Week 15 Monday (4/14/14)

Recipe Review       

Today’s Recipe and Location:  Perfect Pot Roast

         Found in: The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl

                           Pages  120 - 122     Copyright:  2009  Harper Collins

I figured out that there are 234 calories per serving, if 6 servings are made. (Please note that the calorie counts vary depending on the specific brands of ingredients that you choose to use.)

Doesn't this look like a great dinner for your family?

         This pot roast was wonderful.  It had a lot of flavor and the veggies were good, too. Of course, I cut the carrots into extremely small pieces so I didn’t have to taste them.

         My niece, Alaina made this recipe and loved it also.  Way to go Ree. Two family members loved this recipe.

Craft Corner              

         In 1972, my parents bought me my first sewing machine. It was a Singer and I thought it was great. This machine went with me to Florida and to college. I used it a lot and found a wonderful man at a place called Mr. Fix-It in Aurora who kept it in perfect condition. It has lasted the test of time because it was made of all metal parts. 

         About four or five years ago, I actually broke down and purchased a new Pfaff sewing machine. Like the new televisions, it is lightweight and has a computer in it. With the touch of a finger I can choose from a variety of decorative stitches and make a button hole.  I love this machine and use it frequently. I tried to get my best friend, Donna, to buy one too but she has yet to give in. I’ll keep working on her, so she can enjoy sewing again, too.

This machine can do all different types of stitches

Random Reflections

         One of the first things I want to do when I retire is to take down the wall in the kitchen and make my main rooms the open concept. I would like to add cabinets where my table is currently and put in quartz countertops and new lighting. This would really make a difference in the feel of the main part of my home.  What a fun thing to do!

Becky’s Bucket List #4

Remodel my kitchen

Take piano lessons

Write 2 books for my great-nephews

Travel to Wales

Travel to Scotland

Alaskan cruise

Wants and Wishes

         Something that I really want in the next month, is for all of the new plants that I put in last year, to have survived this exceptional winter. I spent over one thousand dollars last year in filling in the holes in my gardens. Over time, some of the plants age or die, or in our case, are trampled by little shelties.

Winter can also take the life of these beautiful, fragile new flowers.

         So, for the next month, I will repeatedly check each bed to see if new life is coming up from the depths of the cold ground. We will need a little more rain and warmth for this to happen. And then, if it does, my gardens will take your breath away once again.