Coffee Mug Cake

This one has been floating around the Internet for awhile but I just received it yesterday. But I thought perhaps some of you were like me and had not seen it yet.


5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

1 Coffee Mug
4 tablespoons flour (that's plain flour, not self-rising)
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1 egg
3 tablespoons milk
3 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons chocolate chips (optional) some nuts (optional)
Small splash of vanilla

Add dry ingredients to mug, and mix well . Add the egg and mix thoroughly.
Pour in the milk and oil and mix well.
Add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla, and mix again.
Put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 minutes on high.
The cake will rise over the top of the mug, but don't be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little, and tip out onto a plate if desired. EAT!
(this can serve 2 if you want to share!)

And why is this the most dangerous cake recipe in the world?
Because now we are all only 5 minutes away from chocolate cake
at any time of the day or night!

Keri tried it.

Keri tried this recipe and declared it a winner. It looks as though it could be one of those standby quickies to have on-hand.

One-Pot Salsa Beef Skillet

Prep Time:
5 min

Total Time:
27 min

Makes:
4 servings

What You Need

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 cups water

1 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

2 cups frozen corn

1/2 cup KRAFT Mexican Style Shredded Cheese

1 green onion, chopped

Make It

BROWN meat in large skillet; drain. Return to skillet.

ADD water, salsa and Macaroni; stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; cover. Simmer 10 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in corn and Cheese Sauce; cook 2 min. or until heated through.

TOP with shredded cheese and onions.

RecipeDetail

Colleen's House

Colleen is an artist and also my friend. Colleen's sister, Denise and I were classmates and we are friends too. A few years ago Colleen and her husband Jim and Butch and I got together partially because they were full timers for a few years and Jim shared a love of golf with Butch. And you know how sometimes you just click with someone?- well, Colleen and I clicked. Since that first meeting, Jim became ill and has passed. Just this past summer. So my friend Colleen is tangling with all the pain of that. Fortunately she has an abundance of friends to help her and I consider myself lucky to be among them.
I have admired Colleen's house from the first time I saw it. Some people have a special flare in making a space all their own. So the pictures in this album are a very small part of what she has done. All the art work is hers. This album is primarily of her bathroom and kitchen floors. She placed and painted her artwork on the floor then coated it with resin.

Flu shots and other stuff

Butch and I went to get our flu shots today. Yes, folks it is that time of year again.

Years ago we Jefferson school kids were fed Hamburger and Green Beans. Some of us remember it fondly and others not so fondly but the Brooker family were in the fondly category. Perhaps in part because Grandma Hansen who lived across the road from the Brookers was the school cook. She was able to inform Butch's mother how to make it. It is really quite simple but the prep has to be right or it is not the same. Leo wanted a blast from the past so the menu for tonight was Hamburger and Green Beans and those of us who are fans of the dish enjoyed it very much. It has been a standby quick meal in our house for lo these many years. I will try to impart the recipe here but a word of warning, this dish isn't going to win any beauty contests...tasty though.

Hamburger and Green Beans
1 lb Hamburger, crumbled and browned
1-2 cans green beans, drained
2 T flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk

Drain grease from hamburger leaving a tablespoon or two. Sprinkle flour over hamburger and stir, add green beans and stir. Add milk and stir till it is all heated through. The sauce on this is not like gravy. It is barely noticeable as a sauce.
Enjoy!! or not!

Just another sunrise

They are all thee most beautiful!

Butch takes it up

Often times in between the busy times at Snow mountain Ranch or Magnolia Park Butch will find himself at odds for something to do. He would rather play golf of course but sometimes it just doesn't work out. He had such a day yesterday so I suggested he start a small Swedish weaving project. There is nothing sexist about it. There isn't a law that you have to be female to enjoy it. So he started a project yesterday and judging from the time he spent on it he may get it finished someday. One of the amazing things about it is that in doing a project most of us do half of it then turn our work over to do the other half. Me, being right handed, start in the middle and work toward the left side. Then I turn my work upside down and do the same. Butch changes hands!! He uses his right hand to do one half then instead of turning it over he switches the needle to the left hand to do the other half! I knew he had some ambidexterity because he deals cards left handed but I had no idea it was that deeply ingrained. Imagine being married for nearly 50 years and not knowing that about him. It shows there is always something new to learn about people.

Spaghetti Squash

I have been enjoying spaghetti squash lately and thought you might like some too.

Spaghetti Squash

Also called vegetable spaghetti, this creamy-yellow, watermelon-shaped winter squash was so named because of its flesh, which, when cooked, separates into yellow-gold spaghettilike strands. Averaging from 4 to 8 pounds, spaghetti squash are available year-round with a peak season from early fall through winter. Choose squash that are hard and smooth with an even pale yellow color. Avoid greenish squash (a sign of immaturity) and those with bruised or damaged spots. Store uncut spaghetti squash at room temperature for up to three weeks. After the whole squash is baked, the rather bland-tasting strands can be removed from the shell and served with sauce, like pasta. They can also be served as part of a casserole or cold as a salad ingredient.

Spaghetti Squash Baked Spaghetti Squash Lasagna Style Spinach and Spaghetti Squash Quiche

New Table Cover

.
My latest Swedish Weaving project. This one was fun, easy and quick. It is yellow monk's cloth with country blue yarn in the Victorian lace pattern

Crowded

Lucy, Mama and Stubby all in one small box. I think they like it that way...and then Stubby left the nest.

On My List...

Cream Of Sweet Potato Soup   

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced 
2 c chicken broth 
1 tsp sugar 
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 
1 1/2 c half-and-half or milk
Salt and pepper to taste  

Directions
Place sweet potatoes and broth in slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 2
to 3 hours or until potatoes are tender. Puree potatoes and liquid in
blender. Put back in slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cover and
cook on high 1 to 2 hours. Serve hot or chilled with a dollop of sour
cream if desired. Makes about 1 quart. 
_______________________________________

YooHoo

We are back in Jefferson! Butch landed on the lawn mower right away and has been busy ever since. We will most likely be here till we head south to Missouri. Butch will help Gary and Susan with an auction in Savannah MO on October 5th. I will stay with Susan's mother Eloise and help out in that way.
So we will be in Jefferson until the 2nd or 3rd. It is getting so crowded at the Peculiar campground and the Carthage campground that those are places we should remember to call for reservations. Haven't done that yet.
Anyway...if you are in the Jefferson Iowa area stop on by...we would love to see you.
One of my plans for the near future is to go through my address book and nudge those I haven't heard from in quite some time with a personal message. It is amazing to me the people that travel through my mind as we are traveling through the countryside and I will think, I sure haven't heard from them in a very long time. I wonder how they are doing and then we stop and I get busy and you know the rest. But rest assured if you haven't emailed me in awhile, you are on my list!!

Fisherman on Lake Anita

Ann Graduates

Granddaughter Ann of Georgia/Florida graduated this Spring. I am just a little late!!

Make a Smilebox greeting

For those few

who asked for more Clay County fair pictures...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Forgot to mention...

Forgot to mention that we played in a golf tournament this past weekend. Naturally the weather was as crappy as it has been the entire month but we endured. It was a three couple team, alternating shot format so it went fairly quick. We played with Randy, Sherri, Chuck and Corinne and we came in first in the second flight. Not too shabby considering the conditions.

Whew!

My Internet connection has been giving me fits again but I may have made a discovery this AM that helps...we will see. But I have not been able to post pictures or much else web related however email has not been a problem so you can see why I was puzzled. I took this one yesterday afternoon.
We went for a walk yesterday afternoon and I did not have my camera so after returning home I grabbed my camera to try and get some of the shots I had missed. One was of a crane sitting on a dock...well he had moved but it was still a good shot if I could get it. So I went down the hill and he held the pose the entire time it took me to get there. I turned on my camera and he instantly scrunched his head down into his shoulders making one ugly looking bird. So I waited...and waited but the d--- bird stayed scrunched so I took a shot of the geese instead.

Gemstone

At Lake Anita

We are at Lake Anita in our favorite spot (site 109). We are always amazed when it is open for us and it has been the last two times we have been here. The park is fairly full for this time of year but there are lots of wind turbines being installed in the area and I am sure the workers are camping in all of the parks around here. It was raining when we arrived and continued to rain most of the day and evening. I took this picture this morning because I liked the raindrops on the window and the lamplight behind.
We have doctor appts. this next week. Nothing serious. Checkups before we head south is all. We also will be stocking up on favorite items from local stores that we are most familiar. Like Iowa Chops from Fareway. Hyvee brand catfood for Angel. We do the same thing in South Texas before we head north!
I finished an afghan yesterday that has been in the works for perhaps 3 years. I would do a few rows and set it aside, even doing many other projects in between. So now I will have cleaned up all my unfinished projects. This one is a dense pattern and quite spectacular now that it is done. I will post a picture asap.

Another Swedish weaving project finished