A Very Special Old Photo, a Vegetarian Stroganoff Recipe and Contentment

An old photo I would like to share:

Our little Lea, my sweet mother, now 86 and our beloved Al who went to be with the Lord in 1991.  The first real heartbreak of my life...  I'll never forget when I received the news over the phone from my terrified mother that Al had a heart attack and then another call...Al died.  I ran outside in a long yellow Garfield tshirt nightgown and looked up to the stars in the sky crying so hard my cries were silent, I tried so hard to pull our Al back down to me out of the starry night...


Al was our little daughters' best friend, grandpa and a kind father-figure to me.  Kind.  I do believe that kindness is missing these days.  He would walk our little girls to the corner store in their old neighborhood and buy them a snack and drink and they soooo loved that.  Rebecca would be born later and I missed Al being there.  Once again he was very missed.  Perhaps in the future I will tell more 'Al stories'...  You see, we should all be Als.

Al was from the Bronx by the way, he was one of the last true stone cutters, and most talented sculptor.  He composed Dr. Cooley's monument.  He was talented but never ever blew his horn...I loved Al.  Very much.  I think of Al every day.  Yes, two separate words, every and day.  : )  It's more important and sobering like that I think...

I think back and how he must have been very patient with me, a sweet young lady but one who could also be a quiet but vocal dunderhead at times but I also was one who was fiercely loyal to him, he knew it too, in his own quiet way, he knew I was all for him .   Now, I know how it is to be spoken to by a younger dunderhead.  I had one younger woman acquaintance tell me that no one ever reads blogs anymore, wasn't that nice of her to write? ; )  Oh my!  Not a very encouraging kind of thing to say or write wouldn't you agree?

The photo above was in 1983 when Lea turned one year old, isn't this the sweetest thing ever?

Time flies as we all know.

Lately I've been having a lot whirring around in the theatre of my mind and soul.  God is faithful throughout.  Life goes on and many a day I feel as a real genuine empty-nester! : )  How did that happen? 

One of our four daughters is married, and of course the other three little women have jobs of their own now until God sends His choice to them and I'm pleased as punch to have them here at home until that time. : )  I am a minister of my home here as I plan our suppers and such.  I do take supper very seriously.  It is a time for all to gather round and talk and laugh, laugh and talk, sometimes discuss but not too much.  We keep supper time, casual, light and cheerful with lotsa good eats.  It was Ronald Reagan who said:

"All great change in America begins at the dinner table."
-President Ronald Reagan



Watcha been doin' Miss Amelia?

I have been doing a lot of cooking lately and making Little Dresses for Africa along with vintage-type of fun cotton print dresses for myself.  It's so nice to grab a dress for the day to dress up for a grocery outing or dress down for home.  It is a very special thing to celebrate our femininity. : )  Today it's a cotton sleeveless homemade tunic with cats and dogs on it and black knit capris...That's a fun look too right?  I also had the most fun opportunity to surprise a little girl's grandma with two little homemade skirts. (I found out the little girl didn't have school clothes this year except for some new tshirts).  That was such a blessing to do that and the little girl was so excited that she was wearing one of the skirts the first day of school!  Yes!  So fun being an angel in cotton so to speak.   So fun....My blessing.

  Anybody been to a Dollar General store lately?  Oh my.  The fall decor is out and Mar and I made our special trip there and found some adorable fall dish towels...The lady that worked there said...  I can tell ya'll are having a good time!  It's truly the simple things isn't it? 

And you know what else I found there?  I found a beautiful dark-fall-red medium size crossbody bag.   There was one left, it was my color and I was debating.  I had purchased a dark brown bag on ebay but this one...  When it rang up at the register, the name of the bag that came up was ...  Amelia  

God knows what we need.  He is good.  



Here is a recipe I will share :

Mrs. Amelia's Vegetarian Stroganoff   ....a most soothing supper

6-8 servings of brown rice noodles (any kind of pasta or noodle will work)

2 T oil

2 onions

6 T brown rice flour (whatever kind you prefer)

4 c. vegetable broth.   (I buy veggie cubes from Vitacost.  Braggs Aminos works in water as well!)

1 1/2 pounds mushrooms  or I used 1 package of veggie italian 'sausage' found in the produce department

1 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. salt (if needed)  Braggs is salty.

2 T. white wine vinegar

2 T. tomato paste

Sautee onions in oil, I used olive oil, add flour, add broth, add thyme, sage, salt and pepper.  Cook 5 minutes.

Add vinegar.

Serve that over pasta or noodles.  

I cook the mushrooms in olive oil, sprinkling with garlic powder while cooking and serve on the side, Jem is not a mushroom kind of guy!  He's cute but doesn't like mushrooms! Ha!  

OR  I brown the sliced and quartered Italian veggie sausage with a little oil in the oven, and serve that on the side as a side to go on top.  If you like, you can add parsley to garnish the pasta or noodles if you want to be fancy.   

Enjoy!  



From my Streams in the Desert devotional this morning:  

In lieu of the above thoughts on our Al...


"...may I remind myself that it is my great privilege to enter into "the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings" (Phil. 3:10) and I am therefore in great company.  May I also remind myself that all the suffering is designed to make me a vessel suitable for His use.

...Pain leads to plenty, and death to life -- it is the law of the kingdom!  from In the Hour of Silence"

Streams in the Desert, by L.B. Cowman

  Have a sweet evening, loves!  Amelia

 All retro photos except the first personal photo on blog by Robert Stock