10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

WELCOME NEW FOLLOWER, HELENE :D

17 October - 24 October, 2010

"For your ship to come in, you must first build your dock."  Unknown (And I really tried.  All I found was game and boat/dock  info.)

#1  I have really enjoyed experimenting with using pured beans for oil/butter...  I made banana bread - 1/2 cup butter + 1/2 cup pured white beans.  Worked great.  And pumpkin chocolate chip cookies - 1/2 cup shortening + 1/2 cup pured white beans.  They were a bit more cakey, but for no shortening we will keep doing it.  I have found it takes a bit longer to cook my foods with beans, and they do not brown as much.

When I puree a can of beans (I have done black and white) I get 2 1/2 cups cups puree.  I use what I need and freeze the rest in silicone 1/2 containers.  When they are frozen, I peel them and put each one in it's own zip lock.  Then I put all the small bags in a large bag.  (Just like I do with my browned hamburger.)  They take about 2 hours to defrost in my bowl, and I used defrosted beans in my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  It worked great.

#2  Earlier in October Doug was working 7 days a week :(, so his boss gave him some days off :) 

I am happy Doug took Monday off.  We just stayed home.

#3  I love (LOVE) my down comforter and fleece sheets.  (Yep, it's winter-y.)  (I do not love/use them in the summer.)

#4  Are you following the daily deals, yet???  

We went to Wheeler Farm for play date using our discount coupons we bought at the end of September.  (It was $7.00  for 2 tickets to their kid activities and include a pumpkin.  For the 8 of us that went it was a SAVING of $28.00.  We paid $28.00 for all 8 of us.)  We had TONS of fun - and VERY wild children.  They were all so red from running and chasing thru the mazes.  (Even Layne took a nap during "quiet time" :)

#5  Are you following the daily deals, YET?

On Wednesday night we went to Provo for the fun Halloween Cruise on the Provo River.  Tickets are $7.00 each, with 2 and under free.  We got ours for $3.50 each about 1 month ago :-)

CLAS Ropes Course is located at 3606 W. Center Street in Provo.  Their web address is http://www.clasropes.com/ 

We really had fun.  It is very family friendly (read not scary).  Perhaps even cheesy.  But clean.  And a fun night time Halloween event.  BE AWARE THAT TRAFFIC IS HORRENDOUS WITH THE CONSTRUCTION!

(Although the Halloween cruise is almost over, they are also doing a Christmas one :)  And they have other stuff, too.)

(I had a funny conversation with one of my followers this week.  We were talking about restaurant coupons and I said I wanted to pay $10.00 for $20.00 for Famous Dave's.  They said, "Yea, right.  Who would do that?"  Do they READ my blog???  I will tell you the ones I love.  Trust me ;)

#6  SO happy BYU won.

#7  On Saturday we had our church women's group SUPER SATURDAY.  I know that the trend has been to not have craft activities.  Gotta say I love them.  I went with 2 daughters and we enjoyed our day.  (AND completed all projects.)  Many women were making hand crafted Christmas gifts.  And home/family organization helps.  It was a fun (and well planned) day.  So glad that I participated.

#8  I ate out twice this week. (O.K., Maybe not so happy.)

I ordered my first restaurant panini. (Lunch before the farm.  We used coupons.  Thank-you, Emily.)  It was dry and boring.  I am happy I can make my own.

On Saturday night I tried a new(er) hamburger place with Leslie, Hilary and Christy.  It was o.k.  TRAINING TABLE is still my favourite.

#9  I found these fun little hard boiled egg shapers.  They are from Japan and I bought them on eBay for about $13.00 for all 6 shapes.  I looked for awhile for the best deal.  If you are interested in who I used, let me know.  As always, mine can be borrowed.)  They are fun to eat, and the eggs are getting eaten.  (The picture will go in our lunch cookbook:)

To make them, you boil your eggs as usual.  As soon as they are done cooking I run warm water over the eggs as I crack/peel them. I peel them under warm water, and they are not too hot to handle.

Once they are peeled, stand it up in the case and put the lid on.  Just chill at least 1/2 hour.

I used extra large and think they are too big.  (I also thing large can be a bit too small, so I will keep egg shopping.)

#10  I finished one of my pumpkins.  It was cheaper than I thought it would be.  (I would not have spent more.)  The dot stickers were in a pack of 4 at Hobby Lobby - and I had a coupon.  They were $4.50 with tax.  The ribbon was 1/2 of at Hobby Lobby ($2.00).  The pumpkin was from last year after Halloween sale. ($2.00)  And the stand was $3.00 at the D.I.  (I will spray paint the cement part next week.)

(Because the dot patterns are each 1 sticker, I will wrap pantyhose around the pumpkin to store it.)   

BITS & PIECES A HALLOWEEN CENTREPIECE

A HALLOWEEN CENTREPIECE

This was not my idea!  I found it while I was out visiting.  I love antique/vintage and was excited to make it.

I originally saw the idea at http://www.lilluna.com/  (I CORRECTED THIS LINK.  SORRY.) on her 20 Sept., 2010 post.  She shared the link to the vintage look printable Halloween pictures from http://www.matthewmeadstyle.com/.   I am enjoying this bright (and not scary/gross/creepy) and cheerful idea. 

I made my circles different than they were done in the tutorial.  First find cute Halloween scrapbook paper.  I used what I already had  :)   I cut my paper into rectangles.  4x8 and 6x12.  I free folded it into a fan, with thin folds.  Then I folded the fan in 1/2 and wrapped jute (wire, fish, staples will also work) tight around the centre.

Put double stick tape or your favourite adhesive to one edge of the fan, and pull edges together to form fan 1/2.  (My favourite is SOOKWANG.  I buy the 1/2 inch size and tear it in half.  I buy it at HEARTLAND PAPER COMPANY with a coupon :) 

Repeat on the other side to make your circle.  Then I glue gunned the cute pumpkin (from the above web site) that my sweet daughter (Leslie) printed for me. 

I wrapped the sticks with electrical tape (You could paint them, but it sounded too messy.).  I glued the sticks on the back and "planted them in a container from the garage (that belonged to an unnamed kidult) that I spray painted black.  The floral foam and moss were from the dollar store. 

So cute.
Thank-you, Lindsay for putting my pictures in squares :) 

Thank-you, KRISTYN, for sharing.

10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

10 October - 17 October, 2010

"Happiness is an empty washer AND dryer when you get ready to do laundry."  ME

#1  YEA!  I am happy Emily is home after being in the hospital for a week.  (Stupid infections.)  And she did not miss her whole "off track" :)  (But she can not go to Disneyland with her friends :(

#2  Woo hoo!  Lindsay and David and Logan closed (and are all moved in) on their first house.  To see all the hard work, visit "QUINNEY CORNER" on my sidebar (?)  We are all sooo happy.

#3   I enjoyed helping Hilary and Lindsay with the Jet Blue Boutique.  It was fun to have followers come visit us :)

#4  I am so happy/thankful that we have 2 cars.  Then when the brakes go out (or the radiator explodes) we still have a car for Doug to drive to work.  I am also quite grateful for my mechanic. They always try to fit us in.  (PK AUTO-About 11400 South on 7th East in Sandy.)  Nope, not getting paid.  They do not even know I have a blog.

#5  I am happy Hilary went with me to get a new cell phone after mine was stolen at Winco.  (They turned it off right away so we could not hear it ring:(  I have a really hard time adjusting to "new".  I hate learning how to do something -again - and then trying to remember it.  Hilary helped me find one quite similar to my stolen one.

Then, Leslie programed the whole thing for me.  THANK-YOU.

#6  On Tuesday Lindsay and I took Logan and Layne to Emily's class carnivals.  We got to help run some of the "booths".  (Emily was in the hospital, still.)  I did decorating cookies.  Lindsay did "Tape the nose on the pumpkin".

After the first carnival ended (the a.m. class) a very shy girl came (late) with her mother.  The girl clung to her mom and did not want to participate.  Luckily we had Layne and Logan and another sweet visitor.  They were willing to play Halloween Bingo, Bowling... with her.  It felt like she had needed to come late.  She needed to be the one in the centre.  I think her mom needed it, too.  She was thankful.  It felt really positive.

It was a fun morning.

We left quickly when they were over to pick up Logan's Halloween costume.  (Lindsay loved it at Old Navy, but it was sold out when she went back.)  Leslie looked ALL over on line.  We could find it for at least double, but...

Then, she checked KSL.com.  BAZINGA!  She found one in West Jordan for (drum roll) $7.00!  (We were already 1/2 way there :)  It is in super condition.  (I am so happy I do not have to hear Lindsay worry about Logan's costume anymore ;)

We finished our fun Play Date by eating lunch in the car at Sonic.
Good Day!

#7  I am happy all 33 miners were brought up safely from the mine in Chile.

#8  Macey's case lot sale.  (Darn.  It is over.)

#9  I have wanted this cake pan for several years.  The one I have been hoping to find at a good price is metal, and way more expensive.  Then I saw this one at "Bed, Bath and Beyond".  With my $5.00 coupon it was about $16.00.  AND, I LOVE SILICONE! ( "Bed, Bath and Beyond" has something we are getting Logan for his third birthday, AND the GIANT cupcake pan-silicone.  This is what I will be using my next 2 $5.00 coupons for :)

My cookie/cake pan review-  Price was great.  I let it cool in the pan and it released wonderfully.  The print was not as defined as I thought it would be, but it totally pulls off the effect.  My biggest problem is that I could only fit 1 layer on my cookie sheet, so I had to cook them separately.  Oh well.

As always, if you live in my area you are welcome to borrow things.

#10  (closely related to #9 :)  I used my cookie/cake pan to make a chocolate cake for Sunday dinner.  I recently saw on BYUTV show, "Living Essentials" about using pureed beans as your oil in baking.  (The guest was Crystal Godfrey and her blog is http://everydayfoodstorage.net/  .  I had a hard time finding that out.)  She said to use black beans in chocolate/dark things, and white beans in light/white.  I think lots of us have had the brownies with beans, but I wanted to try more.  (Lots more.  More about what I've done next week :)

I made my cake with a cake mix and pured black beans (1/2 cup pured black beans instead 1/2 cup oil:).  (I also used dehydrated canned eggs, but they are much more expensive than real eggs so I won,t do that often.) 

I made the cake on Saturday night.  After completely cooling the layers, I covered them with a plate to keep them fresh until Sunday.

Frosting was a breeze.  First of all, the frosting was left over from Emily's carnival.  (It was Macey's frosting. mmm)  The whole assembly only three minutes.  And some of that was showing people :) 

The result was GREAT!  It had a more homemade taste and texture.  It was a big hit.  (Yea, bad picture, but super cake :)

A THROW BACK THURSDAY RECIPE

I have been making this recipe a long time.  This is one of the recipes that I put in our dorm cookbook when I was going to Ricks Collage (now BYUI) . I have made a few changes since then :)

UPSIDE DOWN PIZZA
adapted from somewhere about 30 years ago

Filling
1 lb. hamburger or sausage browned with...
...onion, peppers. mushrooms - whatever you like
1 cup canned or homemade spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce
1/2 cup water
grated cheese - mozzarella, cheddar - your choice  + Parmesan or extra grated for the top

Batter for the top
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 table. oil
1 cup flour
1/2 tea. salt

Mix browned meat, vegetables, sauce and water.  Spread in the bottom of sprayed 9x13 baking dish. 
Top with grated cheese.  (You can put pepperoni on top of meat layer, but under cheese layer.)  Beat batter ingredients well, and pour over the top.  Try to cover meat/cheese layer completely. 
Bake at 400* for 30 mins. 
Cut into squares and flip over for serving.  Can top with Parmesan cheese or extra grated cheese of your choice.

This is an easy pizza recipe.  (Christy said she thinks it is more of a pizza casserole.)  Let me know if you try it.

I will be posting a fun new recipe experiment this week, a new popcorn recipe that I made for the football game and a finished project.

SEPTEMBER ODDS & ENDS

#1  In reviewing my bills we found that our electric bill was double with an AC over a swamp cooler.  Our comfort was worth it.

#2  My cat, Lightning, usually has a hairball on her corner of our bed, about once a month.  In three day in September she had three.  THAT'S a lot of laundry.

#3  September 29th was my 1 year blogiversary  :D  I think I have been pretty consistent.

#4  In September Lindsay and David celebrated their 5th anniversary.  Charles and Elana celebrated their 3rd anniversary.

#5  I am saving money by not reading the Sunday ads.  (Time, too.)

#6  I am reading a Scottish book and love some of the differences.  In Scotland, "organization" is spelled "organisation".  I am glad we keep z busy.

#7  SPIDER FACE- I love this phrase.  We heard this (actually I did not hear it) from Michael Scott on the "OFFICE".  It stems from the phrase, "Cutting off your nose, to spite your face" :)
There was an incident a few months ago where for some reason I was not going swimming.  (I can not remember why.  Dumb, huh?)  I said to my girls, "Yea, I know.  I have a spider face."  One started laughing and said she had been thinking that, too.
Another time I mentioned to a daughter that she had a spider face.  The funny phase has has made it easier to see our fault - and fix it.   (Family Journal Entry-Summer 2010)

I will post a THURSDAY THROW BACK dinner recipe tomorrow or Saturday.

10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

3 October - 10 October, 2010

"If you have integrity and love you have all of the great virtues."  Lowell Bennion

#1  A home alone Monday.

#2  We had a great play date visiting the WITCHES at Gardner Village.  (Took our lunch, and spent NO money:)

#3  Organized the storage room because...

#4  ...Macey's case lot sales make me happy.

#5  I am so happy /thankful that we live in a time with medical knowledge.  What an amazing time we live in.  I am sad that we do not know it all.   I am especially grateful for antibiotics.

#6  The other night Doug was channel hopping.  It was just a glimpse, but I instantly recognized it.  "STOP.  Go Back!"  I was right.   L&O, U.K. (LAW AND ORDER, UNITED KINGDOM :)   Yep, another dose of my comfort show.    (On BBC on Friday nights)

#7  I decided not to go to the Antique Show.  (I did not want to spend money.)

#8  BYU WON!  Happiness reigns at our house.

#9  Sunday dinner at Mom and Dad's house.  Last big family BBQ of the summer.  Easy dinner, but sad to loose summer.

#10 "Live within your harvest"  (I liked this thought.) I am happy about all of our fresh tomatoes and zucchini.  I will miss them.    Doug and David did a good job on their gardens.

ANOTHER ZUCCHINI RECIPE + DEAL UPDATE FOR FRIDAY

I wanted to use zucchini while we still have some in the garden.  (I want it off-season, but have a really hard time paying for it after the late summer abundance.) I adapted this recipe from ideas I have seen other places.

I started by picking the zucchini that my husband and son-in-law worked on all summer.  You don't want them too small, and a little big is great for this. 
After washing and cutting off the ends, cut into 2 - 3 inch lengths.   I used 2 smaller and 1 larger zucchini, and ended up with about 12 lengths, which fit my dish perfectly.
Hollow out the centre.  You can use an apple corer.  I used my V-shaped cutting knife.   I bought this over 25 years ago, and have used it a lot.  (It works great for cutting oranges/other fruit apart and leaves the "pinked" edges.  Or remove the orange and fill the "orange bowl".)

 

Anyway, hollow out the centre of your zucchini lengths.  (This removes the larger seeds of the larger zucchini:)  Then I microwave them (standing upright) for 3-5 mins., depending on their size.  Set aside to cool.

The recipes I have seen have stuffed the zucchini lengths with a meatloaf, and baked them.  I wanted something easier, and with less fat.  Since I usually have a big bag of cooked/frozen meatballs in my freezer, I decided to use those.  (I keep the meatballs for Sunday dinner pasta bars, Italian meatball sandwiches and to give to Quinney's when they run out :)

As my zucchini is cooling I defrost/microwave about 15 meatballs on high for about 5 minutes.  I roll them around on a paper towel covered plate as they cool, to remove excess grease.  (I am sure you can see where I am going.)

Then I just stuff meatballs (cooled) into my zucchini lengths (cooled).  The most that any length took was 2 1/2 meatballs.  (The serving size for the meatballs is 5 for 220 cal.)  I cut an edge off some, and used the edges to fill the smaller ones.  I tried to have a rounded meatball on each end.

I sprayed my (about) 9 1/2 x 9 1/2 glass dish and put a thin layer of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the dish, and put my zucchini lengths in, laying down.  I poured the rest of the sauce over the top, and then grated mozzarella cheese over the it.  Bake 20-30 mins. at 350* and serve with fresh Parmesan cheese.

I like this method because the fat from the meatloaf is not cooking into my zucchini.  It is also fast, and uses what I have on hand.  I served it with spaghetti squash :)

STUFFED ZUCCHINI

several zucchini- cut into 2-3 in. lengths and microwaved 3-5 mins.

about 15 frozen meatballs- defrosted and cooked

1 can prepared spaghetti sauce (or homemade)

grated cheese/cheeses of your choice

Fill cooled zucchini lengths with cooled (and cut to fit) meatballs.

Put in sprayed dish that you have poured a thin layer of spaghetti sauce into.  Pour rest of the sauce over the top, and top with cheese.

Bake 20-30 mins (depending on how you like your cheese and how cold it was when you put it in the oven) at   350*. 

Can be made ahead and cooked later.  Can also be cooked in a microwave.

Too easy of a recipe?

DEAL UPDATE!
The special today thru KSL.com is for PIRATE ISLAND in Orem, UT. (and St. George, UT.)  We have enjoyed our visits there.  You can read my daughter's (Lindsay) guest blog review on my blog on the 12 February, 2010 post.

The deal is $30.00 for $60.00 of Food & Fun.  To check out this deal go to www.ksl.com/deals

10 THINGS THAT MADE ME HAPPY THIS WEEK

26 September - 3 October, 2010

"I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning to control my ship."  Louisa May Alcott

(In no particular order.)

#1  I had 3 projects for last week.  I am happy I got at least one of them done.  And I am SO happy I got this done.  It has been on my list for over 1 year. 
Step one was getting the pictures taken.  DONE!
Step two was getting them developed.  DONE!
Step three was finding the frame.  DONE:)  (The frame is from ROBERT'S CRAFTS.  It was $55.00 w/ a 40% off coupon.  It is harder to find a 7 opening frame.)

It has flaws. 
Hilary - Hilary took all the pictures except for hers (H).  Thus she is "Little Hilary" (Logan).  (We will re-order that one.)

Emily- wants to hold her "O" on the other side.

Charles and Elana-(N)  We need to re-do it with Layne.  He was at his dad's.

Leslie- "Can I get mine re-done with my hair cut?"  (S)

Lindsay and David and Logan- (O) Will need to add Baby Sister in Jan.
"We will."  "O.K." "Sure" "Yep"
(Other than Layne) I HAVE WHAT I WANT!  The beauty of this (other than my great picture of our family name) is that we can replace/redo/whatever any picture.  (Also, I am aware that my photos are not great.  And the matte is black.)  Still happy :)

(This idea is from from Shauna at http://mymixofsix.blogspot.com/  You can see how she did it on her 5 Jan., 2010 post.  That is why I put her blog on my blog.  She shares.  And is happy.  THANK-YOU MY MIX OF SIX!

#2  October General Conference Week-end is one of my favourite week-ends.  (The other one is April General Conference week-end :)  (Twice a year our church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon) leaders speak to us at a world wide conference.  We are able to watch the conference sessions on cable /local television.)  I feel re-inspired and motivated after hearing the counsel given.  I see and feel places that I can do and be better.  It is a week-end that brings our family together.

On Saturday night we have pizza (Thank-you for getting the pizzas, Emily.), and sundaes.  (I tried a new recipe for "MAGIC SHELL" from http://www.instuctables.com/   .It worked great, BUT was not any cheaper.  The recipe is one cup coconut oil + 1-2 cups chocolate chips (I used GIRADELLI).  We all know how high the cost of chocolate chips are now.  Does anyone have any recipes that use coconut oil? 

Everyone comes over for omelets after the Sunday morning meeting.  (I made a new cinnamon roll recipe that was just o.k.)  I made a really good new APPLE DUMPLINGS recipe from Ree at http://thepioneerwoman.com/ .  (see 28 February, 2008)   IT WAS SO GOOD!  And very easy, too.  I wish I could I had a picture to post, but things were moving very fast as I cooked omelets.  This is the first recipe of hers that I have made, and I will make more.

#3  I stayed home all day on Monday.  All by myself. :)  (I cleaned.)

#4  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINCOLN!  He turned 9 on Saturday, and spent the day with us.  We love you, Lincoln.

#5  Emily buys our laundry soap for us.  (I don't know why?  She brought home some laundry soap about 1 1/2 years ago, that was on sale.  And just kept getting it.)  She brought home 3 bottles this week.  THANK-YOU, EMILY :)

#6  An older neighbor invited me over to pick grapes and apples from her yard.  Some of my book club friends can wonderful grape juice, so I was excited to try making it.  When we got to her house, there were many, many squashed apples on the ground.  We took our plastic bags and started picking ALL of them up.  It was so fun to watch and work with my sweet grandsons.  They were great workers.  They picked up rotten apples for about 1 hour.  Layne thought it was a play date ;)

October is apple month.

#7  Which brings me to the grape juice.  WHY???  It took 1 hour to pick the grapes.  It took over 7 hours to make 6 qt. bottles of juice,  (The jars were $8.00) and 1/2 of them are Lindsay's.  I stained several dishcloths, 1 towel and a shirt.  (Can I count dying from the heat in the kitchen?)  It was so hot that my burners melted.  NOW I REMEMBER WHY I QUIT CANNING!
I was telling a visiting nephew about this and he asked if it was worth it because of the quality.  Nope!
Happy that I remember why I do not can.

#8  I am happy we watch "AMAZING RACE" together.  While I do think Team Glee boys are nice, everyone voted yes that I could change to the Father/Son team.  (Yea, I know it looks like they won't last, but I like them.)

#9  I love spring and summer foods.  Fruit and garden produce.  Salads galore.  I welcome spring and summer...  But I love fall and winter cooking.  Soups and crock pots.  For dinner on Friday I did a roast in one crock pot and baked potatoes in another. 

 I LOVE MAKING BAKED POTATOES IN A CROCK POT.  (Pick about 10 potatoes about the same size.  Wash and wrap in foil.  (You do not need to oil them because they do not get crisp in the crock pot.)  Put the potatoes in the crock pot.  Pour 3/4 -1 cup water into the bottom of the crock pot.  Cook on high for 4 hours for larger potatoes, or 3 hours for small.  I mix sweet potatoes, Yukon's and russet.  Squish with a pot holder to check for doneness.  Do not over cook.)

#10  Are you working collecting 30 meals that you can (easily) eat once a month?  I am trying.  I may be too picky.  Maybe I hate to commit.  I have about 7.  Until this week. 

For the week-end we were going to be gone, the kidults planned chili dogs for Sunday dinner.  We ended up with lots of extra hot dog buns that I was determined to finish.

Day 1- chili dogs

Day 2- french dip

Day 3- sloppy joes

Day 4- grilled cheese sandwiches for the boy's lunch

Result- Doug said to please add sloppy joes to my 30 Day Plan.  YEA!  I love it when Doug tells me what he wants for dinner. 

The kids LOVED grilled cheese sandwiches on the hot dog buns (turned inside out).  A new picture for our lunch cookbook. :) 

MY BOOK REVIEWS - August and September 2010

I have really been excited to tell anyone about this book..In August I read one of my favourite books.  Ever.
It had the science of a Michael Creighton.  (When I read his book JURASSIC PARK, his idea of extracting dinosaur DNA from a mosquito in amber?  It made sense.)
It has the suspense of a John Grisham.  (Can hardly put some of them down.  Although his endings are anti climactic.)
And it is a great family saga book.  (Put your own favourite author here.)
AND IT IS ALL TRUE!

THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS, was written by Rebecca Skloot. 
The story is a compelling one.  In the early 1950s a poor black woman died of cancer at Johns Hopkins. 
The hospital lab discovered that her cervical cells remarkably reproduced.  Her cells have since been of great scientific value.
I don't want to tell too much, but we learn her story, and that of her family.
We learn of the medical impact she has had.  I kept waiting for the science part to become boring, over my head or just too much, but that never happened.  I read this book in 24 hours.
In reading reviews (before reading this book), some readers commented on the author seeming to have an agenda, or trying to use one sides point of view.  I did not find that to be true.  It felt very balanced to me.  One of my new favourite books.  I highly recommend it.  (If you read it, I would love to discuss it with you.)
One sad note.  I heard that OPRAH was going to introduce  a new BOOK CLUB book on her show.  I never watch OPRAH, but I was SURE it was going to be this book.  (After all, it reads like a novel - and is TRUE.)  I was so disappointed it was not this book. :(

FORD COUNTY by John Grisham
This is a book of short stories.   Although I love his lawyer mysteries, this one really did not do much for me.  Although there is a funny story about it.  Leslie put it on hold for me at the library.  I was 17 on the list.  Then, as she was leaving the library she saw it in the "For Sale" area.  $2.00.  Anyone want this book?

THE RETURN JOURNEY  by Maeve Binchy
I was looking forward to this after really enjoying TARA ROAD by the same author.  Turned out it was a book of short stories.  Did not do much for me.  I don't think I like short stories.

WALTZING TO A DIFFERENT STRUMMER by Tom Plummer
This was a borrowed book.  It is a "how to fully live your life" book.  It had some good things.  It was o.k.
(I wonder if I am too picky?)

Books "in my stack".
44 Scotland Street
The Right Stuff
Mornings on Horseback (about Theodore Roosevelt)

A RECIPE FOR THROW BACK THURSDAY

This is a popular recipe this week.  So popular that I made it twice, and counting planned-overs, we have eaten it 4 times  since Sunday.  It also does not hurt that Doug keeps finding zucchini hiding in his garden.  I have been making this since the mid 1980s.

ZUCCHINI AND STUFFING SIDE DISH

1 box stuffing - whatever flavour you have/like
6 cups sliced zucchini - lightly steamed (I microwave mine 3-5 mins.)
some grated onion (or dehydrated)  opt.
some grated carrots opt. (I try to make it healthier;)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream (I use light)

Make stuffing according to package directions (I do it in the microwave).  Mix soup and sour cream , then add onions and carrots if desired.
Layer a bit less than 1/2 of prepared stuffing in a sprayed 9x9 baking dish (about).
Spread all of the well drained zucchini over the stuffing base.
Spread all of the soup mixture over the zucchini, and then top with the rest of the stuffing.

Bake at 350* for about 30 mins.
I sometimes grate Parmesan cheese on the top.

This can be cooked in the microwave, but like left-overs of this, it is much better with the baked crunch.

This is an easy side dish, but to make it a main dish add a layer of pulled rotisserie chicken on top of zucchini, just under the soup.

I am trying a new zucchini recipe next week.