leder legends

One hour of work - with a timer. Then rest!  No excuses!  I might get through spring garden prep uninjured! From a sea of this... To this... One hour Not bad

 I WROTE THIS IN NOVEMBER December is an odd month for me ... it always has been, but of late it has become even more so! The dilemma of Christmas —-gift giving! No one on my list NEEDS anything but everyone seems to expect something!  Everyone gets a chocolate letter- the first letter of their first name. This is a Dutch tradition. ($123) When we were young, the church community gave all   the children at church three things- a beautiful large orange, a large chocolate bar and a book! This was also a tradition brought from the Netherlands. We loved it!!  In the 1960s and 70s, oranges and chocolate were expensive!  I was thinking I was going to do this for the grandchildren this year and explain the tradition BUT oranges are expensive again, so is chocolate and so are books. Should I spend the money or make a donation in their name?  $40 for oranges from Harry &David, $24 for Lindt chocolate bars, minimum $60 for books. ($124). Another dilemma!   C...

  Generally, we are not long-range planners. For example, last year hubby had a conference in Sweden. We had never been to any part of Scandinavia before so we decided to go.  Just planned the basics ahead of time...plane tickets, hotel and conference. We went to Uppsala  Sweden and while Arie attended the conference, I found things to do locally. We went to  Stockholm, Malmo and Copenhagen on the fly. It was fun and relaxing. This year that same conference is in Adelaide, Australia. Sine we have never been to that part of the world before and will likely never go again, I'm planning. Lots to consider. What do you do and see in a huge country in a limited amount of time ? I booked a tour which will give us a glimpse of the tip of this iceberg. Melbourne,  Cairns, Sydney and then over to New Zealand to Queenstown and Auckland.    I said I planned a vacation and then 'just' picked a tour but that doesn't seem accurate. I have to say that one...

 I felt like baking today…  So late Saturday afternoon I made this list! Lemon bars- because I had 10 lemons that needed to be used.  I squeezed them and froze all the juice yesterday. Crispy ginger snaps- because I bought a bag on Thursday and we ate them ALL! Oatmeal cookies- because I got this recipe from a friend and I wasn’t happy with them the first time I made them. Chocolate chip cookies- because I found a recipe that declares these are better than Toll house so we shall see! Black bottom cupcakes - because I need to bake something for a family with teenagers.  Boterkoek- just because I have not made this for very long time, all the kids love it and I thought something with almond flavoring sounded good. I also need to use the almond paste in the fridge. These might become filled! Banana bread- because I have frozen bananas in the freezer and walnuts … Crispy sugar cookie- because I’m determined to conquer the really crispy cooks on my own. It is now 5:30 and...

Last week, after a few Wednesday lunches at "lower" end restaurants,  we decided to get a little more sophisticated. Today we went downtown to the Bistro Bella Vita a restaurant listed on Google as a place for a  high-end lunch.  As we entered we noticed many tables filled with 'sophisticated ' office groups out for lunch. Definitely a good sign, I thought. The menu offerings also seemed on the 'sophisticated ' side. I chose the meatball sub-sandwich with a side of fries and while that doesn't sound terribly sophisticated the description of the meatballs sounded pretty exciting.   Rose chose the gnocchi with squash, cranberry, kale and some lovely sauces. Our review?? ( I am much more critical than Rose.)  She enjoyed the dish of gnocchi but did mention that it was too mushy. From my one bite, I agreed but also thought it needed more salt. In a 'sophisticated ' place there never are salt and pepper shakers on the table. We didn'...

If March comes in like a lion and it will go out like a lamb.  I’ve heard that before. What about these? Some other March-related weather lore includes: A dry March and a wet May; Fill barns and bays with corn and hay. As it rains in March, so it rains in June. March winds and April showers, Bring forth May flowers. So many mists in March you see, so many frosts in May will be. I’m not sure what defines the lion as far as weather goes.  It’s March 2nd and it’s cold - the temperature was 16° when I got up and I have been cold all morning but the sky is blue and the sunshine is wonderful! Does that warrant a lion label?  Google says it should be cold, blustery and windy….  I guess it’s somewhere in between. On March 6 we got a rain event with lots of thunder! The lion roared.... I hope. I'm ready for warmer weather. 

A cake for Nathan's 50th.  a valiant effort by mom ...I was in a hurry !  ( taste is more important, right?) enjoyed by all! Hard to believe it's been 50 years. Born in Trenton, Ontario.  13months old trip to Massachusetts,  Michigan, Edmonton,  Vancouver and San Jose, Costa Rica. Lived in Costa Rica for 15 months. Traveled by car through Latin America,  Mexico,  Texas to Florida.  Moved to San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1981 one year in Michigan and went to Kindergarten at Westside Christian School. Back to Puerto Rico until 1985. Moved to Toronto (Dad in Grad school) 1987 Moved to Grand Rapids. Michigan  Oakdale Christian school and GR Christian High. Calvin College Solo trip to Europe.  GVSU Toppers Pizza and much more in between  Texas  roadhouse His (older) twin sister went to celebrate in Mexico with a friend.  If she lived in Grand Rapids I would have made her a cake as well!

 Just so I don’t forget. This all started with the latest edition of the Cooks Illustrated magazine. It’s a new format and seems to have a new focus.  I found myself wanting to prepare a lot of the recipes but I did not have all the ingredients required so I shopped first. Today I stared with Guinness Chocolate Cake. I ended up making two so I could use the entire can of Guinness!  One will go in the freezer for a birthday. It was pretty dense.  The thick layer of good cream cheese frosting helped.   Then I made a small batch of cookies- one bowl, one pan, 12 decent-sized Coffee Toffee cookies! ( Arie really likes them but I am not a fan -  not enough coffee).  Then on to the sauces and dip for oven-fried chicken wings. ( I was going to make these for Saturday night but I have since discovered that my DIL and grandson only eat the nuggets and my dear son gave me a long argument about fried versus oven-fried chicken. He says oven fried ...

  Bagels!  I used to love them! Chewy and fresh from the bagel shop and topped with butter and cheese or lox and cream cheese…. Maybe even a strawberry cream cheese! Then came the packaged ones…  They were okay and I certainly bought and consumed my share but they were never very satisfying. Back in the day, my dad (and all 3 brothers) baked bread … really good bread. Wonderful taste and texture and like all of the best bakery bread it had to be eaten fresh to really enjoy it properly!  We used to talk about Wonder bread and called it glue. It was soft as promised in the ads, it lasted on the counter for a long time so it was popular.  It also stuck to the roof of your mouth like glue!  Nasty stuff for the baker and his family. It killed the local bakery shops! It was easily available in the grocery store and it was cheaper to buy.  ( I fail to understand that in economic terms because I remember selling 1 lb loaves at 3 for $1.) Then came the large gr...

Sunday lunch at Texas Roadhouse! Such a treat!  We don’t usually go out to eat on Sunday but the food is down to the very basics in this house so we decided to indulge! Texas Roadhouse has such good steaks and the sides aren’t bad either ! (Please excuse the sideways pictures!) Ribeye cooked just right with Caesar salad and sweet potato! Filet - medium rare with fries and veggie mix!

Lunch was at Applebee’s this week.  We had not been there for a very long time.  The food was only ok so it will probably be a long time before we go back! The lunch special was a good deal! A shared appetizer and 2 entrees for $25. There were a limited list of things to choose from but it appealed to us both. Appetizers- spinach artichoke dip.  Tasty but too much!! Fiesta-Lime chicken and rice Crispy Chicken Tenders salad! Sizzlin’ Butter Pecan Blondie The dessert was not part of the special but we shared and it was worth it !   Any further description of the food would not be very charitable LOL I went back to look at the official menu so that I could identify the dishes accurately and I noticed that each dish had the amount of calories listed.   I was surprised that my salad had only 60 fewer calories than the chicken and rice! It must have been all that breading on the crispy tenders!  I should have taken 1/2 hom...

  Meatloaf used to be a staple in our house especially when I was teaching and there were children at home. One meatloaf for one meal! When there was only one child left, I was more inclined to make meatballs or a stroganoff.  I was definitely lacking inspiration on a very cold winter day.  What is it about the cold that makes us want to just curl up by the fire with a good book and a hot drink? A package of ground beef was thawing on the counter and just staring at me all day.  I tried to ignore it and I suppose it could have been put back in the fridge but I felt obliged to cook … something! I am not sure why.  It’s funny how the mind works! Perhaps I was feeling a bit guilty for my general lack of effort this past week even though I had made an effort the day before.  We had fried brats, the last of the potatoes and some Brussels sprouts and the hubby thought it was delicious!   We even had a restaurant worthy appetizer! A couple of bags...

  We found a new place for Wednesday lunch- JT’s Pizza!  Apparently this pizza place has been around for a long time - since 1975 and known for homemade pizza, sauces, and Italian sausage. The lunch special is an extra large pizza slice and a soda.  Red sauce is the only requirement. So we both ordered The Deluxe with a diet Mt Dew! We split a dessert of NewYork cheesecake! (Pictures are loading sideways again... so annoying!) A good lunch and not overly pricey!

  Two books. I belong to two very different book clubs. Both meet every two months and unintentionally it ends up that they often meet in the same week- one on Wednesday night and the other on Sunday night.  I like to read the chosen book as close to the meeting date as possible in order to keep the facts and reactions fresh.  Last week I read The Salt Path on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday for a Wednesday evening meeting. Then I read Soldier of Salamis on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for a Sunday night meeting. Nothing much else got done for a while! Haha! We had a lively discussion on Wednesday evening even though the book was not well received by most of the book club.  It was boring and not truly believable. The Sunday evening meeting was postponed because of frigid weather. This book also was uninspiring, boring and full of extremely long complicated sentences. It is divided into three parts.  For me, part one was a slog… full of histor...

  Besides my earlier list, I found two savory pastries in the freezer.  Since it is Saturday, I am baking them both.  The leftovers will make a nice late night snack or a light dinner tomorrow. The first is a Spinach & Ricotta Strudel. It is from “Deutsche Küche” so I thought it was German.  The package says it is a product of Italy that I purchased at Aldi. The second is called  Cheese Sirnica  It’s Bosnian pastry with cheese and  spices. It is made locally . Both tasted great but very different. The cheese in the Bosnian was quite firm.  The Italian pastry was flakier filled with plenty of spinach. Both needed a drop or two of hot sauce or maybe more salt. I liked the Strudel best. Hubby preferred the Bosnian sirnica! It was a good supper. Only one piece left for tomorrow ! Arie’s breakfast!

  The challenge continues.  We had a frozen leftover meal tonight - it turned out to be a very tasty rice and beans dish that I had prepared about a month ago! I also baked two small stuffed chicken breasts that were also hidden in the back of the freezer compartment of the fridge. I was proud that I survived a trip to the store and resisted the temptation to buy meat!  So what’s left?  2 lbs of ground beef, 2 lbs of shrimp, a beef pot roast and  1 lb of brats. That’s still seven dinners down from 10 … I’m encouraged!

 Rose and I continue to enjoy going out for lunch on Wednesdays. We still try to find a new place each week and we still take turns selecting the place.  We are finding it more challenging to find new and interesting places.  On top of that we don’t always remember whose turn it is. Today was like that.  After going back and forth - we finally agreed it was her turn.  We went to Rose’s on Reeds Lake.  We were looking for ambiance, good food and warmth!   The fire place burning brightly and warming up the place plus the hearty Rueben sandwich that we split checked off all the boxes! So I need to start the list again in order to avoid confusion! Lucy’s  3/25/26 Bistro Bella Vita 3/18/26 IHOP 3/11/26  The Breakfast House 3/7/26 Applebee’s  2/4/26 JTs pizza 1/28/26 Rose’s  1/21/26 Uccellos 1/14/26 Cantina 1/7/26 Beltline bar It’s bad… I can only remember the last few weeks! Bob Evan’s Bigfoot burgers

  Yesterday I figured out that I have 10 suppers left after my freezer purge. Today I made a spicy Indian chicken over rice with a side of bread and butter pickles. It was delicious! Unfortunately, there is enough left over for another meal!  It will go in the rotation as meal number 10.  If this happens every time, when will I run out of food?  My 10 meals might just became 20! Cooking for two takes skill!!

 11:00 pm  It’s 8° F outside and 55° F in our bedroom! The bedroom door is staying open tonight and windows will be closed! It has been snowing quite steadily for 2 days- fine snow and plenty of wind! There’s probably 2 feet of accumulation. It’s pretty outside!  This said, it’s also dangerous! This morning at 10:30 there was a 100 car and truck pile up on the freeway. No fatalities amazingly! The highway reopened at 7:00 pm. It even made the international news. Thanks to drones, we were able to see  pictures showing the enormity of the event. Drones are so awesome! Lots of people head down south at this time year. They are gone for 2 weeks up to 3 months. If things stay this cold perhaps we will have to consider doing the same!  I can’t get warm even wearing multiple layers. I’d love to be sitting on a  beach sipping a piña colada and enjoying the warm breezes and the sunshine!

  Two weeks ago I decided to start a pantry and freezer cleanse! I’ve done this a few times but this time I’m being very “enthusiastic “!  I am very frugal in the kitchen so by definition I do not throw very much away.  I’m really good at saving things in little ziplock bags and then tossing them in the freezer.  My mother would be proud! Unfortunately, I do NOT label very much and trying to figure out what I have in these baggies is creative guess work.  Today, I started with the idea that I would use up the veggies from the fridge and make some soup. While chopping the celery and the onions, I noticed that I had 2 eggs.  What a segue! Haha! I had found an old chocolate chip cookie mix in the pantry that asked for 1 egg…. So I made cookies.   For the second egg, Google helped me find a carrot cake recipe that only called for 1 egg which sounded promising. I had the exact amount of carrots, exactly 1/2 cup of sour cream and some oil.  I checked th...

Ouch! I cut a fairly big chunk off the tip of my middle finger last night! It sure bled a lot!  This morning it had stopped bleeding and looked a bit angry but then I would have been angry too! lol! It’s the one on my right hand- naturally!  I kept hitting it so I had to find a way to pad it and keep it dry! Not an easy task when you are right handed. I finally got it protected and then covered it with a finger of a latex glove! So much fun but it does work! I was able to do all that I had planned.  I prepared a savory charcuterie board with lots of cheeses and crackers left over from Christmas plus some meats. Olives and pickles on the side in bowls! I also did a board with fruit- red kiwi, strawberries, oranges and blackberries? I also made some smoked salmon dip but I am not sure I’ll put it out…. Or figure out how to perk it up.  We’ll see. ( I added lots of dill and lemon juice and it helped a lot) New Year’s Day the tip of my finger still hurts! It throbs quiet...