For the Love Of

 

I love 💗LOVE💗, do you?  And jeez, there just isn’t enough of it out there. In simplest terms,  I want to hope as hard as I can, that love wins in the end.  Good versus evil in all things.  I’ll spare you my outrages because you’re all seeing the same damned things on your screens and in your ear.

Here are some things I love –

Grandchildren  – these two are already best buddies and it brings me such joy to be a part of their lives.

I love to cook, to create something delicious my family will enjoy.  I believe there is much important communication and bonding over a good meal shared together. I learned this from the women in my family – my Grandmother Elsie, my Aunt Virginia, my mom.   I believe the effort is so important, to bring the family together to sit down for meals.  I always insisted on it when we were raising our children, even when we had crazy schedules with work and school and sports, etc.   I was surprised to find out many of my kids friends families did not do this, it was actually a rare occasion.

I also love  trying new recipes and eating  those yummy things, LOL.  Hence some extra pounds. I love a good cookbook and  have a plethora of them – here are a few recipes I’ve tried and loved recently from Trisha Yearwood’s second cookbook –

Trisha Yearwood’s Baked Bean Casserole – This can be a side or a meal, it’s hearty enough ( think chili)    link to recipe  HERE   

Now, ham salad usually makes me gag. But, the Mr. loves it. LOVES it.  So when I saw a recipe in Ms. Yearwood’s book and she raved about it, I said to myself –  you know, you oughta just make the effort for the guy, Karen. See if it’s doable.   Welp.  It’s more than doable – I actually love it! and it’s so easy to throw together – so tasty.   Who knew!?

  Uncle Marshal’s Ham Salad  ******************* 

3 cups ground or finely diced fully cooked ham (about 14 ounces)

1 teaspoon finely chopped sweet Vidalia onion

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Combine ham, onion, relish, mayonnaise and mustard in bowl. Serve salad on crackers or in sandwich.

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I also love making healthy food choices to help this aging body.  One of my favorite breakfasts is a simple smoothy, I just throw everything in a blender and drink it up – Spinach, Honey, blueberries, banana, a dash of yogurt, a few ice cubes.  Delicious and it’s doing your body some good.

Who doesn’t love fresh produce out of a garden – I’m dreaming of the bounty we’ll enjoy out of our  gardens this summer, and the kitchen herb garden we are planning to build off the kitchen slider/porch. Instead of walking up the hill to the big vegetable/berry garden near the barn, I can grab what I need right outside the kitchen porch as I’m cooking.  Last year we used a galvanized tub, the kind used for livestock watering, and it was OK for that purpose, but in the ground is better. Perhaps a raised bed.  More on that later.

My recovery from hysterectomy is going well, I love when that happens!  I’m back to most of my regular chores and life activities with the exception of lifting very heavy things. A few more weeks of caution and I’m good to go.

I hope all is well in your world, and that you love on yourself as needed.  That’s just as important as anything else and we tend to forget this, often.

 

Image by  Jane Newland, an artist who’s work I love 

Till soon –