I GOT MAIL!

When I went to my mailbox on Wednesday, I had a package.

My friend, Dawn, at Creative Cain Cabin had sent me 3 beautiful flower pins.

I can't wait to wear them all! Thank you Dawn for a very nice gift.

Epcot Food & Wine Festival

Recently I was invited to go to Epcot to the Food and Wine Festival

by my brother & sister-in-laws, Jeff & Lisa.

I was a guest in there beautiful home for the weekend.

We had the best  pastries from a pastry shop down this french street.  I had the best napoleon I have ever tasted.

We ended the day rocking to the music of Night Ranger.

Thrifiting Friday

Today, while out doing errands, I decided to stop by the local GW.  This has become one of my favorite things to do lately.  I found a like new pair of black pants (for work or play), a new Gloria Vanderbilt peasant blouse and a new pair of brown sandals.  With my senior over 55 discount it came to a grand total of $11.00.  If you have an hour or so to spare stop in to your local GW and find yourself a great deal.

First Adventure in my New Normal Life

All ready to head out to Ponce Inlet to the Marine Science Center for Evan's 5th Grade Field Trip.  I checked the weather and it was 54 degrees at 9 am when Tom and I were set to leave the house.  So thanks to my new friend Dawn at Creative Cain Cabin I wore my new scarf that she had recently given to me in a swap and I was nice and warm all day..  I sent her one of my scarfs that I crochet.

              We learned about the turtles that live in our area of Florida, on the beach and in our backyards.

                               We learned about the different kinds of Mangrove Trees in our area.

                                                                    We saw a very poison Lion Fish.

                                                          
                                                                   We saw a Eel.

It's hard to see but there are 2 Bald Eagles in this cage.  Both have injured shoulders and wings. All of the birds in the actuary have been injured and were brought to the Marine Science Center to be nursed back to health, but are unable to live in the wild on there own.

Two blind Pelicans.  They were fighting with each other while we were standing there watching.

We petted the Stingrays...well the brave petted the Stingrays.  If you notice my grandson, Evan, in the black sweatshirt, didn't pet the Stingrays.

            The last thing we saw was this beautiful Moth that was sunning himself on a window.


I had a great day and am thankful to Evan for inviting me to go with his class.

Whats For Breakfast?

For the last 4 weeks Larry and I have been testing a Vegetarian/Vegan lifestyle. We are doing this for health reasons, hoping to be blessed with better health.  Larry's favorite meal of the day is breakfast (he will eat it and ask for it for every meal).  So, What's For Breakfast?......SCRAMBLED TOFU!  He LOVES it! 

Even though I am a accomplished cook, I was very leery of what to do with tofu.  I had no idea of what to do with it.  I stumbled onto a PBS cooking show, Christina Cooks, and have been recording them everyday and watching them and studying them on my days off of work.  Her website is christinacooks.com.  My new favorite cooking show.

We have already seen results in our new way of eating.  Larry has lost close to 30 pounds and I am only 2 pounds away from my goal weight.  Also Larry is feeling much better.

In a few weeks I hope to be able to say that "I am a accomplished Vegan cook!

Larry's Birthday Cake

This is Larry's Birthday Pig Cake

What can I say, this was the moistest and tastiest cake I have made or eaten in a long time.

I can't take the credit for it though, although I did make it.  I got the recipe from The Pioneer Woman Cooks Blog.  Now since I have given credit where credit is due I will give you the recipe.

Pig Cake

For the cake:

1 box Yellow Cake Mix

1 stick Margarine (softened)

1 can (14 oz can) Mandarin Oranges, Drained, 1/2 cup juice reserved

4 whole Eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

For the topping:
1 package (4 oz box) Vanilla Instant Pudding Mix
1 can (20 oz can) Crushed Pineapple, Juice Reserved
1/2 cup Powdered Sugar
4 oz, Whipped Topping (such as Cool Whip)
Extra Mandarin Orange Slices, For Garnish


Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  For the cake, combine cake mix, margarine, 1/2 cup juice from the mandarin oranges, eggs and vanilla.  Beat for 4 minuutes on medium-high.  Add drained oranges and beat again until pieces are broken up and small.  Pour batter into greased and floured 9x13 inch baking pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown and set.  Remove from oven and cool completely.
Once cake is cool, blend juice from drained pineapples and the vanilla pudding mix.  Add powdered sugar and mix, then mix in whipped topping.  Stir in drained pineapple.  Spread on cooled cake and refrigerate several hours.

Enjoy!

More Help Than I Need

My cat Blackie loves to help me with the laundry.  Every laundry day I try to catch him outside or sleeping in one of his favorite places when it it time to fold the laundry.  I don't know how he does it, but before I can get all the laundry from the dryer to the couch (where I fold it), he is in the middle of it.

As I pull the laundry away to fold, he tries to bite me.  It ends up being a game and he (and I) enjoy our time together.  He is just too cute to resit.