My Little Life

Gram and I were just talking about how wonderful this whole cooking thing has been...I'm not sure why we've never done it before, but the time we set aside each week to spend together, cooking, has been the most wonderful thing in the whole wide world. Sure, it was this goofy old blog that was the premise behind it, but man alive, it's turned into quite a blessing! Anyway, today's recipe involves butter, lots and lots of butter, and onions...onions that are soaking in a butter bath, and gnocchi (potato dumplings) that take a dive into that butter bath with the onions and then pork and sauerkraut. But if you really wanna know, it's the gnocchi and the butter and onions that steal the show. *swoon* And, as is typical with the majority of Gram's recipes, nothing is difficult with this recipe! Alright, grab your pork, toss it in a roaster,  Season well (dare I say "heavy") with salt and pepper: And "brown" it in the ove...

Let it be known that I am officially, certifiably, without a doubt...OVER WINTER. My mom keeps saying, "It's only March" in that "mom-knows-best" voice of hers that is supposed to reassure us that, indeed, snow is nothing to be surprised of right now. But, here's the thing. USUALLY we have a bit of a thaw in February and it wipes out a good amount of snow. This year? I'm pretty sure there is somewhere around 62.3 feet of snow on the ground. And so, when it snows in March, sure it's to be expected, but it's just a little harder to swallow when it's snow, upon snow, upon snow, upon oodles and oodles of snow. I think we have just entered an ice age, as I don't expect this snow to melt anytime before August 23rd, or maybe the 24th...because it's so stinking deep. So deep, in fact, that there have been barns and sheds and garages in our county that have collapsed, one not too far from us that basically just blew apart at the seam...

Once upon a time, when my girls were but tiny little morsels of who they are today, I painted their room 4 different pastel shades. We replaced the ugly trim in their room with white trim (which, admittedly, looked a little weird against the super dark 1970's stained closet doors) and the white trim, well, it could've used a bit of sprucing up before we put it up, but we slapped it up and called it a day. Then, my parents decided to replace their "still decent but definitely used and yet in much better condition than ours" carpet and they offered us their old stuff. We thought, sure, why not and then set out to determine which of the our rooms' carpets were worse than the others. It was basically a draw...all of the carpets coming in so close to one another in their yuckiness, but the girls' room won, what with theirs being the only Berber carpet. Ew. Berber. Who invented that? Anyway, we decided that since we'd be taking out the carpet, what better ...

So, it's Friday, I just returned home from working an evening shift and I'm finally in bed. Well, technically I returned home from work, had a package of fruit snacks, brushed my teeth and washed my face AND THEN went to bed. Yawn. I'm tired. And they tell me that there's gonna be oodles of snowy/slushy/freezing rain tomorrow. Yay. And by "yay" I mean, "this is freakin' ridiculous". I am so over winter. To top it off, there is apparently another whopper of a storm on its way for Monday. Anyway, I'm beat. I have a busy day today...two funerals to attend (yes, two in one day) and a fundraiser this evening. Which means that my weary head will not get much rest, so today's 5QF will be a combo Thursday Night Sneak Peek/5QF...with my answers coming a bit later today. Let's go! Welcome to Five Question Friday!! You've come to the right place if you want a fun, easy post or if you've suddenly discovered your muses are st...

It's a person. A loved one. Someone who has a name, a relationship, a special place in a grieving person's heart. To call that a "loss" is so impersonal. Perhaps I'm alone in feeling this way, perhaps other bereaved people don't mind hearing "I'm sorry for your loss", but to me, when Verd passed away, it was almost insulting. He was, IS, so much more than "my loss". My brother's girlfriend's father just passed away in his sleep. My childhood best friend just lost her mother to cancer, and all over Facebook I keep seeing, "I'm sorry for your loss". Ugh. I realize people don't know what to say, that speaking about death or talking to someone who is walking the agonizing path of grief is difficult for some people, but please take this to heart: It is comforting to hear the name of the loved one you are so desperately missing. If it isn't comfortable for you to say the name of the deceased, then say...

You know, when Gram suggested Dorothy's Danish (Dorothy was an old neighbor) for this week's recipe, I wasn't really quite sure what to expect...I'd never had it before and the name sounds, well, a bit "meh". Also, let it be known that several times during the making of Dorothy's Danish I was all, "Huh? I've never heard of such a thing." in reference to boiling things together that I'd never boiled together, but then came the addition of almond extract and all was right with the world again. I never question anything that contains almond extract. So, let's begin. This is easy and quick (and kind of weird) but needs an hour for baking plus time to cool...so prepare for that! First up, add some flour to softened butter: Then some water: (See? Water? I told you it was weird.) Now, using a wisk or a fork or whatever is handy, mix your flour/butter/water (water? Huh?) mixture together until it's a nice, moist b...