Recipe of the Week - Mushroom Chowder

 As you know, I love to collect and read cookbooks.  Mostly they are regional cookbooks.  Give me a good old fashioned church cookbook any day!!  A few weeks ago I was at the Triad Antiques Marketplace with a friend and I came across this cookbook of North Carolina recipes, so I snagged it up quick.  While I was reading it I came across this recipe for Mushroom Chowder.  I had everything to make it except the mushrooms, which aren't too expensive, so I decided to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it.  I hope you enjoy it too!

Mushroom Chowder

1 lb fresh mushrooms*

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 cup diced potatoes

1 cup finely chopped celery

1/2 cup diced carrots**

1 3/4 tsps salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 Tbs flour

2 Tbs cold water

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup milk or light cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Rinse, dry and slice mushrooms.  Set aside.  In a large saucepan heat butter, add onions and sauté' until golden brown.  Add mushrooms, vegetables, salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Combine flour and cold water; slowly stir into vegetable mixture.  Add Chicken stock and simmer 10 more minutes.  Just before serving, stir in milk and cheese.  Heat only until hot.  Do not boil.  Sprinkle with additional Parmesan.  Serves 6

* Next time, I may do a rough chop on the mushrooms instead.  The slices are pretty but sometimes take up the entire spoonful when you're eating.

** I did not have any carrots on hand when I made this.  I thought I did but did not and didn't feel like going back to the store.  It was just fine without them but I'll add them next time!

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

 A beautiful hymn that has been in my head a lot recently.  That is all.  

Quote of the Week

 As I begin my classes today, I need to motivate myself and this helps me!

My Work Schedule

 Admittedly, I have an awesome work schedule.  I am typically Monday to Friday, 8 to 4.  That only changes when someone has asked for time off and I am filling in.  I always fill in the weekday 2nd shift because my coworker hates it and doesn't want to do it.  I don't particularly like that shift either but I'll do it.  My coworker, after 23 years, has earned the privilege not to have to work it if she doesn't want to.  

The best thing about my schedule right now is that it gives me a chance to plan around it because it is so regular.  With school starting up, knowing that I'll get done at 4 and can come home and get started on homework is a good thing.  Not that I enjoy homework that much, but it's got to be done LOL  And I can plan my very limited social life around my work hours.  Hopefully that will expand some this coming year.  But if I ever want to grab dinner one night with a friend during the week, I have the schedule that allows that.

The only really bad thing about the schedule is not knowing what happened at work over the weekend until Monday morning.  Now, some people may say that is a blessing because you don't want to take your work home with you.  Well, let me tell you, when you work in senior living, the work comes home to you in one way or another.  We take our residents into our lives and that means taking them home with us...figuratively.  And there's always that fear when I come into work on a Monday morning and have to ask what happened over the weekend.  There's a chance that someone I really care about has gone into the hospital or has passed away.  It's a risk you take working in senior living.  And I always have a sense of relief when nothing happened while I was off work.  That gives me more time with the people I care about and that is one of the reasons I love my job.

So, today I will go into work after being off this weekend and see what happened while I was away the weekend.  Then I'll get off at 4 and come home and get the things done that I need to.  It's a good routine and I'm thankful for my job for giving that to me.  That is all. 

Staying within my budget

 Now that I'm on my own again, I'm trying very hard to stay within my budget and not overspend.  Of course there are times when I do, but that's just life.  I do not make it a habit like I've done in the past.  Nowadays when I go over budget it is because I want to treat myself to something special and that is as much for my mental health as anything else.  It happens, what can I say?

I do have a credit card that I use.  I try to only use it for necessities when I have to such as groceries or gas, but it has seen its share of silly purchases as well.  I'm working on that one and actually doing very well abstaining from that kind of impulse buying.  But today I had to make my first big payment to UNCG for the fall semester.  That was hard in some ways, seeing that money go into my bank account and then right back out.  While I was setting up my payment plan, which is a wonderful service UNCG offers...even if they charge a "setting up fee" which is complete BS, but what can you do.  Still, while I was in the process of completing the paperwork I had a lot of anxiety coursing through my veins.  

I'm not exactly sure why but I believe it is because this first big payment was in cash and not on credit.  And by cash, I mean money in the bank.  I wasn't going to put this on my credit card because, like I said, I'm trying not to use it as much.  And the money was in my bank account.  But I set up my plan and made my first payment which was roughly half of what the tuition total is.  And the funny thing about it is that as soon as I hit the confirmation button, the anxiety disappeared.  It was gone.  Totally.  

I was proud that I had the resources to take care of this.  Now, I did have some help with these resources, but I had them none the less.  And that's what the money was there for.  I could pay it and still hold my head high.  And, knowing me, it's going to motivate me to do my best because I'm paying for this and am not in a place to waste money these days.  It just felt good.  And I still have some in my savings and I still can take care of my monthly bills.  I was extremely happy about all of that.  And I appreciate the help that I have received and I'm proud that I asked for the help when needed.  This help wasn't about being bailed out of a situation, this was an investment in my future and I am totally on board with that.  

UNCG Friends

 

It's nice to have those friendships in life that are constant.  Having people in your life that you can always turn to and who can always turn to you if needed is a good thing.  Yesterday, I spent my afternoon with friends that I made 30 years ago.  Well, almost 30 years ago.  It was 30 years ago when I moved into the dorm at UNCG.  Over the next few months, I made friends that will last a lifetime.  We didn't really know it then.  We were living in the moment and, for most of us, being away from home like that for the first time was a huge time of growth and change.  I know it was for me.

We've all had such different experiences over the last few decades.  It seems strange to be able to say decades LOL  But the connection between us all has never been lost.  More friends came along over the next few years at UNCG and added to roster of people who care. It's a wonderful feeling.  And we've just now started to really come back together and see each other.  I can only hope that this is a trend that will continue.  I'm at a place in life where having these people around is very precious and I need that.  I think we all do.  Looking forward to more good times ahead with these beautiful people.

Going Through Boxes of Memories

 

Now that I have some more time on my hands, I have been going through many of the boxes out in the garage to see what's out there.  It is a long process and it will take awhile to get things in order, but I am on my way.  I really am enjoying seeing what is in each box.  Lots of memories come flooding back to me.  Memories of times gone by and bringing to mind different sides of myself that I had forgotten about.  I guess you can say there is some soul searching going on while I'm doing this.  Getting back in touch with aspects of myself that I had let go.  I find it very exciting.

One of the things that I am discovering this process is that many of my boxes have not been completely sealed.  The lids are closed but, as with most cardboard boxes you get from the liquor store or wherever, there's still some kind of opening at the top.  Let me tell you, it needs to be sealed!  Lots of things have been destroyed because various animals have gotten in there.  That's ok.  They're mostly looking for things to build a nest with.  It happens.  So, now I know to make sure that the boxes are completely sealed off.  On the other hand it has gotten me to get rid of lots of stuff.  I haven't really had to get rid of anything that was super sentimental which is good.

I'm finding lots of fun stuff out there.  Mostly, they are collectibles.  I had forgotten how many Tom Clark gnomes I had.  And somewhere out there is the rest of my music box collection.  By the way, I'm also learning which types of things should not be stored out there due to the temperatures. Good to know!  Some of the things I find will, I know, eventually be trashed by someone else, but I still cherish them right now.  Growing up, we played school many times.  I found lots of materials that I used when we played and while they have no meaning to anyone else, they are precious to me and thus am still keeping them.  

I also know that, right now anyway, I do not need to find a home for absolutely everything inside the house.  I can change things out when I want to.  I just need to pack the things back up in such a way that I can easily find them.  And make sure the box is sealed LOL  Well, it's time to get a few more boxes out and see what memories I find in there!

Television

 

A good deal of my homelife these days is very vintage, and I have no problem with that at all.  It's not all vintage, but a lot of it is.  And one of those things that is vintage is my television viewing.  Thanks to channels like Freevee and Tubitv I am able to tune in to shows I watched years ago and love to revisit.  I am also discovering many "new to me" vintage shows that are wonderful too!  I just finished watching an episode of The Carol Burnett Show from 1967 and loved it.  One of the reasons I really do enjoy these shows is that most of them have incredible writing.  Shows did not rely on special effects or foul language to engage an audience.  They told good stories, and they told them well.  That's one of the many reasons I enjoy these programs.  

But it got me to thinking about the days before streaming, before dvrs, even before vcrs.  We often planned our time around when our favorite shows were coming on tv.  Mondays had Murphy Brown and Designing Women.  After DW went off the air, a new PBS program called The Antiques Roadshow became a weekly staple.  I watched Tuesday Night Fights on USA.  Wednesdays had Dynasty.  Thursdays had The Cosby Show, A Different World and Cheers.  Dallas was on Friday nights.  Saturday nights were for, of course, The Golden Girls.  

Doing something other than watching those shows took a great deal of encouragement.  You didn't want to miss your shows.  They brought people together.  We would sit together as a family and watch many of these every week.  The day after the show aired you would discuss what happened with your friends, especially if something drastic happened.  I specifically remember talking to Vanessa Calhoun about the unexpected death of Rosalind Shays on L.A. Law before we went into science class.  And these shows gave us something to look forward to each week.  And we would actually have to wait....I know right...while reruns aired in the summers before new seasons started.  Kids today will never truly know the excitement and anticipation of a cliffhanger.  Having to wait months to find out who shot J.R. or who survived when Claudia set fire to the La Mirage Hotel.  

I miss that kind of television and that way of life.  We won't ever go back to that, which is fine, because I can turn on my streaming services and take myself back to a different time and enjoy some good television!

Recipe of the Week - Creole Potato Salad

 I am a huge lover of potato salad.  It's one of my favorite foods.  Grandmother would make it a lot of times just for me and I loved hers.  It was just a basic potato salad, but it was delicious.  My Aunt Jan also makes a great potato salad and I use her recipe probably more than anyone's.  It's a favorite. This particular recipe is one that I came across in one of my cookbooks.  I tagged it for later use.  I always mark/tag recipes that I want to try when I read a cookbook.  I don't always remember which book the specific recipes are in, but I know they're there somewhere LOL  Anyway, a little while after tagging this recipe, Food Lion had 5 lb bags of red potatoes on sale for $1.99.  Perfect!  I got a bag and figured I would try the recipe.  I loved it and will definitely make it again.  Hope you enjoy!!

Creole Potato Salad

3 lbs red potatoes, cubed

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup Creole/Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 1/4 tsps garlic salt

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp prepared horseradish

1/4 tsp cayenne

6 hard cooked eggs, chopped

1 mediume sweet onion, diced

Cook potatoes in water until tender - 12 minutes or so.  Drain and cool slightly.  Mix together mayo and next 6 ingredients.  Add potato, eggs and onion to mixture.  Toss gently.  Serve room temperature or chilled.

I didn't have a picture of the potato salad on its own, but here it is on a plate with my dinner!

Ave Verum

 For some reason today, I was thinking of this piece by Mozart.  I was remembering listening to the Prairie Home Companion episode dedicated to the 97th or 98th anniversary of Lake Wobegon High School.  It's a wonderful episode if you've never heard it before.  This is one of the pieces Garrison Keillor speaks of his high school chorus singing and how the chorus teacher was devoted to the works of Mozart.  It's a beautiful piece and I hope you enjoy it!

Quote of the Week

 These kinds of quotes inspire me to live in the moment.  I tend to wrap myself up too much in the past and need to free myself to enjoy what is going on now.  We shall see!

A Devotion on Forgiveness

 A friend of mine posted this devotion on forgiveness earlier today on Facebook and I enjoyed reading it.  It struck a chord with me.  Forgiveness can be hard, especially self-forgiveness.  But as hard as it can be, it is one of the greatest gifts that can be given to yourself and others.