speaking on behalf of his Foundation in New York. He and his band have been touring, entertaining the troops on bases everywhere since 2004. His piano player has been with the band since then. Gary Sinise is also well known for his role as Mac Taylor on CSI: New York. ...