cherries

Post # 42    I am already tired of this background but I can not figure out how to delete it.  Can anyone tell me?

  Since  I just added it a few days ago you would think i could figure it out, but noooo, my mind is still pretty much out to lunch.  Depression fog makes my memory nonexistent.  I couldn't tell you what i did or how i did it this morning much less a couple of days ago.  So, it's cherries until someone comes to my rescue.

Tuesday

Post # 41    The cake recipe I posted yesterday...is really, really good.  Today I sliced a leftover peach over a slice and it was worth every calorie.  I hope you try it.  Get Joanna Fluke's book and check out the directions for making a layer cake out of it with a frosting recipe if you prefer layer cakes. And read the book too, plus there must be a dozen more recipes. 

    A friend told me to go to youtube and listen to the Anita Renfroe videos.  I haven't laughed so much in months.  Thank you, Tammy, because I really needed that.  

Peachy Keen! And I Enjoyed Them Both!

Post # 40           Today I did two things I haven't done in months....I baked a cake from scratch and I read a book!  My mind and concentration abilities have been lost in the depression fog and for the first time in my life I have not been able to read a book ... in months...words just float and I have no idea what I have read, no idea what the story is, my eyes end up skimming the page until I just don't want to try anymore.  Well, my name was on the waiting list for Joanna Fluke's new book,  Apple Turnover Murder, and Casey picked it up for me.  It's due back in a few days so finally, yesterday, I decided I was just going to read it, It's pretty much fluff, so I should have been able to read it in one evening but it took me two days, and reading in bits but I did it..  I enjoyed it, except I knew who committed the murder about halfway through the book and I love it when I can't figure it out until the end.  And calling it fluff is not meant as a derogatory thing...that is why I like cozy mysteries...they aren't intense or hard to follow, when I read for entertainment and stress relief I don't want to read War and Peace, I want a cozy mystery. Her books are full of recipes...the character owns a cookie shop...and one of the recipes was for a peach cake.  It sounded so good...and we are in the beginning of a cold front, we were down to 86 today so I thought we could stand to have the oven on...so I asked Casey to go to the store for the ingredients.  I thought it was luscious, Mason didn't like it and I don't remember what Becky said.  Everyone else ate too much dinner to try it.  All 4 of my kids and my grandsons were here for dinner.  Trey made steak fingers and the best gravy I have had in a very long time; Becky chopped all the veggies so Casey could make her pasta salad,  and we had mashed potatoes,yellow squash, green beans, & corn on the cob.  I made the cake.

Here is the recipe from Joanna Fluke's book Apple Turnover Murder:
Rose's Peachy Keen Cake
Preheat oven to 350 
4 egg whites
1/4 t. cream of tartar
3/4 cup softened butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups white sugar
3 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
2 beaten eggs
1/2 t. almond extract
1/2 t. vanilla extract
 peaches - fresh, canned or frozen
2 & 1/2 cups flour
1 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
Beat egg whites & cream of tartar until they form soft peaks, set aside.
In a large bowl beat butter, cream cheese and sugar until fluffy.  Add baking powder and salt, mix thoroughly.  Add the 2 beaten eggs, the almond and the vanilla extracts. Mix well.  Peel and slice the peaches then zoop them in a blender, squash with a potato masher or mash with a food processor until pureed.  Measure out 1 & 1/2 cups of pureed peach and mix in with the butter mixture.  Gradually add the flour beating at low speed.  Stir in the almonds by hand.  Gently fold in the egg whites.  Spray a bundt pan with Pam, the dust lightly with flour.  Pour the cake batter in the pan and bake 50 - 60 minutes.  Test with a toothpick.  Let cool on a rack in the pan 15 minutes, then loosen edges & invert on a plate.  
Glaze
1/2 cup peach jam
1/2 cup powdered sugar
   Scoop the jam into a microwavable bowl or two cup glass measuring cup. Heat for 20 seconds.  If it is melted you are done, if not then heat another 20 seconds.  Stir in powdered sugar by the spoonfuls until it is the consistency to pour on the cake.
I didn't have the almonds or the extract so I used 1 t. of vanilla extract. 

Brent Proposed

Post # 39    Brent proposed, Kali said yes!

HAPPY!

Post # 38   Mason and Travis decorated my sidewalk for me.  I love colors and it made me happy to see their drawings...made me think of Dick Van Dyke's character in Mary Poppins.....the boys and I have watched Mary Poppins a gazillion times but I can't think of the character's name.   :(   I really miss my mind. 
...next day...Bert!  I think it's Bert !!!  (after hours of going Buster? no Sam? no  Bill? no)

really the end

Post # 37
a sad day in carol's world.  i signed the retirement papers this morning so i really am retired.  i feel like i need to get out and pound the pavement looking for another job but i know i am not well enough yet. but when i am well enough i know it will be  hard for someone my age to get a job.  in carol's world today it is scary.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

Post # 36
When I woke up this morning I discovered it rained last night! Woo-hoo! Between 7 and 9 a.m. I went out and pulled weeds even though it was misty. After a week of temps near or at 100 degrees cool mist felt great. The bugs have eaten my garden up. Why is it they do not eat the weeds? I had planted marigolds around my boxes as a natural deterrent but they ate those too. My tomatoes are doing great and I still have onions, strawberries and peppers. Next year I am not going to try strictly organic, and I am going to redo my boxes so they are up on legs I don't expect them being on legs to deter the insects but will be easier on my back. I put down weed cloth but the Bermuda grass grew into the boxes through weed cloth and about 20 layers of newspaper. When I made the boxes I had cleaned up 2 dumpsters full of weeds from that area but I didn't see any bermuda in the garden.  Where it came from I don't know but once we started watering ---up it popped--- everywhere I didn't want it. I keep trying to pull it up but I truly expect to have lovely garden boxes of thick grass before the summer is over. In my flowerbed I  have 2 pink dahlias coming up. I am very excited because I have never grown dahlias before. My knock out roses are blooming but the other roses are dead. If I knew where the dadgum receipt was I would pull them up and take them back. Every grocery store and McDonald's receipt stays in the bottom of my purse forever but any receipt I need? no. I have told myself a billion times to make a place for receipts. Since I am starting this new life as a retired person I am going to start off by doing some of those things I should have been doing all along.

Fruit Smoothie

Post # 35
My grandsons, 8 & 9, are spending a couple of weeks with me. Travis has just been dying to make a fruit smoothie so we googled smoothies and found Emeril......
                 STRAWBERRY BANANA FRUIT SMOOTHIE
Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2006
* show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Emeril's Fruit Stand
Rated: 5 stars out of 5
Prep Time: 10 min Level: Easy Yield: 6 servings

* 1 cup whole milk
* 1 cup plain yogurt
* 1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
* 1/4 cup honey
* 2 bananas, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
* 1 pint fresh strawberries
* 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* 1 to 2 cups crushed ice

                                                                Directions

In a large-capacity blender combine all of the ingredients and puree until smooth. (Alternatively, puree in batches if necessary.) Serve the smoothies in chilled tall glasses.

I guess some of us didn't know what to expect........ but it was a very pretty pink drink. I don't like milk at all and would have much rather just had the fruit. Becky & Trey, who drink smoothies, liked it.

Mason 1 star    Grandma 2 stars    Travis 3 stars     Casey 3 stars    Trey 4 stars    Becky 4 stars

this journey through depression and anxiety

Post # 34
I went to the mall!  I don't like going to the mall and right now I don't like leaving my house at all so it's a big deal that I not only got out of the house for the first time in exactly a week (I could so easily be a hermit) but that I walked through the mall, OK part of the mall.  Both my son and daughter were with me, and since it was a Tuesday evening not close to any major holiday the mall was fairly empty.  I bought a washer and dryer at Sears...will pay for them with a partial lump sum from my retirement.  I am afraid ...paranoid...of trying to live on retirement and the washer going out & me with no way to replace it.  My old one has been acting up lately, running extra rinses when we don't want them.  They are about 12-14 years old and still work, but I bought them from my ex-daughter-in-law's mom when she got new ones. I think about Gail and Kay every time I see those appliances and I am very sad that Gail left my son and don't want to see her mom's washer in my house.  Is that absolutely stupid?   Actually my daughter, Casey and I have been looking at washers for about a year now. I should be good on appliances for the rest of my life since the house came with a stove, fridge and dishwasher, except I'd like to get a freezer. It is really odd to think "will this appliance outlive me?"  My mom was just 16 years older than me when she passed away. 16 years? In 16 years my newest grandchild will just be taking drivers training. Back to today, after the mall, my son, Brent bought us BBQ beef sandwiches and we got home just in time before we got a little rain...mostly horizontal, just enough to wet the sidewalk but lots of thunder and lightning.  I live very close to the news channel 10 station and on the 10 p.m. news they showed dumpsters blown over outside the station. Typical windy day in the panhandle. Gracie is scared of thunder so she was glad to see us.  In fact, the poor thing is curled up under my armpit because it is still thundering.  I started reading a book today...Ladies of the Lake by Haywood Smith...it feels good to be reading a book! I haven't talked to a single person other than my kids in a week but a friend is meeting me at the botanical garden Fri after my psych appt and I have got to go up to city hall and sign the retirement forms...hard thing to do.  I was suppose to go to city hall Monday a.m. but I stressed so much over it on Sunday I ended up with a vicious headache,  didn't sleep much Sunday night, felt horrid all day Monday and cancelled my appt.  I keeping meaning to call & reschedule, and make an appt with my therapist as well, she really helps, but I haven't done either.  On the way to the mall tonight we passed the library, I didn't cry but I could have...I simply can not believe I no longer work there.  I keep wishing I would wake up and the past 2 months just be a terribly bad dream.   I am making progress, but still...really bad depression makes things as simple as calling and setting up an appt seem like climbing a mountain, seeing the place where I loved to work, pretty hard.  positive thought for the day.....I get to see my grandsons every day for the next two weeks. Today my grandson Travis and I made homemade milkshakes. Yum!

Kids-in-Mind.com

post # 33
Kids-in-Mind.com is a website that gives parents a tool in choosing movies suitable for their kids to see. Movies are given a numeral rating for violence & gore, sex & nudity and profanity.  If you want detailed info just click on the movie title and tells why it got 8 for violence or whatever.