family get-togethers

Not too much happened this week. My big project was sorting my binders of recipes that I've collected over the years. I managed to condense about 7 binders to 3 due to a lot of purging. Not too exciting, but I'm glad I got it done. I even found a few missing recipes that I thought were long gone. :)

On Wednesday, Mom P, Teresa, Kathy, Jackie, Alicia, Alicia, Hannah, and I went shopping at Meadowood Mall in Reno. Sarah met us there. Mom scored a bunch of nice outfits for church plus some other clothes and things. I got a picture frame from the thrift store. Everyone else seemed to be in-between these 2 extremes. It was a very nice outing.

Saturday was the annual 4th of July get-together at Kathy and Gary's. I believe there were 49 of us there for lunch. We played games all day. Alan recited the old Johnny Cash song about the ragged old flag. Nice day. Good to see some family we don't often see.

Activities included a little volleyball in our yard once it had cooled down a bit

Since I didn't have much to say this week, I thought I'd add the 2 recipes I was happiest to find. I might be the only one in my family who likes the Polenta casserole, but I'm happy to make it just for myself if needed.

Polenta-Tomatillo Casserole (from the Curves magazine)

1  18-24 oz tube prepared polenta (I take 1 cup of ground polenta and cook it up to use)
1  15 oz can pinto or black beans, drained
1  15 oz can corn kernels, drained
1 cup (about 4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese (more is better, though)
1 1/2 cups mild tomatillo green salsa (or green enchilada sauce)
2 T chopped cilantro
1/2 cup half-and-half
I also like to add chopped tomatoes

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Dice polenta into 1/2" cubes. Put them into a 9" x 13" baking dish. Top with bean, corn, and half of the cheese.
3. In a bowl, mix the salsa, cilantro, and half-and-half. Pour the mixture over the ingredients in the baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.
4. Bake covered for 25-30 minutes. Let it stand a few minutes before serving.


And this recipe was a favorite treat when Denise and I went to youth activities at church when we were teenagers.

Heavenly Hash Cake

4 eggs (slightly beaten)
2 sticks butter
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t vanilla
2 c. pecans
4 t cocoa

Mix all together. Pour into an ungreased 9 x 13" pan. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and cover immediately with a 10 oz bag of mini-marshmallows.

Icing

1 stick butter
1 box confectioners sugar (1 lb?)
4 t cocoa
8 t evaporated milk

Melt butter. Cream with the cocoa. Beat in the sugar and add the milk. Spread on the cake.

Spread icing on warm cake and let cool. Cut into squares.

we're all together again, we're here, we're here!

(singing that song...)

So, yesterday Glen made it back from his 12 day camping absence and Hannah moved most of her stuff from Reno to Fallon. Which means my living room (and front porch) now like this:

Glen had gone from Young Women's Camp at Buck's Lake, California to Camp Fleischmann, which is north of Lake Almanor, California. Last weekend was a scouting "Ordeal" (I still need Glen to explain to me again what that was) which was followed by Woodbadge (a week long camp for training adult scouting leaders). At Woodbadge Glen was the Chaplain and taught a class(es?) on interfaith worship in scouting. He had a great time, but he's glad the stress of teaching at Woodbadge is over.

After he got home last night, he looked around, saw the obvious change from pinkish to green walls in the back entry, but it took him a while to notice that our bedroom and living room were different colors. It was quite funny how he kept wandering around trying to find something that was different.

On Wednesday, I attended the last Financial Peace University class. It was on giving. We can't help others if we ourselves need help. Very inspiring.

Friday was Alex's last Driver's Ed class. Now he just needs some time in the car with Mr. Thomson, then he'll be able to get his license. I've spent some time in Glen's classroom these past 2 weeks waiting for Alex to be done with his class each day. It's a bit weird without the students there.

Friday night was Michael and Alicia's wedding reception here. At their reception in Mexico, they had this big dance to a montage of songs, so they performed for us, too. Quite fun. I had "All the Single Ladies" stuck in my head for the rest of the night. :)