Tuesday 4~Shall We Cook?

 

Shall We Cook?


Welcome to Toni Taddeo's Tuesday 4 kept in memory of her.

Let's talk about food this week shall we?

Most people enjoy eating good food after all.


1.What is/are your favorite foods to eat ?
Lately that is becoming a more difficult thing to answer. My tastes and gastronomic issues keep changing.  The things I used to love to eat I really can't eat anymore...no sweets (or very little), no spicy foods and very little pasta/cheesy/tomato sauce dishes.   I find that I do better if I stick to eating about the same kinds of things every day...breakfast with eggs/buttered toast or grits. No jelly or biscuits, and I need to stay away from pancakes and syrup.  I don't like milk, so I don't eat cereal, but I do like yogurt and granola and fresh fruit, so sometimes I have that for breakfast, but if not, I will have it for a snack later. I also eat peanut butter with apple butter on cinnamon raisin toast (Pepperidge Farm brand) sometimes.

Lunch: I prefer a salad with lettuce and spinach, shredded cheese, maybe a little bit of diced deli ham or if I have cooked chicken I will put that on it. Marie's Cole Slaw dressing on top and also some craisins and a small sprinkle of Fritos. We usually also have some kind of fruit with our lunch, like cantaloupe, cherries, grapes or apples.  For supper: It varies. Hubby likes some kind of meat and potatoes or a one pot meal of some kind.  He also loves hot dogs and beans, so we have that at least once a week.

2.How often do you cook at home and what kind of meals do you make?
I cook at home every day. We MIGHT go out to lunch or breakfast occasionally, but not nearly as often as we used to. Just too expensive!  See above #1 for answers...we eat a lot of stuff made with ground beef, pork loin, or boneless skinless chicken thighs or breasts. Hubby prefers potatoes or rice instead of  pasta. Vegetables vary according to whatever is fresh ...right now we eat a lot of summer or zucchini squash or broccoli.  Or  Carrots.  I would love to eat more fish, but it is expensive and I don't like to smell up the kitchen (LOL), so if I want fish we go out to eat it.

3. When you go out to eat what foods do you find yourself ordering most?

Depends on what kind of place it is. I like to order salads and seafood if available...salmon if affordable.

If it is a BBQ place, I will get BBQ pork, cole slaw, and either a baked sweet potato or fried okra. 

4. Can you recommend a restaurant in your area? Why do you like it?

Well, my favorite place for special occasions is Corky Bells, a seafood place on the St. John's River. I've shown lots of pictures from there over the years. But lately it seems they are always so crowded and the line is too long, so it kind of takes the joy out of going when you have to wait so long. It is about 15 miles from us.

Here's the last time we were there, with our blogging friend Terri from "Your Friend From Florida" fame, with her son Joey and our kids. We had a great time together, but we had to wait several HOURS to eat!  Still, it gave us time to visit, which was wonderful.  

It's a fun place on the river, and sometimes you even might see an alligator!  

Oh, and I mustn't forget, a few years ago we met another very special blogging friend there for supper...Debbi from Debbi's Front Porch, 

and we also brought our special little friends Lily Grace and her Tracie and AmyBelle, who are "cousins", since Debbi is Lily Grace's special "Auntie Debbi" who actually sent Lily Grace to me in the first place!

I don't think Corky Bell's was ever quite the same after our visit there! LOL. 

Other than that, we might occasionally go to Chili's for their lunch special deal, or the other day we picked up a great hamburger at a small local hamburger place, "Hog Wild Burgers and Shakes".  They are a subsidiary of the the former favorite Hog Wild Country Cafe' that burned and had to close, which made us very sad. They now own our local "True Grits" country diner, but it's just not the same. The other diner we have is Nanna's Country Cafe', but it is very small and doesn't have much atmosphere, but the food is okay and affordable. We may go there tomorrow morning for breakfast because it's time for me to have lab work done, and we usually go out for breakfast after that.

I guess that's all on this topic for now!

Thanks for joining in!

Matthew 6:25-27, 31-34

25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 

26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 

27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

This beautiful Snowy Egret landed in the pine tree right in front of our back porch this morning, on Still Waters Pond

They very seldom land in the trees close enough for me to get a good look at them, so this was a real treat!

He was God's special messenger of "Do Not Worry" for us today!

31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 

32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. 

For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, 

and all these things shall be added to you. 

34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Speaking of not worrying, we were able to get another appointment for hubby this week on Thursday, back with our PCP, and THIS time we are supposed to see the one we had wanted to see last week. We hope to pursue some further referrals/recommendations this time, and hopefully we will start getting some answers.  Thank you all for your kind words and encouragement on my last post. You are all the best folks ever!!  Blessings to all of you!!

Tuesday 4~ Foody Questions

This picture reminds me of my mother in her 
kitchen...her mixer looked a lot like that too!

Foody Questions

Welcome to Toni's Tuesday 4..
Can we talk about food ?


1. What was your favorite suppertime meal when you were a kid or a teen? How about fav breakfast and lunch while you're at it.

I'm trying to remember...that was such a LONG time ago! LOL.  My mother was an excellent cook, but she also worked a full time job from the time I entered first grade. (I was the baby of the family).  So anything she cooked had to be done after 5:00 p.m. No such thing as Crock Pots back then.  I remember her Salisbury Steaks and Mashed Potatoes and gravy, and we probably had green peas for a vegetable.  Her salisbury steaks were really like hamburgers with onions and egg/bread mixed up like you would for a meat loaf. She would brown them in her electric skillet, which she used for almost every meal, Drain off the grease, and then add water and cover them and let them simmer until done, then make the gravy with the pan dippings. Her mashed potatoes were always good, and she used frozen peas, never canned unless they were those little LeSeur peas once in a while.  I still like to make this meal, but hubby prefers green beans instead of the peas.  Oh, and my mother used to make us "salads" of things like canned pears with cottage cheese or also a pear half with a dollop of "Miracle Whip" and some shredded cheese on top, on a bed of lettuce.   Or we'd have canned peaches or fruit cocktail or some other kind of fruit. Tossed salads were rare back then, but sometimes we'd get a wedge of lettuce with homemade French Dressing (Miracle Whip mixed with Ketchup). My mother always used Miracle Whip instead of mayonnaise.  I never had mayonnaise until I met my husband, and he did not like Miracle Whip, so I switched to mayonnaise.

Here's a picture of my mother in her kitchen, cooking up one of her wonderful meals!

Do you see the mixer in the corner?  Isn't this a lot like the picture of that young woman above in her kitchen? Just maybe a little more modern.

Breakfast when I was growing up was usually cereal because we didn't have time to cook breakfast before school.  Pancakes and eggs, bacon, etc., would be a special treat sometimes on the weekends, or sometimes for supper!  

Lunch...well, of course I ate in the school cafeteria, and we had really good "home-cooked" meals back then, with home made yeast rolls that you could smell baking when we walked down the walkway to the cafeteria.  I remember spaghetti probably more than anything else at school.  At home for lunch we would have sandwiches like ham salad or egg salad or peanut butter and banana. (I never remember having jelly with my peanut butter when I was growing up).  

 
2. How about now? What is your favorite dinnertime meal? And for breakfast and lunchtime?j

Dinnertime now?  Favorite?  Hmmm, I like to keep it simple...hubby likes one-pot meals, like different kinds of meat or chicken/rice or noodles (he doesn't realize it takes two pots to do that usually, plus a vegetable or salad).   Or soups or stews with beef or chicken, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes, etc. 

For lunch I usually have a tossed salad with lettuce and fresh spinach and some shredded cheese and maybe some deli ham or chicken if I have any left over. I also usually eat an apple with my lunch.  

Breakfast, we rotate things around. I don't eat cereal nowadays. I don't like milk.  I sometimes eat yogurt with granola and fresh fruit like strawberries or blueberries in season. I cook eggs and toast and grits or make omelettes and sometimes we have sausage or ham or "Spam" with our eggs/toast. Hubby likes biscuits or waffles once in a while. I try to avoid anything with syrup or jelly anymore. I can't eat the sweets, but occasionally I will splurge and have pancakes or waffles or french toast, but I have to have a good helping of eggs or meat to balance out the starches.


3. How has your taste in food changed over the years.

I've learned to like a lot of new things over the years that we never had when I was a kid at home.  Things like Mexican food, Pizza, Lasagna, and seafood.  And I eat a lot more salads now.  And I can't eat hardly any sweets anymore.  I rarely want to eat dessert, and if I do, I regret it usually.


4. What's for supper at your house tonight?

Well, I am writing this on Monday night, and we had chili for supper.  Here's a picture of the leftovers: 

And we'll probably have more of it tomorrow night...sometimes I like to put it over lettuce and tortilla chips with some shredded cheese and make it like a taco salad, except it's chili instead of taco seasoning. Still pretty much the same thing. Or we will have chili dogs (hot dogs with chili on top).  

I didn't get around to doing a Monday post. It was a busy day. We went to the grocery store in the morning and then we had Bible Study in the afternoon, and then I made this chili.  Plus I am continuing the little walk across the street twice a day to feed the neighborhood cats  at my neighbor's house.  That may become a regular thing as I don't see her being able to keep it up. Eventually we may have to lead the cats over here to our house for feeding time, but one thing at a time. 

We had a nice weekend...nothing too major.  Our youngest son Scott came over yesterday after we got home from church and had lunch with us and got to use our new washing machine to get his laundry caught up!  He was pretty pleased with it too! LOL. Then he left and went back home over an hour's drive and realized he'd left his cell phone here.  We had found it, but had no way to contact him to let him know we had it. (He doesn't have a computer...just his phone!) Thankfully he had another old phone at home that he could turn on and connect it with his wifi and send us a message on Messenger. Couldn't call us, but we got the message and told him that his phone was here. He said he'd be back to get it today when he got off work.  Poor guy, had to drive another hour + to get here. Thankfully he works early hours and gets off by noon usually, so he didn't have to fight too much rush hour traffic.  We were at Bible study when he got here so we didn't get to see him, but that's okay. He'll be back on Friday because we plan to celebrate my hubby's birthday here on Friday with the family. My sister and her hubby are driving up almost two hours to be here, and then they will go back home that evening. I invited them to spend the night, but sometimes that's harder than just driving home.  I may just go ahead and prepare the guest room just in case they change their minds.  Oh, and Tuesday, today! (the 11th) is their 59th Wedding Anniversary, so we will be wishing them a Happy Anniversary too!!  

Just to change the mood a bit...it's time to gather "Fairy Bouquets" again from the yard:

I love to gather these delicate little purple wildflowers now before we have to start mowing the grass again, because once that happens, they will be gone.

And the Carolina Jessamine vine is starting to bloom again along the fence row and in the tree tops.

Oh, and I discovered something unusual happening in our yard:

What on earth?  

Oh! It really IS a Gnome Home!

And it looks like it is inhabited!

And this fella is ready to welcome us to come in and sit a spell...

Oh! What fun!! 

"Gnome Sweet Gnome"....LOL.

Looks like the Woodpeckers may have been helping to build some more rooms in this "Gnome Home".

This looks mysterious and interesting...I wonder where that crevice leads to?  Wouldn't you like to be tiny enough to find out?  

So fascinating to discover this little place out there in "Fairyland"!  I expect there will be more activities and adventures there in the future. We'll have to wait and see.

I love this verse:

Isaiah 55:12  NKJV

12 “For you shall go out with joy,

And be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills

Shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

Can't you just picture that in your mind?  When we follow the Lord, we do have joy and peace, and we cn actually feel the joy of all of God's Creation around us breaking forth into singing...and yes, even the trees of the field shall clap their hands!

These are some of the verses that precede that passage above, to give it more clarity:

"6 Seek the Lord while He may be found,

Call upon Him while He is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

8 For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10“For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."

Some wonderful words to ponder as we settle down for the day and rest of the week.  Read them and then look for the ways God's Word is being accomplished  in and around you as you go through your days.  You may be amazed!!

Okay, friends, that's all for this post.  If you want to join in for the "Tuesday 4 Foody Questions",  click HERE and go see what good things are cooking with our other friends.  Be Blessed my friends!!

Tuesday 4: The Best!

 

The BEST!


Here is an older Tuesday 4 from Toni Taddeo.  Why not play along with us?

I was having difficulty coming up with good answers, so I decided to ask my hubby these questions to see what he would say.  I found his responses interesting, and they helped me come up with some of my own. So here we go:

1. What was the best thing you have ever bought?

He said: The electric Tea Pot!

Yes! It's so much fun to watch the pot boil!!  Hubby insisted on buying this for me after my numerous occasions of letting the teapot boil dry on the stove.  We tried whistling tea kettles, tried setting a timer...but I hate to tell you how many teapots were ruined on top of the stove by my neglect.  I'd set the full teapot on the stove and turn on the burner, and then I'd get distracted by...well, life! Children, phone calls, laundry, the computer, a good book, a knock at the door...you name it, they were all good excuses...but since he bought me this electric teapot there have been no more incidences of teapots boiling dry because it shuts itself off when it is done boiling.  Now, I must confess I have let the water sit there and get cold again before remembering to pour a cup of tea...but, well, what can I say? 

That's life!

And the electric rice cooker is another miracle invention that hubby discovered when he was home doing the cooking after his early retirement and before I retired.  Bless his heart, he who had never really ever cooked more than hot dogs before decided he would cook supper every night while I was still working. It was the best thing that ever happened in our then 40+ years of marriage! I would come home after a long day at the office and a 45 minute drive to walk in the door and smell the wonderful aromas of supper being ready to eat!! To me, that was just the best thing ever! 

Sadly, once I retired he forgot how to cook.  But in the meantime, he bought this rice cooker because again, you can put the water and rice in the pot, plug it in and turn it on and in about 20 minutes you have perfectly cooked rice! No boiling over, no scorched bottoms...a great invention I must admit!

 2. What was the best book you have ever read?

So I asked my theologian husband this question, and I disqualified the Bible, because, obviously, that is the BEST book anyone could EVER read, so he had to come up with a 2nd choice. I was surprised by his answer of Billy Graham's classic "Angels, God's Secret Agents". 

It truly is a great book, highly recommended. Sadly, we no longer have it on our bookshelf. We purged a lot of books over the years as we made our many moves.   

I also thought of a favorite book or two, but these were from childhood:

I was just sharing these stories with Lily Grace...  (Lily asked me to apologize because she hasn't had any new adventures lately. We've been a bit remiss in going places where she can go and have an adventure, but I've promised her something special soon)

I am sure you all remember this classic "The Little Engine That Could"... I always thought this a great little book to encourage children as well as adults.  Sometimes all we need is for others to believe in us and encourage us to try!!

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

And it's always good to hear from our friends and loved ones some words of praise and cheer as we do accomplish our goals in life...something we should also remember to do for others who may be struggling with their load...they may just need a little cheering on their way!

3. What is the best food you've ever eaten?

Hubby had to really think about his answer and be very careful not to insult his wife sitting there beside him waiting for his answer.   He very diplomatically responded with something that we both could agree upon: my mother's coconut cream pie!  And he quickly added that I make it just as good as she did...but he explained that he'd never had a real coconut cream pie until he tasted my mother's, and he's never forgotten it!  This is a link to a post I wrote about her pies with a picture of my attempt at making it just like hers.

4. What was the best movie or TV series you've ever watched?

Hubby's answer was "The Ten Commandments", "El Cid", and "King of Kings".

For me it would have to be "The Sound of Music".  I will never forget watching that movie in the first ever cinema theater in our area. It was so awesome!! I learned every song and thought I could sing them all just like Julie Andrews.  (I was about 15 when it came out).  I used to sing the songs in the shower, and one time when I came out of the shower to go to my room, my parents were sitting in the living room  and had been listening to me sing.  They said, "we didn't know you could sing like that! Maybe we should get you some voice lessons!"   I wasn't sure if I should be insulted or complimented! But I never took the voice lessons at that time. I did have some later as an adult, and I gave it up because every time I'd practice the scales, the dog would start howling.  Besides, my voice kept dropping from soprano to low alto...can't do the Julie Andrews routine at all anymore! LOL. But I do love to sing and make a joyful noise to the Lord. That's what really matters most.


So now you have our answers!  

So what would your answers be? Get blogging and let us know.

Tuesday Four ~ All About Food!

Welcome to Tuesday 4 in honor of  Toni Taddeo. Thank you to Annie over at Cottage by the Sea for putting this together each week. I may not always participate, but I look forward to seeing what others are sharing.  You can check HERE to see what others are sharing.

Food!

1.  What do you have at breakfast? What can you recommend?

Breakfast at our house is pretty simple. Depends on our mood for the day. Some days we have eggs, grits, and toast. Other days we have waffles (toaster!!), sausage and eggs. At least once a week I am baking some variety of Bran Muffins, depending upon what fruit I have available. I add blueberries, or diced apples, or even canned pears or peaches to the mixture to add moisture and goodness. I've shared the recipe HERE BEFORE. They are very good and keep well for a few days until all eaten up!

Other mornings we may just have toast with peanut butter and jelly on it. I prefer cinnamon raisin toast with peanut butter and apple butter on mine.  Once in a while I bake biscuits and make home-made applesauce to put over the biscuits. That is usually a fall treat that we enjoy when the weather gets a little cooler and especially if someone brings us some fresh apples from up north when they travel! Click HERE for a story about that!  

2. What is your favorite meal of the day and why?

Hmm, that is hard to tell. My favorite meal is when we have someone to share it with! Sundays we have been meeting friends from our church at our local restaurant after church for brunch. Some eat breakfast, some eat lunch. No matter...it's the company that makes it good!  Also we usually try to have our "kids" over one night a week for pizza or whatever else is easy or fun to do.  Again, it's the company that makes it good no matter what the food is. Before the pandemic we would have family gatherings of the extended family at our house for birthday celebrations and holidays. We haven't been able to do much of that these past several months, and I truly miss it.  We didn't get to have our annual 4th of July picnic with homemade ice-cream either! 

HERE is a link to a story about those special memories.  

3.  Tell us about your typical lunch or dinner.

Lunch for me is usually a salad. I like to make a spinach and lettuce salad, with shredded cheese, craisins, and sometimes walnuts or pecans, or slices of apple. I use Marie's Cole Slaw Dressing on top. It is a creamy dressing with celery seed in it, and is my favorite.  If I have any hard boiled eggs or cucumber or bacon, I add that too. 

Dinner seems to run a cycle each week, depending on the season and what's on special at the store. I normally cook a hot meal as there are three of us for "supper" usually. Our youngest adult son lives here with us and so we eat when he gets home from work. Sometimes he grills chicken or hamburgers for us. He's also a great quesadilla cook, and manages to use up leftovers in creative ways for himself. (He used to work as a cook in restaurants for many years, so he can pretty well cook anything).  Anyway, some of our routine meals are:

Boneless Chicken breasts or thighs, or whole chicken cooked the "spatchcock chicken" method in an iron skillet in the oven.  (you can find recipes online).  Meatloaf, salisbury steaks with gravy and mashed potatoes, pork loin roast, burritos or tacos and refried beans, taco salad made with chili...I like mine as a salad, and hubby prefers the chili, so it is a win-win. Of course, good old spaghetti and a salad.  These are just a few favorites.

If we go out to eat, I like to get seafood, as I do not cook it at home. During winter months we do a lot of "one-pot meals", like hobo stew (recipe can be found HERE)... and cornbread.

4.  Were meals different growing up or do you continue much as your mother did? 

My mother was an excellent cook, and even though she worked full time and often had to pick up something to cook at the grocery store on her way home from work, she managed to always cook a nutritious and delicious meal.  I learned a lot watching her cook.  Once when she went up north to visit her mother who was ill, I was left in charge of cooking for my dad and myself. (everyone else had already left home).  I remember especially making him pork chops, and he bragged and bragged on my cooking to mom when she came home. So I guess I did okay. LOL.  My mother was also a wonderful pie baker. I've shared that before HERE, in  "The Pie Legacy".  I don't claim to bake or cook as well as she did, but she definitely set a good example...and set a good table.  She was a stickler for using real dishes, glasses, and setting the table correctly for all meals. (and we didn't have a dishwasher...well, except for my sister and me.)   I do the same thing, unless we have a huge crowd and then we use paper products, but I still decorate the table somehow with a centerpiece and candles. And we light the candles when we have guests, and sometimes when we don't have guests. Especially in winter when it is darker earlier.

Christmas Dinner 2019

So that pretty well sums up meals at our house. And most importantly, we always give thanks before every meal. Even with the one family gathering we had for Memorial Day, since we weren't supposed hold hands due to "social distancing", we bumped elbows when asking the blessing. And we thank the Lord for His blessings upon our home and family and friends. We are very thankful indeed.

I hope you enjoyed this rendition of "Tuesday Four" questions and answers. Be sure to go to the Tuesday Four LINKUP to see what others have shared. Thank you, Annie, for making this possible today.

Friday Foto Friends...Some Post-Easter Thoughts and Ideas - updated

Daffodils and Easter Bunnies...Happy Post-Easter Blessings...

I wonder how many of you had ham for Easter dinner?  Probably quite a few...

Well, I cooked a ham for Easter dinner, but we really didn't sit down and have an Easter dinner 

per se'.  A lot of unusual stuff was happening in our family last weekend, and so our normal Easter dinner plans had to be put on hold.  Therefore, I had a lot of ham left over.  We tried to eat ham a couple of times during the week, but our at-home family has shrunken in size this past year, and we just don't seem to eat up the leftovers like we used to.  So, I resorted to doing what my Grandma Mursch  (paternal) used to do with leftover ham after Easter or Christmas dinner....make a ham loaf!  Have you ever had ham loaf before?  If not, you have missed a treat.  For my Friday Foto Friends I have decided to show you how to make a ham loaf from start to finish.  

1.  You need something to grind up your leftover, fully cooked ham. I use this ancient meat grinder, which belonged to my mother.  Her notes are written on the plastic bag:

"Used on Clarion Farm 1950-on...Grinder, meats, etc."

(this meat grinder is actually as old as me!)

(The Clarion farm was in Pennsylvania, where I was born. However, we moved to Florida when I was almost six years old...but my mother continued to use this meat grinder until she gave it to me many years later)

2.  Set up the meat grinder by attaching it to the counter top or a table, and place a pan under the grinder to catch the meat as you grind it.

3.  Prepare the ham by trimming off excess fat and skin, and cut it into chunks that will fit into the port on the grinder.

4. Feed the meat into the grinder as you turn the handle...watch out that you don't get your fingers down into the grinder...we don't want "Pam" in the Ham...LOL!!!  (Even if Pam IS a bit of a "ham")

5.  Keep grinding until you have at least two pounds of ground ham.

6.  Oh, this is important: here is my grandmother's recipe.  You will note that it calls for 2 lbs. of ground ham, and 1/2 lb. of ground pork.  Sometimes it is difficult to get the ground fresh pork, so I use ground beef instead, and it turns out just as good.  I think the ground pork or ground beef are needed to add some necessary moisture to the ham (a.k.a fat) to keep it from being too dry.  (also, I think I usually use a little more than just 1/2 lb. of this...it's more like a pound)** NOTE: 4/13/2020: My sweet and smart daughter-in-love Rose has started making this hamloaf for us, and she has improved the recipe by adding ground sausage instead of the ground fresh pork or hamburger. It adds some great flavor, and I believe even my Grandma Mursch would approve!!

7.  Next cube or finely chop up in a food chopper at least 1 cup of bread crumbs.  I have found that using the food chopper makes the crumbs really fine, which is okay, but actually I kind of like using the torn up/cubed bread better...the texture of the loaf is not quite so "packed".

8.  I mix all of the ingredients in the large stainless steel roasting pan...the meat, bread crumbs, 1 cup of milk, and 2 eggs. Also a 1/2 teaspoon of salt (this is optional, as the ham is probably salty enough).

9. Next comes the fun part...pat, pat, pat the meat and ingredients together into a nice fat loaf.  I prefer it to be a little flatter and wider as opposed to a higher loaf.

10.  Keep patting and shaping (I call it "spanking") the loaf until it is compacted well together.

Then put the loaf into the oven at 375 degrees, and set the oven for 1 &1/4 hours.
(1 hour, 15 minutes).

(Here's a side note...while baking the ham loaf it is also a good opportunity to bake some potatoes, scalloped potatoes, or sweet potatoes in the oven at the same time...just a thought to take advantage of that nice hot oven and have a complete meal when done...)

11.  Meanwhile, mix together the ingredients for the glaze.
3/4 Cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup white vinegar, and 1 teaspoon of prepared mustard. I use the spicy brown mustard.

Stir those ingredients together in a pyrex measuring cup, stirring until the sugar is dissolved pretty well.

12.  When the ham loaf has baked at 375 degrees for 1 & 1/4 hours, pour the glaze mixture over the top of the meat, and baste to be sure all the meat is covered with the glaze.  Reduce the temperature in the oven to 300 or 325, and bake for about 3/4 hour. Keep an eye on it, and baste occasionally. If it is getting too brown or burning, turn down the heat, but also you may be able to take it out of the oven a little sooner.  I have found that 1/2 hour is usually sufficient for the glaze to bake on.

I forgot to take a picture of the ham loaf when it came out of the oven before we cut it and devoured half of it...so here is a picture of the half-eaten ham loaf!

It is so yummy, it is hard to have left-overs, but, I must tell you that the left over ham loaf makes wonderful grilled sandwiches...put a slice of swiss cheese on the slice of meat and grill with your favorite bread...It is also wonderful as a cold sandwich, using a little mayo and maybe some mustard, if you want, on bread or a hamburger bun.  Either way, hot or cold, it makes a great sandwich the next day!!!

This was a Grandma Mursch specialty that my father always asked for, so after my grandmother died, I made it for my father several times. I don't recall my mother ever making it. I think she always let her mother in law do it for the family as one of her specialties.  So now, this is also a Steiner family favorite, as my hubby and sons love it...and I introduced it to my new daughter- in- law after our Christmas dinner, and she already has made it one of their family favorites. The tradition continues on from generation to generation!!** See previous note above regarding how Rose has "improved" this recipe for our family!


Our Post -Easter Table... haven't quite wanted to put the bunnies away yet...and I just found these daffodils at the grocery store today...they are to be a gift to my sister for her birthday when she comes to celebrate this weekend! She LOVES daffodils, and we can't grow them here in Florida...so this is always a special treat...(and part of another family tradition...our mother used to always put a little vase of daffodils in the center of an angel food cake for my sister's birthday cake. Now I bake the cake for my sister, and I always try really hard to find some daffodils to put in the center. Sometimes we can't find them and have to use fake daffodils...but real are so much nicer!!)

And it wouldn't be spring and "Easter" season without a few real "Easter Bunnies" hopping around!

 This one got caught with his mouth full of some kind of plant in my yard...or...maybe he's just giving me a "raspberry"  (a green raspberry) LOL.  Hoppy Spring Time everyone!!

Here are some post-Easter thoughts spoken by our Lord Himself...

Excerpts from Luke 24:36-43

"Peace to you"...

Why are you troubled?

And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

Behold My hands and My feet, 

that it is I, Myself.

Handle Me and see,

for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."

When He had said this, he showed them His hands and His feet.

But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled,

He said to them,

"Have you any food here?"

So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.

And He took it and ate in their presence."

John 3:16

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,

that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

And that's what Easter is all about!

Have a blessed "post-Easter" season...and remember that Jesus IS the reason for THIS season too...

Now let's hop over to Deb's place and see what our other Friday Foto Friends are posting this week!!