WHERE HAVE I BEEN?

Were have I been?  We are still here, a little older and hopefully a little wiser.  We are following one of our niece's blog about her cancer treatment and find it difficult to post comments.  We are so proud of Amber and how she is handling her cancer.  She has been strong and is great to post at least  weekly how she is doing.  We will keep the prayers flowing for her.  BRIAN

GREETINGS FROM OUR COLD NEBRASKA HOME

It has been a while since I have made a posting. I was just looking at the pictures from when we were packing up my Mother's stuff in her home in Scottsburg in November 2009. Wow. It is now January 2011 and much has changed. Mother's home sold and she died in June 2010. I have a lot of very fond memories of Mother and of the home I grew up in and came home to for many years. The people who bought the house have not been taking care of the outside like Mother would have, nor I. Moe still lives a couple of blocks away and tells us from time to time what the place looks like. We did make a trip back in December for a quick visit with Moe , Sue Collins, and Edith Murphy and her family. I got word today that Edith will be moving into Assisted Living at the Hampton Oaks in Scottsburg next week. It is a small world. Edith has been living in acute care in the same room Mother was in and died in back in 2010. Edith was such a good friend and I think of her are sort of a second mother. I have been writing to her weekly and keeping in touch with Janet Hall. Janet says Edith is doing very well physically, but is slipping mentally. Her good friend, Hiram, lost his driving rights, but his son drops him off at the Oaks to see Edith daily. Janet says she stops in to see Edith 2 or 3 times a day. It is nice that they are so close and can do that. We thought it would be nice for Mother to move out here, but would have been so far from her many, dear friends and would not have been happy here. Like I said, it is cold out here and we have about a foot of snow laying around. Actually, I just looked and it has actually warmed up to 19 tonight. We love Nebraska and the cold and snow go with it. Blessings, BRIAN

BUTTERFLY FROM TEXAS

I will try to see if this picture will come in sharper. Now that is more like it. For whatever reason the modified pix was a different number. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the picture. BRIAN

TEXAS BUTTERFLY

On our recent trip to San Antonio, Texas, for the wedding of our friend Shannon Pinkelman, we stopped in Austin at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and I got this picture of a butterfly. I think I got lucky, for this is a pretty good picture. Well, it looked more in focus when I edited the picture in iPhoto, but when you download it the edited pix does not go for some reason.

I AM BACK

I have not been good about posting. That is an understatement. We are fine here. The fall weather here in Norfolk, Nebraska, has been beautiful. Last night it got down into the 20s and the high today will get into the 50s, but that is the coldest it has been. The fall colors were nice, but fading fast. We got some nice pictures of our red maple tree out back that I will share. In Nebraska we don't have beautiful forests around here or mountains, but we do have our own brand of fall beauty.

EASY CHICKEN & CHEESE ENCHILADAS

This is good. It is from CampbellsKitchen.com. Prep: 10 min. Bake: 40 min. Serves 6

1 can condensed Cream of Chicken soup. 1/2 c. sour cream. 1 c. picante sauce. 2 tbs. chili powder. 2 c. cooked diced chicken. 1/2 c. shredded Mex. cheese. 6 flour tortillas (6"), warmed. 1 small tomato, chopped. 1 green onion, sliced.

1. Stir soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in medium bowl.

2. Stir 1 c. picante sauce mixture, chicken and cheese in large bowl.

3. Divide chicken mixture among tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place seam side up in 2-qt. shallow baking dish. Pour remaining picante sauce over the filled tortillas.

4. Cover and bake at 350 for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling.

5. Top with tomato and onion.

LEMON BUTTERMILK CHESS PIE

I was reminded how long it has been since I posted something, so here is a new recipe I found while I was in Indiana visiting my Mother who is not well. Anyway, I would read the Louisville paper every morning and came across this recipe. I made it this afternoon and it is GREAT. We ate half of the pie already. There was a recipe for the pie crust, but I used a prepared one and it worked fine. So here is the recipe for the filling.

INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 cups brown sugar, 1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal, 1 tablespoon all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 4 eggs (room temperature), 1/2 cup unsalted butter (melted), 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, 1/3 cup lemon juice, 1/2 cup buttermilk (room temperature), 1/2 tsp of vanilla. 1 tablespoon powdered sugar for garnish (optional). Note: I did not use the eggs or buttermilk at room temperature and it worked fine.

PREHEAT OVEN TO 350.

PROCEDURE: In a bowl, combine the brown sugar, cornmeal, flour and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs until light and lemon-colored. Add to the dry ingredients, blending well. Add the melted butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into the chilled crust, and place on middle oven rack. Bake until top is golden brown and jiggles just a bit, 45-60 minutes. I baked our pie 60 minutes and it was perfect. When cool you can garnish with the powdered sugar. We ate 1/2 of the pie before it cooled. Ha. This is good stuff. This is supposed to serve 8-10, but make that 4, if you like it as much as we did. BRIAN

SCOTTSBURG TRIP TO SORT MOTHER'S STUFF

Mother, Lucy Rogers, moved into assisted living in June or there abouts, and is enjoying the good life at The Hampton Oaks in Scottsburg, Indiana. She is 92 and enjoys having someone cook for her and look in on her and really enjoys her many visitors. She said she wanted her furniture and antiques collected over the past 70 years to go to us and to our daughters. We arranged for ABF to spot a trailer in Scottsburg and we packed, loaded and bulkheaded the treasures and they were delivered a few days later to Norfolk, Nebraska. This was so much easier than renting a truck an driving all the way to Norfolk. Well, we are all enjoying our "new" treasures and the house has been listed for sale. Here are some pictures of our packing session.

LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD

This is a great easy recipe taken from the pages of the Taste of Home Cake Mix Creations cook book (a book of east deserts that start with a mix). INGREDIENTS: 1 pkg (18-1/4 oz) white cake mix, 1 pkg (3.4 oz) instant lemon pudding mix, 1 cup warm water, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup canola oil, and 4 tsp of poppy seeds. PROCEDURE: In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, pudding mix, water, eggs and oil. Beat on low for 30 seconds; beat on medium for 2 minutes. Fold in poppy seeds. Pour into two greased 9-in. x 5- in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing to wire racks. YIELD: 2 loaves (16 slices each). Depends on how pick a slice you cut for yourselves. Enjoy! BRIAN

FRUITY CHICKEN SALAD

I found this recipe in the September/October issue of Nebraska Life Magazine. The recipe from Dorothy Rieke from Julian NE and is GREAT. I made it tonight and it is YUMMY!

INGREDIENTS: 2 large chicken breasts cooked, cut into bite size pieces and cooled. 1 can (8 oz.) of mandarin oranges, drained. 1 cup of pineapple chunks, drained (save 1 tsp juice). 1 large eating apple, cored and diced just before serving. 1/4 cup of slivered almonds, toasted. I added the apples with the rest of the ingredients and did not toast the almond slivers. DRESSING: 2/3 cup mayonnaise, 1/3 cup whipped topping, 1 tsp grated orange peel, and 1 tsp of pineapple juice.

DIRECTIONS: In a large mixing bowl, mix dressing ingredients and fold into well-drained fruits, almonds and chicken. Chill. Wait to serve before adding apples. As I said, I don't think this is a big deal. Serves 8. Well, Rose Ann and I ate about half of it and we used 3 chicken breasts. ENJOY!

BAKED DIJON CHICKEN

This is a great, simple recipe that is really good.

INGREDIENTS: Nonstick spray, 3-4 tbs. of Dijon mustard, 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of evaporated fat free milk, 1/4 cup of plain, dry bread crumbs, and 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves. I needed more of the Parmesan cheese and bread crumbs to get the 4 breasts coated.

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Spray 13 x 9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Combine evaporated milk and mustard in a shallow bowl. Combine bread crumbs and cheese in a separate shallow bowl. Dip chicken in the milk mixture, coating both sides, then into the bread crumb mixture. Place in prepared dish and bake for 15-20 minutes or until chicken is golden brown and no longer pink inside. We baked ours for 15 minutes and the chicken was done, but maybe not brown and crispy enough. Your call. It was very good. Enjoy! BRIAN

FAMILY VACATION ON OUTER BANKS NC

We just returned from a wonderful family vacation in North Carolina on the Outer Banks.  We all drove the many miles there, but the road trip was great driving through the mountains to get there.  We rented a wonderful large home and just had a GREAT week creating memories.  Here are a couple of pictures from our trip.  

SARA CHECKS EMAIL AT NORFOLK

I thought this was a good picture of Sara at our computer when she was here this week.  Our "office" is not real tiddy.  Ha.  

RIBS AND SAUERKRAUT RECIPE

Sauerkraut  & onions join the classic apple-and-pork combo for a sweet-salty sensation.  This is a great tasting recipe for your crock pot.  

COOK:  Low 6 hours, High 3 hours.  6-8 servings.  

INGREDIENTS:  1  14-oz can sauerkraut, drained;  1 large sweet onion, sliced (about 2 cups);  2 medium tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced (2 cups);  2 lbs. boneless pork country-style ribs;  1 cup apple juice.  (I had no apple juice so I used a cup of white wine and it was good.)  

PROCEDURE:  In a 4 or 4-1/2 quart slow cooker place kraut, onion and apples.  Top with ribs.  Pour apple juice or wine over all.  Cover and cook.  Serve with a slotted spoon.  ENJOY!  We did.   P.S.  I used ribs on the bone and they were good.  In fact, I have heard that cooking meat on the bone is more flavorful.  

DAVID PROTZMAN JULY 2009

I caught David still enough to take this good picture of him with his awesome curly hair.  Someday he will not like those curls, but we sure do now.  

FUN TIME IN NORFOLK WITH PARACHUTE THING

I thought these pictures were good of some of our grandkids enjoying laying on a very colorful parachute we got the last time we were in Nashville with the Shives.  We will take it with us to the Outer Banks for our family week in August.  We have this great house rented near Nags Head, NC.  We plan to have some great pictures from NC to post after our vacation trip.  On the parachute are Gertie Peterson, Ben, Matt and Esther Protzman.  

MORE PICTURES FROM GAIL & MARILYN'S PARTY

I thought I would share a few more pictures from this special day we shared with Gail and Marilyn on Sunday.  Enjoy.  Grandson, Matt, gave them a chalice from the Vatican.  That was a nice surprise.  A couple of their favorite Priests, Fr. Printy and Fr. Richared, concelebrated Mass for them.  It was a grand day.  

ANNIVERSARY MASS & PARTY FOR THE KOCHS

Sunday we were privileged to attend a 50th Wedding Anniversary Mass and party for Gail and Marilyn Koch down at Jerry & Mary Jo Navara's home South of Omaha.  We had a great time as we always do when we are with the Koch family.  Here are a few pictures you might enjoy from the day.  

MY LATEST WATERCOLOR PAINTING

I just had another painting from a class by a local artist, Randal Anderson.  This one was of floral picture.  I took some liberties with mine, printing out a picture of the flower from the Nebraska Botanical Society.  The flower is native to the grasslands of Nebraska and is called the Penstemon and is very pretty.  Anyway, it is quite different from the picture of Randal's painting.

QUICK & EASY LEMON CHICKEN & RICE

This is another easy and quite good recipe.  

INGREDIENTS:  1/2 cup Italian dressing.  1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips.  1 cup chicken broth.  1 cup small broccoli florets.  1 red pepper, cut into strips.  1 cup thinly sliced carrots.  2 cups Minute brown rice, uncooked.  1 tsp. lemon pepper seasoning.  2 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese.  

DIRECTIONS:  (1)  Heat dressing in large skillet on med-high heat.  Add chicken.  Cook and stir 1 minute.  (2)  Add broth, broccoli, red pepper and carrots.  Bring to a boil.  (3)  Stir in rice.  Return to a boil.  Reduce heat to low.  Cover.  Simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Stir in lemon pepper seasoning.  Sprinkle with cheese.  I added some chopped pecans with the broth, etc. just because we had some and that was good.  This is good and tastes just as good reheated later.  

ENJOY.