Well, it has been several days since I last blogged and I really didn’t mean to go so long. We experienced the death of a dear friend so were wrapped up for a few days with the family. As a fellow sister in Christ, I am confident that we will be reunited with her in the future. We have a lot to look forward to and eternity is a long, long time. When I think of our friend’s passing, I am reminded of the scripture: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of a saint.”
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Now I will continue to share some of our GrannyCamp holiday experiences. By this time in my telling, Christmas was behind us and we were approaching New Year’s week end and the out-of-staters had arrived on the scene. Come on baby, let the good times roll! Yes, that means that all 8 of our grand children were in town. Let’s see if I can get this right: The twins are 6 yr. old. Then we have one 7 yr. old, two 9 yr. olds, two 10 yr. olds and one 11 yr. old.
Our out-of-stater son, along with his four, were our houseguests and the other four stayed at their own home, here in town. Well actually, except for two nights when Grana stayed at our house with the two girl cousins. You may have noticed that there was no mention of the out-of-stater daughter-in-law being here. She stayed home, having been scheduled to work a couple of those days and it gave her a chance to put up Christmas decors, etc.. I’m sure you mama’s out there are envious of her having those 4 days to herself, even if she did have to work a couple of them.
The highlights of the four day week end were numerous and much of it for the children involved just having a blast being together. So there we were--- the out-of-staters had just arrived, the in-towners came on over and it was just too dark to send them all out side. Now, I don’t know about you, but I never allowed my children to play hide and seek in the house. And I’m not sure if I can explain why I let these 8 energetic, imaginative, excited grands do such a thing. But that is exactly what they did. Somehow, while the grown ups were busy “catching up”, preparing food and watching football, the children just did it. They basically turned the upstairs of our house into a playground. I bet you thought I was going to say, “They turned the upstairs of our house upside down.” Well--- pretty much. No, not really. They didn’t break anything (that I know of) and no one got hurt. But it did end up a mess. Actually the hide & seek didn’t last very long before they were all herded downstairs for supper. Before calling them down, I just had to go upstairs just to take a look. From the laughter, squeals, thumping, etc. it was pretty evident that they were having lots of fun. I just wanted to see some of those smiles and witness their excitement of being together. (Glad I took my camera.) As I approached the top of the stairs, this was the view I had, looking into the loft:
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| We have here 2 hiders and 1 seeker.
Do you see the person hiding on the couch? And do you see the person hiding at the desk?
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No, RhythmMan is not aspiring to become a monk. He has probably never heard of such a thing. Actually, he is aspiring to be invisible or at least make the seeker think that he is Granny since he is camoued under my robe, wearing my glasses and reading my Bible. I crept over for a closer look and couldn’t resist snapping a picture.
So at about this point, we straightened up a bit and made our way down stairs for supper and talked a little about things they wanted to do together. The out-of-staters asked if I would be making them some Christmas Granny Bread and some regular Granny Bread. I assured them that I would. Tank wanted me to assure him that we would have “Granny Pancakes” for breakfast. Of course, I said, “We sure will.” Then he said, “Did you get us some Virginia Apples?”
“I sure did.” was my reply.
“I want to see ‘em.” With satisfaction, he admired what we call the Virginia Gold. Golden Delicious are our favorite eating apples.
So those are the anticipated traditions when they come to Granny and Doodie’s house--- Granny Bread, Granny Pancakes and Virginia Apples. And when it is Christmas time, the Christmas Granny Bread is also expected. [In my previous post, we saw Christmas Granny Bread, in depth.]
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So what did we get into the next day? I had not had time to do "The List" but for sure, I had a plan! But first we needed to take care of some necessary matters--- like breakfast. Then we needed to make two batches of sour bread dough--- one for the CGB and one for the RGB. So to start with, breakfast was a “hapnin thang”:
Booker and RhythmMan enjoyed making the pancakes together:
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| Now it's time to add Granny's special homemade pancake mix. |
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| We don't dare tell them it is very healthy and very high in fiber. |
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| Don't over stir! It needs to be lumpt. |
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| That's right, don't over stir. |
And they enjoyed being the first ones to eat some:
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Now Booker and Dancer get to the dough making---- 2 batches this time, you know:
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Now, on with the GrannyCamp Plan--- I must tell you that this particular idea came as a result of my amazing trip, the previous May, to Israel Dead Sea and enjoying the Dead Sea Mud, I thought about my grands and how they would so enjoy this experience. What fun we could have!! So I decided then and there that, at some point in time, I would get some Dead Sea mud and share the experience with my grands. I did not buy any while there because of weight and space in my luggage, but I knew I could order it later on, when the time was right. So a few weeks before Christmas, I did order some from the following web store: http://www.judaicawebstore.com/uwi/ .
I had four takers:
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| Hey, we're game! Just tell us what to do. Don't you just love eager participants?! |
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| Dead Sea Mud and Lotion with Dead Sed Minerals ...... Oh, so nice! |
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| This is pretty weird. |
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| More please. |
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| Hey--- works for me! |
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| More for me too. |
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| I'm really gettin into this mud thing! |
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| More is good. |
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| I'm DONE ! |
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| I'm DONE ! |
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| SOOOOO---- Now What? |
Ummmmmm, moisturizzzzze............
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| After all that, it's great to relax in Granny & Do's bed and watch The Wizzard of Oz. |
~>~> Today’s Granny Camp Recipes
Instant Hot Cocoa Mix
1 (16 oz.) jar non-dairy creamer
1 ½ lb. Nestles Quick
½ to 1 (1 lb..) box powdered sugar
8-qt. size (10 2/3 c.) nonfat dry milk
Mix all ingredients together. Store in airtight containers.
Put approximately ½ c. mix in mug, add boiling water & stir.
This Hot Cocoa Mix is a fav of all our grands. Also, it makes a great Christmas or wintertime gift.
Corn Pone Pie
1 lb. ground beef
½ c. chopped onions
¾ t. salt
1 t. Worcestershire sauce
1 c. kidney beans or pinto beans
1 can tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 c. thin corn bread batter ---- Blend 1c. self rising corn meal, 1 egg, 2 T. oil, milk to reach desired consistency
Brown meat & onion, add all ingredients except batter. Simmer 10-15 min. Pour into greased casserole dish. Add corn bread batter over top. Bake at 425* for 20 min. or till corn bread is done.
Golden Chicken Nuggets
4 whole boned chicken breasts
½ c. unseasoned fine dry bread crumbs
¼ c. grated parmesan cheese
2 tsp. seasoned salt
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
½ c. butter melted
Cut each chicken breast into six to eight nuggets, about 1-1/2 sq. inch each.
Combine bread crumbs, cheese, seasoned salt, salt and herbs.
Dip chicken nuggets into melted butter, then in crumb mixture.
Place in single layer on foil-lined baking sheets. Bake 400* for 10 min.
Serve chilled or warm. Yield: 4-5 dozen nuggets.
Marinated Wieners
1 c. catsup
10 oz. jar currant jelly
2 pkg. wieners, cut into bite size pieces
Simmer catsup and jelly to boiling. Add wieners and simmer 20 min.
It just would not seem like New Year's Day or Super Bowl Sunday without this family tradition simmering on the stove.
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