Blogidays December 10 - a short one today.........

Hello everyone 

Here are a few photos I’ve saved and think they are all cute 

None of these are things I made- just ideas I like 

Lightbulbs painted and dressed like snowmen

Another snowman made from assorted nuts and 1 washer for the hat brim- then painted 

I think this mug display looks great but I can’t imagine storing away this many mugs when it’s not Christmas season 

Both of these made me laugh - and my husband really laughed when I showed him the mug.  He thought it was perfect for homebody me. 

A few replies 

Cheryl - when Walmart substitutes, it will still be at the price you ordered, not at the higher price of the substitution.  Other substitutes ive gotten have been a 72 ounce bag of frozen roll dough when I ordered and paid for the 36 ounce size,  and many more that I just can’t remember.  

Susie- those green things really are bananas and are just now about ripe enough to eat.  

I’ll be back tomorrow

Merry Christmas everyone 

❤️Rhonda 

Blogidays December 9 -

Hello everyone 

I went to see my parents today.  The staff at their retirement home decorate for all the holidays.  It seems they’ve cut back quite a bit this year but these are a few pretty things I saw today 

Cute tree with a snowman topper and train at the base 

I like these faux lampposts too- I saw several of them.  

At home I did a little food prep.

We had egg roll in a bowl for supper so early in the day I chopped the veggies and made a small sandwich topping box. 

 

There are many variations of egg roll in a bowl- I browned 1/2 pound ground beef with grated onion,  then added in 3 grated carrots and a pound of diced cabbage.  Let it all cook covered on medium until done, season with low sodium soy sauce and pepper.  Other variations add in more kinds seasoning and other veggies but we like it just like I cooked.  

That pack of ground beef was 1 1/2 pounds.  I’ll use the rest for burgers tomorrow.  

We went to a new store in our town this afternoon.  It’s a discount and salvage type store,  not a chain but a locally owned small business.  

It’s a very nice store.  Everything I looked at seemed cheaper than I remember from other stores.  

So,  we bought a cart of stuff 

A new to me product found at Walmart pickup is Hershey chocolate mint candy canes,  

To me, they taste just like a York peppermint Patty but take a longer eat for just 50 calories.  

  

Replies will be in tomorrow’s post 

❤️  Rhonda 

Blogidays December 8 - wrapping gifts

Hello everyone 

I spent the afternoon wrapping gifts,  but before I could wrap them,  I had to one box of toys that I put in a safe place but couldn’t remember where I put them 

See that box on the top of the hutch with 30 wrote on it?  That’s where I put them  🤦🏻‍♀️

But first I looked in every closet before I remembered where I stashed them.  

I mostly wrapped grandchildren gifts today.  We usually are all together when we open gifts and I usually get them all the same thing.  

But you all know gatherings are different this year so I got them all different things.  

I’m not showing what the 3 grands that live in our town are getting because sometimes the oldest one reads this blog. 

The boys that have a pond and cattle tank are getting remote control boats.

The 3 that live an hour away are each getting 3 things that I hope they will like.  

Here are most of them,  wrapped and ready to deliver.  

The paper is Dollar Tree roll wrap and the ribbon is assorted ribbons that were thrifted quite a while ago- 

  

Last night I took this funny photo of our dog Ducky, just as he got a new treat.  

Ducky was a tiny puppy when we got him and we’ve had him almost 3 years.  

Merry Christmas everyone 

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 7 - cream cheese filled peaches

Hello everyone,  I had no idea so many of you would ask for the “recipe” for the peaches I mentioned.

I first made them when I was in high school for a supper when my grandmother and her friend Aunt Susan arrived at our home for a visit.  I think the recipe was from a Betty Crocker set of recipes cards that my mom got my subscription every month.  

Anyway,  there’s not much of a recipe that I go by anymore.  You can use however many peach halves and how much cream cheese you need for who you’re serving. 

I used softened cream cheese mixed with finely diced pecans, a little vanilla and a little powdered sugar to taste.  Then put a rounded tablespoon of cream cheese each peach half.  Then chill them until it’s time to serve them.  

I did find this YouTube video where she makes them and it’s pretty much how I do except I think she uses a pastry bag to pipe the cream cheese into the peach halves.  

Heidi, this YouTuber, uses 2 large can of peaches (28 ounce or so), 8 ounces of cream cheese and 1/4 c powdered sugar.  

About 1/3 cup finely diced pecans is what I would use for this amount.  

Canned Peach halves are kind of hard to find nowadays.  They were so popular when I was growing up.  I always liked when the school cafeteria had peach halves.  

Do any of y’all remember eating them?  

Anyway,  this is an easy dessert or salad that  can be made ahead and most everyone will like it.  

Granddaughter Elizabeth especially likes it 🥰

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 6- very quiet Sunday

Good evening everyone 

We’ve had a very quiet Sunday.

I did an early morning Walmart pickup 

I got the biggest pack of toilet paper I’ve ever seen 

Milk, eggs, produce - my good substitute was I ordered a 5 pound bag of carrots and they substituted 3 2 pound bags of organic carrots 

Sometimes I make a dessert peach halves filled with sweetened cream cheese and chopped pecans.  My granddaughter asked me to make it soon so I ordered canned peaches and she will be happy 

Apparently I wasn’t keeping track when I selected bread.  3 loaves went straight to the freezer.  

A few non edibles including some bananas that won’t be eaten for awhile.  

I’m usually very happy with my pickup produce but bananas, you just never know.  

The Jergens Wetskin lotion really helps my dry skin in the winter.  You put it on after you shower but before you dry off.  It really sinks in fast and be use you don’t rinse it off, it doesn’t leave the shower floor slippery like some other shower lotions I’ve tried.  

We had simple meals today too 

Breakfast was hash brown with onions and bell peppers and an egg on top 

 

Supper was another bowl- rice from yesterday, beans and corn, chicken taco meat left from Friday with sautéed onions and poblano peppers and little queso cheese on top.  

Hope you all had a relaxing Sunday

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 5- wreaths, estate sale, a little food and a question

Hello everyone 

Long time readers of this blog may remember by brother makes fresh Christmas wreaths every year.  Here are a few of the ones from the past years 

past wreaths

He delivered 3 to my house yesterday

This is the one on our front door 

These 2 belong to other relatives and have already been sent to their homes

 

Ducky approves of the wreaths.  They smell so good!  

I cook most every night but last night we thought about takeout and then decided to just cook 2 very easy convenience foods 

This morning,  I did a little food prep.  

I made a salad and a small box of sandwich toppings.  I also cooked a big batch of rice as my son requested some so he could make fried rice.  

I cook converted rice in a Zojirushi rice cooker that we’ve had since 1989.  It only cooks rice but we like how it cooks rice where it is not sticky.  

We will have fried rice later this week too.  

This afternoon,  I found out about an estate sale for my aunt’s cousin.  My son and I waited until it was almost over to go.  We wanted to avoid crowds ( and we did) and we neither need much but we knew there was nice stuff there. Everything was half price of the marked price 

For $12.50 I got all these disposable party goods.....

 

This really nice kids puzzle set with 4 puzzles.  The pieces are quite thick and sturdy. .....

  

I worked them all when I got home to see what the puzzles looked like and if all the pieces were included.  

We also got a hard cover book, set of metal coasters that my son will use  under small plant pots and 10 stemmed glasses that will work for desserts or drinks.  (No photos of those 3 items)

And do any of you happen to know the name or brand of this vintage baby doll? 

Have a good weekend everyone 

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 4- cinnamon ornaments and meals

Hello everyone 

2 grands were with us over 2 days.

We tried making cinnamon applesauce ornaments 

There are lots of recipes and variations on Pinterest if you want to try them 

The basic recipe is just cinnamon and applesauce.  We added some other spices that were getting old and some school glue 

 

When the mixture is all mixed up, roll it out, cut with a cookie cutter and use a straw to add a hole for hanging 

 

Then either bake them or air dry.  Ours are air drying.  I flipped them this morning so they would dry on both sides and some of the ones we rolled too thin broke.  

But they do smell delicious and we had fun making them.  

Supper last night was beef tacos and chicken tacos. 

These Soft Tortilla Bowls cost more than traditional taco shells or tortillas but they make taco eating so easy! 

Breakfast was what the boys asked for- pancakes and bacon 

Lunch was vegetable beef soup, grilled cheese and orange slices 

There is a slight possibility that public schools in our town will open on an A/B schedule next week.  

But who knows?  The Covid numbers are bad but there was some glitch in how they were reported so they look worse that they really are.  🤷🏻‍♀️

That’s how we spent the last 24 hours or so........ I’m a homebody but I’m really ready for this pandemic to be over! 

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 3 - Dollar Tree, fruit and a few replies

Hello everyone 

Outdoor decorations from the side- it’s been raining most of today and I didn’t want to walk in the very wet grass to get a centered photo 

The red and green thing that’s circled is a sign that says Merry Christmas 

And the other circle is Ducky, our dog, checking out the decorations 

Errands this morning were a stop at Dollar Tree.  They had so much cute Christmas stuff- roll wrap, gift bags and containers for food gifts. 

I bought placemats- they are navy and will be just right in the breakfast room with the navy check curtains. 

They look blackish but really are navy in real life. 

At Sprouts we bought red grapes and giant naval oranges.  Both were on sale for .98 a pound. 

I washed the grapes and then cut them into little bunches- perfect to grab for a snack serving. 

I learned this tip from my Aunt Bernice way back when my children were little and have fixing grapes this way ever since.  

A few replies 

Terri

 about that raisin bread in the ABM not rising enough- I think the dough was heavy as I put quite a few raisins and pecans in.  I think it needed longer to rise than whatever time the machine allowed.  But thankfully the bread was still delicious!  

Cheryl

4 of the light up wall pictures were purchased at Aldi several years ago.  They use AA batteries and have switch to turn them off and on. They are easy to store away and they just stack up flat and sit on a shelf.   I really like them but no actual decorator would ever approve.  Thankfully, no real decorators ever come to my house 😂 

Lana-  I did get the email about my chopper being recalled and I started to jump through their hoops to get a replacement.  But I decided I’d be more likely hurting myself destroying the recalled chopper than I would just using it carefully.  

Melanie

it was warm the day we put the outdoor decorations in the yard.  Our weather has been all over the place- we’ve had some hard freezes,  some very windy days, and today it’s been raining off and on all day.  But mostly it’s been quite pleasant all autumn.  

Hope you’re all having a good Thursday 

❤️ Rhonda 

Blogidays December 2

Hello everyone 

Below is a video how the twinkle lights look in our living room early in the morning - my favorite time to sit with a mug of hot tea snd just enjoy the decorations 

Some of the grands were here yesterday.  They did virtual school in the morning with their mom and then spent the afternoon here.

They helped Grandpa with his decorations in the front yard.  

My husband picks the outdoor decorations and I do the indoor decorations 

I’ll show a photo of them in their final arrangement all lit  up soon.  

I had a helper when to peel carrots and potatoes for supper.

She counted out the vegetables so we both had the same amount peel.  But I’ve peeled a lot of veggies in my 50 or so years of cooking.  

She was amazed how fast I could peel.   I ended up peeling most of both piles but she did work hard.  I assured her she would pick up speed if she kept practicing. 

This roast beef supper was shared by 3 families - my daughter’s family, my parents and us - and there were enough leftovers for my husband and I to enjoy today.  

The first of the month means going over bills and what we plan to spend and budget for.

We don’t have many bills and I keep track of finances in a binder, with a sheet of paper for each month.

I worked out the December budget yesterday morning.  

Merry Christmas everyone 🎄

❤️ Rhonda