C is for Cooking with Clenna

Greetings!
I missed you kids!

How was your weekend?

Busy? Fun? Relaxing?

How about a report!?! 🙂

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Today, I have a recipe that Clenna discovered.

Sounds good and economical, so it’s a great tie-in to last week’s discussion on “ways to save money”.

As I was preparing this post, it struck me as a great topic to use for the letter C in my ABC-Along series!

C is for Cooking a Chicken Casserole with Clenna! 😀

Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

1 pkg. macaroni and cheese dinner ($1.50)

2 cup chicken (I had on hand from a prior time.)

1 can cream of chicken soup (.50)

1 1/2 cup chicken broth ($1)

1 T. onion flakes (in pantry)

1 can french fried onion rings ($2)

2 T. butter (in fridge)

Directions:

Combine macaroni and cheese dinner, chicken, cream of chicken soup, onion flakes, pepper flakes and chicken broth in 2-quart casserole. Microwave on full power 16 minutes, covered. Stir once. Rest, covered for 5 minutes. Add butter and mix well. Top with onion rings.

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Recipe was found here

Thanks, Clenna! 😀

Hugs,

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B is for Bureau

And also for . . .

Beads 😀

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Many (but far from all) of my Vintage Lucite Beads are stored in this bureau.

Every drawer is chock full of beads!

Part of the fun for me is that this is a bureau I used while I was growing up!

After I got married, my parents turned it over to me. Since then I’ve used it for baby clothes, and later for sewing supplies and fabric.

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But its most recent purpose is to house beautiful beads!

Hugs,

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A is for Avatar

Because I’m always searching for ways to entertain you, it occurred to me to try a series that was a favorite in blogland several years ago, called: “ABC-Along”.

The idea is to periodically have a post that corresponds with a letter, in alphabetical order.

So, as you’ve guessed by now, today is: A. 😉

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If you have been visiting here for a while, I’m sure you’ve noticed my banner/logo (above) and also my Avatar. But did you know that it was Sir Beads who designed them?

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When I was setting up my website, and deciding on a name for my business, I chose a “fairy tale” theme as a way to tell our story.

Although he’s much too modest to admit it, Sir Beads has a real talent for art, so I asked him if he could draw a fairy for me . . .

Here’s an early prototype sketch:

And here’s a version getting close to the final design:

I think he figured that was all I wanted (LOL). But, oh no!

Next, I asked for the banner shown at the top of this page. In keeping with the fairy tale theme, you can see that the little fairy is sitting on a glass slipper filled with beads.

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Here’s our original “glass slipper” – a photo, also by Sir Beads, which I currently use for my website bead store.

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Eventually, I requested the Avatar and since then he’s done my business cards, blog buttons, labels, etc.

I’m so very proud of his work and it’s fun to have something unique!

Of course, the price was right, too. 😉

Hugs,

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A is for Apple

As Clenna reminded us last week with her photos from the orchard – it’s apple season! 😀

I’d like to share a recipe that was my grandmother’s. She’s gone now, but she’ll always be with me in spirit. She was the original organized homemaker, but then that’s really all that girls of her generation had to strive for. She was delightfully funny (witty, actually!), rather shy (but a great story-teller), very generous, and had a way of letting you know she loved you . . . without a lot of words. I still miss her, but I know she’d be tickled that I’m sharing this recipe with you. It’s delicious and so easy to make!

Helen’s Apple Squares

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1 cup flour

2 tbs baking powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

3/4c chopped walnuts

3 large apples (diced)

brown sugar to sprinkle on top

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Mix together first 8 ingredients and

Pour into a greased 9″x13″ pan.

Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Cool and cut into squares.

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Hugs,

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