It's A Giveaway!

Mitch and I had the opportunity to be at our cabin in New Mexico for a week recently. It was good for us to have so much free time that we could spend hours watching movies. Ten of them in fact!

I'm turning our movie time into a giveaway. I'll post a line from each movie and you tell me which movie we watched.

The first one with all correct answers wins a prize. A great prize: Pajamajeans!! (www.pajamajeans.com/flare/next) Everyone wants a pair (or their wife does!)

Important: do not leave your answers as a comment. I don't know how to keep others from seeing your answers. Email them to me at lucas111@charter.net. If no one guesses all the movies correctly, I'll randomly select a winner from all of the entries. The contest is over on Monday night, 6 pm my time. Good luck.

1. "We can take him by the bay, and put him back in the water."

2. "I hope next time we meet, we will be drinking tea."

3. "It's a 1949 Buick Roadmaster. Straight 8. Fireball 8. Only 8,985 production models. Dad lets me drive slow on the driveway. But not on Monday, definitely not on Monday."

4. "Failure is not an option."

5. one boy: "Traitor. Girls are the enemy." other boy: " No, YOU are the enemy."

6. "If you want to win the game with women, Grandpa, you first need to learn how to play the game."

7. "Do you seriously expect me to tell the President that an alien has landed, assumed the identity of a dead housepainter from Madison, Wisconsin and is presently out tooling around the countryside in a hopped up orange and black 1977 Mustang?"

8. "The world, as we know it, will soon come to an end."

9. "Get over it? I mean, what happened? Did I get shot in the brain.... Hi, I'm Tom."

10. "Any horses in that one? Or hounds for that matter. Our readers are intrigued by both species."

Heaven's Love

It's been a rough week, medically speaking. Both of Mitch's parents have had tough medical situations that required urgent intervention.

In the chaos and uncertainty, I've made an effort to notice God's presence in our life. I'm grateful for my experience of seeing heaven through the way people love and care for each other. Here are some of the ways I saw Him.

* In medical professionals taking time to listen to a laundry list of problems and concerns, and then skillfully forming a plan of action

* In the laughter and smiles of their great-grandchildren

* In the concerned voice of our siblings who are far away but are pouring their love straight through the phone lines

* In the presence of their granddaughter and grandson-in-law who rearranged their lives to be there

* In the prayers of a hospital chaplain

* In family, friends and neighbors offering support and asking if they can carry part of the load

* In the face of their son, with tears in his eyes and love in his heart

* In the husband whose love for his wife is not marred by his confusion about other things

* In the wife who wants everything to be "just right" for the man she's loved for the last 60 plus years

It's been a blessing for me this week to see Jesus in the way all of these people care for their families, their parents, their children, their patients, their friends and all of the other people that God brings into their lives.

Heaven's love, on display.

Amen

S'Mores Brownies

Another day cooped up due to the cold weather, so here I go again with another food blog! This time it's brownies.

Here's what you'll need:

Go ahead and get the pan ready. You need to line it with foil and spray it with Pam.

Mix together the brownie mix, eggs, water and oil.

Stir it up and pour half of the batter into the foil lined pan.

Top with graham crackers.

Then the chocolate bars.

Oh, no. I have two little pieces of chocolate left over. Whatever will I do with them??

Well, I figured something out!

Now place the marshmallows.

Pour the remaining batter over the marshmallows.

Pop it into the oven and pull this out:

Let it cool completely. Pick it up by the foil to remove it from the pan. Slice and enjoy!

S'Mores Brownies

makes 16

1 box of your favorite brownie mix

4 1/2 full graham crackers

4 full size Hershey's chocolate bars

16 large marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Line foil into an 8 x 8 inch baking pan. Spray generously with cooking spray.

3. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.

4. Pour half of the brownie batter into lined pan.

5. Layer graham crackers over brownie batter, followed with chocolate bars and marshmallows.

6. Pour remaining batter over marshmallows.

7. Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out mostly clean from center.

8. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

9. Carefully remove foil and brownies from pan. Peel any foil away from edges and cut into squares.

Print recipe:

https://sites.google.com/site/grampositiverecipes/s-mores-brownies

DoubleTree Paradise Valley Resort

Here we are in sunny Scottsdale, Arizona. This is what we saw when we opened the door of our room:

First, the living suite. (You can't see it, but there's a dining room table and a bar in this area, too!)

Our bedroom. (I love the "Sweet Dreams" pillow.)

And when I woke up this morning and stepped out onto one of our balconies (there's two of them), this is what I saw.

Yeah. I think I can be happy here for a couple of days.

Very Beefy Vegetable Soup

We had a cold, windy and rainy day last week, and I decided it was the perfect time for a bowl of beef vegetable soup. It was delicious. Here's how I did it.

First, here are the basic ingredients I was working with:

Dice the beef into bite-size chunks and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Saute the onions in olive oil and butter. Add the garlic. Then add in the beef.

Celery next.

Then the tomatoes and beef broth.

Finish with the spinach.

Serve and enjoy!

Here's the recipe:

Very Beefy (or Chickeny) Vegetable Soup

(serves 4)

1 pound lean beef stew meat (or chicken tenders)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/2 small yellow onion, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 garlic clove, diced

4 stalks celery, sliced

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1 can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings

4 cups beef (or chicken) broth

Fresh chopped parsley, optional

1. Cut the beef (or chicken) into bite-sized chunks and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. In a soup pot, saute the garlic and continue to cook until translucent, about another 2 or 3 minutes.

3. Add the beef (or chicken) and saute until no longer pink.

4. Add the celery and saute until slightly softened, about 3 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning.

5. Add the tomatoes and broth. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and stir until done.

6. When ready to serve, sprinkle parsley on the top - if you like.

Last Five Books I've Read

I love a good story, and I usually have one (or more) books that I'm reading or listening to at any given time. Here are my last five along with my ratings (***** is the best):

5. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Set in South Carolina, it tells the story of 14 year old Lily Owens, who is in search of her mother's past. Her life deals with her abusive father, her maid, and the kindness of strangers. My rating: *****

4. The Opposite of Love by Julie Buxbaum. This is the story of Harvard Law grad Emily Haxby as she deals with self-doubt, abandonment issues and skeletons in her closet. There are some funny parts and some sad parts but mostly parts that had trouble keeping my attention. It just wasn't my favorite. My rating: **

3. The Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts. Okay, this is really a set of four books: Vision in White, Bed of Roses, Savor the Moment and Happy Ever After. Set in Connecticut, this is a series of books about four childhood girlfriends who grow up and form an all-inclusive wedding service. One is the photographer, one handles the flower arrangements, one creates beautiful wedding cakes, and one handles the books and supervises the events. Predictable, but enjoyable. My rating: ****

2. Cross Fire by James Patterson. I'm definitely a James Patterson fan, and I love the character he's created in Alex Cross. In this book, Alex is trying to solve murders and marry his long-time girlfriend, Bree. The fact that Alex's nemesis Kyle Craig is involved makes the story a real page turner. My rating: *****

1. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. This is a non-fiction book about Henrietta Lacks and the immortal cell line, known as HeLa, that came from her cervical cancer cells in 1951. It is composed of a good bit of scientific writing dealing with medical research and ethics, but it is also a good and fairly told story about Henrietta and her family. Very moving. My rating: ****

Right now I'm in the middle of The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World by Eric Weiner. I'm liking how Mr. Weiner approaches this subject; it's interesting and enjoyable so far!

Celebrate Good Times

Family and friends gathered for cookies and milk to celebrate the very first birthday of our precious baby Clara. A good time was had by all.

Mitch and I are incredibly blessed.

We know it.