Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover


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Monday Mouthfuls: Cast Iron Skillet Breakfast Casserole

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Compliments of my cousin, Melissa, we enjoyed her cast iron skillet breakfast casserole. So mouth-watering, fragrant, and tasty! I can’t wait to play with the recipe when I get home.

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Cast Iron Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients:

1 package tater tots

1 dozen eggs

1 cup diced turkey ham (or your ham choice)

1 cup grated cheese

salt and pepper

butter

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Generously butter inside of seasoned cast iron skillet.

3. Line bottom and edges with tater tots.

4. Sprinkle ham over tater tot crust.

5. In separate bowl, whisk eggs until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. Pour over ham and crust. (Cayenne would be great, too!).

6. Sprinkle cheese on top.

7. Bake in oven. Start checking at 45 minutes by jiggling pan for movement or sticking fork in center for doneness. We like a crispy crust, so ours cooked for about 1 hour.

8. Remove from oven. It will continue to cook for a bit more. Slice and serve while warm. Delish!

Optional toppings: salsa or ketchup (for the youngers, not me), chopped green onions, sour cream, Tabasco. I’d like to experiment with green peppers, green chilis, spinach, broccoli, kale, and cherry tomatoes, though not all at once. Mmm.

Thanks, Melissa! I am inspired to re-season my cast iron skillet and whip up some breakfast casserole!

 


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The Mud Recipe

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“Dark chocolate looks like poop.”

So said Donavyn after I gave him some acai chocolate treats. “It looks like mud. Not dirt, but mud and water.”

“How do you make mud?” I asked.

“You take some dirt and mix some water.”

Ever the teacher of different genres of literature, “So what’s the recipe for mud?”

Compliments of a 5-year-old, here is Donavyn’s recipe for mud.

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How to Make Mud

Step 1: Get some dirt.

Step 2: Add some water.

Step 3: Mix it up. Now you have mud.

Everyone needs this recipe. Go outside. Play in the mud.

 


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Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge: Shaggy

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shaggy head, bearded

swaying, stretching for the sky

little men lined up

 

shaggy by Angie Quantrell

 

It’s Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge day! How about sharing a haiku about something you see in nature?


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Haiku Challenge: Monster

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claws, antennae, eyes

monster stalk, capture, devour

praying mantis win

 

monster by Angie Quantrell

 

What monster is lurking in your yard? Post a Haiku so we can all be scared!


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Spinning: Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge

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Spinning

lacy edges spin

wrapped tight, unfurling swirls hint

at blossom beauty

 

by Angie Quantrell

It’s Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge day! Post your haiku in the comments or the link to your page so we can read your haiku!


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Marvelous Monday Moonflowers

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Thanks to seeds from a friend (Hi, friend!), magic unfolded in my night garden last night!

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Moonflower seeds. I will admit I was accepting defeat at the beginning of the growth cycle. Never have I seen a plant grow SO SLLOOWWWW. Chances of actual blooms appeared nonexistent. Then came the heat. The smoke. The long summer days.

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And poof! Cigar-shaped flower pods grew amidst the large leaves. BTW, the stems are out-of-this-world interesting to look at and touch. Once the flowers began to poke from the covering, they transformed into green taquitos.

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Then came lavender-edged swirls.

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which burst open into extravagant balloons!

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Old-fashioned rose fragrance, glow-in-the-dark coloring, large, inviting. I wanted to stay awake all night to see which nocturnal pollinators took the bait and visited the deep blossoms.

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Marvelous Monday indeed. What wonderful flowers inspire you? Do you know of any other night flowers? I hear moonflowers are perennials plus they offer abundant seeds. Moonflowers, anyone?

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Surprise Dinner Plans: Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge

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surprise dinner plans

 

salmon encrusted

with spicy cajun tartar;

cat had other plans

 

aluminum foil

cooler than summer and fur;

unsupervised cat

 

kitty barbeque?

dare not, methinks, feline love.

new foil, fish dinner

 

 

by Angie Quantrell

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BEWARE leaving the cat alone to her own devices in the RV while I’m out trotting around the pasture.

How has your cat (dog, child, husband, wife) surprised you? Share by penning a haiku!

 

 


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Monday Mouthfuls: Corn Blueberry Salad

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Now don’t say no before you try this salad! It is so good, I had two huge servings. If you ask me, there is nothing wrong with fresh corn in any kind of salad, especially if it was just shucked and cut from the cob. Delish!

A wonderful cook and hostess (Vickie) made this lunch salad for my stamping buddy (Alyson) and I when we were spread out all over her dining room table creating cards. This wasn’t the only tasty dish she prepared, but certainly one I want to recreate. Thanks to Vickie and her bountiful garden!

And drats, the picture I took of the recipe cut off the magazine title and year, but I believe it as Better Homes & Gardens, many years back. Since I can’t adequately give the source, I will just list the ingredients. Just remember to cook the corn about 5-6 minutes, cool it in ice water, and slice if from the cob.

Corn Blueberry Salad

6-7 ears of sweet corn (shucked)

1-1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

1 sliced English cucumber

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 cup finely chopped red onion

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced (less if you prefer less spice)

lime juice, olive oil, honey, cumin, a sprinkle of salt (for dressing; shake well in covered jar)

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Gently mix all ingredients (minus dressing) in bowl. Stir in dressing until well covered. The original recipe says to let it sit 24 hours in fridge, but we decided that was not necessary AND the cilantro and perhaps the cucumber would become wilted in the long soak. So eat it right away!

This salad is not only tasty, but gorgeous! Perfect for those summer barbecues. Five thumbs up!

Note: As per my usual, I’ve tweaked the amounts and added more of what I love (like red onion and cucumbers). I bet there are other tasty ingredients just waiting for a chance to join the salad party.

 

 


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Weeds Are Winning (Gardening Gone Bad)

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A hectic summer schedule has provided ample time for weeds to take over the garden.

Despite some attempts at control, a busy travel itinerary leaves much to be desired in the ‘finding edible items in the garden’ category. Is everything growing? Yes! All experiments and plant combinations are thriving with unbridled passion.

But alas, the weeds have accepted the challenge and are rising to the top, willy-nilly.

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Enter gardening goal: Fill to overflowing one wheelbarrow full of weeds each day I am home. At this rate, the garden will look spectacular by October 1.

Gardening gone bad, you lose!

Until then, we play garden hide-and-seek for prized veg and fruit.

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Happy Hump Day Haiku Challenge

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gnarled shelves grasp earth

etched granite skin, moss blanket

tree’s knees bend and rest

 

by Angie Quantrell

 

Happy Hump Day! How about a haiku challenge? I’d love to read yours.