This and That

Here is a photo of the vintage tablecloth I bought while on the island last weekend.  I love it!  I need more of the longer ones too.

Overnight breakfast casserole has been made and baked.  We love this one.  It's spicy but good!  I don't make it often, as it's loaded with sausage.  I'll be playing around with homemade sausage to see if I can whip up a better flavor and much healthier.

I finally got a few bunches of swiss chard in the freezer.  I lso froze the stems for saute's with the leaves, or to mix in with celery and onion as well this winter.  I blanched the leaves for 2 minutes and the stems for 3 minutes (bagged separately).

We finally got our Kelley's Island Christmas ornament in the mail.  She only made 200 and I ordered it during our July trip there.  It's our first island ornament to go on our Christmas tree this winter.

Well, we are going through another rough patch with family and health.  Hubby's sister  "P" was in the hospital twice, and then moved to a bigger hospital one hour away.  Emergency surgery was scheduled for Wednesday.  My husband went to the hospital very early to see his sister prior to surgery (which is now delayed until they drain her infection).  I had to stay home because it takes me took long to re-bandage my leg and get ready.  Honestly, I was afraid to go, so I'm glad I was home.  I can't risk catching any germs with my leg procedure coming up.  By the way, I'm just waiting on the insurance to approve one of two possible procedures.  One is a quick in-and-out where the veins stay in, and the other is invasive, I'm put under and the veins removed.

While he was up at the hospital, I had plenty to keep myself busy, along with the puppy (who is doing great by the way).  I had one mess of a kitchen.  I got the tables completely cleaned off (they sure can pile up when the wifey is not able to do it).  I had boxes, dry teas, the griddle, my mixer, blender, food processor, and a lot more that needed to be put away.  It was nice at the end of the day to have vintage tablecloths donning the clean tables (we have two, for large gatherings).

I'm glad I had time to do some de-cluttering and tidy up time.  I uncovered my pre-pay form for propane, which saves us almost $100 on our next fill up.  The deal was expiring 9-30, so I am so glad I found that and got that done.

We also had a birth in the family.  We have another grandnephew now.  

Garden Goodness Arrives!

Yep.  You read the title of this post correctly.  I'm so glad we are getting "something" from this garden.  I picked these last Monday morning - 4.5# of hot goodness.   I have more on the plants too.

We also enjoyed a homegrown bell pepper and some of those jalapenos for dinner - southwestern black bean burritos (and they were delicious!).

I canned one batch of cowboy candy.  I have forgotten how long it takes to slice up the peppers.  I'm just happy I got some canned.

So happy to get something from the garden this year.  Now I sort of feel on the normal side again.  I have green bell peppers out there yet too.  I'm waiting until after this week's rain, in hopes for some to get a bit bigger.