Finally... a day at home

I am so happy to be able to stay at home all day! I can slowly go about the household duties that need attention, not to mention I had time for a second cup of coffee.

For all mothers of preschoolers, yes... someday in your life... you will be able to sip coffee sitting down... two cups! :)

I've been spending way too much of my food budget on eating out. Even fast food is getting more expensive (and isn't all that good for you). Yesterday I was able to do a very quick assembling of cole slaw (easy when you start with the packaged slaw ingredients already shredded), corn from the freezer, and broiled hot dogs (at least on whole wheat hot dog buns). We rarely have hot dogs except when we grill "burgers and dogs" during the summer. But they were great for a change, as well as being a taste (literally) of warmer weather to come.

I did have time to make Tulip Time Brownies (aka: Texas Sheet Cake) and then hide the pan in the cold garage to surprise the guys with a favorite dessert. We call them Tulip Time Brownies since that was the name of the original recipe that was printed out for all of us who volunteered to bake them during Tulip Time, when we lived in Holland (Michigan). Once you have the ingredients, this is a very quick "cake" to bake.

One of the books I found at the Goodwill near the college was Beni's Family Cookbook For the Jewish Holidays. This is the cutest book! I believe even Christian children enjoy learning about the Jewish Holidays (since they are part of the Bible) and the recipes in this book will be fun to make. I've included an Amazon link since they have many used copies available for a very inexpensive amount.

This book has the cutest illustrations. This is part of a series of books for Jewish children about Beni. It's too bad Sheila (my Jewish friend) doesn't have grandchildren, yet. Hmmm... I wonder if there is such a thing as a Grammie hope chest?

Yesterday afternoon was spent waiting for my husband at the Veteran's Administration clinic (another afternoon from home which wasn't planned). Since he was in the doctor's office for two hours, I had time to read most of the book I'd taken with me. I had picked up A View from the Porch Swing by Becky Freeman on the way out the door, one of my book sale purchases.

I found it to be a delightful book. It was "just right" for reading in a waiting room... simple enough to read with many distractions around me... profound enough to provide spiritual food to a soul running on empty.

This book is ten years old so there are plenty of inexpensive copies online. I truly enjoyed it and as I said... there is some deep spiritual food mixed in with that humor. Good stuff...

Now that I'm able to post (almost) daily again, I should mention that you can comment on any existing posts. I have the comments set up to come to me at the Coffee Tea Books & Me e-mail address. I received comments last week from three different readers who were sent to old posts via Google.

I have not had a chance to return any e-mails as I had hoped. Do be patient with me. I love to receive comments and e-mails... we really do read (and blog) to know we are not alone. :)