CHRISTMAS IN NORFOLK

I thought this picture of Ben and Annie was really good and needed to be posted.  We are enjoying this time we have together, wild and crazy as it is at times.  

ANOTHER PICTURE FROM FOWLER CHRISTMAS 2008

I thought this picture of Lauren and Grandma Freeland was very good.  We really enjoyed our visit with Helen and all the Freeland Clan that could come out and see us.  

CHRISTMAS IN FOWLER

Rose Ann and I had a great Christmas visit with Helen in Fowler this year.  Winter travel was a little dicy, but we got home safe and sound.  We traveled in fog in Illinois and hit an ice storm in Iowa on I-80 on which we were stranded for 3 hours while the Iowa State Patrol closed the Interstate.  We had plenty of gas and kept warm and fed with goodies we brought along including some yummy ham sandwiches from Helen.  The picture is of Rose Ann and Helen resting.  

GERMAN PORK CHOPS & SAUERKRAUT

I tried this recipe last night and it is GREAT, even if you don't like sauerkraut.  I got this recipe from the Frank's Kraut website and it is a recipe from Joanie Grow of Kennewick, WA.  I cut this down to use for a couple of pork chops and it worked just fine.  

This is how I made it.  1 small can of sauerkraut, rinsed and drained.  1 tsp caraway seeds.  2 pork chops (1/2" thick).  Ground black pepper, to taste.  1 apple, peeled, cored, and sliced.  1 tablespoon of raisins.  2 tsp firmly packed brown sugar.  2 tablespoons of apple juice, cider or water. 

Preheat oven to 375.  Grease shiny side of 2 sheets of heavy-duty alum. foil.  Drain and press dry the sauerkraut.  I just opened the can and pressed down the kraut as I poured off the liquid.  Place a bed of sauerkraut in center of each square of alum. foil.  Sprinkle 1/2 tsp of caraway seed over the kraut.  Place pork chops on the bed of kraut and season with pepper.  Arrange apple slices and raisons on top of the chops.  Sprinkle each chop with 1 tsp of brown sugar.  Over each chop, spoon 1 tablespoon of apple juice.  To wrap, bring 2 opposite ends of the foil up and over, making a double fold to seal tightly.  Close both ends; seal tightly.  Place pockets onto baking sheet and bake for 1 hour or until thoroughly cooked;  remove from oven.  Carefully open packets and transfer the the chop mixture to a serving plate.  ENJOY. 

NASHVILLE VISIT TO SEE SHIVES IN NASHVILLE 10/08

Rose Ann and I made a trip to meet Annie, our 13th grandchild, born on the 13th of October, and to help Beth and Ben.  The weather was great and we had a wonderful visit and I got a chance to drive up to Southern Indiana to see my mother, Lucy, for a couple of days.  I hope you enjoy these pictures of our trip.  (Well, I can not get the album to upload)  I will try an image or two.

JESS, ERIC AND THE BOYS DO NEVADA PUMPKIN PATCH

It has been a while since I showed a picture of Eric.  Looked like a great day for a trip to the pumpkin patch, even though Jess said it rained.  I guess pumpkin is the universal fruit (vegetable).  We have a nice pumpkin patch near Norfolk and Amber and her family found one in the greater Chicagoland.  My dictionary says the pumpkin is a fruit.  

HELOISE PEKING ROAST

Rose Ann clipped this out of yesterday's paper.  Use a 3 to 5 lbs. beef roast and cut slits in the meat with a sharp knife.  Then insert slivers of onion and garlic.  Put the meat into a bowl an slowly pour 1/2 to 1 cup of white apple cider or wine vinegar over the meat so that it runs down into the slits.  Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. IMPORTANT:  Before cooking, pour off the vinegar and pat the meat with paper towels.  To cook, place the roast in a heavy pot (a cast-iron Dutch oven is great) and brown it on all sides in a few tablespoons of cooking oil.  Next, pour 2 cups of strong, black, brewed coffee over the meat, add 2 cups of water, then cover and cook slowly on low heat on top of the stove for approximately 6 hours.  You might have to add more water at some point, so check it every so often.  However, do not add salt or pepper until the last 20 minutes of cooking.  Heloise says the roast will be absolutely tender and delicious.  I wonder if you browned the roast and then added it to a slow cooker (Crock Pot), if it would be just as good and easier to control the heat and cooking process.  We have not tried this yet, but will soon.  It sounds good.    P.S.  I am fixing it this weekend.  

NORFOLK, NEBRASKA PICTURES, OCTOBER 2008

From Cowboy Trail Pictures
I took a digital photography class this week at the college and thought I would go out and get some nice fall pictures around Norfolk and update my Blog picture.  Who would have thought Norfolk could be so pretty in the Fall?  WHEN YOU SEE A PICTURE WITH A "From...", YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PICTURE AND SEE MORE PICTURES.

BROOKE IS 6 YEARS OLD!

Grandma Roberta sent some pictures of Brooke's 6th Birthday party.

ANNIE LANE SHIVE

From ANNIE LANE SHIVE
These are the first pictures of our 13th grandchild, Annie Lane Shive.  Annie was born at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN, at 3:30 PM and weighed 8 lbs. 11 oz.  These pictures were taken on the day she was going home, Wednesday, October 15, 2008.

JESSICA & HER BOYS IN TAHOE FOR HER BIRTHDAY

I got another picture to upload and thought I would share it with on my Blog.  The Wilhelms were vacationing in Tahoe for Jessica's Birthday.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESS!

JESSICA'S BIRTHDAY IN TAHOE PIX

I find I can get one pix from the Kodak albums and I have to pick the one I like best.  This is one of Brock and Kaleb on a rock at their cabin.  Petty neat to be on top of a big rock.  

The Naughton's Fall Pix

What a wonderful day to go to a Chicagoland pumpkin patch.  What fun!  

WAYNE CROSS-COUNRY MEET

Wayne X-C Meet 10-7-08


I am blessed to be able to ride to Benjamin's cross-country meets with the Protzmans.  This meet  in Wayne was his best as he finished 2nd.  Ben's Jr HS team is very good and finished 1-2-3-4-7 for the day.  They have one more meet this season up at Yankton and I am looking forward to watching them run then, too.  

A GOOD PROTZMAN PICTURE

Tricia made some prints and I scanned one of them to post on my Blog.  I thought the one of David in the stroller with Esther was precious.  

HERE IS DAVID

Barb asked for a picture of David and I just happened to get a good picture of him at Benjamin's Cross-Country meet last week.  Esther and a friend, Isaiah, are with David.  Note that David has a Purdue shirt on.  Go Boilers!

BENJAMIN'S RED WAGON

I saw this wagon over at the Protzman's and saw that it needed some work.  I took it home, replaced the bed, sanded and painted it and now David has a near new wagon.  I believe the Petersons gave this wood wagon to Benjamin 14 years ago.  It is a good, solid wagon and now should last longer.  I really enjoyed working on this little project.

BENJAMIN IS A RUNNER

I took these shots at this week's Cross-Country meet in Yankton, SD.  Benjamin finished 3rd, his best finish.  His team, the Norfolk Jr. High School team, finished 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6.  Yankton has one of South Dakota's best X-C programs which makes the finish all the sweeter.  Esther decided to run the kids fun run after the meet events.  Benjamin ran/walked along with her.  Grace also ran and finished well.  I rode up with the Protzmans to the Friday afternoon meet.  

THE PETERSON'S NEW DOG, REX.

From Rex
These are the first pictures of Rex, Sara's new dog.  Rex is calm and follows Sara everywhere and, above all, is a good dog.  Sara, the kids and Rex are coming to Norfolk Saturday for a little visit and we will get to meet this new wonder dog of theirs.  

FALL 2007 PETERSON FAMILY PHOTOS

From PETERSON'S FALL 07 PICTURES

Pictures from last Fall are good enough to share now.  Enjoy.

NEW LOOK AT OUR HOME

From HOME REDO

Here are a few pictures of our new shades, blinds and what we did in the garage.  Being retired gives me lots of time to work on these projects when I get the urge.  We did not have a deadline to be concerned about.  

MORE PICTURES FROM ROSE ANN'S NASHVILLE VISIT

From August 08 Trip to Nashville
I am working trying to get an album from Picasa to post so you can click on the picture and see the album.  I have been having problems like getting two of the same photo to post.  ????

BACK TO SCHOOL IN NEW JERSEY

Roberta sent some nice pictures of Marc and Brooke all ready for another school year.  

ROSE ANN VISITS SHIVES IN NASHVILLE

Rose Ann really enjoyed her time with Beth, Ben, Jude, Lucy and Ezra.  The time went all to quickly.  She came home a little under the weather, but is fine now.  These were good pictures I wanted to share.  

ANOTHER GREAT PICTURE FROM THE OLYMPICS

This is a great picture from Beijing.  "Fireworks explode over the National Stadium (The Bird Nest) during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics Sunday, August 24."

MANDARIN CAKE

INGREDIENTS:  1 box yellow cake mix, 3/4 cup orange juice, 2 cans (11 oz.) mandarin oranges chopped and drained.  Prepare cake mix according to directions on box, but add 3/4 cup of orange juice in place of 3/4 cup of liquid.  Stir in chopped oranges.  Bake in 9x13 greased and floured pan for 35-40 minutes or until done when tested.  Bake in two 9" round prepared pans for 20-30 minutes.  

FROSTING:  1 large box instant vanilla pudding mix, 1 (12 oz.) Cool Whip, and 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple undrained.  Mix pudding and Cool Whip together.  Add undrained pineapple to the mixture and frost cooled cake.  May toast coconut and sprinkle on frosting.  Refrigerate.  

I found this in the August 2008 issue of Rural Electric Nebraska Magazine.  The recipe is by Marilyn Hytrek, Stuart, Nebraska.  I baked this cake and it is yummy.  

NAUGHTON NC VACATION

Boy, Justin is growing up.  Here are a few pictures from Amber.  

AMAZING CHINA PHOTO

I saw this amazing photo among some Olympic pictures.  

THE WILHELM CREW SAYS HI!

I hope these pictures turn out OK here.  Jess sent us some new pictures of her boys.

NORTH CAROLINA MOON FLOWERS

Marge sent some pictures of her backyard moon flowers.  They are beautiful and thought they deserved to be posted.  Can you beat these babies with your own pictures of moon flowers?

BAILEY'S CHOCOLATE CHIP CHEESECAKE

This is good stuff.

  

CRUST:  1 cup graham cracker crumbs.  1/4 cup packed brown sugar.  1/4 cup melted butter.  

CHEESECAKE:  4 pkgs (8 oz) cream cheese, softened.  1-1/2 cups sugar.   4 eggs.  3/4 cup Baileys (Carolina brand works and is cheaper).  1-1/2 tsp vanilla.  1 cup semisweet chocolate chips.  

PREHEAT oven to 325.  Use a 10" spring-form pan.  CRUST:  mix crumbs, brown sugar and butter.  Pat in pan.  Bake 5-8 minutes.  CAKE:  In large bowl, beat cream cheese 'til smooth, then gradually add in sugar.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  Blend in Baileys and vanilla.  Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chips on crust.  Gently pour in cream cheese batter.  Sprinkle remaining chips over batter.  Bake 1 hour.  Turn off oven and let stand in the oven, door slightly ajar for an hour.  Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.   

Enjoy!   

A GOOD BOOK: THE BOAT by Nam Le

I just finished a good book that I heard about from a review in the World Herald some weeks ago.   I got a copy from our Library and really enjoyed it.  Nam Le was born in Vietnam and raised in Australia.  He has received numerous awards and studied at the Iowa Writer's Workshop.  This book is a collection of short stories and really opened my eyes to the plight of the "Boat People" and visiting Tehran to the slums of Columbia.  I enjoyed each of the 6 short stories, each unique.  I recommend this book to anyone looking for a good, short read.  

ANGEL FOOD CAKE DESERT

I found this great, little recipe in the July/August issue of Nebraska Life Magazine.  I made it this afternoon and it is really yummy.  Ingredients:  1 angel food cake, cut in half.  1 can of cherry pie filling.  One 8 oz. container of sour cream.  1 large package of instant vanilla pudding.  1 cup of milk.  Directions:  In the bottom of an 9x13-inch pan, crumble half of the cake.  Add the cherry pie filling on top of the crumbled cake.  Crumble the other half of the cake over the pie filling.  Mix together the sour cream, dry pudding mix and milk.  Pour on top of the cake.  Refrigerate for several hours before serving.  We only waited an hour, but that was long enough for us.  YUMMY!

TROOPER SLEEPS ON HIS BACK!

We caught Trooper asleep on his back.  Not having a dog around, we thought this was rather a strange and funny position to sleep in.  Only one more day and Trooper's family will be back.  I came home this afternoon and found he had gotten into the trash.  Not bad, but had gotten some kitchen trash out of the basket and on the floor.  He is bored with us, it seems.  He is a good dog, however and we have enjoyed having him with us for a week while his family was on vacation.  Roger told me Trooper is really comfortable when he sleeps on his back like this.  He really liked our couches/dog beds.

TROOPER STAYS WITH US

Trooper finds life is good, but boring at the Rogers home.   The Protzmans took a week vacation to a family reunion in Oklahoma and Trooper boarded with us.  Trooper is a good dog and very easy to care for.  Here is a picture of one of Trooper's favorite places to relax, on our couch.  Life is good!

CHERRY CLAFOUTI RECIPE

     Rose Ann's secretary's husband is a buyer for a food cooperative and sometimes brings samples.  We got some sweet, cherries from Oregon.  I looked for a recipe and found this one and it is easy and yummy.  Give it a try.  Ingredients:  3 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1 tsp. of vanilla, 2 cups of sweet cherries, and powdered sugar.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Grease 8 or 9 inch baking dish.  Beat eggs, milk, flour, granulated sugar and vanilla with a hand mixer until smooth.  Spread pitted cherries in dish.  Pour batter over cherries.  Bake 45-50 minutes until puffed and golden brown.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Serve warm.       This stuff is good warm or cold.  Kind of like a custard.  The batter is very thin.  Not to worry.  It cooks up great.  Enjoy.  Be careful pitting the cherries.  I cut my thumb.  Is there an easy way to pit cherries?  

SQUIRREL CAUGHT STEALING BIRD FEED!

Now, if I had a camera like Phyllis has, these would be better pictures.  The little stinker is pretty smart.  I first saw the squirrel on the ground under the feeder picking up seeds the birds picked out of the feeder.  He evidently looked up and figured where it was coming from.  Anyway, I thought you would enjoy these pictures.  

MORE NATURE PICTURES BY PHYLLIS!

My friend, Phyllis Williams, has been taking these wonderful nature pictures.  The pictures are amazing and I am happy to share them with you all.