A Few of My Favorite Things -- My cornucopia

Cornucopia or "horn o' plenty"

We moved a lot when I was growing up. Maybe some of the things I inherited from my parents, particularly my mother, meant so much to me was because when the seasons changed, Mother would set out the same things to decorate with.

They were always used differently from year to year. I can't ever remember any of her decorations staying exactly the same. Just seeing the familiar dishes, bowls, granite fruit,

dried flowers, etc... brought a little security to my world. That thought has not occurred to me until now. (One of the benefits of blogging!)

This cornucopia, or "horn o' plenty" as it is sometimes called, would always appear in

mid-September. Either there would be fresh fruit

in it, dried flowers, nuts, whatever my mother

chose for her fall decor.

I loved this cornucopia. Not only did it

signify bountiful food, but it also signified that

Halloween and Thanksgiving were near.

I loved this time of the year. The aroma of

autumn leaves and such.

Perhaps I am getting a little ahead of myself

with the seasons ... but that's okay.

When our oldest son and his family were

visiting us recently the topic of the annual

Halloween party that I had been hosting

for our granddaughter the past four years in

Mexico came up. I had already been thinking

about the theme, what to cook and

even had a great "spooky" story in mind.

My son said, "Why don't we do something a

little different this year?" Hmmm... was I ever curious. "I would like for Carmen and David

to learn more about American holidays and

customs. Let's do Thanksgiving together in

Mexico."

A-ha!" ... The words I have been

waiting to hear. Our son, also our business partner has been living in Mexico for thirteen years with only periodic visits back to the U.S.

He married a woman from Mexico (educated for a year in England though) and I have been concerned that their children would miss out

on our U.S. holidays and customs.

It appears now that this is a priority to

our son. My husband and I were thrilled

to hear our son's suggestion.

Our cornucopia is over-flowing!

My mother

I am linking to Laurie for

Bargain Hunting and Chatting with Laurie.

It's "A Few of My Favorite Things Saturday"

Check her out! 

http://bargainhuntingwithlaurie.blogspot.com/

Show and Tell Friday: Daddy B's Typewriter

Daddy B's typewriter

My sister and I would stay with each set of our grandparents for a couple of weeks each summer.

Visiting our paternal grandparents meant many different experiences:

- riding in my grandfather's red MG with the top down

- picking peaches from the peach trees at their "stock farm"... a term we don't seem to hear anymore

- riding on the Brackinridge Eagle in San Antonio (my grandfather owned it)

What I think my sister and I really enjoyed was being in our grandfather's home office, sitting at his desk and pecking away on his typewriter.

This was around 1955, or so.

Daddy "B"

The typewriter, a Hernes 3000 was extra special and unlike my father's typewriter.

This machine was green AND it typed

in script!

I thought that was so unusual.

On top of that, my grandfather had a brown ink

ribbon in the typewriter. Leave it to Daddy "B" to be unique. He typed all of his letters in spite of the beautiful handwriting he had.

Perhaps it was having access to Daddy "B's" office that led me to a life-long passion for

office supplies and to enjoy typing.

You will see Daddy B's typewriter on my blog

always. I inherited it!

It doesn't really type anymore and I am sure

to find someone to clean and repair it would

be a monumental task, but I love to

look at it, remembering the hours of

pleasure I got from it.

I am linking to Show and Tell Friday

at
My Romantic Home

Happy Birthday, Ryan!

Happy Birthday, Ryan

Our youngest son is 30 years old today.

As older parents say, "How did the years pass so quickly?"

Ryan came into the world during Hurricane Allen in deep south Texas on August 6, 1980. The barometric pressure from the hurricane played havoc with my pregnancy

and Ryan entered the world three weeks early... but weighing 9 pounds!

Everyone seems to know Ryan.

From the time he was born he has never known

a stranger. Before we had a chance to use

the raquetball courts at the club where we were

members, Ryan at the ripe age of four knew

most all of the members.

His ability to make friends and be a good

friend has served him well as a successful

realtor. We couldn't be more proud of our

son as he celebrates the "big 3-0"

Ryan

It's White Wednesday at White Sands, New Mexico

White Sands, New Mexico

ca. 1961

My brother, sister and me

When I was growing up, we lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

One of the weekend excursions my parents took us on

was a drive to White Sands, New Mexico.

As you can see the sands truly were white.

We loved playing on the hills of sand.

Sometimes we had large pieces of cardboard

that we used to go "sledding" down the sand.

These were great days for our family!

I'm linking to

Faded Charm

for White Wednesday

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/2010/06/white-wednesday-54.html

Tuesdays at the Table: Prosciutto Stuffed Dates

Prosciutto Stuffed Dates

Ingredients


Dates (found in the produce section)


Parmesan Cheese –cut into slivers (see below)


Prosciutto de Parma – cut into strips (see below)


1. Place a date on a cutting board, then using a paring knife incise down the longitudinal axis to the level of the seed. Then, retract the edges if the date, and remove the seed. Toss out seed.


2. Insert a sliver of parmesan (about the length of the date and about 6-8 mm in diameter), then close the date back up.


3. Wrap the date in prosciutto (the width of prosciutto strips should be long enough to make 1-2 wraps around the date, while the length of the strip should equal the length of the date).


4. Refrigerate (we have done up to a day) until 15 minutes before serving time.


5. Preheat oven to 400°F.


6. Transfer wrapped dates to a cookie sheet.


7. Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes.


8. Enjoy!

Dr. Jennifer Peterson

The recipe above was created and written by

our daugther-in-law. I get a kick out of reading her method of writing the directions.

She spends much of her time in surgery,

so her choice for describing this delicious

treat... well, sounds a little "surgical".

Love it!

And we are so proud of Jen!

Visit

All the Small Stuff

for Tuesdays at the Table

http://allthesmallstuff-cole.blogspot.com/

Mosaic Monday: It's all about family...

It's all about family...

We just put our son, his family and his mother-in-law on the plane this morning, headed south to their home in Mexico. They were here for

three weeks. Lance is our oldest son and our business partner in our farming operation.

The farms are located near Manzanillo.

Lance and his wife, Marcela,

their two small children and Marcela's mother,

our youngest son, Ryan, my husband and I all

went to South Padre Island, Texas

to enjoy the beach, Schlitterbahn,

shopping, seafood and just a lot of fun.

Our granddaughter enjoyed two weeks

of swimming, golf, raquetball and

making new friends at the summer camp

sponsored by the club we belong to.

This will probably be the only visit up here for the whole family. Now we will have to make

trips down there to see them.

My son proposed a new idea this visit

which I am thrilled about.

He wants his daughter to learn more about

U.S. holidays, so we are going to

go down there for Thanksgiving!

Lance baked a turkey last year,

complete with gluten-free dressing

(our granddaughter has celiac disease)

and other traditional dishes.

So, we will be spending Thanksgiving

in Mexico!

I just wanted to share with you a few

of the pictures from the past three weeks.

The top left picture in the mosaic is

my granddaughter and me. She helped to

serve birthday cake for a joint birthday

party we gave for our sons.

I'm linking over to Little Red House

for

Mosaic Monday

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/search/label/Mosaic%20Monday