Month: January 2014

How to Ruin a perfect Cup of Coffee

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january 30,2014 by nama


IMG_0548This is how i like to start my day, fresh ground Starbucks and a splash of bottled creamer.

This morning, for some unknown reason i turned the cap of my bottle of creamer, i looked inside. And i saw…..

Eeeewwwww !!!!      This is what i found in my NOT expired creamer. moldy creamer 005
moldy creamer 010
For the record, i am posting this several weeks after the trauma, making the expiration date further from the morning of offense than it appears to have been. If this is not as disgustingly clear to you as it was to me….that is mold inside the creamer bottle. Mold inside the spout we had been pouring our creamer through. i’m all about a good dose of penicillin ,  i can appreciate well aged cheese with the best of them, but this i did not need.

My point is this… nose around my friends, look before you pour, open the cracks and crevices and see what may be hiding in the dark corners.

For all of you healthier than i, i know i shouldn’t even be drinking this stuff, but i do and i prefer it without mildew.

IMG_0558 For this morning i moved on to a smooth cup of Teavana ,

and from here on out, i look before i pour, please heed my advice and do the same.

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Tim’s No Bake Chocolate Fix

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may 20,2014 by nama
blog 010 (2)Tim/My Man/Pappa brought this recipe with him when we became one 33 years ago. His mom , the best Mother~in~law ever, must have made them often, or perhaps talked Tim through making them because he walked down the aisle and said “I Do” with this recipe filed in his handsome blonde head. i asked him to write the recipe down years ago so the kids and i could make them independently, Tim will whip them up on a whim without the strawberry blossom card if he is craving chocolate = always !!IMG_0754

Tim’s No Bakes 

Fudgy, sweet, gooey oatmeal chocolate cookies.

Too simple to be delicious, too addicting to be a good thing.

Stir together in saucepan:

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cocoa powder (i use about 1/3 cup = Fudgier)

1/2 cup butter ( real butter matters )

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until a slow boil begins, continue to stir and slowly boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in :

3 cups old fashioned or quick oats, slightly different results, both are yummy.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( real matters, but do as you will )

Drop mixture in mounds on wax or parchment paper.blog 010 (25)

or if you want to really wow your family,  just dump the entire mess on waxed paper, spread thinnish with your rubber spatula, allow to cool and let them break off a chunk as they pass by. They are all going to be gone before bedtime anyway.

Kaye’s Peanut Butter Variation

All things are better when shared and all things are better with peanut butter.

Add 1 cup of creamy or chunky peanut butter to the fudge mixture right before you add the oats. i prefer a no sugar added, natural peanut butter but you can use what you like.

Yum, Yum, Yum !!!

Tim will not get near this version. He is a man of habit and he has no interest in messing with what was already a good thing, which works in my favor considering he is in the habit of coming home to me and he considers us a good thing. ; )DSC00066

Post note : this is the one and only thing Tim cooks ever, unless you count warming soup or frying a pork chop. There will not be a lot of Tim recipes showing up here, adjust your dreams and hopes accordingly.

BLOG BUSINESS : If you click on that little conversation blob to the lower right you can tell me what other recipes you would like to see. i will teach you how to make anything a lot of things but you gotta ask.

Crowning Jewel Raena Marie

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january 30, 2014 from nama and pappaIMG_9819Our precious third jewel is one year old today. This picture is one year ago , visiting their little famiy in California. That other cute is our first jewel and big brother Kingston John.

We received a video of her first steps last evening, i think she was trying to get from Los Angeles to Nama and Pappa in Wisconsin for a bit of birthday cake.

Travis and Melissa                                                                                                                                           As though it were just moments ago , i remember one year ago today. Pure miraculous magic. Waiting for and sharing in the joy of the arrival of your little tiny baby girl, Raena Marie. We are blessed beyond words by the two crowning jewels you have blessed us with. Treasure today with your sweet littles , they grow up soooo quickly ! The good news, each year gets better and better !! Happy Birthday our sweet one year old California Girl, Nama and Pappa love you across the country and back a million times.

Fischer Favorite Banana Bread

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january 28, 2014 by nama 

This is a favorite i have made for years, i thank my sister-in-law Jenn for the recipe.

 Kaydra’s boy, Cody, just told me “all you ever need to give me for birthdays or any other holiday is your Banana Bread.” Some of us love it with nuts and some not so nutty. i typically peel and keep my over ripe bananas in a large plastic storage bag in the freezer until it is banana bread day. Often i have so many bananas i will make 5,6 or 7 batches, part with nuts, part plain.

This bread freezes perfectly.

The batter freezes beautifully also and will give you fresh, warm perfect banana bread with little effort if you can get a few bags of batter in the freezer.

This is a heavy, moist ,rich and flavorful bread. We eat it as breakfast, dessert, snack and if no one is watching it may be lunch or dinner also.

BANANA BREADginger-banana-bread

Cream together :

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white granulated sugar

2 eggs and

1 teaspoon vanillamason-cash-mixing-bowls

Add dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Lumpy is fine.

1 cup white all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon saltfully-mixed-banana-bread-batter-2-bakethiscake

Add to bowl and fold just until blended:

1 cup mashed bananas

1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

Optional: 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we like walnuts and more like 3/4 cup)

Pour batter into 2 greased 8.5″ x 4.5″ loaf pans. (you may flour the pan if it makes you feel better )

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 hour.

Or bake in muffin tins for about 20 mins.

One of my best tips to delicious baked products is…

Under-bake, Under-bake, Under-bake !!!

Watch the bread closely starting at 45 min bake time. Insert a clean butter knife into the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, REMOVE the bread from the oven NOW !!!

If there is any batter on the knife , set the timer for 5 more minutes, recheck with a clean butter knife, repeat this process until your loaf is perfectly done.

The moment you remove your bread from the oven , lay a piece of plastic wrap over the top of the pan to capture moisture. When the pan is cool enough to handle, flip it upside down with plastic wrap and allow it to sit with the pan acting as a cover until completely cool.

This bread is so moist and flavorful you may choose to enjoy it with absolutely nothing added. banana1

Some days i want a smear of fat full butter, and other days i have a hankering for a heavy slathering of peanut butter.

I dare you to try it and tell me your family didn’t like it.

 

Why the little i

/ namafish / 51 Comments

january 28,2014 by nama

While i respect the grammatical rule of capitalizing this first person pronoun ,  i

can not summit to the practice of consistently highlighting the mention of me.8464_1326861085_9 VINTAGE ALPHEBET

Those who know me well will agree that there is no need to highlight

any portion of me.numberpage VINTAGE

It would be nice if this was some deep insight into the humble nature

of my truest self, i have my doubts.

When I type this I squirm, I need to inhale deeper and regroup before I move on.

When i type this i am at ease, this is just about the right amount of me and i can

ease on down the line without concern as to whom i may be overshadowing.

So this is how we are going to roll here, i hope you don’t mind and you stick around.

Bluesish

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january 27,2014

i never know where it comes from or how it finds me.

i usually sense it at first stirring in the dark morning, bluesish…a tinge sad, a shadow uncertain.

Why ?  Where ?  How ?

i am not clear on these.

Not certain. Not settled . Not strong.

Of these i am certain.

IMG_9657

Blue brings Beauty in many hues and shades.

This bluesy fog doesn’t feel beautiful.robin-egg

Blue holds the promise of new, of fresh and of life.

i don’t feel newness or promise.

So i ponder and i feel blue that i am bluesish.

and then i remember…

Seek…

i go , i read, i open my heart , i trust

1 Peter 5:10

  the God of all grace,  will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Shared by a daily friend…Mrs. Charles Cowman,  over at Streams in the Desert.

It is His to order my steps, it is mine to take the next one.

It is His to paint the backdrop of the masterpiece called today , it is mine to trust and obey .

He will steady and settle. i will wait to see how this strange unknown palette of cool tones becomes something of beauty.