At Considerable Cost

Mama was known in our small town for her oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe.   When the other kids at school sold Krispy Kreme donuts for fundraisers, I sold her cookies and she donated the ingredients so the organization could keep all of the profits.   When I was in high school, I would bring a huge shopping bag filled with gift bags of cookies for friends and teachers.   The second year I did that, I was met at the bus by people looking for their cookies.   My seventh grade English teacher offered me $25 for the recipe.  Several friends from high school messaged me about Mama's cookies when they first found me on Facebook. One day, in eighth grade PE class, I had some left-over cookies in a bag and I gave them to my PE teacher.   She told me I didn't have to bother dressing out that day.   Now, the women in my family loathe PE.   I love watching sports and supporting athletes, but I despise PE.   When you have no athletic ability and the teacher makes the losing team run

These are two favorite recipes from Southern Living's Homestyle Cooking cook book.   Both allow a healthy, or at least, wholesome alternative to canned items.   Plus, they're very economical.  Sloppy Joes    (I always add chopped bell pepper and minced garlic w/the onion.) 1 lb. ground beef or turkey 1 medium onion, chopped 1/2 cup ketchup 3 Tbsp. sweet or dill pickle relish 1 Tbsp. light brown sugar 1 Tbsp. prepared mustard 1/4 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 5 hamburger buns, toasted Brown ground meat and onion in a large nonstick skillet, stirring until meat crumbles; drain.   Stir in ketchup and next 5 ingredients.   Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.   Spoon meat mixture over bottom halves of buns; top with remaining halves.  Yield: 5 servings. Chili Dog Sauce   ( I try to make double or triple batches to freeze.   It reheats well, especially on the stove.) 2 lbs. ground beef, turkey, or combo. 1 med. onion, minced 4 garlic

It's been a while since I've written a post of any real length.   My reason can be summed up in one word: MOVING.   In March, we bought a new (to us) home! It's been quite an experience.   We began looking in December and we found our new home in January.   I won't go into the details, but the previous owners' story was very interesting and complicated.   And we had an emergency house blessing the morning after closing!   It's an odd thing to upgrade your living situation.   I kept walking around saying, "This is too nice for us."   I spoke to a friend about it and she said she felt the same way when they bought their home.  I mean, what percentage of the world's population sleeps on dirt floors and I have 3 different eating areas in my new house?   I've felt very guilty, but I've come to realize that I can accept the blessing and share it in the form of hospitality and generosity toward guests in our home.   Conversations with frie

I shared this as a note on Facebook this morning: Last night my friend Regina sent me a text message, "Get on the computer.  Fox News says Bin Laden is dead."   She knew we are currently without a television and she wanted me to witness this historic event.   I must say I was overwhelmed with pride and even happiness for the U.S. intelligence services and our special forces.   They have labored for nearly a decade, following every scrap of information.   They have pursued this man with diligence and sacrifice, spending countless hours, days, months away from their families without being able to share with them any details of their jobs.    They have put themselves in harm's way on a daily basis and we will never know the number of or the names of the men and women who were killed and injured while on the trail of this mastermind of mass murder. The feelings that overwhelm me are identical to those which take hold of me on Memorial Day and Veteran'