Happy Birthday, Aunt Val!

It was a happy day when my little sister, Valerie Debora, was born the day before Valentine's Day!



Val went from being a cute baby...


...to a cute little girl...



...with golden curls...as opposed to the homely older sister with glasses (these had pink plastic frames) and frizzy permanented brown hair...gee, mom...


The ringlets...




Fourth birthday?


Rapunzel, rapunzel....


Wearing Great Gma Dean's "tea dress" ...


A classic icon of the times...(the hula hoop)


Four generations: the frizzy haired one(me), Val, Gpa Earle, Gma Clara, Gpa Roger holding Jesse.


2nd grade? Val you'll have to help me get these dated...


Jr. High?


Mom and the three of us...I hadn't remembered the "twin" outfits...


High school...



A beautiful bride...


Evelyn, Matt, Dick, Val and Dad...


Matt and Heather, Dick and Val...



Val is the artistic Dean girl...the "crafty" one...the organized one who gets things done! I love having such a wonderful sister.

Socks!

A few years ago I learned how to knit socks on two circular needles....once you figure out the different parts of the sock it's fun to see how the variegated yarn patterns. If you figure the cost of the yarn and the hours to produce them they're worth about $200 a pair...but the tranquility that the repetition of knitting brings and the tactile sensations of handling the yarn and the intensity of the colors as the pattern reveals itself...priceless!
It's always more fun to do the first sock...I've got about 8 more socks waiting for me to get back and knit the 2nd sock.










Guy socks!

A Colorful Meal...Gma Dorothy's Rice-a-Roni

This meal is so easy and looks pretty too...it's good in the summer with corn on the cob. It's just the salmon from Costco...bake in the oven for 25 minutes while you make Gma Dorothy's rice-a-roni...Grandma gave me this recipe years ago when I was first married...I usually double it...

1 pkg. Lipton's Chicken Noodle Soup (I think they just call it Noodle Soup now)
1 C rice
2 or 3 green onions, chopped, or some dried minced onion(about 1 T)
1/2 dried sage
2 C hot water

Melt a little butter or olive oil in a fry pan that has a cover. Dump in the dry soup mix and the rice, onions and sage; saute about 5 minutes until a little browned...don't burn it! Add the hot water and cover; turn down the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes.

To finish the meal above...cook broccoli in the microwave with a little water for about 3 minutes.

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies
These are basically the ones on the oatmeal box.

1 1/4 C shortening (I use half Crisco and half butter)
3/4 C brown sugar
1/2 C white sugar
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
3 C old fashioned oats (or quick will work)
1 C raisins
1 C chopped walnuts

Cream shortening, sugars; add egg and vanilla; add dry ingredients, oats, nuts and raisins. Bake at 350 (325 for a convection oven) for about 12 minutes.

Simple Stir Fry

Simple Stir Fry

Stir Fry Veggies (frozen) from Costco (this is a yummy mix with no fat or additives. I use about 1/3 of the bag = 4-5 C)
2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2" piece fresh ginger chopped
3-4 chicken breasts or 1 lb sirloin steak sliced thin (while mostly frozen)
1 pkg Stir Fry Sauce mixed with light soy sauce, water and a little sugar)(I think I actually used two packages...and maybe it was a little juicy, but it's good over the rice)

1. Fry the chicken or beef in a little olive oil for about 5 minutes; set aside.
2. Add a little more oil (or use Pam) to fry the garlic and ginger for a couple of minutes; then add the veggies (frozen to start with)..cook about another 5 minutes.
3. Pour in the sauce mix and bring to a boil; let it cook a couple of minutes until it thickens up.
4. Add in the meat and heat a couple more minutes; serve with rice.

You could start with your own fresh veggies...there are a lot of good combinations; or an oriental mix from the produce dept.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Omnivore's Dilemma
Read this book if you dare! It will forever change how you choose the food you eat...well, maybe not forever; I'm sure the impact will eventually wear off. The book goes along with Fast Food Nation, Food, Inc, and the movie, SuperSize Me...

I remember back in the 70's those of us interested in feeding our families more nutritiously read books like Diet for a Small Planet .
We bought a wheat grinder and a Bosch mixer and made bread and tried to use honey instead of white sugar. When the Hulme's lived out in Oakley and raised a beef each year, we bought some of the "range fed beef" from them. We had beehives and extracted our own honey; we gardened and canned fruit and bottled vegetables...mostly due to the influence of grandparents and parents who lived through the depression. We cooked from "scratch" and made homemade cookies and our own yogurt.
But as life grows hectic and Safeway and Costco offer such great ready made meals, it's hard to resist simplifying our cooking lives. This book educates us as to what's in much of the food we eat.
The author is a journalist and very entertaining to read...I actually listened to it (for 15 hours!) and got a little tired towards then end when he was philosophizing about hunting (which he had never done before) wild pigs in the Berkeley hills...guys(who hunt) might be more tuned in to that section. Still, I'm going to read labels more thoroughly again...looking for HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) which may be a major factor in the obesity epidemic in the US.

Are you "LOST"?

I hate to admit that I've been watching this show for five years (and rewatching each season)
So do we think Sayed has been resurrected? or just reanimated...like Locke...maybe he's really Jacob...