Food and Restaurants

I like food. Some of my best times are when I have a favorite food in front of me. One of my early memories was when I was about 10. We lived in the country and seldom got to go swimming in town at the 'Pool'. I remember sitting in the grass waiting for my Mom to pick me up after a great afternoon of playing in the water. The sun was shining down and the sky was blue with fluffy clouds and I had a little package of stick pretzels. They were the best thing I'd ever eaten. Just seeing a pretzel reminds me of that day.

Then there's Lucky Charms cereal and milk. Really good in place of supper. Easy and no cooking. If I also have the new Peach Sunny D, I am SET! I can only find it at Sam's or Walmart and not even on a regular basis. Come on, stores! Get with it! Ahh and Special K with berries and milk. This makes me feel like I'm dieting which is a good thing. I eat it for breakfast.

Oh, yes, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy. This I can make really well. I use a Chuck Roast and cook it in the oven in a covered roaster. I sear it on both sides before putting it in the oven. Add onions and a little water and Worchester Sauce. I cook it at 300 degrees for about 2 1/2 or 3 hours so it's really tender. The mashed potatoes are the white ones. After boiling them, I mash them with butter and milk and add a dash or two of onion powder. Speaking of butter, the very best butter in this world is made by Land of Lakes. It's made with canola oil and comes in the white container with the red top. That's all we buy at my house now! The drippings from the roast makes great gravy. I use only corn starch to make brown gravy. (Flour and milk for white gravy)

Mmmm, the bisquits at Red Lobster. I am allergic to shell fish, so I can't order much from this restaurant, but getting those bisquits makes up for anything!

Fresh Peaches. I love to buy peaches from the farm stands. They taste best when they're room temperature. Slice them up and sprinkle a little Splenda (there's that diet thing, again) on 'em and they're great!

M & Ms. Plain ones are the best. I can eat the ones with almonds, but NEVER the peanut ones. I can tell you, there are more in the plain packages than in the nutty ones. I like to pour 'em out, separate them into colors and begin eating one at a time starting with the color that I have the most of. (Is this giving you too much information?)

The red gum out of the Chicle's gum machine. Did you ever notice that when you get your 6 or 8 pieces of gum, there is only one red one, if you get red at all? That is so frustrating!! Why don't they stock it with more red! Orange is okay, but red is the best! I try everytime we go to Steak 'n Shake. Speaking of gum machines, I have always loved those darn toy machines next to the gum machines. You can get the most interesting things out of them. My most recent 'best' find was the little Care Bears in the machine at Carlos O Kelly's. I had all the different colors and were giving them to my grandkids. Now, they have some other thing in the machines like tatoos...

A new favorite thing is a large iced Chai Tea that is low fat, sugar free and blended with whipped cream on the top. It just so happens there's a drive-through Java shop right on the corner where I work. They're huge muffins are a nice side order.

And then there's Christmas... It's hard to say what is my favorite holiday food. I love fudge with walnuts, roast turkey, baked ham, anything cranberry, frosted cookies and pecan pie. This is also the time the cheese balls come into play. Once they get room temperature, they are great. However, I don't like to break my cracker on a cheese ball that isn't soft enough. Even if I use one of the short little knives to spread it with, it can break my cracker.

A surprise I found this year was...CHRISTMAS PEEPS!!!!!! I love the little Easter Peeps and that used to be the only time I could get 'em. They're best if you leave the package open a little and they get stiff! Now, you can find Peeps during almost any holiday. I saw Snowmen Peeps and Tree Peeps, but I chose the Snowmen!!! Everyone teases me because I'm a Peeps lover, but somehow the Peeps disappear and I am not the one eating them all...

This list of favorite foods could go on and on, so I won't bore you anymore. Seriously though, food is important to a person's happiness!

Merry Christmas!!

Something New

Hello! I have just started this blogspot and will keep you posted on things in my life and in my Etsy shop, somethingupmysleeve.etsy.com.

Right now, getting ready for Christmas is my main focus. I have had some sales with my Patriotic Dove. This is a red, white and blue dove ornament meant to rest on your tree to honor any military personnel who will not be home for Christmas this year. A dove sent to your loved one will also show how deep in your heart you are holding this family member away from home.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better!

Janet