Friday Friend Recipe #173 - Traditional Salad

Making my way thru my Friday Friend Cookbook, one recipe at a time.

What is the Friday Friend cookbook: I have about 50 of my closest friends and family on an e-mail forum which I called the Friday Friends (from all over the county). At first, most of them didn't know each other, (they knew me) but over the past 18 years, we've answered and shared silly--and serious---questions, exchanged Secret Santa Christmas gifts, had a dieting contest in which we paid a $1 a week and that money went to a scholarship fund for a Friday Friends son's memorial scholarship, and we went on a great vacation for my 52 birthday.

AND, we contributed recipes for a cookbook.

I was looking at the cookbook the other night and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog."
The Handyman--who knows me better than I know myself (this happened to be a question on the Friday Friend forum once---does your spouse/partner know you better than you know yourself?)--said,  "you'll never, EVER do that."
WELL---maybe I'll show him!  Maybe I will.

Which brings me to this... recipe #173

Robbie's Traditional Salad

This is my favorite salad of all time.  In fact, in the FF cookbook, my name is listed on the recipe as the person who claims it as their own. It's called "Debbie's Traditional Salad".

  Robbie didn't turn many recipes in and I wanted this one in there because I love it, so I just went ahead and put my name to it, but 

it's really her recipe.  

This is all it has in it:

From eating at each other's homes every Friday Night for  the past 20 years,  we pretty much know all that each of us has to give on the food front, and I'm pretty sure we each have our favs.  Mine would be this salad but she doesn't make it anymore, she's moved on to a new salad, and a newer salad still.  All of them are very good, but nothing compares to this one for me.

It's the most simple salad I know how to make, but I just love it.  A note of caution tho---it's a salad designed for particular taste buds.  It has cilantro in it as well as chopped fresh ginger.  It lends itself to be a little spicy even, because of the ginger.  She and I love it,  our husbands hate it, so she would open a 'bag-o-salad' for them.

A few years ago we invited them for a weekend at our cabin in Oregon. We had a great time, it was an Art Show weekend and Robbie loves art.  They had a great art walk where you could wander and see artists in progress at different shops, as well as a couple of receptions where they did a wine tasting and art showing.  It was a lot of fun.

As well as art, we took a couple hikes that weekend--notice we are decked out for hiking. An afternoon hike doesn't entail taking off any jewelry, I guess. 

We also visited some micro-breweries and a local distillery. 

Later, while sitting down at the river,  the Handyman took a picture of Robbie and me, when we were trying to master the selfie!

Oh let's just face it!  We're just  bunch of old people who can't figure out our phones!

But the salad is  divine!

That's my story!

This is recipe number 173, my friends, only 121 left to go!

My Favorite...

Look what I just found!

A new (to me) weekly meme!

 My Favorite.. is a weekly meme hosted by Maureen’s Books. In this meme we share every week something we love with each other. Because let’s face it.. The world can be a dark place and it’s time to share something positive. For more info: My Favorite Meme.

This week's question/subject is....

.... BOOK I READ IN 2017

I have not joined in any other favorite book of the year meme, not on Instagram/bookstagram, Twitter, Facebook, none of them!  I was feeling kind of left out!  I love a good meme, so I was intrigued when I found this one, and Maureen is right, it's nice to share happy thoughts and things.

I took a look at my Goodreads account and last year I read 116 books -- out of those I gave 7 of them 5star ratings.

It's a very assorted mix of books that I LOVED last  year.  Apparently I am diverse in what I like. I consider this a positive thing 😊

These were my Five* Ratings

Some were emotional decisions--okay, let's face it; they all were. I am not a book reviewer, I cannot be unattached emotionally, so these were all reads I loved at the time.  Made me cry, made me laugh, made my heart beat faster and made me mad!

All of them are not for everyone, one is the last of a favorite series, one a historical romance, one a food memoir, and the others just great stories!

If I had to pick just one?

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles!!

It was just an historical period piece about a gentle man making a life for himself, confined to house arrest while the world carried on outside.

I loved it.

my backyard year -- December 13th

Skipping ahead to December 13th!  I don't know what  happened to the month in between, as my last backyard post was on November 15th.  I have no excuse.

(except for holidays, weddings, grandkids and a bit of traveling)

The Yard looks pretty much the same--altho we did have a slight skiff of snow, which is pretty much gone except for the shaded areas.

If you want to see how it's changed over the course of 4 months, click here and you can.

We have one blow up snowman in our  yard, but mostly it's just a few vintage things, like my plastic porch Santa that I've had since we first got married, so it's 40 Christmas seasons old.  I can't get rid of it now. And if you look closely, on the fence, there are some elves pushing Santa to the rooftop, and another wooden snowman sitting in the yard.  They were my parents yard decorations for years.  I inherited them 4 years ago.  Last year, the Handyman said, he wasn't putting them up  unless I painted them (they were looking pretty weathered and worse for the wear), so in October I set everything up in the garage and I did paint the white part of the snowman.  I was so proud, as I don't do crafts or painting or anything.  This should have/could have/must have been easy as it was just repainting over something that was already there,  BUT those elves?  Holy Cow, there was a lot of detail (and colors!) in their eyes and hair and rosy cheeks.  

So.... I told a couple of close friends...  I'm done. The Handyman will do it for me--even tho he said he wasn't going to!  He was adamant!!  But I knew  he would.

He's kind of like that (and I used to say my mother was spoiled?! )!

But if you could look closely you would notice he did a very nice job!

And so....here's to catching up on the changing of the seasons.

Best Book Club Week Ever!

One week in November, it so happened that every book club I belong to (in town, anyway) met.   Usually they don't all meet during the same week, but because of Thanksgiving and maybe because I paid attention this year, all this  below happened in one week.  

November had a lot of people missing from certain book clubs, so while you can't see all my bookish peeps, you can see a lot of them.  You might notice there is a face or two that cross over into other clubs, but I am the only constant, and while this might seem silly to you, this is my social life!  People I love and love to talk books with!

People I love and love to drink coffee and talk books with!

So,  here we go---my best Book club week ever!

Ignore my big selfie face 😚 (which takes place in most of the photos) but this is the start of my best week ever! 5...count 'em...FIVE book clubs in one week!  (I counted wrong---there were 6 if I included my bible study--so I did.  I mean, we read, right?!)

This is The CCB (Coffee Conversation and books!) Club.

Book Club #2 of my 5 book clubs in one week week! This is Totally Lit ( missing about half)

Marathon book club week continues for me. This is a book club number three… The library book club.

And Book Club number 4! The oldest club in Winnemucca! (and I mean out of all social clubs not just book clubs. In the good old days used to be written up in the newspaper… What book was talked about, what lunch was served, who wore what etc etc...lol) This is the Literary Guild. Now we just say literary lunch as ‘guild’ is so old-fashioned. Lovely ladies whom I get to have lunch with every month and talk books!

Most of them had/have no clue what I'm doing---blog? Instagram? what? -- but they indulge me anyway. 

Did I say this was a 5 book club week? I was wrong—it’s a six book club week if I count my 6am Bible study. And we just started a new book, so… I'm including it!

 I did it! 6 book clubs in 6 days! The last one deserved two pictures… Because we were laughing so hard and having so much book fun. These are the Lit Wits! (minus a whole bunch. If everyone comes there’s about 20 in the group). Best Book Week Ever for me!!

(also, I was trying to cover my cleavage--because, over 50, you know!  You don't really need to show that stuff, but sometimes I can't  help it. ~grins~ )

And that is my life in book clubs!

My Backyard Year--November 15

My yard project has fallen behind. I might have predicted this, as I am notoriously guilty of starting projects and never finishing them.  That's why I'm not a crafter.  I am a reader, and a cooker/baker and a walker -- I can finish those things! 

I did take some photos tho!  Just not every Wednesday thru-out the holidays.  It got kind of busy for me, so... 😊

When last I posted about my backyard, it was November 9th.

It looked like this:

One week later on November 15th, it looked like this-- on an overcast day.

I like taking the photos on an overcast day, when I don't have to worry about shadows.

More November 15th!

Front yard.   

Yes, those are the little orange jack-o-lantern buckets, which the Handyman cut holes out of and put them on top of the yard lights for October, THEN in November he turns them around so you can't see their jack-o-lantern faces and they just look like orange pumpkins.  Or so he thinks. 

This is the beginning--of the dreary of dreariest winter yard photos. As I've said before---there is nothing as dreary as a Nevada winter yard.

(and yard décor looks okay in spring and summer---in winter, it looks like a big mess!)

So that was November 15th.   I will play catch up this week with my Big Backyard posts and then I should be on track again by next Wednesday.

Friday Friend Recipe #172 - Pecan Pie Surprise Bars

Come with me as I continue to countdown my Friday Friend Cookbook!

What is it, you may ask?

In a nutshell...
About 19 years ago, 50 of my closest friends and family, who had been on an e-mail forum with me, sent in recipes in different categories and we compiled a cookbook.
I decided to count those down!
Why?

Because  one night I was looking thru the cookbook and I said, "I should make every recipe in here for my blog"
The Handyman--who thinks he knows me better than I know myself, said,  "you'll never EVER do that."
Well,  maybe I will!  Maybe I'll show him!

Which brings me to recipes #172

 My Mom's Pecan Surprise Bars

I have been gone for a while you know... I don't know why, but I do it every year or so--take a few month break from blogging, and I do it so sudden, I don't have time to write a "taking a blogging break" post...before you know it, I'm into the break a few weeks and it seems silly to write a post at that time to say I'm on a break.  I figure you are all smart people, you can kind of figure that out for yourselves.

Am I right?

Well, anyway, here I am back on January 1st, with not one but TWO posts.  My first book of the year, and this one.  Time to get back into the cookbook countdown.

So here we go with my mom's Pecan bars.  I don't know what the surprise is, but when she turned in the recipe for the cookbook, that is the name she gave these.

It's no surprise that they are good!  Unless you don't like pecan pie type of desserts and then... well, then, you are just weird.

Somewhere along the way, I lost track of how many FF recipes each of my FF's has in the cookbook countdown, but if you want to see all of my mom's...just click here and it will take you right to her's.

Then I have a funny little tag 'mom and me' and I really have no idea what I've put on there, but you can be like me and click here to find out.  We'll do it together!

My parents  both passed away in 2014, but this was written in 2004 on my Friday Friend Forum, so my mom got the chance to read it and I know it made her very happy. 

I forgot what the question on the forum was exactly but  this note came from my friend Theda --you can see all her recipes here-just click. 

My mother wouldn't want me to brag about her you know....😍 but...

from Theda (she was writing to me) : I also have to say that I admired you and your mom.  You knew my mom so enough said.

But you...you got to go on sleep overs and you would talk with your mom (and your dad). They both always made me feel so welcomed.  I always thought you were so lucky.  Of the four of us girls ( 4 of us ran around together--inseparable for a while), you had the best.  I hope that in our lives we all take a little of the good that we saw in other families and use that to help make life with our families just a little better than we had.

They loved her too! Probably out of all 4 girls, they loved her the best. 

Well, except perhaps for me.

They also loved to travel a bit...

New York City!

The Grand Canyon!

New Zealand!

I had the best parents!  Theda said.

That's my story.

This is recipe number 172, my friends, only 122 left to go!

First Book of 2018

If you follow me at all, you know that I've taken a blogging break -- not an intentional one tho-- but I have a hard time not joining in with Sheila at Book Journey to show off what we're reading as the new year rolls around, so here goes....

..... a mystery for me.  I am just feeling the need to cozy up on the couch today and escape!

To check out all the other bloggers 'first books' go visit Sheila's Book Journey!

Now I'm off to the couch to read!