Making My Home A Haven is important to me. Sharing homemaking skills. Recipes and food. Bible Studies. This is a treasure chest of goodies. So take a seat. Have a glass of tea and enjoy. You will learn all about who I am.
Danny was wonderful for most of my birthday. As I mentioned in Part 1, I woke up on Wednesday in a bad mood. It didn’t help that it was gloomy outside. Dark And Cloudy. Humid.
I had trouble shaking off “The MOOD”. I knew a lot of it was because I was missing my dad. It was my first birthday without him.
It doesn’t matter how old a person is, (61 here) they will always want their parents in their lives.
Birthdays are always hard. Bobby and I always spent our birthdays together. Even when he grew up, Bob chose to spend his day with his MOMMA. We usually went to the movies. Then that night we would go to the fondue restaurant in Manitou Springs.
“Our signature 4-course fondue dinner begins with freshly made salad with house-made dressing, followed by cheese fondue served with baked bread, fruits and vegetables. For your entrée, you’ll prepare your selections on a tabletop Swiss Raclette grill and crown your evening with decadent chocolate fondue. Our complete menu is available à la carte including vegetarian and gluten-free options. We also boast an award-winning wine collection featuring a diverse selection of top-rated wines from around the world and exclusive, limited-allocation boutique wines. If you are looking for a delicious and enjoyable fine dining or high class restaurant experience in Colorado Springs, only head west a few more miles and be in awe of our mouth watering selection to choose from.”
I was amazed that Bobby enjoyed going there as much as I did. We had so much fun. We were always remembered because we were the ONLY Mom And Son to go there every year.
We dressed up for it.
It was something we looked forward to all year.
Growing Up my mom always went out for our birthdays.
For years She fixed my favorite Chicken And Dumplings. Angel Food Cake with Strawberries.
Not the Southern Version either. We had big fluffy herbal dumplings with a whole chicken. Carrots , Onions And Peas.
It was heaven on earth.
Then one year, in the early 70’s, I surprised her when I requested FONDUE.
I was thinking of Swiss Cheese Fondue. We had that PLUS a fondue pot for cooking steak and veggies.
She made dips and sauces.
My birthday gift that year was a fondue cookbook.
I was hooked.
I borrowed the above photo.
This was similar to what our table would look like.
My favorite color is RED so the first fondue pot was bright red. We ended up with 2 more. Another red one and a gray one. Mom used a couple of one burner units as well.
My brother, John, never was a fan. He seldom stayed long.
The rest of us, Mom and Dad and my sister Donna, loved these nights.
My Aunt Sandy was often there to. Before she moved to Colorado. Her birthday is the day after mine.
I remember the first time my mom’s parents were there also. Oh what fun we had. Lots of laughter.
December 11, 2019
We went to Lake Wales the theatre there. Watched MIDWAY.
We shared a bucket of BUTTERED POPCORN and had drinks.
We had POPCORN with LAYERS OF BUTTER.
The carousel at THE MALL. It wasn’t running otherwise We would have ridden it.
The following photos were actually taken the night before my birthday when we started celebrating. Danny couldn’t wait to give my my gift. So we had FAMILY TIME. Family Time MEANS Danny and I Plus Baby Girl and Vittles (our 10 year old rabbit)
I loved getting the Graceland Musical Set but wish Danny would realize that I really don’t LIKE his FUNNY cards. LOL
NEVER DELIVERED. I WANT IT BADLY. He’s trying to reorder it.It was NEVER DELIVERED. I would have known if it had been. My favorite song EVER. It was also Danny’s way of telling me that he loved me.
I also know part of what my Christmas gift will be.
Baby Girl enjoying family time.We let Vittles Out.
Around the holidays, there are three dishes I like to prepare on certain days: turkey (smoked or roasted) for Thanksgiving, ham (citrus and honey glazed) for Christmas, and a rib roast for New Years Day. My traditional rib roast recipe is featured in The Heritage Cookbook, but last weekend I wanted to try out a […]
Danny And I were in Plant City for 4 days and 3 nights. We left our house around 10:30 AM Saturday Morning, November 30th. If it would have been up to me, we would have left the night before. LOL, Probably not though.The traffic would have been a lot worse than it was Saturday morning. Thanksgiving Weekend is not the time to travel for a relaxing trip. I don’t remember Danny ever getting Thanksgiving Weekend off. He always works Thanksgiving, Friday and the weekend. It was also a first for me. I didn’t volunteer at all.I didn’t even spend the day there with Danny like I usually do. He ended up WORKING. They had a few problems that needed to be taken care of Thursday morning. Not the relaxing morning it usually is. So I stayed home. It tooks us almost 2 hours to get to Plant City on Saturday. Traffic was terrible. The first thing we always do when we get to Plant City is head to The Strawberry House. We had hoped that we would see a train on the way to the Bed And breakfast but no such luck. The first one we heard was as we were walking up to the door. I can’t believe that I didn’t take a photo of the house from the outside . Not once in the 4 days we were there. That is UNUSUAL for me. I always take lots of them. What is even more surprising. Danny never did either. I would post a photo of it from our last trip IF I COULD ACCESS it on the computer. Having trouble finding the pictures. ALBUMS not showing . I will try later. Oh Well, this post isn’t about the Strawberry House anyway. Except for where it pertains to trains.
Memorabilia in the Henry Plant Room AKA The Train Room and Inside The Strawberry House
Meeting Online FriendsBrian AKA JAWTOOTHJust having fun.
Danny and I love sitting outside on the porch and listening for the trains that run all through the night. We also were able to watch the live stream in town. Watching Train Videos Online. I only ORDERED TAKEOUT THE FIRST NIGHT. I ordered TONS OF SUSHI And DANNY HAD 3 DIFFERENT MEALS. I had enough SUSHI for SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. I PIGGED OUT ON IT. Danny had enough food for all 3 nights and plenty to take home.
Our favorite nighttime activity is spending time TOGETHER on The FRONT PORCH OF THE STRAWBERRY HOUSE. We listen all night for the trains going through. Watch the live videos. Plus we hook up the smartphone or laptop and watch train videos online.
Saturday Night, Christmas started early. We were in the Theatre Room the first night. It’s where we had always stayed before. It’s a very small room. Danny opened his COASTLINER TRAIN SET. It’s a complete ready to go train set. Train, cars and caboose. With Track and controller.Sunday Night In The Henry B Plant Room
Both trains running.
Danny’s train set up like it was suppose to. His is an HO SCALE Model like we have in OUR TRAIN ROOM AT HOME. MY DURANGO/SILVERTON NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD TOOK FOREVER TO GET IT WORKING RIGHT. i FINALLY HAD TO ENLIST DANNY’S HELP. Both trains are BACHMANN. Cheaper. Not as good as other LAKES AND MODELS. The one advantage of buying from them is when you want COMPLETE TRAIN SETS. My trains (I bought 2) Durango/Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroads N SCALE. Our first N SCALE. Both trains sets were both cheaply made. More so than the HO SCALE ones. I had a terrible time . The track went together OKAY. Hooking up the CONTROLLER was a lot of work. The 2 cords to connect to the controller wouldn’t connect. I had to borrow Danny’s. Then the cars wouldn’t stay HOOKED TO THE ENGINES. Lot’s of laughter at first. Then Frustration.
It took Danny over an hour to hook everything up. We NEVER did get the 7th car on. It should have taken a few minutes. The Train Viewing Platform In Plant City, Florida It was unusual not to see people there. Sundays and Monday were quiet days. The town shuts down.I didn’t take pictures of the Train Depot this time, except from this location. Sorry about that. We never ventured over there this time. Not sure why except Danny was really into videoing the trains and didn’t want to miss any. CSX headed to Tampa.
Too many people around for me to get closeups of the HO SCALE MODEL. The trains runs continually above as well.
We both enjoy just listening to this train run.
Love the menu.
The Whistle Shop Cafe I wish I had taken more photos here this weekend. Still having trouble Uploading photos from previous visits.
There are lots of tables to sit outside and eat. Or just wait for the passing trains. Or sit a spell on the bench .Headed West To Tampa. Danny videoing.CSX Headed NorthView Of The Museum Area From The Whistle Stop Cafe. CSX Headed To Tampa. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to Really RELAX AND ENJOY a meal when there are trains coming.When Danny WASN’T Videoing the trains he was texting another RAIL FAN. The Whistle Stop Cafe. An Amazing FAMILY OWNED cafe. Fun. There is a small HO Scale Train Model inside. Plus an O Scale Engine runs above us. Great viewing from 2 sides of the building. Lots of seats. An easy walk to take even better photos. Danny just WAITING.I got comfy. Comfy And In The Shade. It was 84 degrees.Sorry, Not the best photo. I love the graffiti.My good camera for fast photos broke the night before we left.Crews were working on the tracks and equipment Monday and Tuesday.
It was a busy couple of days for workers.
Various photos.
Lunch Time Tuesday. I was STARVING. We were sitting outside. Our meals had just arrived. I was digging in. Then came the BLAST of A TRAIN HORN. We ran over to the tracks. Danny realized that the train was coming from the West and would be in front of the platform soon. Off He ran, leaving me with the food. I decided to let him get the good video. I took it from where I was. Then loaded up the food in to go containers. Refilled our drinks. Bathroom break. Hugs to the owners. I was off with our food and drinks to the PLATFORM. I made it to the car and decided to eat there. Or at least I tried to. It took an hour to finish. Trains kept coming. FUN TIMES.
Danny found a Rail Spike.
Various Photos
Saturday, November 30th was a busy day.
Saw new friends and old.
I took time away from watching trains. I left Danny at the platform and went shopping. Spent almost $200 . What did I get? I went into an Antique store. Walked out with baskets for me. Christmas ornaments for our Christmas Tree. Cookbooks and Books. PLUS A WHOLE LOT OF TRAIN STUFF.
Danny spent almost ALL OF HIS TIME WATCHING TRAINS OR PLAYING WITH THEM. IN BETWEEN TIME HE TEXTED ANOTHER RAILFAN. THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE THERE. NOT QUITE THE ONE ON ONE TIME I HAD PLANNED ON. I wanted QUALITY TIME. I REALLY WANTED ROMANCE. CUDDLE TIME AND SEX. Briefly had the CUDDLE TIME. Not sure he remembers what SEX is. FAMILY TIME. Just the TWO OF IS. BRIEFLY.
I’m never sure how one measures a “bunch” of anything. I used my own home-grown parsley, and simply went by “feel” on it. Which I think is entirely appropriate.
A recipe from The City Tavern Cookbook: Recipes from the Birthplace of American Cuisine, by Walter Staib. This one is on page 218. Part of the CookingBites Cookbook Game, #6. Which is where we make a recipe exactly as written from a print cookbook that sits in our home. (Yes, you can dial down the size if you are cooking for one! Or for a few other, explained, reasons. I made a variant for four, while the original recipe served 8.)
While this is an amalgam of previous Thanksgiving posts, I hone every year. I know you have your favorites! We all do. But trust me… add a few of these (the cocktail and the turkey in particular.. and the dips… and, well, you know… ) and you will have the best dinner ever. Hell, just […]
From Sarah : I have saved this post for myself. Check out the Stuffing/Dressing Recipe. Everything looks and sounds wonderful. Happy Saturday. Love And Hugs , Sarah
Create a Turkey Dessert Board for easy entertaining to celebrate Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving. Customizable and fun to create, you’ll serve up smiles and satisfy everyone’s sweet tooth too. This turkey dessert board is as fun to make as it is to eat, ideal for Friendsgiving or family members in town over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend! […]