Your Hot People Will Be Fans

Just going to the cleaners (and OK, Steinmart and maybe a few other places) in my car today just about killed me dead.

So. I'd like to say that it's too hot to eat.

But two things: 1) Most of you know me and 2) Who's kidding who?

I have never experienced a time when it was completely too hot to eat.

Oy.


Last night I had some lovely ladies here for Bible Study and we had the best time. Food, of course, is an integral part of any gathering because, well, EATING. And frankly we all know that verse that says "God loves a cheerful and well-fed Bible Study-er." I forget the reference.

I served a light dinner and these cool parfaits for dessert. My selections were based on two very significant culinary hypotheses: First, what can a person cook without turning on the oven (and ergo heating up the kitchen and the cook unnecessarily)? And secondly, what can one make from all the willy-nilly ingredients in one's pantry?

I'm clearly a scientist at heart.


Here's how it all went down.

1) I happen to have an unhealthy and almost scary supply of cream cheese in my fridge right now. This harkens to the fact that I made approximately a million cheesecakes in June and there's nothing worse than running out of the main ingredient, so it seems that I over-bought.

I whipped (to medium-stiff peaks) about 1/2 cup of whipping cream and about 4 T. powdered sugar. To that I folded in one pkg. of room temperature (a must!) cream cheese, a T of lemon juice, and about 2 tsp. of lemon zest. I put this all in a freezer bag and snipped a little hole in one corner to pipe into the glasses.

2) In the Vita-mix (still the best purchase ever) I pulverized about 20-30 ( don't listen to me -I have no idea, I didn't count) of those awesome crisp ginger cookies that World Market sells around Christmas. I had a brand new unopened tin. I know. I'm an over-buyer.

3. I piped a little of the cream cheese mixture in each glass, and then added some of the cookie crumbs, then a layer of sliced strawberries. I followed that with more of the cream cheese mixture, crumbs and fresh blueberries. The final layer was cream cheese mixture, crumbs and raspberries.

4) I topped the whole thing with some lemon zest and a fancy little piece of mint right off my back patio.

They were a refreshing hit.
And while I have to admit that there's the cream cheese and the whipped cream which some uninformed people might not consider light fare, there's also fruit.

Fresh Fruit.

So it's practically a diet food.


I should say that we typically don't have fancy desserts in pretty glasses with long stems. And by typically I mean never.
But the glasses were the right size and blessedly clear to allow the pretty ingredients to show through.

I have one left that I'm saving for JT. But he probably needs to get here in the next hour or so.

Fair warning.

I'm LeSueur Peas. What Are You?

So here's one thing I've learned about writing a post after a 2 year break:

It's not easy.

There are topics and thoughts and even some sentences with punctuation thrown in here and there, but the problem, it seems, is making it all come together in some kind of logical ( look, one can hope) or even legible manner.


Do I tell you about something I cooked lately? No, probably not. Central Texas is about as hot as the surface of the sun right now and turning on the oven is simply a practice in self-torture. God Bless good air conditioners everywhere. The recipes and cooking tutorials and step-by-step photos will just have to wait a while.
I'm looking at you, October.

How about our recent trip to Santa Fe/Albuquerque for my oldest son's wedding? Am I ready to re-live transporting an entire rehearsal dinner for 50 across state lines in a cooler large enough to hold 3 human bodies?
And I'm not sure I have my timeline down yet: Did we lose the keys to  the truck in Santa Fe or in Albuquerque? Did we stay in an awesome hotel that was once a hospital, or maybe I was in a really fancy hotel-like hospital from the stress of the key incident. Were there chickens and goats and gallons of water flooding the area where the reception was held?  Was that my youngest son doing the most awesome Bernie Lean imaginable? Wait. Was that a horse under the tent the next morning? No, sorry. This story's not quite ready yet.

Do I talk about my new job, or would that put the voodoo on it? Should I wait until after I actually start or never mention it at all? Will my new co-workers be disturbed that I write in such a disjointed/dysfunctional way since communication is a huge part of my job?

Maybe I should write about my thoughts on those ridiculous (sorry) quizzes on Facebook. You know the ones:
What kind of Canned Vegetable Are You?
Really? What about that quiz makes the average person want to take it? I need to know this. Do people honestly wonder if they are plain green beans or  worse yet, (slimy) asparagus? If someone proudly (excuse me?) posts that they are creamed corn are their friends eager to one-up them by being LeSueur Peas? I simply do not understand. To be fair, I suppose I should research the psychology of it all first. Maybe it's just me.

There's always the new Bible Study that I'm starting with my awesome neighbors. Hey girls! Can't wait.

And Roxy Roca !! I could write about our third (or was it fourth?) concert.

Or how good I've gotten at mowing with the zero-turn...


See. I have plenty of riveting material. It's just the pesky organization of thought that I'm struggling with.

(I apologize if your expectations have just died a thousand fiery deaths.)

I promise I'll work on it.



And if absolutely nothing else, I'm terribly happy you're here.

See you  soon.

Hello Again

Once Upon a Time there was a little blog right here.

Some of you may remember.

It's been a little over two years, and I've decided, no diggity, that's long enough. In the last 24 months I'm sure I've felt just about every emotion possible. I've slogged from the valley to the mountain with frequent  breaks for the occasional pity party and snacks (I admit, there were lots of snacks) along the path.

But you know what I've found at every stop? God's grace. His unending, unchanging, miraculous grace. The inexplicable grace that reminds me that through it all I never lost my joy. Not once. And the most important thing about joy?

It's to be shared.

So, without really knowing where all this will lead, or having a clue what I'll write, or cook or photograph, I do know I'm supposed to share. Of that I'm positive. Evidently all the details are just supposed to work themselves out. Good luck details, you're on your own!

This is all to say that next week will be the official re-start of Mudpuddle. (And by official I mean absolutely nothing.)
Thanks so much to all of you who've never, ever stopped encouraging me and nudging me along in this direction. I'll never forget your words of friendship, love, and support.

Hope to see you next week.