Category Archives: Food

Our Time in Washington ~

 

While we’ve been in Washington (me for 2 weeks, Dear for 1 week), Dear has been gutting our basement. We need to take care of some water issues and do some structural strengthening. Today is the day for a very heavy steel beam to replace a wooden beam. Anyone free at 2:30 for some heavy lifting.

 

After all that hard work we want to eat hearty. We try to get everyone together to enjoy a meal. Yesterday I went to the meat market and they helped me pick out some very marbled meat to fulfill the workers cravings. Steak, baked potatoes, steamed cauliflower, salad with Persian dressing and sour dough bread. The meat was very tender and broiled to perfection by Dear. My dishwasher has been filled and emptied a lot.

 

At the end of some of my days here I’ve enjoyed views like this one from my bedroom windows.

Have a great Saturday. I’m meeting my walking buddies at 9:00 for our walk on the trail. I’ll post my average steps later for Lovella’s walking club.

*No walking post today. The walking club is taking the week off so we will resume next week. I did walk this week with two over 17,000 step days, a couple 6800 step days a 8646 step day and a 12,595 step day. So my average for the week was 11,532 steps. See y’all walking buddies again next week.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

ABC Wednesday ~ J is for…

Blogspot bloggers!! Please do all of us bloggers a favor and add the “Choose an Identity that lets you put in your name and url without a google account” feature to your comment page. It makes life easier for those of us who aren’t blogspot bloggers. Please, pretty please, with sugar on top!
~

J is for

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Our Son Josh who has brought lots of Joy to our lives! Click here to see him suspended in the air in China!

 

Johnson Bros. Dishes that I love to collect here and there if I find them at a bargain price.

And for your dining pleasure a lovely Applesauce Rasberry Jello Salad that is perfect for Spring and Summer and you can click here for the recipe.

For more ABC Wednesday Posts travel over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Eggs and Kulich

Our Easter preparations are on their way.

Katie colors the eggs each year.

 

I decorate the show piece of our food celebration, the Kulich (Russian Easter Bread). I did say decorate. I didn’t say I baked it. That is still on my list to do before I die.

 

We will celebrate all day tomorrow with friends, family, food, hallelujahs and hosannas to our Resurrected King.

Blessings on all your preparations and celebrations…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Table is Set for Corned Beef and Cabbage!

 

My kids are coming over for dinner, corned beef and cabbage. I’ll be making some fun green drinks and we’ll eat and celebrate being together and surrounded by green. I’ll post the people photos later! 🙂

 

I tweaked the table some more before my guests arrived.

 

My beautiful children, with one missing and Dear is in California till Friday, so dinner for four.

The meal was enjoyed by all…
Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Corned Beef and Cabbage ~ Recipe

Top of the mornin to yea! We made our Corned beef and cabbage early here in California since I’m leaving for Washington today on an early plane. Have a great Saturday. Ummm and about my walking totals this week. Dismal to say the least. Had a couple of good days but funerals and other happenings really affected the weekly totals. But I’m still walking. My average this week was 8295 steps per day. Have a great weekend everyone…

I bought the flat cut corned beef brisket seasoned in a package with an extra spice packet enclosed. I covered the brisket with water and brought to a boil with a couple onions quartered. After it came to a boil, I lowered the flame to simmer and let it simmer for a couple of hours plus. Then I took the brisket out of the pot and put it into a baking dish. I skimmed off the fat and then spread a spicy mustard on top of it and put it in 350 degree oven, covered with foil, for another 45 minutes. During this process I put all the vegetables in the broth to boil. When the broth came up to a boil again I lowered the temperature to simmer and let the vegetables cook till they were tender.

Then it was all ready to eat. Tender and seasoned just right without any extra seasoning…

Forgot to buy some Guinness to go with the meal but did find one of Dear’s home-brews that had a good healthy head to it.

Killarney

By Killarney’s lakes and fells,
Emerald isles and winding bays,
Mountain paths and woodland dells,
Memory ever fondly strays.
Bounteous nature loves all lands,
Beauty wanders everywhere,
Footprints leave on many strands,
But her home is surely there!
Angels fold their wings and rest
In that Eden of the west;
Beauty’s home, Killarney,
Heaven’s reflex, Killarney.

No place else can charm the eye
With such bright and varied tints,
Ev’ry rock that you pass by
Verdure broiders or besprints.
Virgin there the green grass grows,
Ev’ry morn Spring,s natal day,
Bright hued berries daff the snows,
Smiling Winter’s frowns away.
Angels often pausing there
Doubt if Eden were more fair;
Beauty’s home, Killarney.
Heaven’s reflex, Killarney.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Holdren’s Steak and Seafood Birthday Dinner

 

Wedge Salad, Martinis, Porterhouse Steak, Rack of Lamb and a free Birthday piece of Mud Pie. All the food here was very good. We’d go again for a special occasion.

 

The Birthday Girl

 

The Guy who supports me in everything I do and always shows me love. Thank you Dear!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

My First Calzone Attempt ~

 

So this was simple and good. You start with the frozen bread dough you find in the grocery store. I thawed one loaf. Then I floured my surface. I separated the loaf into 3 equal parts. Yikes but when I went to roll out my first circle I realized I do not have a rolling pin in my condo kitchen supplies! What to do? Well I’m not a HomeEc major for nothing people. I’ve learned to improvise. The closest thing I could find in my condo that resembled a rolling pin was this…

A muddler! Wasn’t the simplest tool to use to roll out the dough to a seven inch circle but it worked.

I sauteed most of the filling ingredients before adding them to the circle of dough. You can choose whatever filling floats your boat. I chose red onion, mushrooms, green bell-pepper, and chicken sausage. After sauteing these together and getting rid of some of the moisture I spread a little marinara on the dough placed some soft mozzarella cheese on top of the sauce and then added the sauteed ingredients. Egg wash the edges like shown above and then fold it over and seal it. Give the top another egg wash and prick it with a fork. Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 15 minutes. And drum roll please…here’s how it came out.

It was very yummy! Oh and I was so proud that I got it to fit on a smaller plate to fulfill my brown plate challenge…

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

Party!

We got together on Saturday night at Moreno’s in Orange to celebrate my sister Vera’s bigger than the last big birthday party!

 

Vera the Birthday Girl and Me,  Leticia my SIL and Tim my brother, The Mariachis, and the table conversation with David, Debbee (Vera’s kids) Noah, Melissa and my sister Kathy at the end of the table.

The Matriarch and Patriarch of the family…

 

There were these great old trees in the patio. The original part of this restaurant was a Friends church (Quaker) and built in the late 1800’s! Click here to read the interesting history.

And this joker on the right confiscated my camera when I wasn’t looking to take a photo of himself with the Birthday Girl!

Gotcha Ryan!

If you like non-spicy Mexican food that any Gringo can eat and enjoy this is the place for you. For us spicy hot Mexican food lovers this was fun for the history, fun being with family, fun with the mariachis, but not memorable for the food. 🙂

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

The Ultimate Blog Party ~ March 7th – 14th

 

Ultimate Blog Party 2008

 

Welcome to my Blog Party. You have arrived at The Happy Wonderer.  I’m ellen b and I’m so happy to welcome you here. I’ve made a cake for the occassion and I’m sharing the recipe with you. My birthday is March 14th so this is a great week for a party around here. I would like to give you a taste of what my blog is like. I’m posting some regular kind of things you’ll see if you come back to visit. So relax and enjoy as you scroll on down…

Applesauce Spice Cake

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 pkg. 4 serving size jello instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/2 C. water
1/4 C. oil
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. all-spice (optional)
1/2 raisins finely chopped (optional)

Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl of electric mixer and blend then beat at medium for 4 minutes. Pour into well greased and floured 10 inch tube or fluted tube pan. (I’ve used a bundt cake pan and angel food cake pan). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. DO NOT UNDERBAKE. Cool in pan for 15 min. remove and cool on rack. When the cake has cooled and before I serve it I give it a dusting of powdered sugar.

This goes really well with whipped cream or a good vanilla ice cream, too. This has become a favorite in my house and is requested for birthday cakes very often.

I like to share my recipes and I really enjoy inviting table settings like these…

 

Special times with family and friends are shared on my blog as well.

I enjoy walking and I share photos from these walks and I’m part of a Bloggy Walking Club. The bloggers who participate keep track of their average steps for a 5-6 day period each week and share their totals. My husband who I call “Dear” on this blog and I walk most every Saturday at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura, California.

 

I’m also a Brown Plate Special participant which is a sensible challenge for some of us older bloggers to eat smaller quantities and add more activity in our lives and be accountable to each other.

I participate in a few weekly blog carnivals like ABC Wednesday, Word Filled Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, Sky Watch Fridays and Photo Hunters. I post a Hymn or Worship song on Sunday. Sometimes during the week I’ll share a devotional or a quote from a book I’m reading.

A fun experience I’ve had since I started blogging is meeting a fellow blogger who lives in the same city as me. After meeting we decided to walk together. We try to walk every weekday which has been great. Here’s a photo from the day we met at a local Coffee shop in town.

 

This is Willow from Willow’s Cottage. I’m the brunette (I think brunette sounds so much better than I’m the old lady on the right with brown hair)

I will also share photos from travels here in the states and abroad.

 

 

My sister Lana and I started blogging about the same time. We talk most everyday (mostly about our blogs). It’s fun to have a bosom bloggy buddy who doesn’t get tired of “blog talk”. We laugh all the time. Her blog is called Above the Clouds because she travels weekly by air.

I post a lot,  at least one post a day sometimes 2 to 3 posts a day on bloggy carnival days.

I choose for my blog be an encouraging blog and to honor the Lord so you generally will not hear me ranting and you will not find bad language and things that I find objectionable to my heart and mind here.

Whew! My posts are not this long generally unless it’s all photos (Did I say I’m visual and love photos!?)

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you come again. Blessings on you…

You can see more blogs that are participating in the party at 5 minutes for Mom. I’ll add the link when they have it up later tonight. Well as soon as 5MFM fixes their site you can click and get there we all crashed it I think. For now you can google Ultimate Blog Party and find some sites!

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.

My Blog is One Year Old March 3rd!

Update: The name drawn to receive the Butterfly necklace is Rosemary from Seasonings of the Heart! I’ll contact you.  Thanks to everyone for your kind words and visiting my party!

Happy Birthday Happy Wonderer!

So I contemplated how we should celebrate the anniversary of that day.

Should I serve one of my Russian favorites that my mom bakes, Roolyet? Make sure you roll your tongue on the roo part of the word.

 

Or maybe I could serve this dessert I’ve made that is so simple and I’ll include the directions below.

But in the great Hobbit Birthday Tradition I decided I would give away a gift to celebrate. The winning of this gift is open to all my regular bloggy friends and bloggers who participate in the same weekly memes I do. All you have to do is to leave a comment and make sure you include a good email address so I can contact you if you win. If you’re a guy I’m sorry that this is so feminine but if you win maybe you could give it to your wife, mother, sister, or friend.

I thought this was appropriate for the hope of Spring and new life it brings.

So thanks for stopping by my party and take time to comment and enter the drawing. It’s been a fun year for me getting to know all about blogging. I appreciate the friendships I’ve developed and am grateful for y’all.

Blessings..
ellen b.

Easy directions for individual trifle like desserts…

Cook one larger package of Vanilla pudding (not instant) according to package directions then put plastic wrap right on the surface of the pudding and let it cool in the refrigerator. While the pudding is cooling wash and cut 1 large carton of fresh strawberries into bite size pieces. Put them into a bowl and sprinkle sugar on top of them to make them juicier and sweeter. After the pudding has gotten cold whip up 2 cups heavy whipping cream (I add 1/4 -1/2 tsp. pure almond extract to the cream). Save some of the whipping cream to top the desserts and fold in the rest of the whipped cream into the cold pudding. Now all you have to do is assemble the individual trifles. Put some of the strawberries in the bottom of a fun glass or glass bowl, then add some store bought pound cake torn into pieces or angel food cake torn into pieces, next put some of the pudding mixture then keep layering in this same order. Top with a dollop of whip cream and a strawberry.  Simple and refreshing and yummy. (You could also make the layers in a Large Trifle bowl)

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage. I’m working on updating my blog posts very slowly.