Grandpa's Chili

My Grandpa Chesley would have been 93 this past January.  He passed away in 2007 from lung cancer.  He was a wonderful man who loved his country, told great jokes and had a million stories from a career spent in the Army.  He always made me feel like he had my back.

 This picture was taken six months before he passed away.  It was the last weekend I got to spend with him. My nose is so red because we were drinking port wine, you can see the bottle over my shoulder.  It's funny, even though I was in my thirties here I still found it odd to be having a glass of wine with my grandpa. He told a million stories and jokes that weekend.  We had such a good time.


A typical joke:  

One day a man was sitting on a park bench.  Next to him was a kid who had a mohawk dyed all different colors.  The man kept staring at the kid.  Finally the kid turned to the man and said " Why are you staring at me?"  The man replied "I had sex with a parrot once and I'm trying to figure out if you're my son?" 


The thing about his jokes and stories is that he could tell one after another without ever taking a break.  They were endless.


Grandpa was a cook in the army and everything he ever made for me was great.  Once when I went to dinner at his house he said that we were having salmon loaf.  I thought Eeew!  I was so wrong.  It was delicious!!


Here is his recipe for chili. He called it:


Put a smile on his face chili
1 pound ground beef (80% is best)
1 cup chopped onion
 3/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 1 pound can diced tomatoes
1 1 pound can dark red kidney beans (drained)
1 8 ounce can tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
1-2 teaspoons chili powder
1 bay leaf

1. Cook meat, onion, and green pepper in skillet until meat is lightly browned and vegetables are tender.

2. Stir in all remaining ingredients.

3. Cover and simmer for one hour. Remove bay leaf.

Note: Stir chili with a large spoon lightly while simmering. VOILA!

 

I love that I have this recipe on a card that he wrote out in his own writing.  Miss you Grandpa!

 

Fun with glue and paint

Photo courtesy of Pinterest

 Ever since seeing this project on Pinterest ( which is an awesome place for inspiration), I have been wanting to try it.  So out came the paint, magazine pages, modge podge and canvas. 

This was a multi-generational project. My mom, my daughter and I got down to business. ( My husband thinks we were making a mess but he doesn't know it was really art! Men!)

It was a really fun project because we didn't have to be perfect.

 

After gluing down the pieces of magazine we reverse stenciled on top of it with paint.  I love how they came out so different from one another.

Mine before:

Mine after:

 Ali's before:

Ali's after:

 

I love how Alison thought to use black paint. She's so hip! Although she totally cheated by not covering the whole canvas with magazine pages.

Mom's before:

Mom's after:

I would highly recommend this project for any age group.  It would be fun for a girl scout project or church group.  Anyone can do it :)

Hello Valentine's Day

Hello Flowers

Hello pretty M&M colors

 

Hello Valentine surprises

 

Hello pretty decorations

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I decided to finally finish up some stained glass projects that have been sitting unfinished on my craft desk for 2 years. Yes, 2 years! I really have no excuse for such horrible procrastination. 

Here they are:

I'm sure I am not the only one who has unfinished craft projects out there.  I'm in no place to judge.  All I can say is that it does feel rewarding to bite the bullet and finish them up :) Happy crafting!

I had one of those weeks at work that was just brutal.

One of those weeks where you have too much work and not enough time. 

One of those weeks when you can't finish a single thing you start because you are constantly being interrupted.

One of those weeks when you feel like you are not benefiting anyone.

One of those weeks when you wonder why you work in long term care.

Then something nice happens..........

One of the family members brought me a bouquet of flowers with a card that said "Thank you for your kindness". 

That sentiment made all of the stress and doubts of the week take a back seat.  This is why I do this job.  To try and make a difficult time in someone's life a little bit easier.  I work with a team of amazing people who care about other people and do all they can to help them.  No, everything is not perfect and it never will be but there are many times when all of our efforts contribute to improve someone's quality of life and it makes all of our hard work worth it.

Sleigh Riding

I took the kids sleigh riding at the Viaduct yesterday.  (This is the same viaduct that is in the opening scene of Michael Clayton where George Clooney's car blows up)

 First it was the long walk up the hill.

Then the girls went down the hill.

 Then the train went by and I got distracted.

 Then Matt used his sled as a snowboard.

 Then the girls went backwards and Matt tried to catch them.

Good times!

Grandma Lee's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

What is it about snow storms that makes one want to bake?  I don't know either.  This is what I baked during yesterday's storm for breakfast this morning.  

Here's the recipe:

 Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1/2 pound butter
1 cup sugar
3 Eggs
2 cups flour
1tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cream butter and 1 cup of sugar. Sift flour and other dry ingredients and add to creamed butter and sugar.  Mix in sour cream and vanilla until well mixed.  Combine brown and white remaining sugar, cinnamon and nuts.  Pour half of cake mixture into a pan which has been prepared with butter and flour. ( I used a 7 by 11 pan)  Sprinkle on half of sugar and cinnamon mixture.  Pour on remaining cake mix followed by remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes.  I found 45 minutes to be perfect. Enjoy!