Becka's blog

After leaving my aunts and cousin in Findlay, Ohio, Rob and I headed to the home of his sister, Deb, and brother-in-law, Dan. We spent a couple of days there, including July 3rd, which is Rob's mother's birthday.

We always have fun with Deb and Dan and this trip was no exception. One evening we drove out to a couple of the local reservoirs which have hiking trails around them and strolled around the res being careful to avoid the geese which were protecting their goslings.

We also got to go next door and meet one of my faithful blog readers, Virginia.

Virginia is a delightful lady and we enjoyed a tour of her home and visiting with her. After she moved in her condo she had a woman paint a number of murals in various places which are really lovely.

Another evening we drove up to Sylvania, Ohio to visit Rob's nephew Jason and his wife Stacy and their three children Bella, Amelia, and Alec. Stacy prepared us a delicious dinner and we had a great time talking with them and playing with the children, who were very entertaining.

Rob's mom lives in a nursing home in Bowling Green, Ohio. Here's a picture of her, Rob, and Deb.

She spent the day of her birthday in Fostoria where Deb and Dan prepared her a special birthday dinner of Fish Cakes (similar to Salmon Patties) and Pineapple Upside Down Cake. They have a boat up on Lake Erie that they use for fishing. They are quite good at catching the fish and thus have an ample supply of Walleye and Perch in their freezer. Here's the recipe for the Fish Cakes:

Fish Cakes
1/2 lb. white fish, cooked
1 cup cooked wild rice
3 eggs
2/3 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup shredded white cheese, such as Monterrey Jack or parmesan
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 sleeve of saltine crackers
parsley
pepper

Cook the fish in a small amount of water about 5 minutes or until it flakes easily. (Deb added a bit of creole seasoning to the water when she cooked hers). Cool. In a large bowl combine the fish, mayonnaise, rice, onion, garlic, and cheese. Add eggs and mix with a fork. Add seasonings and crushed saltines. Form into cakes and fry in a small amount of oil in a skillet for 2-3 mins. per side. (I have found that it helps to form the mixture into a ball shape and place on waxed paper for about 30 mins. then place the ball into the hot oil in the skillet and flatten it with your spatula. This helps the pattie stick together.)

These were very tasty and I hope to try them sometime with Tilapia since neither Rob nor I are fishermen.

Stay tuned until next time when we continue our adventure of eating our way across the Midwest!

Next destination: Warren, MI

We have been on a road trip for a couple weeks visiting family and friends. I decided I needed to take a few posts to tell about our travels. We left home and headed up Interstate 77 to visit my sister and brother-in-law and their son, Zack, in Ohio. Here's a picture of Zack and his girlfriend, Abi.

We normally travel up I-75 on the other side of the state. We found I-77 to be much less heavily traveled and we had a very enjoyable drive up. We were entertained in the car by listening to a mystery on CD's from the library.

We arrived at the Campbell home in time for supper and spent an enjoyable evening and early morning the next day with them before they had to leave for work and we headed out on the next leg of our journey.

We drove across Ohio on route 30, which also was not at all congested. We headed to Findlay, Ohio to visit my Aunt Nana and Aunt Rose, who are my dad's sisters.

We were very happy that my cousin, Diane, who lives and works in Brazil, was also there visiting. Aunt Nana provided a delicious lunch for us, and we had a pleasant time conversing and learning more about Diane's life and work in South America, where she has lived for over thirty years. Here is a picture of Diane and me.

In my next post I'll tell about our next destination. Stay tuned.

Becka

I have to admit it — I like to iron. I sometimes put if off because it does take some effort to set up the ironing board and then gather everything together. But after I get everything set up and ready I tend to enjoy the task.

My mom enjoyed ironing. She even "took in ironing" for a time when I was a child to make a little extra money. I remember her spreading out the clothes on the kitchen table and then sprinkling them with water that she had in an old glass pop bottle with a sprinkler top. She would then put the clothes in a special plastic bag which closed with a zipper and store them in the refrigerator overnight. It was kind of fun to iron those cool clothes on a hot summer day.

My sister and I both started our ironing career with little toy irons and we each had our own little metal folding ironing board. Ironing with the electric iron was more difficult for me when I was a young girl since I am left-handed. The irons in those days had a hard protruding cord on the right side which got in the way if you tried to hold the iron in your left hand. As a result I learned to iron right-handed.

I think one thing that is enjoyable about ironing is seeing the garment improve in appearance right before your eyes. It can go from a wrinkled, tangled mess to a crisp new looking item in a manner of minutes. I also enjoy the smell of the spray starch and the lavender ironing water. I like to sleep on crisp, clean, scented pillow cases.

It helps when ironing to have a well padded ironing board and an iron with a large water tank so there is plenty of steam. I saw some beautiful patterned ironing board covers at TJ Maxx recently. I may have to look into purchasing one of those the next time I need a new cover.

I usually have some sort of sewing project going so I often catch up on my ironing while I have the ironing board up to press my latest creation.

I haven't always been as diligent about keeping up with my ironing. Years ago a sewing teacher showed our class how she always turned her garments inside out and pressed the seams flat each time she washed them to help keep them looking their best. I was also convicted after reading an article by a pastor's wife who mentioned that keeping her husband's clothes clean and well pressed was one way that she could help him in his ministry. I have found that careful laundering and pressing can help make older (or second-hand) clothing look nicer and last longer. It's also more comfortable to wear a smooth, wrinkle free garment.

I know a number of people who never iron--some noticeably so. Others are just careful about removing their clothing from the dryer and hanging or folding the clothes properly so they don't wrinkle.

How about you? Are you a frequent ironer?

Becka

There are several young women in the Greenville area who have blogs about bargains in our area. One of DD Nora's friends, Jessica, has such a blog called Bargain Banana. Nora and Jessica worked together in the Child Development center on campus when they were in college. They went to visit one of the children in their class who had been hospitalized one evening and Nora ended up in the Emergency Room. Needless to say, Rob and I were shocked when the Dean of Women called to ask us to come down to the hospital to pick her up. That's another story for another time!

Back to the bargains. I occasionally peruse Jessica's blog and have found some good tips and ideas. In one of her posts she mentioned a new store on Woodruff Road called Real Deals. I finally got around to visiting it a couple of months ago and discovered that it does, indeed, have some real deals! The store has all kinds of home decor items that change out frequently, including pictures, flower arrangements, candles, wreaths, sconces, seasonal items, and a myriad of other things too numerous to mention.

One unusual thing about the store is its very limited hours of operation. It's only open on Thursdays from 9-5 and Saturdays from 9-3. I thought it was just a local store but when I checked it out on-line I discovered that it's a chain that started in Georgia and that it has quite a few locations out West. You can check it out here: Real Deals.

It's located at 700 Woodruff Road (near Beck Middle School). It's on the opposite side of Woodruff than Beck School, right at Salters Road. I take Laurens Road to get there. It's closer to that end of Woodruff than the Shops of Greenridge end. The ladies there are very friendly and helpful and the prices are good. I have found several new things for my house plus a couple of gift items as well.

Here's a journal and little artificial nest I have in my guest room:

Here's a wreath I have hanging over the sink in my kitchen:

Here's what the store looks like:

Here's hoping that you will check it out and perhaps find some real deals of your own!

Becka

The Lord has blessed us this summer with a variety of berries from our garden. If you read my husband Rob's blog you may have seen some of his posts about our yard and garden. Our lot is shaped like a piece of pie and the top rounded part at the back of the lot is a stone ditch. Rob planted monkey grass, day lillies, and daffodils on the far side of the ditch and he has planted blackberries, red raspberries, and blueberries on the side of the ditch closest to our house. There's a picture of some of the bushes in this blog post. (Scroll to the bottom)

This is the first year we have gotten a good amount of red raspberries and blueberries. The blackberries are just starting to come on and it looks like it will be a good year for them as well.

I've tried a couple of new recipes with the red raspberries and recently Rob made one of our favorite muffins with the first of the blueberries. This recipe is a combination of a recipe I got years ago from a student and a streusel topping recipe that DD Megan got when she took Cooking in high school. The muffins contain buttermilk which gives them a slight tang and helps keep them nice and tender. If you have access to some fresh berries you will have to give it a try.

Best Ever Blueberry Muffins

2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil
1 1/2 cup blueberries

Streusel Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tablespoons flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 Tbsps. margarine or butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. Combine streusel ingredients to make a crumbly topping.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Combine the eggs, buttermilk, and oil in a small bowl. Fold the blueberries gently into the dry ingredients. (This helps to prevent green or aqua blueberry muffins!) Add the liquid ingredients and stir gently just enough to combine. Carefully spoon into the prepared muffin tins. Top each muffin with a portion of the streusel topping. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the muffins test done. Makes about 18 muffins. Here's a picture of the finished muffins:

Becka