What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?

What Do You See Outside YOUR Open Window Today?
Remember: "When God closes a door, He always opens a window!" You never know what might be out there waiting for you!

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Tuesday 4 ~ What's Cooking?

 

What's Cooking?


Welcome, welcome. It's good to have you back for another visit. I hope you are keeping well and are up for another of Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 questions.

Could we discuss cooking and kitchens today?

1.How did you learn to cook?
Mostly by watching my mother.  She was an excellent cook, even though she had to work full time by the time I was old enough to notice. She always managed to come up with delicious meals every night after working a long 8-5 day at the Sheriff's Department as a Secretary.
I later learned more by trial and error after we got married and I had to learn to cook on a tight budget.  We ate a LOT of casseroles!

2. Do you have a favorite cookbook?
Yes, the Better Homes and Gardens "New Cook Book", which, in this case is not very new...I received this as a wedding gift almost 55 years ago!

I love this cookbook because it is like the one my mother always used, although hers was an even older edition than this one.  You can see that this one is "well-used".


I learned to bake cookies by following the recipes in this cookbook...

And also how to make a good pie crust, as this is the recipe my mother always used, and her pies were always the best.  I must admit, however, that in recent years I have resorted to using the Pillsbury refrigerated pie dough that comes in a box with two rolls of pie dough ready to roll out and put in the pie pan with your favorite filling.  My mother would be aghast! 


As May 7th, 2024 is the 18th anniversary of my mother's passing from this life, I thought it would be appropriate to remember her by sharing this LINK to a post I wrote about her pies several years ago.
My mother, cooking something good in her kitchen...her happy place! I sure do miss her and wish I could just step back into that kitchen and see her there once again, but I wouldn't call her back from heaven for anything. I bet she's baking her famous coconut cream pies for everyone in heaven. I sure look forward to seeing her again some day up there, where we will never have to say "good-bye" again.

3.What is your cooking specialty?
I don't think I have a specialty.  I really don't enjoy cooking all that much anymore, but I manage to keep up with the basics.  If I had a specialty, it would probably have been cookies and pies as needed...(but never quite as good as my mother's).  HERE is a fun link to a former Tuesday 4 post we did in 2020., entitled "All About Food", and I think I answered some of these questions there pretty well.

4. Is your kitchen well suited for you and if not how would you improve it?
It's okay.  I don't have quite as much countertop space to spread out when baking and cooking as I used to have in our last house, but there are fewer people living here now and we don't entertain nearly as much as we used to, so it really is good enough.  If I were to improve anything, it would be the cabinets underneath the counters. I would really love to have some nice big drawers to put pots and pans and baking things in as opposed to all these cabinets that are too low, dark, and so very hard to get to. I have to literally sit on the floor to find some things and then I have a hard time getting back up. However, I really can't complain. I do have plenty of cabinets and everything fits. It's just hard to get to for an old lady. LOL.  Here are a couple of pictures of my kitchen. Please don't judge the clutter and stuff on the counters, etc.   I did not clean up before taking these pictures, so it is what it is, the real deal, unretouched.  This is "how we roll" here...LOL.



I guess that's it for the Tuesday 4 for this week! You can join in the fun HERE! Thank you, Annie, for these fun questions each week.

While we are talking about food, here's a picture with a story:
When I bought this box of Cheerios recently, I felt sad that we hadn't heard from our only grandson in quite a while.  He's almost 25, and lives far away, so I guess I shouldn't expect too much. But I do send him text messages and send him cards on holidays, etc., and keep hoping he will just pick up the phone and call us some day, or at least respond to my texts.  Recently I sent him a lot of pictures of family activities and just some silly stuff, like me watching the eclipse:


And that finally got his attention, so he sent me his eclipse picture:

(He lives in Maine, so they had a better vantage point than we did in Florida)
I guess he felt sorry for me and wanted me to see what a real eclipse picture looks like. LOL. But the best part was, in his message he said he would call us later that day, and he actually did!  We had a wonderful long conversation and got caught up on all of his recent activities and work, etc., and it was really really great to hear from him. So yes, Cheerios, "Grandkids DO make my heart happy!"

In closing I will share the picture and verse I shared on Facebook Monday morning:

Matthew 7:7-11

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 
8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 
9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 
11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!"

Asking, seeking, and knocking...and praying about it, will bring about the blessings that we are seeking. I am thankful that God heard my little prayers about hearing from our grandson...and He answered those prayers.  I truly do give thanks to the Lord for this answered prayer.

What might you be asking, seeking and knocking on God's door about these days? I pray that your prayers will also be heard and answered in God's good time and within His will.
Have a blessed and wonderful week.




17 comments:

  1. What a fun post! I also learned to cook from my mom. She had a Betty Crocker cookbook, much like your moms Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. So I have a Betty Crocker one too - 43 years old now and it's gotten lots of use. Those type of cookbooks are so good for the basics. And church cook books have the best recipes.
    So glad you heard from your grandson. Grandkids do make us happy!

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  2. I learned what i knew from helping my mother, she learned from my dad's sister who lived next door. she married Daddy on her 18th birthday and did not even know how to boil and egg. Her mother, my grandmother did not cook. her dad had a bakery and he did the cooking. I was born with my dads genes and hate all cooking. when I got married i could make a few casseroles, fry any meat in crisco, make rice, potatoes, veggies, but no recipes. mother did not use recipes, she did only southern cooking which meant add bacon grease to everything. she could bake cakes and cookies and did. at age 79 i have never made a cake from scratch or made cookies from scratch or a pie. they were/are bought or made from mixes or frozen cut off cookies
    what i would do with my kitchen if i won the lottery, is either build a house without a kitchen or hire a live in cook
    Nary a cook book in this house. i do one pot stuff, make that 2 pots, spagetti, chili, pastas, and I order pizza online, or fried or rostisere chicken at Publix. I am on the way out the door to the bank and stopping for chicken at Publx..

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  3. I'm so glad you heard from your Grandson. I bet your heart is bursting with happiness. Have a blessed day!

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  4. I'm so happy you enjoyed a great conversation with Noah!!! We're not fond of cereal, but kudos to Cheerios for a cute campaign.
    Your photos of the old recipes remind me of those sitting in my little-used cabinet above the refrigerator. I had to resurrect some images of my own for today's post. There's little chance I'll be making any of these, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. That's a job for someone(s) else after I'm gone.
    I'm right there with you on getting down on our cold, hard kitchen floor. Thankfully, and much to our dogs amusement, I can still reach the kitchen sink lip and pull myself back up again.

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  5. Your kitchen is nice. It's three times bigger than ours. More counter space would be helpful.
    Cooking has never been my thing. I can open cans, throw a few things around but my preparations are nothing to write home about ... or in a blog. *giggle* None of my family were astounding cooks anyway. I blame them.
    Glad to hear Noah finally contacted you. He's young. Doesn't realize that all of us have a time limit, yet, and can be gone at any moment. Age will soften him like it did me, I'm sure.
    Sweet post. I wonder if every home in America has that same Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I have mine too from 1974, not that I ever use it. Steve is the Master Chef. He just wings it. Now that fella can cook! Yowza.
    Blessings. 💙

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  6. While your main cookbook has been Better Homes & Gardens, mine has been Betty Crocker. Our books (and the soiled pages) look similar. I hear you about getting things out of the lower cabinets. Had to deal with that less than an hour ago in my kitchen!

    Peace and continued comfort to you on this anniversary of your mother's passing. I think I've shared with you before that May 7th is the anniversary of my daddy's passing, 38 years ago today. I, too, look forward to seeing him in Heaven some day.

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  7. I think the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook makes a great wedding gift. I think I got mine when I got married too. Loved your answers! Have a nice week. ♥

    https://lorisbusylife.blogspot.com/

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  8. Your have a lovely kitchen. I wish I could make pies. I fail miserably at making a flaky pie crust... even though I also have that cookbook!! A fun Tuesday 4!! xo

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  9. I enjoyed your comments, especially about hearing from your grandson.
    Have a great week.

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  10. Unexpected surprises do happen, Pam, like the photo and then call from your grandson which really made your day! I know what you mean about reaching in cabinets to get pots and pans. The apt kitchen has 2 bottom cabinets where we keep outs. Recently, Patrick installed some pull out drawers which now make getting the assorted pans and lids out so much easier, so well worth the expense even if it was on us. Since we live here, we have to do what works best for us and getting up from thev floor is never easy...or fun😉

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  11. Thanks for joining in! So happy you heard from your grandson. Boys are not big on keeping in touch but it means so much to parents/grands. They will see that one day. My daughter's kitchen is small but has a big pot/pan drawer and they are very cool. I think Home Depot sells them.

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  12. I really enjoyed your post, especially about your mother. We miss them, don't we, our mothers. It's beautiful the way you write about her. My sister's birthday is on May 7th. So, for me, May is a joyful month.

    That bird, it's so nice that you shared it. I'm writing from my author's blog this time. Love, Aritha. The link: https://arithaschrijfblog.blogspot.com/

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  13. A couple weeks ago youngest son (17) came out of his room and said he just felt like he should come out and pray with me. Little did he know it was an answer to prayer. :)

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  14. I have the same cookbook that was my mothers! enjoyed your post and reading about your mother, I miss my mom daily. love the woodpecker aren't they fun to watch? I am trying to get back into blogging. I do have a new post up!

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  15. Hi Pamela, that looks like a well-used cookbook! I think I have that cookbook packed away with other cookbooks. You have a big kitchen! Your mom is pretty! My mom will be gone 14 years at the end of the month. She was a great cook! Happy Mother's Day!

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  16. Your kitchen is very pretty! I have or did have, a Betty Crocker Cookbook from when we married. Tammy has it now, she loves old things and I've given her several old treasures. I loved the pictures of your old cookbooks and recipes. I did okay when I was cooking for my family, but cooking never was my favorite thing to do, I rather be behind a desk working with numbers! - which I did for many years.

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  17. Your kitchen is an amazing place, filled with love and good things. Your mother was so beautiful, and taught you well - we all aspire to be more like our own mothers! I've used bought pie crust myself, but can make my own too, lol! I loved your memories of your Betty Crocker cookbook, mine looks much the same, much loved and worn! I'm so glad you were in contact with your grandson, what a blessing! Praying that he thinks to call you more often, as I know how that cheerios your heart! :)

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