Caleb is 10!!

We had the family over for potato soup and pizza to celebrate Caleb's 10 birthday. Gosh, I can't believe that he is 10! Time sure does go by fast...well, yeah, my girls are 32 and 30 (plus!!)!! Ellie and Lily came to our house after school and had the idea to make a sign for Caleb. So they each took a couple of letters, colored them and then we hung them up. Lily made the happy birthday sign and it looked fabulous! So as the kids and Papa Ben gathered around the birthday boy, we sang the birthday song and he blew out his candle. Aaron's family bought him a drum set, so Scott and I are going to give him drum lessons! He is very excited about that, and I am excited that the drums are at HIS HOUSE!!

A New Bag for ME!

I decided I needed a new bag to carry my bible to Women's Bible Study every Wednesday. I have been using a bag the girls bought for me at the Women of Faith conference a couple of years ago. The stitching is coming apart on the bottom seam, and I was thinking it was time for a new one. So I went to a fabric store last Friday and picked out my fabric and started cutting and sewing and now I have it done! I am actually quite pleased with it! I did not have a pattern, I just measured the one I had and figured that was pretty close to the size I need. When I go to bible study, I have the bible, and the book we are working on, plus I usually throw in a water bottle, so it needed to have some width and height to it. I stamped the center piece and the sentiment says: "Cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you" 1 Peter 5:7 . I added a couple of little flourishes and then I stitched around the circle. On the other side, I stamped my initials and also added some fun flourishes. I sewed on two pockets to the inside to hold pens and other miscellaneous stuff I might have! That's all for now.

A Big Boy's Toy!

Thanks to our other son-in-law (and he will do anything for me also!, aren't they the BEST! If you don't have sons it is at least good to have wonderful sons-in-law!!) Aaron brought over his back hoe so that Scott and Joe could clear away all the piles of stone, tile, wood and rubbish and clean up our yard and get the driveway graded to where it needs to be before the rains come. Jalen was in AWE of this big piece of machinery! He was very hesitant to get too near it at first, but I managed to get him to stand on part of it, then he slowly managed to work his way up to the seat and be the 'driver'. We made up a song to the tune of "Down by the station...see the little driver pull his little lever...!) Jalen loves being over at our new house. He LOVES the drill and hammer and screws and LADDERS!! Oh Yes, he is ALL BOY!!

So here he is in 7th Heaven pretending to be the "Big Driver" pulling all the levers!

Halloween Under the Crawl Space!

This is a job that is good for a son-in-law! I am sure you all have heard my stories of "mouse in the house" except mine was MICE in the house. Did you get that? Plural!! As in more than one, or two or three...yes!! Lots of mice! So I finally threw up my hands and called the "Orkin man". He placed traps everywhere. They are the traps that have "stickiness" inside the tent and the mice go in and can't lift their feet! EEWWW what a way to die..and I didn't think about it until later when Scott said, "So these cute little guys are going to squeel for a couple of days and we have to listen to them before they actually die?" Well, gosh darn it, I am sorry but they have NO business being in my house! Stay outside in the field and have a hay-day, just don't come inside! But FYI, it doesn't really take that long for them to die (so I am told) and they really don't squeel so you can hear them (that's even better!). Apparently, they need to keep moving in order to produce heat in their body, and when they are stuck and can't move, they rather quickly go into hypothermia and die. I know, I know, it still doesn't sound so good, but seriously, would you want to see one of those little guys climbing up your drapes? Would you want to see one running across your family room floor? Or, I just heard this yesterday from my DH (dear husband!) that one came and climbed up my (MY!!) rocking chair and sat on the arm rest! Scott was sitting in his chair and was rather startled to look over and see this thing sitting on it's honches looking at him!! Can you believe it? So Scott gives it a little 'whack' and knocks it down to the ground and stuns the poor little creature enough to pick him up and take him outside and make sure he NEVER enters our house again (you get the idea, right?) Now I have to say, that is a bold move for Scott, cause he will not kill a spider, a box elder bug or anything, he "catches" those things and puts them outside!

So anyway, on with the story. The Orkin man had to go into the crawl space and place traps and informed me that a lot of insulation was down on the ground. "Hellooooo, Jamie!" (By the way, he will do most anything that his Mother-in-law" (that's MOI!) asks!!) So he braved the elements and took care of putting the insulation back where it belonged! Good son-in-law!

And as a side note, YES we caught three of those cute little buggers down in the crawl space. However, all the way upstairs to the highest room of our house (we call it the upstairs storage and furnace room) we caught five (5) of those little buggers. Yeah I say!! So this nice man (the Orkin guy!) will be coming out every month for a year to help keep these guys from coming into my house (soon to be Dina's house! and Jamie's house, so really when he was being a nice son-in-law, he was actually being the owner and taking care of his crawl space insulation!) Now is that a nice gift to my daughter and her family, or what?

The Best Potato Soup EVER!!

About 12 years ago or so, Scott and I went down to Monterey California (and right now we can't remember why we were there, isn't that sad? That is why I have this blog, to help me remember things like this!! tee hee!)

Anyway, as we were roaming around the city, we found a wonderful restaurant...Italian, of course! And the reason I can remember it and the name, Rosine's Cuisine, is because I bought their cookbook! And they have the best, I mean the really best Potato Soup recipe. Tonight when I was talking to my dad, he said he made the best potato soup he ever had and it was from Rosine's, I had given the recipe to my mom years ago. So I thought, WOW, I better post this in case someone needs to have this soup this fall, using some of those good potatoes from the garden or at least those yummy small gold yukon ones from the store (or better yet, the farmers market!) This is comfort food at its BEST!! So good to warm the tummy and the soul on those cool fall and winter evenings...very filling, with only a garlic or cheesey bread to go with it!

Potato Leek Soup

1/4 # raw bacon, finely chopped
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
3 leeks, white parts only, chopped
1 cup celery chopped
4 cups of potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups strong chicken stock
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1/4 tsp. pepper

Roux: 1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk or half and half

In a large saucepan, (or Dutch oven!) cook the bacon in the butter until almost crisp. Now I like mine crisp, so I make sure all the pieces are really crisp! Add the leeks, celery, and potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and browning up the potatoes. Add the chicken stock, bouillon cubes and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile in another saucepan, melt the margarine or butter. Stir in the flour, making a roux. cook for a few minutes, then wisk into the soup (I usually take a ladle of the soup and add it to the roux before I dump the whole thing into the soup...just to make sure it blends good and doesn't get lumpy!) When the soup has thickened, add the milk or half and half, sirring well. Taste for flavor and adjust salt and pepper if necessary.

That's IT! However, my own version is slightly different..
1. my hubby doesn't like cooked celery so much, so I leave that out.
2. I don't like soggy bacon, so I take my bacon out of the pan after it has been crisped up. I DO NOT add it into the soup, I serve it as a garnish on top of the soup!
3. I add a little bit of grated cheese on top, along with maybe a few slices of green onions and then of course the bacon bits!
4. to be honest, I actually fry up closer to a whole pound of bacon, cause you know, when you trim the fat and have those little itty bitty pieces, they don't go very far and I like to have more than just three or four pieces sitting on top of my bowl of soup! I just wrap those bacon bits into a paper towel and then into a zip lock bag and can just pull a few out at a time as I serve up the soup for several days!

I hope you have a chance to make this and I wonder if Rosine's is still around? I have made several of their recipes, next time I will post their delicious 'meatballs'. My family LOVES them and Scott likes me to make meatball sandwiches when I have leftovers!

So, as Julia Child would say: Bon Appetit!!

The Book of Ruth

Do you all know "Ruth" from the Old Testament? I was telling my dad about her the other day when he asked what I had done that day. I told him I went to Women's Bible Study and I proceeded to tell him about Ruth. He had never heard of her! We had done a study several years back on "Women of the Bible", so yes, I knew about Ruth.

What I LOVE about Ruth is her devotion, LOVE, respect, and care for her Mother-in-law! Yes, you read it right, mother-in-law! In Ruth 1: 17-18, she says, "Don't ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us."

Ruth finds faith in the context of family! Millions of believers after Ruth have found faith in the context of fellowship. When we find God, we find others, and we find ourselves as well. Saint John writes, "for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20).

I think we can all learn something from Ruth. Even though her husband died and Naomi, her mother-in-law, tried to send her back to "her own people, back to her parents and country", Ruth refused to go. In the Old Testament families took care of each other, many generations living under one roof. How often today do we see the elderly living in a nursing home, a retirement facility, or an assisted living facility and never being visited by family...or at least not very often! It certainly gives one something to think about. Where do we want to be at the end or nearing the end of our lives? Do we want our children to care enough about us to be close by and providing comfort and love? I am not saying the elderly should NOT go to a facility, I think some are absolutely fabulous and one can have many friends and conversations whereas in their own home, they often have no one with whom to talk. "I'm just sayin' keep the love, respect, caring for our elderly close to our hearts. Don't let them end their days alone. Be sure they know that they are treasured and cherished in this world and will surely be in the next with our God.

Favorite Restaurant

Today, Friday, September 18, Scott and I celebrated our 38th Wedding anniversary. I know, can you believe it? So tonight he asked me where I wanted to go for dinner...and I suggested "Clarke's" in Lake Oswego. We had been there once before two years ago when his cousin from Norway was here. We had a delicious dinner then and we had another one tonight! AND Scott said, "Now I know my favorite restaurant! CLARKE'S!! He had Caesar salad which was so good..light dressing, just perfect! And then for his entree he had the lobster risotto and it was the best! I had their soup of the day, Tomato Bisque (which is one of my favorites!) and then my entree was the most tender, delicious flank steak with a bearnaise sauce. And the mixed vegetables were just out of this world wonderful...tender, flavorful, so good! Sorry, NO room for dessert tonight!

So there you have it, Scott's favorite restaurant! Give it a try sometime and let me know if you, too, like it as much as we do! And maybe one day we can go together and share a meal!

Bon Appetit!!