Southern Cornbread Salad

Jiffy Corn"y" Cornbread

2 boxes Jiffy corn muffin mix

1 cup sour cream

3 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

1 teaspoon salt.

16 oz. can creamed corn (or if you can find FROZEN creamed corn, it's even better)

1 cup grated sharp Cheddar, optional

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional

Salad

1 cup frozen Corn, thawed and drained

1 15-ounce cans black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed

Note: you can use pinto or kidney beans instead of black-eyed peas

1 Vidalia onion, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

5 Roma Tomatoes, chopped

1# Bacon, fried and crumbled

2 cups grated sharp Cheddar

Choose Either Dressing #1 or Dressing #2

#1 - my Favorite

2 cups Hellmann’s Mayonnaise

1/2 cup Sweet Pickle Juice

#2

1 1oz package ranch dressing mix

1 1/2 cups sour cream

1 1/2 cups Hellmann's Mayonnaise

Instructions

(10-12 servings)

Mix the Salad ingredients together and refrigerate until needed.  Preheat oven to 375°.  Mix all ingredients together and pour into greased 9x13 baking dish. Bake at 375° for 35 minutes or until

lightly brown. Allow Cornbread to cool and then cut into 1" squares.

USING A GLASS TRIFLE BOWL, ASSEMBLE IN THE Following Layers. DO NOT OVERFILL, LEAVE SPACE TO TOSS THE SALAD

Place half of the cornbread cubes in the bottom of a large glass trifle bowl. Then, top with half of the black-eyed peas, red bell pepper, corn, green bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, dressing, cheddar cheese

and repeat for a second layer. Top with crumbled bacon. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Toss just before serving. Yield: 8-10 servings

Suggestion: This recipe would work well layered in 2 12"x9" glass baking dish, for ease of serving at a Pot Luck Dinner.

God Loves Us This Much

1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. 

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. 

10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 

11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,and he will divide the spoils with the strong,because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

Have a Blessed Day

What A Beautiful Name

Hillsong Worship

You were the Word at the beginning

One With God the Lord Most High

Your hidden glory in creation

Now revealed in You our Christ

What a beautiful Name it is

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a beautiful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a beautiful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

You didn't want heaven without us

So Jesus, You brought heaven down

My sin was great, Your love was greater

What could separate us now

What a wonderful Name it is

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus Christ my King

What a wonderful Name it is

Nothing compares to this

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

What a wonderful Name it is

The Name of Jesus

How sweet is your name, Lord, how good You are

Love to sing in the name of the Lord, love to sing for you all?

Death could not hold You, the veil tore before You

You silenced the boast, of sin and grave

The heavens are roaring, the praise of Your glory

For You are raised to life again

You have no rival, You have no equal

Songwriters: Brooke Ligertwood / Ben Fielding

What A Beautiful Name lyrics © Capitol Christian Music Group

Boston Cream Crepe Cake

This is one of my favorite "go too" dessert recipes of all time.  Yes, it can be a bit time consuming making all those crepes, but the trick is to have 2 or even 3 pans going at the same time.

Boston Cream Crepe Cake

 Ingredients (12 Servings)

 Crepes

·         4 large eggs

·         4 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled slightly

·         4 cups milk

·         2 teaspoon vanilla

·         2 tablespoon sugar

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         3 cups all purpose flour

 Pastry Cream

·         3/4 cup granulated sugar

·         1/3 cup flour

·         1/4 teaspoon salt

·         2 cups milk

·         3 egg yolks, beaten

·         2 tablespoons butter

·         1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract

·         1/2 cup whipping cream

 Chocolate Ganache

·         6 oz. milk chocolate, finely chopped

·         3/4 cup cream

 Instructions

+NOTE:  The day before serving the cake, make the crepe batter and the pastry cream.+

Crepe Batter

·         Add ingredients to blender jar in the order listed, cover and blend until smooth. Refrigerate overnight or for 1 hour prior to cooking. (Or if you’d rather, you can strain out any lumps and use immediately.)

·         Heat an 8-inch skillet or crepe pan over medium heat and lightly coat with butter or cooking spray. For each crepe, pour 1/4 cup batter into the center of the skillet and immediately rotate the pan until the batter covers the bottom of the skillet in a thin layer. Cook until light brown and the top begins to dry out, approximately 1 minute. Flip and cook an additional 30 seconds.

·         Repeating with remaining batter. Stack completed crepes on a plate. (If your crepes are sticking together, put wax paper between the crepes.)

Pastry Cream

·         In a medium saucepan combine the sugar, flour and salt. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture starts to boil. Cook for 2 minutes until thickened.

·         Remove from stove. Whisk 1/4 cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the hot mixture in the saucepan. Cook for 2 more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Transfer pudding mixture to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic; refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour or overnight.

·         When pudding is chilled, whip cream to form soft peaks and gentle fold in to pudding. Keep covered and chilled until ready to use.

Assemble Crepe Cake

·         Place one crepe on a large cake plate. Spread with 1/4 cup pastry cream. Top with another crepe. Continue layering with filling and crepes, using about 24 crepes and ending with a crepe on top. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.

Chocolate Ganache

·         Place half of the chocolate in a small mixing bowl. Heat heavy cream on medium high heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and immediately pour cream over chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add remain chocolate and stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool until ganache is thickened but still thin enough to drip down the sides of the cake.

·         Spoon chocolate ganache on top of the cake, spreading to edges and letting the ganache drip down the sides. Refrigerate until ganache is set, about 20 minutes.

Today I Will See My Husband

For the first time since April 3, 2015.

He's rented a car and should be leaving about the time I post this.  It's dark outside and quite foggy and he said it's foggy down there too.  He also hasn't driven the highways from there to here in a couple of years and there have been LOTS of changes.  I pray he has a safe trip.  We have planned to be at the Secretary of State office so he can sign over the house and car to me only.  He doesn't want anyone but me to have it if something happens to him.  Even after being gone this long, he still thinks about me and cares for me.

When we're done at the Secretary of State, we will be making a few other stops and possibly have lunch somewhere...we'll see.

He wants to cash in his cremation arrangements at the mortuary.  He feels he doesn't want to transfer it...and he decided he wanted to use the money to make a payment to our attorney...for our divorce.

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers, please.

Remembering Benny...

Today, Benny would have been EIGHT years old.  Due to a sudden neurological attack, he passed away at only 4 1/2 yrs of age.  This is a post I shared a couple of years ago.

After making a trip back to the Breeder in Indiana where we'd gotten Jasper, our Maltese, just 3 weeks earlier {at only 9 months of age}...we welcomed this beautiful, loving and funny furry kid, who we named Benny {who was formerly named Squirt} into our hearts and lives.  That was June 6, 2009.  Benny was born on March 20, 2009.   I don't think I'd ever seen a Havanese before I saw Benny, and he was so cute.  He was only 12 weeks old and he weighed only 5# and could run UNDER Jasper!  That was a sight!!  You see, Maltese are small dogs and Jasper was 7# at 9 months of age.  He was calm and submissive and didn't skip a beat when it came to running up and down our porch steps.

He paid lots of attention to me when I got Bell's Palsy and would lay with me and lick my face where he KNEW it hurt me.  Then he would lay his warm body against that spot until my face was so warm and actually feeling better.

 

The painting of him {above} was done from one of the last couple of photos I took of him.  He was laying in his crate on his very favorite blanket after I'd brought him back home from the Vet on a Saturday morning.  He woke up that day not being able to step on his front right paw.  They gave me pain meds for him and scheduled tests for the follwoing Monday.

He never made it to those tests on Monday.

Shortly after I took the photos, he began a steady downhill turn in his condition and later that afternoon, he began having an awful time with coordination, not being able to stand and twisting his head way off to the side.  Since our Vet's office was closed and I was growing more concerned about him by the minute, I called the Emergency Vet Hospital.  They suggested that we could bring him in and the Vet would possibly change the medication.  I put his blanket on my lap and held him and did Reiki on him and used my Essential Oils on him...and he fell asleep.  A few hours later, when he went outside with the other 2 Pups, he couldn't do anything but barely stand in one spot...and then tip over.  That was it!

I called the Emergency Hospital and took him in.  After an exam, he appeared to get much worse, and developed seizures.  They did blood work and a few other things, and then the Vet said we could take him to a neurologist, which would probably cost upwards of $4,000 with no real chance of improvement or we could take him home and watch him.  Then I asked her if she thought Benny would die from this, because I was the feeling he wouldn't.  Tears welled up in her eyes and she said as much as she hated to even think that about our 4 1/2 year old sweetheart, she believed he probably wouldn't make it through the night.

I couldn't, in good conscience, allow him to go through what he'd gone through the entire afternoon and evening...and get WORSE...and die alone.  So, after spending some quiet time with him and the other 2 pups and dad...I decided the best thing we could do for him was allow him to die with us all right there with him.  Belive me, that was the hardest decision I have ever had to make, but I knew it was the right one.

Benny passed away with us right there with him...on his favorite blanket.  It took Jasper & Rosie about 15 minutes of sniffing him and laying by him and they were wanting to leave.  We got them down off the table where Benny was and they went to sleep on the floor...while I sat with Benny.  Shortly after, we left.

That was December 7, 2013.

Beautiful Music

The other day, my son sent me a link to a musician's video.  He said he caught the name out of the corner of his eye and it looked so much like mine...and he liked the music, too.  So do I...and I decided to share it with you today.  I hope you enjoy it too.

His name is Tim Janis [mine is Jan Tanis]. 

I am featuring his newest music video, just released this morning, on my sidebar.  

Here is his YouTube page.  You will find all of his works there.

One of the Pups Got Into Trouble...

All of my Pups have slept in crates and travelled in crates, too.  They actually run to their bed at night after our last trip outside.  They are eager to get into their beds.  Over the years, I'd attempted to get them to sleep with me in bed...but they weren't having any part of that.

Quite a number of years ago, I changed from the black metal crates and went to a soft-side crate.  It certainly had to be more comfortable for the Pups...being soft.  They didn't skip a beat when I made the change either.  

This was in the listing for the sof-krate...This indoor/outdoor soft-crate sets up in seconds is easy to carry and goes anywhere you go. It is a stylish lightweight washable durable and well ventilated spring/summer pet house. It has top front and side entry doors constructed with extra strong steel frame heavy duty zippers with door lock ventilated mesh panels and durable water resistant base.

Out of all 4 of my Pups none of them ever chewed something they shouldn't, so I didn't worry about the fabric or even the mesh panels [or screens].  My Pups would get anxious when I'd get out of the car to get the mail and things like that...and they would scratch at the mesh screen, but outside of a "snag", that's all they ever did to the crate.

Well, imagine my SHOCK when I walked into the closet where they sleep and went to uncover their crates, they each have one, and found Angel, my youngest, with her head hanging out of the screen!  When I tried to get her head back inside the crate, that's when I found out how tightly she was wedged in there.  I had no idea how long she was wedged in there, but I was scared.  I grabbed a pair of wire cutters and was able to clip the opening a bit bigger and push her head into the crate.  I quickly unzipped the door and got her out.  You could tell by the way her hair around her neck was flattened that she'd been in there for a whle.  My goodness, she could have died.  She could have hung herself in there.  The way she had her head stuck, she was unable to sit decently and couldn't  lay down.  I was never so happy to see that she was OK.  I immediately cut up all of the soft side crates - had them for quite a while and threw them out in the garbage.  I cut them, so no one who may see them, would take them and possibly have a dog die in them.  We've now gone back to black metal cages.

So, if any of you have soft side crates, be very careful.  I know I will NEVER, EVER have a soft-side in my house and around my Pups again.