In a Rut or on a Roll?

This past weekend was the Spring train show for the eastern division of the TCA.  It's always a special weekend for Rod and I and this show was no exception.  We left Thursday evening and drove as far as Breezewood.  Then on Friday morning, we slept a little later than usual, had breakfast, and then drove to the show.  With the price of gas, I had decided on Wednesday that some penny-pinching was in order.

We had some turkey breast left over from Easter, so Pam and I whipped up some turkey spread.  We ground up the turkey, added some pickles and hard boiled eggs (also an Easter leftover) to the processor and then added some mayo, mustard,shredded cheese, black pepper, and seasoned salt.  And, voila, turkey spread was born.  I made 5 sandwiches on buns, and packed them in a plastic container.  Pat made a loaf of chocolate applesauce bread, yummy by itself, but even better when made into sandwiches with some spreadable cream cheese.  I cut the sandwiches in half to make them more finger-friendly, and then put them into another plastic box.  Into the cooler bag they went, along with two ice packs, and our drinks of choice. We stopped at "The King" for dinner on Thursday night, but our bagged goodies were lunch and dinner on Friday.  It was great that we had them since it was pouring rain when we stopped for dinner on Friday, and we didn't have to leave the car.  I love just about anything made with turkey and our sandwiches were delicious.  The next time, however, I may add a few dried cranberries for a sweet surprise.

Yesterday, we smoked a sirloin tip and it was a little dry.  Great flavor though.  After dinner, Pam dragged out the food processor once again.  Out came the dill pickles, spicy brown mustard, more leftover hard boiled eggs, cheese and mayo.  And she made what we call "roast beef spread".  It makes great sandwiches, but we like it on Ritz crackers for a healthy snack.

So now I ask you - is making two kinds of spread in three days a rut or a roll?  Well, let me tell you that if it's a rut, it's a pretty scrumptious one!

A Great Weekend

We had an extra long weekend beginning with Thursday.  Rod woke up Thursday morning and had to pry his eyes open.  He's been battling a cold virus, but the eyes were something new.  He wasn't seeing clearly, and so I called and got him in to see the doctor.  Turns out he had pink eye.  The doc called in two prescriptions for him - one for an eye drop, and one for an inhaler.  The two prescriptions cost us $70.00.  But today, the eyes are much better.

Friday was a holiday for him, and we spent it with the two youngest grandkids.  We dyed our Easter eggs, and spent time on the deck.  We got fish from our favorite fish place for dinner, and later that evening Pam and Pat came down to beg for one of Pappy's milkshakes.  While Rod was making the shakes, they began to pick up toys and before they left, the house was ready for the sweeper.  They cleaned and wiped off the bars and scrubbed the kitchen floor.  We are so blessed to have the daughters that we have.

We had our Easter dinner on Saturday night.  Rod and I put the ham and turkey breast in the smoker.  The cheesy hash brown potatoes and the copy cat Cracker Barrel beans were put into the slow cookers.  Pam and Pat came down and made the crust and the filling for the cream puff dessert, and then stuffed green pepper slices with their homemade cheese spread.  Mary brought a 7-layer salad and bacon-brown sugar green beans.  Kristin brought deviled eggs (she makes the best).

She added a little color for Easter.  She and George also brought a couple bottles of Moscato wine, and we really enjoyed it.  After dinner, we moved into the living room to watch the Pens hockey game, and switched between it and the Pirates game.  Both teams lost, but we had a great evening.

Sunday, Mary's family and the twins went to the Pirate game.  Again they lost, but they had fun and got some sun.  After the game, everyone (Kris's family too) came here for the dessert that Mary had made.  The evening ended with all of us watching Tangled.  It was truly a great weekend.  I was sad to see Rod go back to work today, but it's a short week since we will be going to the Train Show on Friday.

So Bummed!

After a few days of beautiful, sunny, warm weather, we have been pushed back into gloomy, rainy days.  The view outside my window resembles this photo.  And now they say we might see a few snowflakes tomorrow morning.  What's up with this!!  I realize that "April Showers bring Mayflowers", but I don't recall anything about April Snow!  Ok, I'm done whining.

The weather isn't the only thing that has me bummed this morning.  I've been working on some baby quilts for what seems like forever.  Last week I put the tops together for the farm quilt, the Noah's Ark quilt, and the Bumblebear Quilt.  It all went very smoothly.  This week, I started to put the Sock Monkey quilt together, and only had 8 blocks when I should have had 9.  I was so certain that I had done 9, so I started looking.  I looked in the living room where I sew - no block.  Then I bravely entered the sewing room (right now it's still Enter at Your Own Risk), but there was no block where the others had been.  So now, before I can finish the quilt, I have to make another block.  I don't want to have to switch the machine that's in the living room now, so tomorrow morning I plan on cleaning up the sewing room enough to get into the embroidery machine and start the needed block.  Who knows, I may even work on the mess while the machine sews.  This missing block has me so bummed, that I don't want to work on anything right now.

Somehow I hurt my back the other day, and it hurts to walk or stand.  I really believe that back pain is the worst.  I don't have Jake this morning, so I think I will read the three magazines that I got this week.  Have a great weekend!