HEART HEALTHY? NOPE! HEART WARMING? YEP!

Here I am!

I said I was going to try to get back

in the groove of blogging again.

I know sometimes bloggers

say they are 

TAKING A BREAK

and then they disappear forever.

I sometimes wonder if their mate

got tired of them blogging and

"offed them"-if you know what I mean!

Anyway

When you wake up and it is 

7 DEGREES outside it is 

WINTER!

Winter calls for food that

"warm-your-bones"!

This is what Midwesterners

like to refer to as

HEARTLAND food-

Mostly because it will put you at

coronary risk...

don't say I didn't warn you. 

image

Now- If you are looking 

GLUTEN FREE 

or 

LOW FAT 

or 

HEART HEALTHY

please run away from here as fast as your

bony little butt will take you.

This is none of those!

I had SOME hamburger but not enough 

to feed two kids and two adults-

and-I did need to use it up.

Isn't raw hamburger kind of gross to look at?

So...I thought- if you can make 

CHICKEN FRIED STEAK

why can't you make 

CHICKEN FRIED HAMBURGER?

Guess what?

YOU CAN!

I had about 2/3 pound of hamburger.

I added 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese,

and 1/3 cup of the Shake & Bake crumbs.

Mixed it all together with my hands 

(yes my hands)

then formed patties that were less than 1/2" thick.

Is 3/8" of an inch too calculated?

Then I turned them once in the flour,

then put them in the beaten egg,

then put them into the 

Shake & Bake mixture.

Lined up and waiting-

Then I cooked them in medium hot oil 

for about 2 minutes per side.

They were delicious.

I served them with carrots and 

sauteed zucchini along with

a microwaved apple topped with

cinnamon and Splenda brown sugar.

 

And while EVERYONE ELSE likes their

chicken fried hamburgers

with a bit of gravy,

I like mine with KETCHUP.

It tastes like a cutlet that way (to me).

Listen- Here is my advice for 2022!

ALWAYS eat before you go

grocery shopping.

Otherwise you will be posting 

a sign like this one.

Have a Happy Wednesday!!

I am going to start to do a little

FRIDAY THING.

I will post the first one this Friday

and y'all can tell me if I should

continue along my schtick.

AND

I will be around soon with another

PICK YOUR FAVORITE TABLE

now that!

I am back in the loop

or loopy-you decide!

ESCAPING THE REALITY OF A COLD WISCONSIN WINTER'S DAY

 It is COLD COLD COLD here.

What do you do on a cold day?

Well,

because I am still not feeling

like going out and kicking the

snowplowers' butt-don't ask

I decided to go through

some of my old magazines

and came across this one from

January/February of 2015,

Sadly, they have stopped publication

of this magazine.  

I had all of them from the first

issue forward.  

When I got rid of most of my old magazines,

I just could not bear to part with them

but, finally, this fall I donated

my whole collection to an old friend.

She told me she now wants to redecorate

her whole house.

Please pray for her husband-lol

She loves romantic and so do I.

Romance is just kind of timeless,

isn't it?

Anyway--

February is all about Valentine's Day  but-

I don't think you have to wait for 

Valentine's Day to make this for someone special.

 Pink Pearl Lady Cake

HERE is a similar recipe.

The Baking Bible-Rose Beranbaum

Ben Fink-Photographer

I thought the cover was just lovely.

Got your cake mess cleaned up from
baking that heart cake above?
Good!  Now then
 you can see the

PINK HOUSE

owned by 

Malla Ruutiainen

It is softly sweet and livable.

You can find her on Pinterest by clicking on her name.

by-Jo-Anne Coletti

 Here's a little sneak peek at the Florida estate 

of a New York couple.

This home was designed by

Guillaume Gentet

By:Sarah Yoon/Mark Roskams/photographer

It looks like Florida, doesn't it?

You can find more 

PINK FLORIDA HOMES HERE!

Okay-Now-Doesn't the home of

Carolyn Westbrook

just make you dream of warm summer days?

Even though we are freezing our butts off here.

I found her on Facebook.

You can find it by clicking on her name above.

Prepare to  have your mouth hang open for a while.

While your mouth is hanging open....

purse your lips a bit and 

BLOW HARD.

Then you can blow up balloons to put together

this beautiful garland

styled by  

Selina Lake

photography-Shirlie Kemp

So-There you have it.

A few things I love in the old

2015 January/February Issue of

Romantic Homes.

Know what else I love?

You!

Thanks for following along here.

Here's how I am feeling about you this morning....

Lips still puckered up from the balloon blowing

are they?  Good!

Here's to you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2022

 I hope to soon be

IN THE PINK!

I have been blessed

this past year,

even with all the Covid stuff going on.

Right now I have a 

daughter that had a painful

surgery and she is still in a 

LOT OF PAIN.

I have 2 sons with Covid,

2 daughter-in-laws with Covid,

an ex-son in law that has been

hospitalized for over a month with Covid.

We have lost friends and people

we love this past year.

I was tested this week for Covid

and have all the symptoms

but my test came back negative.

I am spending the weekend in bed

to try to get ahead of this mess.

In spite of ALL of this-

I am so looking forward

to a

wonderful

Happy

Healthy

New Year.

I wish the same

for each and

every one of

YOU!

Thank you for being

part of my life-

blogging and beyond

during this past year!

Blessings!



ps....NO headaches here-

How about you?

NEVER FAIL EASY PEASY MICROWAVE CARAMELS

Just about every year I post

this recipe because people

LOVE IT!

AND- you can't screw it up.

 When I was a kid,

 my mother

often whipped up a batch 

of fudge from scratch

after the chores were done

on a snowy Pennsylvania night.

I make caramels instead.

As most of you know, I love to bake

and make candy.

I don't know how many 

caramel recipes I have tried

over the years.

Some of them called for

stirring for what seemed hours

and then...

they might or might not

"turn out".

These are quick!

Less than 10 minutes from

start to finish AND they

NEVER FAIL 

to set up properly.

I am not sure how these would 

turn out if you have an old

low wattage microwave.

I have had people tell me that 

you need an extra 1/2 minute or so

on the low wattage ovens.

I think most of ovens are at least

1000 watts now.

I have made them in 1000W,

1200W & 1500W mics

and the timing is the same.

Ready?

Get yourself a nice big 

microwave measuring cup.

I use an 8 cup one.

Make sure it is microwave safe.

Before I start-

One warning-

You CANNOT double this recipe.

You would have to make two batches

if you want more.

Everything that is measured out

is in 1/2 cup increments.

Melt 1/2 cup butter.

Remove from microwave.

Add 1/2 cup Karo syrup,

1/2 cup light brown sugar,

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup sweetened CONDENSED MILK

(not evaporated milk)

Stir until mixed and dissolved.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 minutes.

Stir down.

Microwave on high 3-1/2 more minutes.

Remove from mic.  Add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Add 1/2 cup chopped nuts-if desired- I don't.

Stir until few air bubbles remain.

Pour into 8x8 buttered dish.

Refrigerate until set.

Cut into squares.

You can wrap these if they last long enough.

Ours never seem to make it to the

wrapped stage!

Serve these to your husband.

Make sure he eats twice as many

as you do.

Remember- the fatter he gets

the skinnier you look

standing next to him!;>)

If you do have some left to wrap

they make a perfect little 

take-along gift in a pretty little box.

I am getting ready to head to IN for

my daughter's house for Christmas this year.

Her husband is doing well and on his second round

of chemo.

If ANYONE can beat brain cancer,

it is Jason.  He has the most positive

attitude of anyone I know.

Keep the whole family in your prayers

or wing well wishes their way.

Have a GREAT weekend.

We have SNOW!

Lots of SNOW!

UGH!

A LITTLE THANKSGIVING POEM I WROTE YEARS AGO-WISHING YOU ALL A BLESSED THANKSGIVING

I have so much to give

Thanks for...SO much.

Thanks to my family,

Thanks to friends coming my way,

Thank you to everyone that

touches my day.

Thanks for my husband,

Thanks for my home,

Thanks for a resting place

wherever I roam.

Thanks for new babies,

Thanks for sweet life,

Thanks for allowing me

peace amidst strife.

Thanks for my children,

Thanks for grandchildren, too.

Thanks for the blessings

that fall on this crew.

Thanks for Thanksgiving,

As we gather this clan,

Bless every child in it

and woman and man.

Which brings us to the banquet,

The banquet of life,

Where some poor old turkey

Gave us his life.

We'll surround him with taters,

We'll smother him with peas,

We'll say, "Pass the gravy"

and Thank You and Please.

But let us remember,

As the table boards bend,

That all of this bounty

Belongs to God in the end.

Amen!

 © D. Diana Kosmoski 2011 

Told you it was an old poem

but some things never change.

Thank you to everyone that has stuck

here over the years and been part of

my blogging world.

Love to all of you-

Diana

WHERE OH WHERE HAS NANA BEEN? OH WHERE OR WHERE CAN SHE BE?

What a whirlwind the last few weeks

have been!

As most of you know,

my grandgirl, Alana, 

was accepted into the 

DISNEY COLLEGE PROGRAM.

Many of you watched her grow up on my blog as

LITTLE LULU.

I have a timeshare in Florida

about an hour from Disney.

I left a week early to spend some time

with her before she starts the program.

As most of you know,

once they enter an away-at-school program

they never really ''come home" again.

We had a wonderful few days hanging out

at a resort on the ocean.

Her mom, my daughter, Tara,

joined us for the last two days 

before we headed to Orlando.

What a wonderful, wonderful experience.

The three of us spent 2 days in 

The Magic Kingdom and Epcot.

We ate our way though Epcot

and enjoyed all the rides in both places.

Then we helped Alana move into her new apartment

right on Disney property.

They are state-of-the-art apartments

and beautiful.  

The campus is like a resort.

Alana will be working in 

THE MAGIC KINGDOM  in FRONTIERLAND.

Her first day is tomorrow and she is really excited.

The unexpected bonus was a wonderful roommate

They connected and 

have spent lots of time hanging out.

As we know, that kind of connection 

doesn't always happen.

I was gone for two weeks and my 

son and his wonderful wife & Carlisle took care of

SCRUFFY 

for me and kept tabs on John while I was gone.

Scruffy after his initial 

WELCOME HOME NANA

punished me for two days by ignoring me. 

LOL- Now he is back to his usual

nose on my leg-where are you going demeanor.

I just got home and turned around to go to a 

VERY SPECIAL PARTY in Chicago

but I will let another blogger share that first.

Thanks for bearing with me. 

I hope to be a better blogger 

during the next few months.