Sunday Dinner at the ready . . .

This is a favorite way to present a good Sunday dinner without spending hours in the kitchen. It's like having your relaxing Sunday and eating, too!

Easy Beef Stroganoff

Approximately 1 1/2 pound of beef sliced into thin strips
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup sliced, fresh mushrooms
6 cloves of garlic, smashed and chopped
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
4 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon brown mustard

Melt the butter in a large skillet. Brown the beef in this and then remove meat to a platter. Now add the mushroom, garlic, and onion to the skillet and cook until tender and slightly brown, about 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the onion mixture and cook a minute longer. Add the beef broth and cook until well combined. Add the mustard and the browned beef and cook until meat is done and sauce thickens.

Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the sour cream and more salt and pepper, if necessary. This is great over the traditionally used egg noodles or with rice. A steamed vegetable of your choosing nicely finished of the menu.

Thinking back . . .

I was browsing through my on-line pictures this morning and thinking back on my recent trip with my teenage son. He was a near-perfect travel mate in that he was up for any adventure and willing to get up at the earliest hour if it meant we were heading out to see a new place. He decided the first day of the trip that he would order something new from the menu and try new things. He also turned out to have an amazing sense or natural direction so he led most of our excursions on our own. It took us a few days to get our bearings in Munich, Germany but were soon able to navigate the streets to and from our hotel without too much trouble. The first couple of days, however, we saw a lot of unplanned parts of the city due to a less-than-adequate map and a few wrong turns on our part. In fact, when we went on a day trip outside the city, we often saw how far our wanderings had actually gotten us before we found 'home' again!

One, drizzly day, my son was positively inspired. We had gotten some snacks at the department store and he suggested we purchase a couple of umbrellas in case the rain got worse. We then took off to explore, each assuming the other one was leading the trip that morning. We walked and walked, the rain started pouring but we were happily protected by our new umbrellas. Suddenly, we glance over and there is a river to the left of us! We walk a lot further and there is a bridge crossing the river. I stop our travels and ask my son if he knew where we were at this point. He looked at me and said, "I thought you were mapping things out for this walk!"

I suggested we cross the newly-found bridge but my son intelligently stated that since we didn't cross one in the first place, we would probably end up really, really lost if we did so now. We sighed and retraced our steps. With my son in charge, his nose for direction took over and an hour later we were back in familiar territory. From then on, we decided to make sure we knew who was leading and who was following.

It's kind of like how many people live in that they don't make a conscious decision on who they want/should follow and when they should be the leader. Explains a lot about the state of the world today. There is a definite lack of direction and no one is checking the credentials of the leaders.

You always need to take a stand . . .

Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides.

Margaret Thatcher

A few of my favorite things . . .

Even though they are starting to put out the holiday items before summer is totally over, I have to admit I like browsing and thinking about what I'm going to buy/need . . . once it goes on sale. The one thing I do buy ahead are any different, new, or unusual baking items for holiday goodies. Today, they not only had peanut butter chips on sale but candy cane crunch add-ins for cookies as well as chocolate mint chips. They are residing in my freezer awaiting their Christmas debut.

I also noticed they had pumpkin-flavored marshmallows! At first, I thought it was kind of silly but on reflection, imagined they would make fantastic rice crispy cereal treats. Next trip to the store . . . I did purchase pumpkin pudding mix. I have a recipe, which I plan to share, that used instant pudding mix and I'm thinking about how I can work this favor into the cookie.

I needed another skein of yard to complete a shawl. It was a cream color and a specific brand of yarn, no problem with that. I located the yarn and grab one of the cream colors skeins. It looked sort of all right but it wasn't entirely right. I checked the label: Very Vanilla instead of the Off White I was looking for. I stared at the eight or ten skeins of yard in the 'cream-colored' section and wondered how far off the color was from the Off White and it is would even be noticeable just being a small part of the fringe. I hopefully thought it might be the new name for the old color. Suddenly, I stared more closely at the pile of yarn and two of them were very, very, very slightly different. I grabbed one and it read Off White! Saved by a blessing sent my way!

Dinner is a Friday family favorite which we haven't thought to have in a long time. It is basically cubed potatoes, cubed. You braise them in a large frying pan until they are golden and just about cooked through and sprinkle them with salt and pepper to taste. To that, you add a cup or so of grated cheddar cheese and stir until it is melted. Then you add two or three eggs and continue cooking and stirring until it is done! Goes great with a salad dressed with lemon and honey.

Off to the rest of my day with prayers that everyone has a good ending to their day and a happy weekend ahead. God bless!

Angel Biscuits

This is a more elaborate recipe for biscuits but the use of yeast and buttermilk certainly make a difference to the good and is worth the time and trouble.

Angel Biscuits

1 tablespoon yeast
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
4 tablespoons sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup shortening
2 cup buttermilk

Dissolve yeast in water. Into a large mixing bowl, combine flour with other dry ingredients. Cut in shortening, add buttermilk and then the yeast mixture. Stir until combined. Knead on lightly-floured board until smooth and roll out to about ½ inch thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 12 minutes or until golden brown.

Easy Christmas Craft for Little Ones . . .

Children always want to help especially with the Christmas preparations. This is a simple craft that can be used to decorate packages, give a little gifts from earnest childish hands, or even put on the tree.

Pipe Cleaner Ornaments

Using one red and one white pipe cleaner, twist the red one around the white one. Bend top over to make a candy cane shaped ornament.   You can finish it off with a bit of ribbon.

An easy project for eager little ones!

So much truth in the first quote . . .

"Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist."
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
-- Albert Einstein

"The penalty for success is to be bored by the people who used to snub you."
-- Nancy Astor