T.G.I.F.....

Well folks, we made through another week full of ups and downs, mostly ups, but the downs were really in the muddy deep ditch.  It's when you hit those muddy deep ditch lows you find out who you can depend on, who is just going to be there and who is just going to be a pain in the rear.  I hit a pretty tough financial snag in the past few days, that's not to say we were financial set before, but we were getting by.  Our monthly income was cut by about 25%. OUCH! ! ! ! !   But thanks to my daughter,  my husbands brother, some very dear friends at the Christus House and a few budget cuts we will survive.  I won't cause the others embarrassment by mentioning their names.


For the "ups" I give full credit to "my daughter,  my husbands brother, my dear friends at the Christus House, and my granddaughters, who say some very sweet things to their granmaw, but at the same time not so very truthful.  You know, things that make you laugh or smile and you soooo wish they were true....Thank you, all of you for the time, the smiles, the laughter, and the love, without you I could not make it to tomorrow.


On the menu for this getting colder by the minute day:  Semi Homemade Tomato Soup and Grill Cheese Sandwiches.

The Soup:

Butter to sauté apx 1/4 C

1/4 C each:

    Onion chopped finely

    Celery chopped finely

    Bell Pepper chopped finely

Apx 1 T. Pesto

1 can Campbell's tomato soup

Optional:

Add a dash of crushed  red pepper or cayenne

A sprinkle of basil or Italian seasoning

In a sauce pan sauté onion, celery and peppers in butter  until tender and transparent.   Add soup per directions on can.  Milk can be substituted for water for a creamier less  "tomato-ie" flavor.  Heat to serving temperature.

The Sandwich: Is some left over oat bread I made for Sunday dinner, a little mayo on the inside, a slice of American Cheese, then some grated cheddar/Monterrey jack and then a slice of provolone, grilled in butter. Don't you love it when the cheese oozes over the side...of anything...

Later today I am going to make so Moon Pies for my grandgirls to put in their lunches, recipe and picture coming soon.  Oooooops! I'm getting my pies mixed up.  Actually I'm making Whoopie Pies.  The grandgirls love them in their lunch boxes.

Whoopie Pies: I doubled the recipe and got 10 small and 8 large pies.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/4 cup natural cocoa powder, such as Hershey's or Scharffen Berger

• 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoons fine salt
• 18 large marshmallows, (the minis will work but they are a little more trouble)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking sheet.

Put the unsweetened and semisweet chocolates and butter in a medium microwave-safe bowl; heat at 75 percent power until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir, and continue to microwave until completely melted, about 2 minutes more. (Alternatively, put the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching the water, and stir occasionally until melted and smooth.)

Whisk the sugar, eggs and vanilla into the chocolate mixture until smooth.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt into another bowl. Gradually whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until moistened. Switch to a rubber spatula and finish folding the batter together; take care not to over-mix.

Use a ice cream scoop for a consistent size drop of batter or spoon to drop a heaping tablespoon of batter onto the prepared pan. Space them about 1-inch apart. Bake until the cookies spring back when lightly touched, about 6 minutes for the smaller and 9 for the larger.

Cool the cookies slightly. Transfer half of the cookies to a rack. Turn the remaining cookies on the pan over, so they lay flat side up. Place a marshmallow on top of each flipped cookie and return pan to the oven. Cook just until the marshmallow begins to soften and puff, about 3 minutes. Cool marshmallow topped cookies slightly, about 2 minutes. Top with the remaining cookies, pressing lightly to make sandwiches. Cool whoopee pies completely on wire racks. Serve.

Store in tightly sealed container for up to 1 week.

Note:

• Do not use the cream cheese, marshmallow cream filling recipe for this or just marshmallow cream It doesn't work buy marshmallows...

On the menu for today...

Today is Sunday, my favorite day of the week,  It's kind's a end and a beginning at the same time.  One week is finished and a new week is starting.  Does that make any since?  O'well it's going to be a wonderful, easy day.

I 've already put a pot roast in to cook, a recipe I found on Tasty Kitchen,  Creamy Portabella Pot Roast  along with some Beefy Rice, Biscuits and something green...think I'll ask Mari Ann to bring the green...The pot roast recipe called for portabellas...of course, the closest grocery store to me was out, but they had some baby Bella's on sale which I substitute.  The beefy rice is just regular long grain rice made with beef stock instead of water and I'm cheating on the biscuits, I bought some frozen "Mary B's".  I've not used these before usually I keep the Pillsbury frozen biscuits in the freezer cause they are just so handy, when I'm just cooking for two, and they are pretty good.  I'll let you know what I think of the Mary B's.

OK,  the Mary B's biscuits were pretty darn good, the pot roast was good, but missing something, I'm not sure what, but definitely a do again, with a little more or less of something...

Well only a few more ....

I think she liked her Christmas gift.

Refers to a test she took
diagnosing the hole in
her heart

days of 2011  are left to live.  Whoa, that sounds a little dreadful maybe even a little morbid, that's really not how I intended it to sound.  I hear a lot of people saying how bad they thought 2011 was, but I have no complaints.  Among the many blessings I received, the life and health of my daughter was one of the best.  For those of you who do not know, on Nov. 5, my 34 year old, non-smoking, non-birth control pill taking, dieting and running 5 miles a day, daughter had a bilateral thermalic stroke.  She was non-responsive for about 18 hours and but managed to recover in about a week.  The only lasting side effect was/is a numbness on the tip of her tongue and (get this) "sweets don't taste as good as the used to."  We did how ever through the testing they did on her discover she had an undiagnosed  hole in her heart.  The doctors fixed that a couple of weeks ago, she is back at work and on the road to a full recovery.  She will be on blood thinners for a couple of months so we are keeping her away from all sharp objects, and try not to touch or poke her with any force, though her husband has threatened to poke her several times on her back to make a smiley face .  What is surprising to me is that 25% of the population is walking around with the same problem and do not know it, what's more the insurance companies will NOT pay to have it fixed unless you have a heart attack or a stroke, now does that make any sence....