Pumpkin Bread Comes From Banana Squash??

I'm not sure just where this idea came from - all I know is, that in all my 45 years of life and living, pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread have always come from none other than banana squash. Oh yeah - I have pictures of my brother at about age four with one almost as big as he was. When mom went to glory almost 20 years ago, the tradition stoppped and was almost forgotten. She was the one who rallied the troops in the spring to plant said squash amongst all the other stuff my brother labeled as "noxious weeds". Anyhoo, one spring, I was in the local seed store, taking in all the sights and smells of potting soil, fertilizers and such and I inquired about some banana squash seeds - sure enough, in one his many seed drawers, the clerk pulled out a package and I almost fell over!! Ain't that a cottonpicker!! Not only did I rejoice but my mother's two sisters were tickled as well. My mom came from a brood of 10 kids and they grew all their own vegetables on the farm across the river-sandy soil that grew the best watermelons and cantalope you ever tasted!! So once again, the tradition began and every year, we grow these unusual squash to make the best pumpkin pies and bread you've ever had!!

I'm going to share my pumpkin bread recipe - you can use canned pumpkin.

3 cups flour - 3 cups pumpkin

2 cups sugar - 4 eggs, well beaten

1 tsp. salt - 1 1/2 cup oil

1 tsp. soda - 1/2 chopped nuts

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

2 tsp. cinnamon

Mix dry ingredients well, add nuts. In another bowl, mix pumpkin, eggs and oil well. Add dry ingredients; do not overmix. Pour into ungreased loaf pans. Bake at 350 for approx. 1 hour. ( I bake mine in small pans and bake about 30 minutes.)

This is kind of the kick off of Fall. My kids know when the pumpkin bread starts coming off, cooler temperatures are on their way and Jack Frost is circling! Till next time, adios!

Favorite Place Revisited

Started revisiting an old favorite place of mine. I'm not sure why I quit coming here....It's the perfect place to just sit and think...... and pray for what's on my heart. I know I can pray anywhere, but I always feel closest to the Lord here; not that He isn't everywhere....He just seems to meet me here, where I'm at. As I listen to the windmill turning in the gentle breeze, and watch the water trickling out, I'm really at peace. No fancy words are required for this meeting; I've learned that wailing, pleading and fit throwing doesn't impress the heart of God, but trusting those we love the most to His care does. If He allows it, there's a lesson in it. The thing I like the most about this place and and the journey here is, nothing changes. The place is totally unaffected by politics, world disasters, the stock market, fuel prices....you get the picture. The cows follow the same trails to get here each morning, tank up on water and head out for breakfast. The flowers bloom on time, the prairie dogs are doing whatever prairie dogs do.

Oh by the way, Happy Fall Ya'll!! Yep, this is the day I've been waiting for....the calendar finally caught up with my autumn decor!! No, I won't go dig out my Christmas ornaments yet...I'm waiting for a special occasion ...like a estrogen extravaganza or a hormone meltdown. Should be any day now. Actually it's been a great week - nothing catastrophic. And since it's only monday, I am completely optimistic the rest of the week should follow suit! Well, it's now 8:00 p.m. and mamaw is officially off the clock... believe I'll head to bed!! 10 hours from now we start over - till next time, adios!

Christian one-liners

Don't let your worries get the best of you; remember, Moses started out as a basket case.****************************************************Some people are kind, polite and sweet-spirited until you try to sit in their pews.****************************************************Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisors.****************************************************It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.****************************************************The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close.****************************************************When you get your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.****************************************************People are funny; they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road and the back of the church.****************************************************Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.****************************************************Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn't belong.****************************************************If the church wants a better pastor, it only needs to pray for the one it has.****************************************************God Himself does not propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why do you?****************************************************Some minds are like concrete; thoroughly mixed up and premanently set.****************************************************Peace starts with a smile.****************************************************I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which on you stay home from?!****************************************************A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.****************************************************We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.****************************************************Be ye fishers of men. You catch them -- He'll clean them.****************************************************Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.****************************************************Don't put a question mark where God put a period.****************************************************Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.****************************************************Forbidden fruits create many jams.****************************************************God doesn't call gthe qualified, He qualifies the called.****************************************************God grades on the cross, not the curve.****************************************************God loves everyone, but probably prefers "fuits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"****************************************************God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.****************************************************he who angers you, contols you!****************************************************If God is your Co-pilot -- swap seats!****************************************************Prayer:Don't give God instructions -- just report for duty!****************************************************The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.****************************************************The Will of God never takes you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.****************************************************We don't change the message, the message changes us.***************************************************You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... discourage him.****************************************************The best mathematical equation I have ever been seen: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

Confession is good for the soul!

Got tickled at Ranch Kid's pittiful plea for somebody, ANYBODY to take some her barn kitties off her hands. Cats are usually plentiful around our place, but I remember a time when I would have jumped over the moon for a kitten. Katie was two years old and loved cats. Her cat had wasted it's nine lives so the hunt for another "cat toy" begun. Any other time, the papers would have had cats galore to give away, but not this time. For days, I called fellow country people, poured over the local paper in hopes that someone had an overabundance of felines and would be willing to share. After a week or two I was getting desperate and did the unthinkable. Remember now, this was 15 years ago, WAY before I lived by the spirit and not the flesh.....well, anyway.....I decided to visit the local humane society. Surely, they had some cats to spare! With a mission in mind, I bundled up little Katie, and off to town we went - we would return with a cat or else! It started off innocent enough - I walked in there like I owned the place and.......Lied. Yes I did. I told them I was looking for my cat..... which I knew was probably scattered over two sections by now.....and who could resist a cute little blond haired girl with dog-ears and a sweet smile. Yep, they let us go back to "look for my cat" .... alone. We ventured back into the "cat house" and wouldn't you know there was baby kitties of every color, in every pen. Poor kitties, I thought - locked up in these little ole pens, with nobody to love them.....such a shame....they would be so much better at my house.....good food...clean water...room to run around...yeah, you know where this is going. And like I said we were all alone....no supervision....being trusted. I was fixing to be involved in a catnapping. I know what you're thinking - I should have considered "adopting" a kitty but they wanted $35.00 to cover the mandatory spay fee. Well, I didn't want my cat spayed. I wanted all parts in tact so maybe I wouldn't be back in this predicament - maybe I wanted to have baby kitties so I could give kitties away...you know, to other people in need of a cat. You can justify most anything if you think about it long enough! I spotted a potential candidate and started shaking....I knew it was wrong.....I looked around to see if anyone was looking .... Do you know how hard it is to unlock kennel pens with one hand? I grabbed this poor baby cat and stuffed it in my coat and walked out to the office. I can't believe I'm telling this. Nervously, I explained my cat wasn't there...rambling....the cat was working up the arm of my coat and started meowing.....so I gently patted Katie on the bottom and said "Hush Katie, momma is talking"......yeah I know...I dashed outside shaking so bad I couldn't get my truck unlocked. Got cat and kid loaded up and zigzagged around the neighborhood in case they had discovered a missing cat and might be following - no, my conscience wasn't bothering me and I'm not making this up. After the 15 mile trip home, I had settled down some - but as I turned off onto our little dirt road - coming down the road...no kidding...never happened before or since...was a State Police car. I was about to have a litter of kittens....would have saved me alot of time and trouble had I done that first! I smiled and waved, broke into a cold sweat, and burned down the road to the house - ran in, totally out of breath and demanded to know what the state police was doing out here!! Ross looked at me and said...."what did you do"?? I let the cat out of the bag so to speak, and my husband was shocked and amazed that his wife would do such a thing... and drag a two year old as an accomplice. He had no idea why a police car would be on our road, other than maybe he was trying to find a bush. You know, that cat turned out to be mean and hateful and I think I ended up shooting him. All Ross could say was....you get what you pay for. I hope Karli 's cat takes care of her remaining seven lives.... maybe I need to talk to Ranch Kid about a cat! Till next time, adios.

"On the seventh day He rested"

Well, it's indeed the seventh day and I too am going to rest. Life can be hard and unpredictable, but God is good. He has shown His mighty hand in the lives of several friends and family this week; and in the days in which we live, it seems like every family we know is going through something monumental; testing faith and trust. I've had a little bit of trouble in that area myself. Being the control freak that I am, I seem to always be trying to advise the Lord in areas I know nothing about.
Went to town yesterday, and should have had the flashers going, warning everyone there was a mamaw on the loose, and she might be armed and dangerous. I had several things I needed to do, had already put in a full day and was about as friendly as a horny toad. Well, I backed out and ran over the cat....yessserrrii bob....this is going to be a fun day!! Got to town...got to the grocery store....no debit card and only enough cash to pick up the green chili I was after in the first place. Called Katie and she was headed to town - said she would meet me at the farm store with my card. Meanwhile, I headed out to Hobson's Gardens to get my yearly supply of roasted chili, and was two bucks short...good thing we haul all their hay - Got home finally....in one piece, got a few groceries, twenty gallons of water, got my chili put up and and I think I'll make some chili rellenos today for dinner. Got a green chili stew on the stove...it's a cloudy, cool morning and that just sounds good to me. Till next time...adios!

Bless Sarah's pea-pickin' heart!

It's 11:00 am and I've yet to get my clothes on. What am I doing sitting here blogging instead of all the necessary stuff that lies before me?? This is day three of "Operation Mamaw" in which I care for my daughter's three month old while she's in school. I have forgotton how much work babies are. After the third bottle and four chorus' of the "cuppy-cake song", I thought of Abraham's wife Sarah. At age 99 she became eligible for her yearly "Mother's Day" card and as I'm trying to get dinner ready for the hay-hauling crew, fold clothes, and do my normal morning chores, while trying to get a sleepy, but clearly not cooperating baby down for a desperately needed nap, I was wondering how Sarah managed to "keep up". Karli threw her first out-right, no holes barred, out of the park, temper fit this morning. They say that a baby rattlesnake's venom is just as dangerous as a big snake's. Well, I think in those terms, that estrogen levels of baby girls are just as potent as a full grown woman's - maybe even more so. She come undone now..... not to worry....this is not my first rodeo. Now back to Sarah....what was she thinking?? I 'm not EVEN going to pretend to understand God's ways, or his timing....but as for me and my household, timing is EVERYTHING! And.... time is getting away from me. I have a lot to do before the little princess wakes up and starts ruling her kingdom with an iron fist. Till next time. adeos.

New Beginnings

Most of the world recognizes January 1st as the day of new beginnings. We start organizing our business ledgers for the upcoming year, start diets, shed bad habits, start exercise regimens and all sorts of new firsts to ensure the new year starts on the right foot. Great-great-grandmother Lillian even brings us over a can of black-eyed peas and expects each member of the family to choke down at least one pea for "good luck". As autumn approaches, I realize that most new beginnings around my house begins in August. This is the month we prepare to entrust our children to institutes of higher learning at various places to obtain a little white piece of paper so the world will recognize that we have "arrived" - not sure where anymore, but somewhere. I spend more $$ on computers, school supplies, clothes, bedding, appliances, ect. than I do at Christmas. We have invested a lifetime in preparing our kids for this moment - when they drive off by themselves to a new city, new school, new house of which they will be responsible for (scary thought) ; they will have to set up their own class schedule of which they will have the freedom to attend.... or not attend (they so better be in class EVERYDAY). They will have to put themselves to bed (hopefully at a decent hour) get themselves up, fix their own meals if they want to eat, do their own laundry.....well at least keep it gathered up so I can tend to it on weekends, and generally take care of their own sweet selves. No more curfews, kisses out the door with a reminder to be careful coming home, no more "what sounds good for dinner?" or "let's go swimming this afternoon!" Oh well, they can walk out the door, but they always leave good memories that stick around till they come bouncing back home on weekends. Katie has one more year in the Roswell Independent School District, of which I'm not real sad. Highschool is a scary place in the times we live in and I'll be glad when she is out of that environment known as a ses pool. I will have the privilege of watching little Karli all day - that will be a first. I've started my geritol regimen in hopes I'll be up to the challenge of a baby all day. No worries..... Ben will be leaving for Afganistan in March so we've already begun getting him ready for deployment. He finished 2nd in his Airborne school this past weekend and has two more schools to go to before he earns his wings. Then he's planning to go to Wisconsin in January for a refresher course in his combat medic field. I'm proud of the way the Good Lord is working in the lives of my kids, preparing them for what lies ahead, and the fact that He still let's me be somewhat involved in the preparation process. Me..... my new beginnings start afresh each day - that's the only way I can survive sanity. Lamentations 3:23 - "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness." Till next time, adios.