Sunflowers and Special Friends

Miles and miles...

Acres and acres

of

Sunflowers!!

My farmer-husband estimates that we saw

about 300 acres of these beautiful flowers

that just make a person want to smile.

McCook. Texas 

These beautiful sunflowers remind me of

my two dear friends...

Laura (White Spray Paint)

and

Nancy (Nancy's Notes)

The top left photo is a sunflower (I think but it looks like one to me!) grown by Laura in her flower garden.

The bottom left is from a center piece Nancy created.

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Linking to Little Red House for

Mosaic Monday

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

Bronze Baby Shoes - A Keepsake from the Past

I recently posted this photograph of my mother standing

to the right of her mother and little sister.

I love their hairstyles... the "Dutch Boy Haircut" the girls are

sporting and then my grandmother's waves probably

fashioned with metal banana clips.

I especially like the shoes!

 

The bronzed shoes were my mother's.

That's a baby picture of her when she was five months old. 

Bronzing shoes and making bookends with them

was very popular.

 

Just a little something from the past.

Visit these two wonderful blogs

for some fabulous photos and posts.

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http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

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http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

Dr. Peterson -- Applying that tanner!

Cosmopolitan - May, 2012

page 118

It's great to see someone who has worked hard succeed.

It's even greater when it's someone you know.

It's the best when it's someone in your family!

Our son Daren's wife, Dr. Jennifer Peterson, made Cosmopolitan magazine this month with an article about

preparing your skin for using a tanner.

Congratulations, Dr. Peterson!

We are so proud of you.

I'm linking to Little Red House for

Mosaic Monday

http://dearlittleredhouse.blogspot.com/

 

Oriental Chicken Salad with Todd and the Colonel

Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad? Yummmm! But instead of running to Applebee’s I learned long ago to use Todd Wilbur’s Top Secret Recipes knock-off recipe instead. AND now I’ve recruited the Colonel to help out as well. That is the KFC Colonel.

I know you can Google Applebee’s Oriental Chicken Salad and get the “original knock-off” recipe, so what I’m sharing with you is my version.. through years of practice.
Enjoy!

My Oriental Chicken Salad

With Todd and the Colonel’s help…

Dressing:

I always triple this recipe because I make enough salad for two-three meals

3 Tbsp. honey

1 ½ Tbsp. rice wine vinegar

¼ c. mayonnaise

1 tsp. Grey Poupon Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp. sesame oil – small amount but it does make a difference

Salad:

I triple this too!

3 c. chopped romaine lettuce

1 c. chopped red cabbage

1 c. chopped Napa cabbage

½ carrot, julienned or shredded

1 green onion, chopped

1 Tbsp. sliced almonds - or more

1/3 c. crispy chow mein noodles

Chicken:

½ Original Spice KFC Chicken breast

We remove the skin and crust, but you can leave it if you prefer.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!

I'm linking to

Savy Southern Style

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

&

Designs by Gollum

for Foodie Friday

http://www.designsbygollum.blogspot.com/

Another mantel, another day!

I know you will identify with this...

I sat on my sofa after a long day of running errands,

staring at my mantel, wondering when the inspiration was

going to come to redecorate it.

Suddenly I hauled myself off of the sofa saying to myself,  "The time had come!" I was going to highlight my hodge-podge mis-matched collection of brown transferware, combining it with my two white Weller vases I bought recently.I was on a roll!!

Know that feeling?

It's great, right??

I have a hard time decorating without all of my

browns so hopefully that bit of green will

lighten things up a bit.

Ahhhh... another mantel; another day!

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I'm linking to:

http://thecharmofhome.blogspot.com/

http://romantichome.blogspot.com/

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com/

La Famiglia DePasquale Olio d'Oliva

Giovannina Teti DePasquale

Dolores Jean            Rosemary Elizabeth

Recently our middle son, Daren, called and asked a rather curious question.

"What was my favorite picture of my grandmother?"

This photo immediately came to mind as I think my grandmother, whom we

called "Jean" (I've written about her several times on this blog) was especially

beautiful and I thought my mother, Rosemary, looked really sweet in that

little dress.

As you might notice by reading these names I'm sure that you have guessed

that this is an Italian family. "Jean" came from Italy when she was nine years old.

Several days after my son had asked about that picture

a box was delivered to our home.

The photo had been turned into a label for the olive oil. Wow!

It turns out that my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, saw this ad and told Daren

that it would be a perfect Mother's Day gift for me.

Daren then got the rest of the family involved, so this great gift was

from all of my sons and their wives. Too cool, right?

Thank you, Jen, for suggesting this.

Notice the label on the bottle of olive oil?

La Famiglia De

Pasquale Olio d'Oliva

100% All Natural

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Product of Texas

500ml

There are four bottles in this box.

The picture shows an olive tree and the label below states,

"Your Pendolino tree  planted in the Frassino orchard

At the Texas Hill Country Olive Company in

Dripping Springs, Texas."

http://www.texashillcountryoliveco.com/

The olive oil is delicious!!

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This Wednesday I'll be linking to:

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

&

http://ivyandelephants.blogspot.com/