There's a pretty good chance that I'm going to have to make a trip to Mississippi in the next few monthes. I have alot of family down there. In fact, that's where one whole branch of the family originated. My Uncle Richard is sick and dying. He sent word yesterday to his four (grown up) children here in Michigan that he needs to see them. Uncle Richard has been sick for awhile and at his age, 80-something, there isn't a whole lot of getting better. He wants to see his children while he is still well enough to talk with them. My cousins are leaving tonight after work.
If you've been reading my blog fairly regularly you'll recall that I said Aunt Shug was our oldest living relative at age 80. She is, I'm not contradicting myself by saying that Uncle Richard is 80-something. See, Aunt Shug is blood and Uncle Richard is by marriage. Actually, he and Aunt Shug were husband and wife once upon a time, and the four cousins he's calling for are their children.
I'm not looking forward to a trip to Mississippi. And not just because it will be for a funeral. No offense to anyone living in the deep south, but it's HOT down there. And it's a long ride from here in Michigan. And gas is expensive. Not only will I miss about a week of work, but I'll need money for motels and food, and I won't be making any money while I'm gone, and things are going to get all messed up.
I realize I'm whining. I know you're supposed to just do what you're supposed to do when the chips are down, and I will, but I still don't want to go to Mississippi.
Tawny
tawnyford@webtv.net
Monday, April 11, 2005
You know how I was saying I had those two trees brought down? Well, I want to replace them. I think it should be a law that for every tree you chop down, you have to plant a repacement. Okay, not a law because we already have to much government regulation in our lives, but maybe a moral obligation to the earth and it's peoples.
I saw an article in this morning's newspaper about the National Arbor Day Foundation. www.arborday.org When you send them $10.00 to become a member, they send you, among other things, 10 tree seedlings. What a deal!
Tawny
I saw an article in this morning's newspaper about the National Arbor Day Foundation. www.arborday.org When you send them $10.00 to become a member, they send you, among other things, 10 tree seedlings. What a deal!
Tawny
I love to cook and bake.Thank goodness I have friends I can feed or I'd be big as a house!
Last night I fixed chicken roll-ups, basmati rice, green beans, salad and rolls. Not gourmet food, but extremely tasty and easy to prepare.
If you ever want to impress the heck out of your guests, but don't want to go to a lot of work, this is the recipe for you:
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Flatten the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. I have one of those food mallets/hammers for this. I place the chicken breasts in a plastic sandwich bag (don't seal it or it'll 'pop') and then beat it flat. It gets rid of alot of aggression (smile).
Place a slic of cheese on each flattened breast. Then roll the meat up and secure with a toothpick or two or three.
In a shallow dish mix the egg with the water. In a second shallow dish place the bread crumbs. in the third, the flour.
Dip the meat in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the roll ups, cook to a golden brown, turning often.
Transfer the browned roll ups to a 13x9x2 oven proof dish. Bake uncoverred in a 350 oven for about thirty minutes.
I serve them with a cherry sauce (don't make that face! it's good!), but if you'd prefer, a nice chicken gravy is good too.
Hope you like them!
Tawny
Last night I fixed chicken roll-ups, basmati rice, green beans, salad and rolls. Not gourmet food, but extremely tasty and easy to prepare.
If you ever want to impress the heck out of your guests, but don't want to go to a lot of work, this is the recipe for you:
8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
8 slices Swiss cheese
1 egg
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Flatten the chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness. I have one of those food mallets/hammers for this. I place the chicken breasts in a plastic sandwich bag (don't seal it or it'll 'pop') and then beat it flat. It gets rid of alot of aggression (smile).
Place a slic of cheese on each flattened breast. Then roll the meat up and secure with a toothpick or two or three.
In a shallow dish mix the egg with the water. In a second shallow dish place the bread crumbs. in the third, the flour.
Dip the meat in the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs.
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the roll ups, cook to a golden brown, turning often.
Transfer the browned roll ups to a 13x9x2 oven proof dish. Bake uncoverred in a 350 oven for about thirty minutes.
I serve them with a cherry sauce (don't make that face! it's good!), but if you'd prefer, a nice chicken gravy is good too.
Hope you like them!
Tawny
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Here in Michigan, and elsewhere for all I know, there is a huge problem with ash trees. Close to five million of them have been infected with some type of bug and have died. Unlucky for me, I had two ash trees on my property and they both got infected and died.
I had been watching the two trees closely for a couple of years, hoping I'd see some sign of life. These were BIG trees. Wonderful trees when they were healhy. One was on the front lawn and it provided cooling shade for my two front bedrooms and half of the house next door. The other tree was in my backyard and it shaded my bedroom and a goodly portion of the yard.
When it was obvious that the trees were dead I knew I had to have them removed, but I kept procrastinating. I hated to see them go, and I hated to think about what it would cost to bring them down.
Then I started having dreams + visions about the trees. I kept seeing the one crashd into my family room and bedroom. Worse, I kept seeing the other one crashed into my neighbor's house (they have four small children).
So today a crew came out and brought the two trees down. $1,200.
Now I need to plant two new trees.
Tawny
I had been watching the two trees closely for a couple of years, hoping I'd see some sign of life. These were BIG trees. Wonderful trees when they were healhy. One was on the front lawn and it provided cooling shade for my two front bedrooms and half of the house next door. The other tree was in my backyard and it shaded my bedroom and a goodly portion of the yard.
When it was obvious that the trees were dead I knew I had to have them removed, but I kept procrastinating. I hated to see them go, and I hated to think about what it would cost to bring them down.
Then I started having dreams + visions about the trees. I kept seeing the one crashd into my family room and bedroom. Worse, I kept seeing the other one crashed into my neighbor's house (they have four small children).
So today a crew came out and brought the two trees down. $1,200.
Now I need to plant two new trees.
Tawny
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Last night was my Aunt Shug's 80th birthday party. The whole family had been looking forward to the celebration for monthes. Shug is our oldest living aunt. Actually, she's our oldest living relative.
Initially they were going to have the party at Uncle David's hall. Despite the fact that it's in Detroit, it's a great place. It's big and clean, and there are plush couches, big screen tv's, as well as the usual tables and chairs you find at halls. I think what mad them change their mind was they'd have had to hire their own caterer.
The party was at a hall in Redford. Redford is a small suburb on the outskirts of Detroit. The hall was big. I think in a previous incarnation the building was a chain grocery store, that's how big it was. And it had it's own food service staff---cooks, waiters, etc.
My cousin Gloria, Aunt Shug's second youngest child, and Bob (Gloria's husband) hosted the party.
They had the hall all done up in pink and white. Flowers everywhere. It was pretty. And the birthday cake--it was in three seperate layers, coverred with flowers, pink + white, like a wedding cake, sort of. My Uncle Junior didn't believe the cake was real, he said it was too pretty to be real!
The party was billed as an after 5 event (said so right on the invitations) so many of the attendees were dressed formally. One of my cousins, Lonnita, her husband wore a tuxedo. The other men had on suits. Most of my girl cousins and aunts wore long dresses. Everyone looked really pretty.
Prettiest of all was Aunt Shug. She had on a fancy evening gown and a tiara in her hair. As lovely as she is now at 80, she was even prettier in her younger days.
Uncle Junior sang a song, and some of the others made speeches and toasts to Aunt Shug. One of the nicest was from Bob. He said how when he and Gloria got together, Aunt Shug never noticed their differences. And, as Bob said it, they had many--Gloria is tall and thin, young and beautiful, and he's short and pudgy and old. Aunt Shug just saw their love and accepted him as family. And Bob said how one day Aunt Shug asked him---Bob, do you have any family? And he said yes, Ma, I do now. Okay, I know it sounds sappy, and I guess it is kind of, but it was so sweet. Bob loves Gloria so much and he is so thankful for her.
They had a disc jockey who kept the music playing, and of course people were out on the dance floor. My cousins and some of my aunts know every variation of the Hustle there is. It was kind of like watching Soul Train.
It was a really nice party. Everyone had a good time. Even Aunt Sister who had come in on the train from Michigan City just that morning.
After the party, sometime after midnight, most of my aunts went to Detroit to the casinos. There are three of them in the city--Motor City, MGM, and Greektown. Rumor has it that they didn't make it back till the wee hours.
I don't know how they do it. I came straight home from the party and went right to bed, I was exhausted.
Everyone was talking like they always do whenever we all get together about the next get together. Seems that Aunt Pigeon is having a 4th of July picnic in Chicago. I'm going to pass on that one, I think. A couple of years ago when it was Chicago's turn to host the family reunion, the information packets they sent out with the planned events and what it would cost each attendee, well, the prices were so high I swear they were looking to make a profit on it. I don't think anyone went. Price gouging, especially by family members, isn't cool.
If you have older relatives, cherish them. They're special people.
hugs,
Tawny tawnyford@webtv.ne
Initially they were going to have the party at Uncle David's hall. Despite the fact that it's in Detroit, it's a great place. It's big and clean, and there are plush couches, big screen tv's, as well as the usual tables and chairs you find at halls. I think what mad them change their mind was they'd have had to hire their own caterer.
The party was at a hall in Redford. Redford is a small suburb on the outskirts of Detroit. The hall was big. I think in a previous incarnation the building was a chain grocery store, that's how big it was. And it had it's own food service staff---cooks, waiters, etc.
My cousin Gloria, Aunt Shug's second youngest child, and Bob (Gloria's husband) hosted the party.
They had the hall all done up in pink and white. Flowers everywhere. It was pretty. And the birthday cake--it was in three seperate layers, coverred with flowers, pink + white, like a wedding cake, sort of. My Uncle Junior didn't believe the cake was real, he said it was too pretty to be real!
The party was billed as an after 5 event (said so right on the invitations) so many of the attendees were dressed formally. One of my cousins, Lonnita, her husband wore a tuxedo. The other men had on suits. Most of my girl cousins and aunts wore long dresses. Everyone looked really pretty.
Prettiest of all was Aunt Shug. She had on a fancy evening gown and a tiara in her hair. As lovely as she is now at 80, she was even prettier in her younger days.
Uncle Junior sang a song, and some of the others made speeches and toasts to Aunt Shug. One of the nicest was from Bob. He said how when he and Gloria got together, Aunt Shug never noticed their differences. And, as Bob said it, they had many--Gloria is tall and thin, young and beautiful, and he's short and pudgy and old. Aunt Shug just saw their love and accepted him as family. And Bob said how one day Aunt Shug asked him---Bob, do you have any family? And he said yes, Ma, I do now. Okay, I know it sounds sappy, and I guess it is kind of, but it was so sweet. Bob loves Gloria so much and he is so thankful for her.
They had a disc jockey who kept the music playing, and of course people were out on the dance floor. My cousins and some of my aunts know every variation of the Hustle there is. It was kind of like watching Soul Train.
It was a really nice party. Everyone had a good time. Even Aunt Sister who had come in on the train from Michigan City just that morning.
After the party, sometime after midnight, most of my aunts went to Detroit to the casinos. There are three of them in the city--Motor City, MGM, and Greektown. Rumor has it that they didn't make it back till the wee hours.
I don't know how they do it. I came straight home from the party and went right to bed, I was exhausted.
Everyone was talking like they always do whenever we all get together about the next get together. Seems that Aunt Pigeon is having a 4th of July picnic in Chicago. I'm going to pass on that one, I think. A couple of years ago when it was Chicago's turn to host the family reunion, the information packets they sent out with the planned events and what it would cost each attendee, well, the prices were so high I swear they were looking to make a profit on it. I don't think anyone went. Price gouging, especially by family members, isn't cool.
If you have older relatives, cherish them. They're special people.
hugs,
Tawny tawnyford@webtv.ne
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