COUNTRY RAIN

Here on the east coast, it's a rainy Friday, but I love it.  The rain is here without the help of a hurricane, and that's a good thing.

I just put together a Crock Pot meal; Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff and it already smells yummy. I'll let you know how it turns out.  Also have a cauliflower on to cook. I'll "mash" that after while in the food processor, add a wee bit of butter, salt and milk. That recipe is compliments of my daughter in Illinois.  It's that time of the year for 'comfort' food. I'm there! 

Whether  you prepare cauliflower on the stove top or microwave, add MILK to or replace all of the liquid with milk. It vastly improves the flavor. 

Once you've cooked cauliflower, the house will be very "fragrant".  Time to get out the cloves; whole works best, but powdered also works.  I use a small cast iron skillet, but any heavy pan will work.  In the DRY skillet, place 8 to 10 whole cloves or a teaspoon of ground cloves and place on high heat (No, do not add any liquid). Watch your stove. When you see a little puff of smoke, shake the pan.  If you have a goodly amount of fragrant, NOT BURNED, cloves-smoke, walk through your home, letting the scent permeate the affected rooms.  You may need to return the skillet to the heat to have enough fragrant smoke for your abode.  This can be used again if the cloves are still 'brown, but once they turn gray, down the disposal or into the trash.  I have dedicated my little 6" cast iron skillet to this chore, and this only, so it's always ready.  Cloves "burning" is the ONLY method I have found that will eliminate these kinds of odors (works on fish, burned food, popcorn, etc. and it's environmentally safe).

Do YOU save and reuse plastic bread bags? Or the bags that the newspaper arrives in (of course I have to add WHEN the newspaper comes)?  I save both, and have a neat way to store them. I've saved empty facial tissue boxes and stuff the bags in each one.  The bread bags are the perfect size for sweet and savory homemade breads.  The newspaper bags fill a plethora of needs such as light weight packing for packages to mail or separating small items for storage.

Have a wonderful Country weekend whether you live in the country, or simply wish you did!

© 2011 Cat Brennan © 2011 Cat's Country Place

9/11 Tribute - God Bless Us Everyone

The  George W. Bush Presidential Center is accepting 9/11 Memories; stories, pictures and/or videos of those recollections.  These will forever be preserved as part of the tribute to those who fell, helped, suffered and remember the tradgedy of 9/11; that is US - we are the United States and we will never forget.  This is the entry that I submitted; that is part of the record.

     "As 9/11 unfolded, I sat glued to the television for days on end.  I stared in disbelief and when I came out, everything seemed surreal.
     Years later, I had the distinct honor of meeting a New York Fireman who had been at Ground Zero. Clarence will always hold a special place in my heart. Currently, I live in VA, but on 9/11 Denver, CO was home - far removed from the physical terror, but smack in the middle of the emotional upheaval, along with everyone else in this country.     
     We were ONE NATION UNDER GOD, and yes, WE ARE INDIVISIBLE!!! We all struggled to understand, but it is impossible for ordinary and good people to understand evil. So, we cried and prayed and called our loved ones. 
     I commend President George W. Bush, and his lovely lady, Laura, for their steadfast beliefs. I praise his unwavering strength during that time.  God Bless you, President Bush! You are still MY president.
     God bless your family, and yes, God Bless us everyone."
 © 2011 Cat Brennan

Our Country for All Country People

Please!! Be sure to fly Old Glory at least through Sunday, September 11th as we remember all the victims of 9/11 .. God Bless you and God Bless our country! 

Wikipedia has an interesting write up on the history of Labor Day ... yes, I know, I know ... but you can "take what you like (or believe) and leave the rest.  

AND ... Please check out this blog , Heroes of 9/11: The Passengers and Crew of United 93 by my dear friend, Scott Allison. The book that Scott and George R. Goethals wrote, Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them came out in print the fall of 2010.  His heroes are, well, heroes.