DEBBIE-DABBLE BLOG

I am a Victorian Soul, who lives in a small townhouse that was built in the mid 1970's, not a huge Mega Mansion!! I just recently lost my Hubby Joe, who was a Retired Letter Carrier. I worked night shift as an RN on a Hospital based Rehabilitation( Physical Medicine) Unit for 37 years before I had Knee Replacement Surgery and officially Retired in 2019 after 41 years working in Direct Patient Care ... I am so glad that we retired at 62 years of age and got to spend that time together before he passed....I still do love Retirement!!!!

I DABBLE IN A BIT OF THIS AND THAT!!!!

" IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO BE WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN"
George Eliot

George Eliot was actually a pen name for a woman named Mary Anne Evans......

BLOGGING FOR FUN AND FRIENDSHIP!!!!!!

Sunday, March 4, 2018

A Winter Nor 'Easter and Beef Stew!!

Welcome!!!

I recently said that I would only post if I felt I had something to share........

So today, while most of you are in Spring mode, we here in NEPA are still very much in Winter Mode!!!!

Our area was hit by the Massive Nor' Easter that slammed the east coast on March 2!!!

I was thankful that I was off and did not have to worry about going to work until Saturday, March 3rd, for 11pm.

Remember, I do work night shift!!!!

For the most part, we were lucky, with only getting about 7 inches of snow, which happens to be the highest amount of snow in one single snow fall all Winter!!

I always do say that we seem to get our best snow storms in March, including the Blizzard that we experienced last year on March 14th!!!

First , it rained all night and we had temps. in the 50's the day before but by 9am, it changed over to snow and the temps. dropped below freezing and the snow piled up fast!!!!

With Joe having the splint on his left wrist and suffering from a fractured rib after falling on ice 2 weeks ago, I shoveled our sidewalk in front of our townhouse.......

Now this is nothing new for me as I did all the shoveling before Joe retired. I just kept going out and shoveling while the snow was falling instead of waiting until it was done and there was 7 inches to shovel!!!

I do love snow and I LOVE the way it looks.......

It looks as if my little arborvitae tree in the back yard may not have survived the storm........

I guess time will tell.........

Our back yard......

Definitely no signs of Spring in our back yard!!!

I think my bird house on a stand might have also seen it's last days!!

Areas around us in the Pocono's got anywhere from 12 -20 inches of snow in some parts!!

My son decided to go to work and then leave and was stuck on Interstate 81 for 3 hours because of accidents.

Some Interstates were still closed 24 hours later with many travelers stuck on them.......

It could have been much worse where I live but March is not over yet.......

Hopefully, we will not see this again....

The Blizzard of March 14th, 2017

The day before the predicted Nor'Easter was supposed to hit our area, I thought it was the perfect time to make some Beef Stew!!!

I know, I know.........

Didn't I just say that I am not interested in Food posts and Food Blogs in a recent post?????????

Yes, I did!!!

My Mother used to get so mad at me when we would be out in Public together and I would say "I HATE to Cook"

She would then say, " But you know how to cook"

And I would answer with " Yes, I DO know how to cook but I really HATE to cook!"

She then would be so mad at me for telling people that , that she would not talk to me for days!!!!

LOL!!!

Okay, I do truly HATE to cook but I DO know how to do so and I am actually known for a few of my own creations.........

My Beef Stew is one of those recipes that I made up myself and have made for family , friends and Fund Raisers and always seems to go over pretty well!!!

Many years ago, I decided to make up my own EASY recipe for Beef Stew because Joe liked it so much.....

Truth be told, I am NOT a fan of Beef Stew because I actually do NOT like beef........

I will eat hamburg and maybe a lean thin steak on a rare occasion but otherwise, I would be okay to never eat beef.......

I did not care for the beef stew recipes with tomato sauce so I decided to take a different route.......

I start with about 5-6 pounds of LEAN beef cubes........ I detest fat on meat......

I cut them up into bite size pieces, coat them with flour, sprinkle onion and garlic salt, pepper, Italian Seasoning and parsley over the mixture......

I add only a bit of oil because I have copper pots..........

Instead of onion salt, you could add diced onions but my oldest son will not eat onions if his life depended on them so I go with the onion salt for flavor......

I fry it until all the meat is brown..........

You can see a type of sauce already forming.....

I then transfer the mixture right into a large pot.......

I now add 3 jars of Heinz Home Style Beef Gravy and use 1 jar of water to rinse out all 3 jars to get all the gravy out of them........

NO!!!! I am not receiving any type of monetary reimbursement from any of the products that I show in this post........

These are simply the products that I like and use..........

I like the Heinz gravies because they are nice and thick and I do not like a watery gravy!!!

I also add a little bit of Worcestershire Sauce....... Just sprinkle a small amount over the mixture and stir in....

Bring the meat mixture to a boil and then allow to simmer from about 30-40 minutes......

At this time you can add carrots if you like.......

I used to but my oldest son would pick them all out so I just decided to forego the carrots!!!

If you add the carrots, let the mixture simmer for another 30 minutes.......

Now you can add potatoes......

I use a 5 pound bag of potatoes , diced into small mouth size pieces

Add the potatoes to the mixture......

I then sprinkle a bit of Steak Sauce over the mixture and stir it in......

Then I add 4 small cans of sliced mushrooms.......

I now let this simmer for at least 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender........

If you would like a thicker sauce, you can add a tablespoon or so of flour to thicken the mixture a bit more.........

We like it with a fresh loaf of rye bread.......

I make this much Beef Stew because I give what I call "Take Home " containers to our son Joe and to our daughter -in- love Danielle, to take home and enjoy !!!!

Our son , Jim, does not care for Beef Stew.........

He is like me and not a beef eater!!

I will eat Beef Stew but mostly the potatoes and mushrooms!!

LOL!!

You can freeze some of it for another meal.......

So yes, I can and I do cook but it is not my most favorite thing in the world......

I would much rather spend my time in the Kitchen decorating it rather than cooking in it!!!

Please don't hold it against me!!

LOL!!

In my next post, I will be sharing how I repurposed some of my St. Patrick's Day decorations that I used to decorate a St. Patrick's Day Tree........

I decided not to decorate this Tree for St. Patrick's Day anymore.......

This photo is from last year......

This year, I decorated a smaller Tree and used many of the decorations in the China Cupboard in the Den instead........

So I hope you will be back to visit again soon.......

And thanks to those who took the time out of their busy day to spend a little bit of time with me!!

If you do not have a blog, PLEASE give me some way to reply to your comment, maybe by including your email in your comment. If I can not find a way to reach you, I will reply on the post where you commented so please check back......

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Friday, March 2, 2018

For The Love of Tea Pots

Welcome!!!

If you read one of my previous posts, A Milestone and Whether to Blog or Not? , you know that I was wrestling with how or if , I was going to continue to Blog.......

First, let me THANK everyone who responded to that post, sharing their thoughts on the subject of how Blogging has changed and how they Blog in their own personal way!!!

I really appreciated your honesty, and words of support and encouragement!!!!

Ironically, I received more comments on that post than any of my most recent posts!!

I decided that I will continue but I will post when I have something to share and not on the self imposed schedule that I made myself adhere to in the past.....

Yes, that was my own fault!!!

Since that post, I did post over on my Christmas Blog, sharing Part 2 in my Series Where DO I PUT It All?, The Attic..........

In that post, I shared how my attic is sectioned off my the truss system allowing me to store my Christmas decorations by room........

I also re posted a Tribute that I wrote about my Dad on the 30th Anniversary of his passing.......

On Feb. 26th, it was 31 years since he has been missing from my life but I carry him in my heart. I want to Thank everyone who took the time to comment on that post even though I did not link it up to any linky parties!

If you missed it, please click HERE

I have enjoyed the time that I have found with not posting as much.

I have found that I have more time to visit blogs and comment on the posts that touch my heart and soul!!

So I think that I have made the right decision for me.........

In today's post, I decided to go back to my blogging roots.......

And take you on what I have been told is a "gentle look" into my world......

8 years ago , when I first started to blog, there was a group of bloggers who shared tea cups and tea pots and there even were linky parties to share these posts......

They too have fallen by the wayside as Blogging has become more of a profession than a hobby for most......

So in honor of past times that I miss, I am sharing some of my tea pots.........

I collect tea pots as you may have already guessed.......

I have a long shelf in my upstairs Sitting Room where I display a good bit of my Collection.......

Let's take a look at the tea pots on that shelf........

This tea pot is one of the many that I picked up at yard sales and church flea markets over the years.......

This beauty is a new tea pot that was gifted to me by a dear friend.......

Another yard sale find for $1.00!!!!

This one is actually a 25th Wedding Anniversary Tea pot that I bought at a Church Flea market......

This is the back of the tea pot ...

The front of it says "25th Wedding Anniversary"......

Another vintage tea pot.......

I love the gold trim on it......

I also want to mention that the yellow platter is a Vintage Lu Ray piece......

This is an interesting tea pot........

Reminds me of one that would be used for a Peter Rabbit Tea!!

Also, an interesting tea pot!!

I love the gold trim on it!!

This beauty was also a $1.00 at a yard sale!!!

Such a pretty floral design on it with a touch of what looks like Mother of pearl luster ware like sides......

This is a new tea pot, bought at The Christmas Tree Shop several years go, and gifted to me .........

Pretty roses!!!

One more church Flea market find!!!!

Again, I love the gold.........

This vintage tea pot has a pretty design, don't you think?????

I like the butterfly on it!!

And this one is simply but so pretty!!!

It brings Spring to mind.......

But Spring is at least another month away as we are now in the midst of what is being called a Nor'easter.........

Predicted amounts vary depending where you live so we can see anywhere from 2 -12 inches!!

So time will tell!!

The only signs of Spring I am seeing are the pretty flowers on the tea pots that I just shared with you!!

I hope you enjoyed the "gentle look" at the tea pots that I love to collect and a post reminiscent of a "Gentler" time of blogging!!!

In a future post, I will share more tea pots and some of my tea cup collection.......

I am linking up to these parties:

Friends Sharing Tea Party

SATURDAY
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SUNDAY
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MONDAY
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