F is for FUDGE~ A to Z Food on Monday

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REMARKABLE FUDGE

4 c. granulated sugar

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can evaporated milk (1 2/3 c.)

1 c. butter

1 (12 oz.) pkg. semi-sweet chips

1 pt. marshmallow cream

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. Pecans or walnuts; optional

Butter sides of heavy 3 quart saucepan. Combine sugar, evaporated milk, and butter. Cook over medium heat to soft ball stage, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; add semi-sweet chips, marshmallow, vanilla, and nuts. Beat until chocolate is melted and blended. Pour into buttered 13 x 9 pan. Score in squares while warm. Cut when firm. Makes 4 1/2 dozen, 1 1/2 inch pieces.

This is one of the candies I always make around Christmas time.  To see what others are posting, visit Jen at unglazed and check out her sidebar.

Today I'm thankful that God's mercies are new every morning!!!

 

Name the Birdie!

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This morning I saw this tiny bird on the back porch and I couldn't positively identify him.   It's beak is too long and sharp for a Goldfinch.  Any help would be appreciated.

Today I'm thankful that the sun is shining!

May I come in?

Today's Birds

This pretty Mockingbird comes almost every day and looks in the dining room window.  He taps on the window with his beak.  I'm sure he is trying to establish his territory and fight off any and all rivals.

          We have lots of hungry Goldfinch coming to the feeders and sucking the seeds out in record time.  I hope I can afford them until they get their bright yellow feathers this Spring!

The male Cardinal really lights up the winter scene!

Sorry I've been lazy about posting here.   We are trying to change our usual way of cooking soul food, to the more healthful Mediterranean Diet to comply with the advice of the doctors.  So far, Jeep has been good to eat whatever I set before him.   Now it's up to me to come up with some interesting recipes and meal plans.   I may have to resort to buying a book about it!

Today I'm thankful for the medical marvel of angioplasty and stents!

E is for Eclairs ~ A to Z Food Fun

Eclairs!

It is somewhat painful to post this, since I'm trying to avoid all desserts

and refined sugar during Lent!

Check out the sidebar on Jen's blog, unglazed, for more delicious delights!

CHOCOLATE ECLAIRS
Printed from COOKS.COM

 1 c. water
 1 stick butter
 1 c. flour
 1/4 tsp. salt
 4 large eggs
 1 small box vanilla pudding (regular or instant)
 2 c. cold milk
 Chocolate Topping

Boil water in heavy pot; add butter and stir until melted. Add flour and salt all at once, stirring and cooking a minute or so until mixture forms a soft ball that does not separate. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes and add eggs one at a time, beating vigorously after each. Form 12 to 15 spoonfuls of batter into smooth capsule shapes on a greased cookie sheet.
Bake in 450°F oven 15 minutes, then lower to 325°F and bake another 25 minutes.

While eclairs are baking, prepare and refrigerate pudding and Chocolate Topping. When eclairs are cool, slice top third off with sharp knife. Fill each eclair with about 2 tablespoons pudding. Replace top. Frost top. Refrigerate, loosely covered (with sheet waxed paper).

Chocolate Topping:

 2 (1 oz.) sq. unsweetened baking chocolate
 3 tbsp. butter
 1 1/4 c. powdered sugar
 1 tsp. vanilla
 2 to 3 tbsp. milk (for thin consistency)

Melt chocolate in microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes (or over hot water on stove top). Add butter; stir to melt. Add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk. Beat with spoon until glossy.

Today I'm thankful that Jeep felt like attending Sunday school, morning and eventing worship and even led the singing tonight!!!  Last Wednesday I was not sure where we would be today!  God is Good!

Medical News

Just a note to tell you that after a couple of days of Jeep having off and on mild pain, which he thought was indigestion, and one night of more severe pain, he agreed to go to the ER.  (I think it's a 'man thing' to wait until you feel like you are dying before you go to the doctor.)  After the usual assortment of blood work, x-rays, pain meds, etc.  at the local hospital, they determined that he had had a heart attack. They told me to go home and get my 'stuff' together and go straight to the North Mississippi Medical center in Tupelo. They carried him by ambulance.  He was being sent there for a heart cath. and if he had to have major heart surgery, they promised to carry out his wishes to be transferred to Methodist Hospital Central in Memphis. They said if the cath. showed that he needed a stent, they would go ahead and do that at Tupelo and he agreed to this.

I got to Tupelo just as they were about to carry him to get the heart cath. done. Jeep's son, Doug, came over from Batesville and stayed with me during most of that time and a while after Jeep was brought back to the room. Jennifer's friend, Pam, came and stayed a while, too.  That night Jeep's niece Joy,  and her husband, Bobby, came and brought a huge  assortment of fruit, and goodies of all kinds.   (Thanks!)
Before I left home, I alerted the churches we attend and they started the prayer chains. I also called our children and my sisters. So I know that there were lots of prayers going up to God for us.

The heart cath and pictures showed only one blockage and it was in the graft of one of the by-passes that had been done years before. They removed the clot and inserted a stent and he was back in the room in about 2 hours or a little more. People are not put to sleep for this procedure. He had to lie still for about 5 hours with a weight on the place where they inserted the catheter. After that, he could get up and move around.

We were really tired and sleepy from not getting any sleep on Tuesday night. We would have had a good night after the procedure if it were not for so many people coming in the room for various reasons.
(Is it really necessary for the person in charge of picking up the bag from the waste can, to come in the room at 3:00 A. M. and loudly announce, "I'm Julie and I'm here to pick up the garbage"!???) 

The cardiologist  said if all went well last night we could go home this morning (Thursday). By 4 A.M. they began removing the drips. We thought maybe we would be going home after breakfast. But we waited and waited all day until finally about 4 P.M. they took away the heart monitor and the IV needles and started the dismissal procedures. We hurried home and got here barely in time to get our foot in the door at the Pharmacy to get the many prescriptions filled. This was another place we had to wait and wait!!!

We got home somewhere around 6:30 (I think) and unloaded the car, fixed some soup for supper, got our showers and now we are headed for bed. We are very tired but oh so very thankful that we did not have to go to Memphis for major heart surgery!

Love to all, and if you knew about this and prayed for us, Thank you very much!!! And if you didn't know about it, we still could use your prayers for his complete healing. We felt the prayers that were offered up for us!

Today I'm so thankful to God for taking care of us through this difficult time!

Birds and Snow in the South

My world was full of birds today.  I guess they sensed that it was going to snow.

The Mockingbird has been a regular visitor lately.

The Chickadee is so fast, I feel lucky anytime I can get a shot of him!

The Blue Jay is so much bigger than the other birds.  Most of them leave when he comes to the feeder.

Late this afternoon, we had a pretty snowfall.  It was not cold enough for any of it to stick.

I saw two Cardinals in the edge of the woods, but when I put this on the computer, I saw six of them!

We have lots of Pine Warblers at the feeders every day.

The Mockingbird treated me to several nice poses.

He stood firm while the wind ruffled his feathers.

(p.s.  After I posted this yesterday I learned that the picture above got the Approver's Choice Award  on Weather Underground's Wunder Photos)

This Carolina Wren's loud song announced that he was on the porch.

The Chipping Sparrows like the bread crumbs.

The snow was falling in nice big flakes as we looked across the road.

This is looking towards the woods behind the house.

Today I am thankful that I got to see the snow falling.

I'm also thankful for the many ways that God provides for our needs.

D is for Desserts! A to Z Food

My favorite food in all the world is DESSERTS!  It doesn't matter what kind of dessert, just so it's really sweet!  I like them so well that over the holidays (Thanksgiving,  Christmas and New  Year's Day) I have gained several unwanted  pounds.

 *Hint about Lent: Beginning with Ash Wednesday, February 17th, and going through Easter, I will cut out all sweets and refined sugar!  If you know me at all, you know I am giving up one of my very favorite things!  Perhaps as I turn down each delicious, sugary morsel as a token of sacrifice, I will be reminded of the tremendous sacrifice that Jesus made for me.

Now let's waddle over to Jen's blog and check out her sidebar to see other food posts for the letter D.

Scenic Sunday 83

By chance, we happened upon this pretty little pond early one morning near Cartersville, GA.

The surface was mirror smooth until the ducks came swimming to us.

I like any picture featuring reflections in  the water.

Click  HERE or on the Scenic Sunday button on my sidebar for more pretty scenery.
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Today I am thankful for the pleasant surprises in life, like finding this pretty little pond.
♥ ♥ ♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥ ♥  ♥

Backyard Critters

One night recently Jeep called to me and said there was a Possum on the back porch.  He was eating the bird seed that the birds scratched out of the feeder.  After picking up my trusty camera, we opened the door and turned on the light to try and get a picture, but he was gone!

These pictures were made a few nights after Jeep first saw him.  Anyway, not to be out-done, Jeep got the big light and looked around the yard.  He came back in and told me that something was up the light pole at the suet feeder.  This was one of our frequent rainy nights and I already had already put  on my bedroom shoes.  I quickly put on regular shoes, picked  up my camera and trudged out near the light pole, squishing along with each step.  I made a few shots of the suet feeder but I couldn't tell what was up there until I put the pictures on the computer.

It looks like a regular old field rat to me!   Jeep said he did not think that an o'possum would be able to climb a large pole like this one.  I guess all the creatures that live out in the woods are getting hunrgy and searching for food anywhere they can find it.  I like feeding the birds, but I draw the line at feeding possums and rats!

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Today I am thankful that Winter is only three months long!

Super Bowl Birds

This picture is in honor of the Black and Gold team that won the Super Bowl!  These Goldfinch lined up outside our window at lunch on Super Bowl day.

This cute little Chickadee is watching us eat lunch while he waits his turn at the feeder.

Hooray!  I saw a Purple Finch yesterday.  They are beautiful and I'm glad to see them coming to the feeders.

This Mockingbird was just now started coming to the feeders, and on Sunday he perched on top of a feeder and watched us eat. 

The female Cardinal looks like she is scruched up against the cold.

The Pine Warbler is a tiny thing, but in this picture, every feather must be standing on end for warmth.

Today I am thankful for a warm and cozy home!