The Friday 56 - 31 July 2009

The Rules:

* Grab the book nearest you. Right now.
* Turn to page 56.
* Find the fifth sentence.
* Post that sentence (plus one or two others if you like) along with these instructions on your blog or (if you do not have your own blog) in the comments section of this blog.
*Post a link along with your post back to Storytime With Tonya and Friends.
* Don't dig for your favorite book, the coolest, the most intellectual. Use the CLOSEST.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Tailspin by Catherine Coulter

“…He needs traffic to get lost in, and he’s not going to find it on this road.”

This is the latest of Catherine Coulter’s FBI thrillers out in paperback. I saw it last week and snatched it up – I’ve liked all of them so far.

Other news – I’ve stitched two of three identical ornaments. This was a little freebie some time ago – I believe by Midnight Stitching. I love the lime green on the dark blue aida – how about you?
It's amazing to me that I can tell that I stitched one in horizontal rows and the other in vertical rows - hopefully pressing and finishing will fix that.
These will be Christmas presents for my co-workers – I haven’t quite decided how I’ll finish them yet.

We bought 50 pounds of new potatoes at the Farmer’s Market, so I’ve been busy canning them. No pic – I didn’t think of it while they were sitting out on the counter cooling, and I’m too stinkin’ lazy to go dig them out of the cupboard right now. I don’t peel the potatoes – just wash and scrub well, cut out any bad looking areas, and cube them (about 1-inch cubes). Besides the fact that I’ve trained my family to like potato with the peel, most of the nutrients are in or just under the skin. Because the canning process cooks them, I devised a variation on twice-baked potatoes that my family loves:

Twice Baked Canned Potatoes

1 quart canned potatoes (or four cups cubed potatoes, cooked)
¼ cup butter (margarine isn’t as good, tho you may use it to save calories)
½ cup sour cream (I do use reduced fat sour cream – hey, save a calorie where you can, right?)
Ground pepper to taste
1 – ½ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (again, reduced fat – I use 2% cheese)
9 x 13-inch baking dish

Melt the butter in the baking dish. Add the sour cream and stir well. Drain potatoes and toss in dish with the butter/sour cream mixture. Pepper to taste (generously for my family). Salt is used in the canning process, so no need to add more. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes (should be bubbly). Top with shredded cheese and return to oven until cheese is melted, 5-10 minutes.

This serves 3 adults and 2 growing boys, with a few pieces left over to treat the puppies.

Not something we eat every day – too calorie dense – but boy, are they good! And a side tossed salad rounds out the meal nicely.

Thanks for visiting today.