The flowers Seymour bought me last week have been steadily wilting, so I’ve been trying to capture their glory for posterity.
This was my favorite flower of the bunch. 🙂
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Tag: Family
Photo 365 #78: Recipe time!
The other night I whipped out one of my mom’s old recipes for supper. I hadn’t made it in ages, and it just sounded good. Something about this time of year makes me long for childhood classics: hearty soups, savory casseroles, and the like.
The title on the top of the recipe card is “Help for Hamburger,” but growing up, we never called it that. We called it what it was – Hamburger and Rice.
I can hear it now – what’s so comforting about something so bland?
Well, dear readers, this dish is anything BUT bland. Check it out:
Help for Hamburger (aka Hamburger and Rice)
1 lb. ground beef
2 Tbs. onion flakes
2 1/2 c. minute rice
3 1/3 c. water
1/4 c. soy sauce
Salt to taste
Brown hamburger together with onion flakes; drain. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Boil together 10-15 minutes.
It’s simple, warm, filling, and delicious. I doubled the recipe and ended up with lots of leftovers, but that’s okay with me. 🙂
What are some of your favorite childhood recipes?
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Photo 365 #73
We went to another Panther football game yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. We tailgated in the afternoon before the game, we played a couple games of bean bag toss, and generally had a great time.
Of course, the real reason I go to football games (other than to hang out with great friends) is for the band. Back in high school, I went to home games because I was in the band. Now that my marching band days are well behind me, I go simply to enjoy the pregame and halftime performances. Once a band geek, always a band geek. 🙂
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Photo 365 #72
Yesterday was rather a rough day. It started early, ended late, and grew steadily worse as the day wore on. But at least I have some pretty flowers to show for it:
Today has been so much better, despite getting off to a rough start. Hope your Saturday has been filled with fun! 🙂
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Photo Friday: Endings!
Who doesn’t love endings? Well, okay, if it’s the end of a fantastic book, or if it’s the end of a particularly beloved character (still bitter), or if a relationship is ending, then I don’t like them. As the great Jane Austen once said, “If a book is well-written, I always find it too short.”
But today’s ending is more in tune with the circle of life. While it’s true that a circle really has no beginning and has no ending, life does (which makes “the circle of life” something of an oxymoron, doesn’t it?), and now that we’re well into fall, you can see endings everywhere.
Over the summer, my aunt took a picture of the kids standing in front of the corn that grows at the edge of our yard. She wanted me to get another picture of the boys in front of the corn this fall, but I kept putting it off, and the weather recently didn’t help.
I came home from work one day and discovered that…
Photo 365 #61
As usual on my day off, I’ve been busy trying to get more than my normal 45 minutes of writing time squeezed in. I’m hard at work on my revision of The Price of Mercy, and I wanted to get some extra work done today.
But the boys had other ideas. They wanted to spend lots of time with me, as Cricket put it. The two goals weren’t incompatible, or at least that’s what I thought. So I sat Cricket and Thumper down with some crayons and paper and told them tk color some pictures for Daddy while I worked on my story.
I spent the next ten minutes drawing “beautiful butterflies” for Thumper (who is very into The Very Hungry Caterpillar at the moment) and another five recording him as he read Little Blue Truck to me. It was too darn cute, and I love that he knows the story by heart.
Books are important, and I can’t imagine life without them. I’m glad that, even though he’s only three, my favorite little bunny shares my literary love. All my boys do, and I couldn’t be more proud. We are a family of bibliophiles here at Casa Kauffman, and nothing could make me happier.
Except, of course, for more bookshelves. One can never have too many bookshelves. 🙂
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Photo 365 #59
Went to an anniversary party last night for Seymour’s godmother and her husband (who are also one of his many aunts and uncles). They’ve been married 25 years.
Twenty-five years of togetherness has given them two children, one of whom is Cricket’s beloved godmother. She’s expecting her first child soon. Everyone is very excited, though I suspect Cricket will be in for a rude awakening when baby arrives, as he recently proclaimed that his godmother and hubby are his other mommy and daddy.
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Photo 365 #56
Miss Tadpole brought home her home ec. project tonight:
She was pretty excited.
I don’t blame her – it turned out very well. It looks even sharper in person. 🙂
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Photo 365 #54
One of the things we did over the weekend to sort of celebrate our anniversary involved attending a football game at the University of Northern Iowa. It was my first time tailgating, and I had a lot of fun (despite the swarms of little black bugs).
Nothing says fun like a game of catch with the old man.
And the Panthers? They stomped the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 50-7. Those seven points were scored late in the third quarter against the Panthers’ third string. It was a blowout.
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Photo 365 #51
Last week, the Daily Post ran a photo challenge about endurance. This is what endurance means to me:
There are a lot of century farms in Iowa, farms that have been owned by one family for a hundred years or more, including mine. They have a recognition ceremony at the state fair every year, and it’s a really neat thing to be a part of.
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Suddenly they all died. The end. 