Saturday, December 30

Out of Order



Before Christmas, I became inspired and cooked for a couple of my favorite friends. I did this on the same day I caught up on some laundry. You can see the last load on the floor in the first vision of chaos.

I did manage to make some order of it at a later date. See below

Iowa/San Diego Kids

I snipped these pics from Facebook. Grandaughter Ann has 3 beautiful daughters that are getting a geographical education because their Dad, Anthony is in the navy. The lucky girls had the pleasure of enjoying the snow while in DesMoines with their Grandpa Rich and Grandma Donna.
Ann has a photographers eye for good pictures.
Nina Grace

Scarlett

Skylar

Missouri Kids Trip

Our Missouri kids went to Minnesota for Christmas vacation. Elise loves the rides at Mall of America so her Dad and then her Grandmother went on the roller coaster with her. She did not get that particular passion from this great grandma.

Here is one of the scariest pictures in the world to me. The only thing scarier would be watching my loved ones ride it.


Thursday, December 28

BUTTERNUT SQUASH APPLE BAKE RECIPE

The history of this one is I found it on Facebook, thought it looked good so I saved it.
Then a grown daughter of a friend of mine made it and it became a favorite for her family.
I have to agree. I love it!
Now an added tip for this recipe is that if you toss that
butternut squash in the microwave for about 3 minutes it will be so much easier to peel.
I did cut the bulb part off before I microwaved the two pieces.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH APPLE BAKE RECIPE


INGREDIENTS
1 butternut squash (2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
3 medium tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°. Layer squash and apples in a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Mix brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon; sprinkle over top. Drizzle with butter.
Bake, covered, until squash and apples are tender, 45-55 minutes. Yield: 8 servings.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Pumpkin Pie Pudding This is a recipe I have had for a long time and I ran across it the other day. I had the ingredients on hand and I put it together today and was once again impressed with its simplicity and deliciousness. Butch enjoyed it too. Besides this location, you can also find it on the recipe page 1 near the bottom. Pumpkin Pie Pudding


Ingredients 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin 1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk 3/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup biscuit/baking mix 2 eggs, beaten 2 tablespoons butter, melted 2-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 2 teaspoons McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract Whipped topping, optional Read more: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pumpkin-pie-pudding#ixzz3HYeQl3sp Directions In a large bowl, combine the first eight ingredients. Transfer to a 3-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or until a thermometer reads 160°. Serve in bowls with whipped topping if desired. Yield: 6 servings.

Kind words and loving tales by Colleen O’Brien

Kind words and loving tales
December 27, 2017 Greene County News Online
~a column by Colleen O’Brien

Our stories matter. We explain ourselves by our stories; we are our stories. Especially at this time of year, when we are full of memories both good and bad about our lives, when we’re about to enter into one more brand new year of possibilities – vowing to be better, kinder, more forgiving – it’s a good time to recall a few of the good stories. The world is a harsh place, but it is also a good place full of good people. We need to remind ourselves.

A country itself is defined by its stories – in America, our good stories are of independence, individual strength, generosity. A classmate told me a story of my father when he was a Little League coach. “Your dad saved me,” he said. “He came out to the farm and told Dad he couldn’t field a good enough team without me. He had an old glove for me, he’d pick me up, bring me home. I think that was the kicker; he got to Dad’s pride. If it hadn’t been for Clem O’Brien, at some point, I’d have been a bad boy.”

I hold that story close to my heart. It shows a piece of my dad I didn’t know, that he never told anyone but that rings true. I would never have heard the story from my dad, and his former catcher on the Sox charmed me in a way that I knew there was no telling how many other boys he aided and abetted.

After my mom died, several of the African American women in her town came to the house to tell my sisters and me how much they were going to miss her. One of the women was Mom’s hairdresser, and one day she had been talking to Mom about their church organist moving away and how no one in the congregation could step up and hold them together in the hymns of their faith. Mom said, “I played the organ for 30 years at St. Joseph’s in Jefferson. I’ll play for you.”

That story is evidence of love and generosity, and I’m so glad those women told us. Mom could play anything from popular to classical; that she played church music for these friends she loved made my heart swell.

Stories like these are small blessings. They fill me with gratitude for the graciousness of my parents, for their love, compassion and kindness. It is the hearing of such tales that make me a better person.

My great-grandfather, whom I have a slight memory of – I think he died when I was three or four – did something once that I have always thought was the epitome of “saving grace.”

Grace was the name of my grandmother, and she told me a story of when she was first dating my grandpa. Invited to his home for dinner, shy, partly because she was in a strange milieu, from a different part of town than where he lived, and unsure about the formalness of the table setting, she was feeling daunted by everything. Her mother had told her just to pay attention to what the others did and she’d be okay. But she was the first to receive the pickle dish. With no precedent to follow, she stabbed a pickle and ate it off the fork. When she glanced up at her future mother-in-law, a formidable woman, she knew she was doomed. Embarrassed, she passed the dish on to her future father-in-law, who calmly did as she had done.

A man of not only good manners but true gallantry.

My husband told a story of playing pool at Sandy’s Pool Hall on the south side of the square one blizzard of an afternoon during high school. The buses couldn’t get to the country to pick up students, so school was cancelled, and the teenage pool players were cuing it up against the regulars. The 16-year-old who would someday be my husband took a drag on a cigarette, laid it carefully on the side of the billiard table, exhaled, eyeballed the layout and took aim with his stick . . . just as the basketball coach burst through the front door, shouting for players to get to the gym to practice. A true gentleman of a farmer picked up Jim’s cigarette and took a drag.

I’ve always loved the story of that fella’s quick thinking almost as much as I love the sense and sensibility of his act.

The curt things said to us, the slings and arrows, will be with us forever. But it is the loving tales of kindness that influence us toward thoughtfulness and the hope that fills our souls in stressful times of too much news of evil intent. A kind word truly goes a long way, and the actions that urge us here on earth to work for peace to men and women of good will go even further.

Wednesday, December 27

Tiny House Fascination

I still have my fascination with tiny houses. Probably always will.
This blog could give you an inkling as to why.

http://tinyhouseblog.com/yourstory/robin-hoods-hideout-havenwald/


2017’s Worst Passwords


2017’s Worst Passwords
We have written numerous articles, like this one, on why using strong passwords is so important. Unfortunately, apparently many people don’t take us (and many others) seriously. The top 3 passwords for 2017 and the same top three passwords for 2015 and 2016 also.

123456
Password
12345678

Really? None of you are using those passwords, are you? We hope that none of you are using any of the passwords in this list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017. Or even anything similar. We suggest you use a password of at least 12 characters consisting of at least one uppercase letter, lowercase letters, symbols (like $ % *) and at least one number.  There are many online password generators, but the trouble is, you can generate all the strong passwords you want, but you won’t use them unless you can remember them.

We have long recommended LastPass because it can generate strong, uncrackable passwords like 8HNPWse*SGp8 and remember your passwords and enter them automatically whenever you need to log in to a site for which you generated a password.

But many of you resist using a password manager, and you’ll never use one. For those of you who don’t want to use a password manager here’s a way to make strong passwords you can remember:

3y3W@ntc@ndy$fr33

Just think “I want candy free”. And according to My1Login it would take 5 years for a hacker using password cracking software to crack this password.

MyC@t$n@meizBarn3y2

“My cats name is Barney too.”  According to My1Login, it would take 16 centuries for someone to crack this password.

Want to test your passwords? You can check them at:

My1Login

or

LastPass Password Checker

A new year is only a few days away. Now is a good time to make sure your passwords are strong and you don’t use the same password for any sites that deal with personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, credit or debit card number, home address, driver’s license numbers, license plate numbers, or any site dealing with money – including online shopping sites.

Now, here’s the list of the top 25 worst passwords for 2017 from Time magazine:

123456

Password

12345678

qwerty

12345

123456789

letmein

1234567

football

iloveyou

admin

welcome

monkey

login

abc123

starwars

123123

dragon

passw0rd

maste

hello

freedom

whatever

qazwsx

trustno1

Taken from this website:
http://www.thundercloud.net/infoave/new/2017s-worst-passwords/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thundercloud%2FIapJ+%28Cloudeight+InfoAve+Computer+Tips+%29

Monday, December 25

Merriest of Christmas's

In years past, long before I knew of the Internet and computers I would put together a Christmas letter each year. I am well aware that there are those who do not like them but that never stopped me. I would work on the letter for hours and take great care of my creation and send it by snail mail to as  many as 75-100 people. Time marched on and I began to work on my 'Christmas letter' all year long in the form of this blog. And finally I came to the conclusion that it was best to let people make their own decision to read what is happening with us or not. Still I do know that time and computers can be tricky and sometimes you lose touch with how to find the blog so this year I intend to send it to selected people from my contact list guiding them to the blog and the choice is still yours.
One of the negative results of changing the way I did the Christmas letter is that one of the joys was receiving messages from people in return. So here is hoping we hear from you in whatever form you decide.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Butch and Barb Brooker

www.brooker3.blogspot.com

Donna's Famous Bean Salad

I would hate to caculate the hours I have spent looking for this recipe on my computer. I knew it had to be there somewhere and I finally found it in an email sent to a friend asking her to print it off for me. The result of one of these long searches is that I then put it in several locations and especially in the places I looked first. Thus you will find it here and on the recipe page within this blog.
Mr. Butch is not a big vegetable guy  and I miss them sometimes and this is a way to have some on hand that do not easily spoil. It is simple, easy and delicious.

Recipe:   Donna's Famous Bean Salad        5/5/2009
Category: Side dish
Author:   Donna Ellis

Any kind of canned beans: drained and rinsed when necessary
Green Beans
Lima Beans
Black beans
Navy beans
Corn
Pimento
Chopped onion
Mushrooms
Dressing:
1/2 C vinegar
1/2 C Sugar or Sugar substitute
1/2 C vegetable  oil

This recipe was given to me orally by Donna Ellis. She said she never has the
same combination twice and to always make it with the idea of sharing with
others because it makes too much for two. When asked if white vinegar or apple
cider vinegar she said whichever you want. So with these general directions in
mind I plan to make it because her version was very delicious.

Sunday, December 24

Our TV situation...

...and what we do about it. The free (antenna) TV in south Texas is abysmal. In Iowa, we can get by quite well with antenna TV most of the time and we do.
We do pay for Netflix and I recently added Hulu and we chose the lowest cost version of both of those. Being Amazon Prime members I also have access to what they offer and I do take a look at what they have as well. In the past I wasn't happy with it but they are improving. They all have a learning curve on how to get the best use of it.
In the last two days, I have watched the movie "If I Were You" on Amazon Prime, Flea Market Flip on Hulu. Butch found a Jack Reacher film (Never Go Back) on Hulu. He has been searching for this one for a while and was pleased as Punch when he found it.
With the exception of Amazon Prime, our entertainment budget is less than $20 per month. I guess even with Amazon Prime it is less than $30 per month. To be utterly fair I suppose I should add in my Internet connection but I would have that anyway I can guarantee it.
I still remember when I discovered the Internet and invited it into my home willingly and with abundant gratitude. The Internet has added to my knowledge a thousandfold.