FRIDAY THE 13TH

Friday the 13^th of June, my birthday.  It’s hard to believe I’m 52 years of age today, I only feel like I’m 29 :-).  Every time my birthday falls on a Friday, it brings me good luck.  

Bulldog Man and Tank took me out to eat last night, at a place called BJ’s.  I suggested we go out on Thursday instead of Friday.  Restaurants in town are so busy on Friday nights, and I really didn’t want to have to deal with crowds………besides we had a coupon for buy one meal and get the second free.  What a deal right??  The meal was delicious, and then we topped it off with this awesome berry cobbler with crème and nuts.  

My husband and I have this deal; we don’t get each other gifts for our birthdays or Christmas.  We may go out to eat or just have a wonderful homemade meal.  

I did however make my husband promise to take me back to Lake of the Arbuckles tomorrow morning real early to go fishing; before the weather breaks loose with severe storms.

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The funeral home who took care of my Dad’s arrangements when he passed away contacted my Mom; to see if she would be interested in being a part of a memorial they were presenting, for all those who had passed away the first 6 months of the year 2014. 

This memorial took place in a well known park in the city where my Mom resides.  There were over 400 people who attended this event.  The funeral home read the name of everyone who passed away, and then gave a butterfly to each family member to release in the name of the person who passed away in each family. 

We released 5 butterflies for every member left in our family; the first landed on my Mother’s chest.

The remaining 4 flew off high in the sky.  This memorial was beautiful, with flowers all over. A light lunch was also served to the family members.  This was the first time the funeral home sponsored such an event.  They now plan on doing this each year to support all family members who suffer the loss of a loved one.

 

Speaking of butterflies, this one paid me a visit while working in and around my flowers today……..do you think it’s a sign?

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Pictures inside my garden area right after it rained.  The water just puddled, we received too much all at once.  It took 2 days to dry out.

The sun finally came out, and the grass finally dried enough to get outside and cut the grass with the Zen machine; tractor mower!!  The property looks nicely groomed, that is until we get more rain and our weeds start growing again.

We harvested another large pot of green beans.  I blanched the beans and placed them in a food saver bag to store in the freezer.  Here’s a picture of more tomatoes harvested from the tomato plants in the garden.  These are on the window sill soaking up the sun.

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Bulldog Man gives this recipe a rating of 4 paws.

I wasn't able to get a picture before the casserole was spooned out.

Macaroni and Cheese with Bacon

1 pound Elbow Macaroni

4 cups milk

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons of all purpose flour

4 cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese (I use the 2 packages by Kraft it has 4 different types of cheddar cheese already shredded). Set aside 3 tablespoons of cheese for using later on top of casserole.

Pepper (to taste)

¼ cup chopped flat parsley

8 slices of bacon

½ onion, diced

1 can tomato soup

Fresh thyme (4 small branches stripped of leaves, chop leaves).

Directions

Cook pasta in pot until al dente (refer to instructions on box of pasta), drain pasta after cooking and set aside.

Preheat oven 400 degrees

In a pan cook onions until translucent

Transfer onions to another pot; place 4 tablespoons of butter in pot, let butter melt.  Once butter has melted place 3 tablespoons of all purpose flour in pot and stir continuously until all the flour is worked into the butter onion mixture.  Make sure there are no lumps left.  Add milk to mixture keep stirring, and then add cheese, thyme, and tomato soup stirring continuously.  Once everything is melted and mixed together, set this pot aside.  In a frying pan cook up 8 bacon slices (don’t cook them crispy).

After cooking the bacon slices, chop up the bacon in small pieces.  Place the bacon in the pot you set aside the one with the cheese and tomato soup mixture.  Now add your cooked pasta and parsley.  Mix well, transfer casserole mixture to a large casserole dish.  Make sure to grease this dish before putting the casserole mixture in.  Place the casserole mixture in the baking dish; level the casserole mixture in the pan, and sprinkle a little bit of leftover cheese on the top of the casserole. 

Baking time 20 – 30 minutes.