“The best cookies are the ones made with love, lots of chocolate chips, and a lot of leftover Valentine’s Day candy.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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Well, I’m down to my last roll of chocolate chip cookie dough in the freezer. Oh no! Only one left. I think I started out making ten. Where did they go? (In my tummy, maybe?”) To be honest, I did give more away than I ate.
So, when I get the urge to bake some cookies, I take out a roll of my homemade chocolate chip cookie dough from the freezer. I had several boxes of those cute heart shaped Valentine’s Day candy lying around the kitchen. I know! Who has left over candy? I bought a whole bunch to give away, and ended up with some left over. I saved the cute little heart shaped boxes for some future arts and crafts project.( Artists don’t throw anything away that can become a craft.)
I sliced the candy in half, then took a slice of cookie dough, and covered it up with the dough and flattened it out. A surprise in the middle. Who doesn’t like surprises? I filled up two baking sheets and had a bit of dough left over, so I made two giant cookies with all the remaining cut up chocolate candy. Some had caramel and some had mint filling and others with all kinds of fun fillings. I couldn’t waste the candy, right? They were so good, especially right out of the oven. Yum!
“When you have so much fun playing and creating crafts and artwork, ya just gotta share.”
~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis
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This was a fun little project. I was trying to think of a few quick and easy projects to use when Helene and I go to Towne Creek this Friday. We haven’t been able to meet with our senior art friends in just about a year now. We are going to wear masks and distance, with only one person per table, but it will be so good to see everyone again. Yay!
I just used a wood shape for a template to trace and Crayola washable markers and water.
Here’s another one with a similar concept, but then I glued a small wooden cross in the middle for a 3-D look. SO EASY! (I made a regular time video of this, but it’s taking forever to upload, so I may give up on adding the video now. Yep, taking forever. I’ll see if it ever uploads and I’ll add it on later on tonight. 🤦♀️
OK…an hour later… here’s the other video…
See ya later alligator… oops, or is it a crocodile?
“The moon will guide you through the night with her brightness, but she will always dwell in the darkness, in order to be seen.” ― Shannon L. Alder
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Another wonderful Sunday. The sun was shining and the weather was most pleasant. A fine day to watch Mass on TV this morning.
Today’s Gospel for Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion started with preparations for the Passover, the Last Supper, betrayals, false testimonies, sentencing, crucifixion, death and burial of Jesus.
The Passion readings are always so sad. The cruelty and betrayal of man, yet Jesus suffered quietly, fulfilling His destiny for our salvation. What more can be said? The beginning of the end and the end proclaiming the beginning.
The rest of my Sunday was absolutely lovely with sunshine, warm breezes, cookies and tea. A few walks in the sunshine and strolling by moonlight.
I watched the orange sun sink in the west, and on my walk home, the spectacular moon started to rise behind the tall trees and rows of houses. I walked down the street to a more open area to watch the beautiful full moon rise in the east. I stood in silence, in awe, and just watched for a very long time. Oh, and took a few pictures, of course.
“It’s okay to be absurd, ridiculous, and downright irrational at times; silliness is sweet syrup that helps us swallow the bitter pills of life.” ― Richelle E. Goodrich
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I went out for my evening walk, and as I cut through the park, Miss Kathy’s cute new little kitten decided to impede my journey. He’s only met me a few times, but he decided he was my new best friend. Hard to walk with kitten slippers.
His companion Juno sauntered over and wanted to see what all the fun was about.
I only had to shoo them back home a couple of times. I didn’t want them to follow me across the street. I walked over 3 miles.
What a lovely evening. It was 80 degrees, not too windy, and a few clouds playing with the sunset. I always see strange shapes and figures in the clouds.
It was clearer on my first lap around, but today, I saw an “alligator running from a crocodile.”
Do you know how to tell the difference between and alligator and a crocodile????? Here’s how….
An ALLIGATOR, you are going to see LATER. And a CROCODILE, you’re going to see AFTER WHILE. Just sayin’ ! That’s one of my favorite jokes. You can tell I don’t get out much.
Here’s hoping you had a great Saturday. And I bet you’re going to borrow my alligator joke, aren’t you?
“Spring is the fountain of love for thirsty winter” ― Munia Khan
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I’ve got this thing about lucky pennies and signs. Here’s my little story. Yesterday, I was heading out for an afternoon walk. I headed across the street to the park when I stopped, turned around and thought, “ I should walk over towards Mr. Larry and Miss Sandy’s house. They live about four blocks away, and I haven’t seen them in months. They usually sit out in their garage from 4-5pm, I walk past and open their garage fridge, grab a beer, and catch up on the neighborhood gossip.
I rounded the last corner and could see down the street, but the garage was closed. I grabbed my cell phone and started dialing their number. I looked down and saw a lucky penny a few houses away. Hmmm? A sign? I smiled.
“Hello, Miss Sandy. The garage is closed. What’s going on?” I joked. Miss Sandy proceeded to tell me, in a raspy voice, that she has been in and out of the hospital and Mr. Larry has stage four lung cancer. (Oh no!) I asked if there was anything I could do.
Miss Sandy said, “What are you doing tomorrow?” I told her I was free all day, and asked how I could help. She needed a ride home from the hospital the next morning. I was happy to offer a ride. The garage door opened and Miss Sandy strolled out and we sat in our designated chairs. I heard about all the health problems, hospitalizations, and doctor’s appointments.
A few minutes later, Mr. Larry walked out and sat in his waiting chair. He had lost a lot of weight and was coughing. We did some catching up on neighborhood gossip and the usual pleasantries and unpleasantries.
Mr. Larry had a doctor’s appointment around the same time Miss Sandy would need a ride home from the hospital after outpatient surgery. He dropped her off at 6:30 this morning, and I picked her up around 10. I was able to sit with her in the recovery room for a while until she was discharged.
I realized that my lucky penny was a sign that I was meant to walk that way yesterday. I always say, “Sometimes God sends you an angel when you need one, and sometimes He sends you to be an angel for someone in need.”
Yep!
It was such a beautiful sunny Spring day that I took two walks today. I put in over 4 miles and enjoyed every minute, with a few stops at the welcoming bench by the pond. The sunset was calm and the evening moon was inspiring.
Now, for my favorite part of Friday night…Black Russian Friday. Cheers!
“Friendship is all about trusting each other, helping each other, loving each other and being crazy together.” ― O. Henry, Heart of the West
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Today, a few girlfriends got together to celebrate the birthday of Linda Grossman, .”WORLD’S GREATEST REALTOR.” Personal blatant plug. She’s the best, and I tell everyone just that. We’ve been friends for a long time and she has seen me through some tough times…”And That’s What Friends Are For.”
Happy birthday Linda!What a lovely vase. I wonder who painted that???Fine wine for a fine lady.
“No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers.”
— Laurie Colwin
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When I cook and bake, I usually don’t use a recipe, but just wing it. My most popular endeavor is called, “try and use up stuff in the freezer and fridge.” Most of my experiments and recipes are more from experience and learning from my mom when I was a girl. She never used recipes either.
The other day, when I made my banana cupcakes and full sheet cake, my incentive was, wow, there’s a whole bunch of bananas in the freezer. What can I make? I also found a container of leftover pecan pie, and a container of milk. I had lots of eggs, butter and cream cheese in the fridge. Miss Sherri was coming over, so I had a captive audience.
Because I had so many bananas, I had to use two cake mixes. I mushed up the bananas in the baggies and added them to the batter. Fill cupcake liner 1/2 full. Then, I combined one package of cream cheese, two eggs, and poured in some sugar. How much? I don’t know, a cup or two. I mixed that up with my ancient 1975 harvest gold mixer. For the filling, mushed up the left over pecan pie without outside crust, then blended more. I put a dollop of filling in the center of the cupcake batter, then added another tablespoon or two of batter to cover it up. Then, I used the extra mixture in the middle of the 9×12 cake, a little more batter, then I baked till it looked done. A little brown, not burnt.🤦♀️The frosting, 1 cream cheese, 2 sticks butter, almost a whole bag of powdered sugar and a little milk and vanilla. I usually don’t have milk, but I had a small container in the freezer. Yay! More stuff out of the freezer. I had fun frosting with my Wilton tube thingy.
“True friends are like bright sunflowers that never fade away, even over distance and time.”
~Marie Williams Johnstone
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Today, I decided to work on a special painting project for a special friend who loves sunflowers. It’s her birthday. Gee, I wonder if she will be surprised when she opens her present. So, a little time-lapse video was the project of the day.
The video is a brief demonstration of just a few of the flowers. This vase took several hours and a couple of hours of drying time in between layers to complete. The hardest part is doing the first layer of flowers and leaves, then painting a second coat directly on top of the first. It’s just a fun and funky vessel to hold some fresh sunflowers or daisies or any bright yellow flowers for a happy Springtime decoration.
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”
~Maya Angelou
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Another week has flown by. Between changing clocks for Daylight Saving Time, Spring forward, and witnessing Spring’s fickle weather sequences, I don’t know if I’m coming or going. I’m so confused. But, one thing I know for sure, life is good, beautiful and abundant if only you see it with eyes that see with passion and a heart that feels with compassion. Amen.
Toni Andrukaitis 