Always one of my faves!!! Would love to see this in person!!! Enjoy these great reunion songs from the cast of Grease!
You’re the one that I want!
And…..
Summer Niiiiiiiii…..ights!!!!
Uncategorized
“Apparently” Noah Had a Great Time!
“Apparently,” Noah had a great time! We’ve been planning to go the Wayne County Fair and this little boy has just put the icing on the cake for me!!! “Apparently” we’ll have a good time! 😉
AND……
“Apparently” you need to Check him out!
It’s Hummingbird Time Again! ;)
It is amazing to wake up early, grab my cup of coffee and sit outside to admire my hummingbirds! I had noticed one looking for our feeders so I made sure they were out and filled with fresh nectar by the next day! But, of course, did I remember the ins and outs of making hummingbird nectar? Nope, yet again I was searching the web looking for that recipe! LOL! I found a great site! http://www.wildbirdshop.com/Birding/humfeed.html
This site explains the best types of feeders…stay away from the drip tube feeders, they will bring bees to your feeder which will fight with your hummingbirds. Always keep your feeder clean and filled with fresh nectar!
Recipe: (from the site mentioned above! Thank you http://www.wildbirdshop.com)
In nature, hummingbirds eat flower nectar for energy and bugs for protein. Flower nectar is 21% to 23% sucrose – regular table sugar – so it is very easy and inexpensive to make. Here is the recipe for making hummingbird nectar:
- Mix 4 parts water to 1 part table sugar in a pan. For example, use 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water. Do not use honey, Jell-O or brown sugar. Especially do not use artificial sweeteners. Putting hummingbirds on a diet will kill them. They burn prodigious amounts of energy for their size and need real sugar. Do not use red food coloring. It is unnecessary and can harm the little hummers even in low concentrations because they eat so much nectar. If your feeder isn’t red, tie a red ribbon on it as described in the Feeders section, above. Do not add anything else that you might think of. Just sugar and water, that’s all.
- Bring to a boil then remove from the heat. Stir it while it is heating until all of the sugar is dissolved. Don’t boil it for long because that will change the ratio as water is boiled off. The reason for boiling is not to make syrup, but to drive out the chlorine in the water and to kill mold and yeast spores that might be in the sugar. This will help make the nectar last longer both in the feeder and in your refrigerator.
- Cover and allow to cool before using or pouring into the storage bottle. We recommend making a large batch of nectar and storing it in the refrigerator in a 2 liter soda bottle (washed thoroughly first.) This makes refilling the feeder so easy that you won’t mind doing it every few days.
Also they have a guide to go by when changing your nectar vs the temperature outside as not to get your hummingbirds sick! I have never seen this on a site before and am grateful for it! I am following their guidelines and now have around 4 hummingbirds that visit us very frequently! They even make it difficult for me to try to change the food! LOL! I have to sneak their feeder away and fill it very quickly! LOL! I love it and so does my 7 year old!
| High temperatures | Change nectar after | |
| 71-75 | 6 days | |
| 76-80 | 5 days | |
| 81-84 | 4 days | |
| 85-88 | 3 days | |
| 89-92 | 2 days | |
| 93+ | change daily |
Make sure to check out the site for more information about hummingbirds! (I had to pause to smile at my hummingbird! LOL!) Remember these are guidelines to follow, always check your nectar to make sure it looks ok as well!
Enjoy your hummingbirds! And Make it Your Life!
Live the life of your dreams and take the time to watch your hummingbirds! What amazing creatures!!!!!!!
Hopefully pics to come 😉 If I can catch a good one of the little beauties!
VIDEO: 80 year old did what?!?!?!
This 80 year old woman comes on stage with her partner Nico and the audience and judges show their skepticism. Simon yawns, boredom is shown by people in the audience….But what she does will surprise you all!
Enjoy the video…get the tissues ready!
We are capable of anything! ❤
Meatless Meals 3: Mary Ann’s Crab Imperial
Meatless Meals 3: Lenten Meals: Mary Ann’s Crab Imperial – Adapted from a coveted Cossie Snyder’s recipe!
During Lent, it was a given, Cossie Snyder’s in Allentown, Pennsylvania is where you would find Bob, our girls, my mom and myself on a Friday night. Marie Geletkanych, co-owner with her husband, would wait on our table. A lovely woman, knew us by name and we always ended our meal with the most delightful of conversations. And, some Irish coffee! :)!
Enjoying Cossie Snyder’s because of Marie’s hospitality was one thing but, another…. they had good food! Lobster tails, fish, crabcakes, Crab Imperial — were some of our favorites on their menu. Mom always got breaded fish, the girls and I enjoyed their Lobster tails! To this day, I will say — It was the best or could compete with any lobster tail in our area or anywhere we have eaten to date. The reason I say that…. they knew how to make them! They were perfect! Not undercooked and not over cooked — and, always served with drawn butter!
Bob’s favorite, on the other hand, was their Crab Imperial. He loved it so much I would call Marie right before New Year’s Eve and she would make some for us to serve at our annual New Year’s Eve – Make A Favorite Food Wish – Feast at our house.
Cossie Snyder’s has since closed and to find Crab Imperial anywhere is a difficult task to say the least. I’ve searched for recipes and recently found an article and some notes in our local newspaper — The Morning Call. Google it — it was fun to read!
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The Morning Call – March 11, 2009
The Recipe You’ve Been Waiting For — Crab Cake Recipe finally Revealed
By Diane Stoneback
Marie Geletkanych always said she’d take her recipe for crab cakes — a signature dish at the former Cossie Snyder’s Corner in Allentown — with her to the grave. She closely guarded her secret during the 34 years she and her husband Robert owned the seafood and steak restaurant at Seventh and Washington streets. She made the crab cake mixture early in the morning, before anyone else was in the kitchen. Not even Robert, who cooked everything else on the menu, was entrusted with making the crab cakes.
1 lb. jumbo lump crab meat (fresh or pasteurized)
2 stalks of celery grated (about 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup grated sweet onion
4 slices fresh white Wonder bread, crusts removed and then cut into very small cubes
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning
2 Tbsps. parsley flakes
2 tsps. Worcestershire sauce
2 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and then grated
5 Tbsps. Hellman’s mayonnaise
1 egg, raw for breaded crab patties,
you’ll also need:
Flour
One beaten egg
Bread crumbs.
Gently sort through the crab to find and remove any shells.
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And, there it was!!!! Right before everyone’s eyes! In Black and White!! Such excitement! People in our area got sooooo excited! Here’s another note I found:
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The Morning Call March 18, 2009
Crab Cake Recipe Prompts Store Rush
By Marion Callahan
Heckenberger’s Seafood in the Allentown Farmers Market sold a week worth’s of fresh lump crab meat in one day, and owner Ray Adams knows the reason behind the rush. Adams said customers lined up for crab meat last Thursday, eager to make Cossie Snyder’s crab cakes, a coveted recipe that was revealed in last Wednesday’s Morning Call. Marie Geletkanych’s crab cakes were a signature dish at the former Cossie Snyder’s Corner in Allentown. She closely guarded her secret recipe during the 34 years she and her husband Robert owned the restaurant at Seventh and Washington streets.
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Sweet story……
But, back to the Crab Imperial!!!
NOW I HAD A Recipe…… for crab cakes! Not, Bob’s Crab Imperial……
So, I improvise! I Create! 🙂
Basically, it’s the same recipe with a few, slight changes.
Mary Ann’s Crab Imperial – adapted from a coveted Cossie Snyder’s recipe
1 can jumbo lump crabmeat, picked through for shells
2 stalks celery, grated ( approximately 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup sweet onion, grated
4 slices fresh white bread, crusts removed, cut into very small cubes
or non seasoned bread crumbs / panko
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
2 Tablespoons parsley flakes, minced
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs, hard-boiled, shelled and grated
5 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl.
Butter individual baking dishes and fill 3/4 full.
Bake in a 375 degree oven until a light, bubbly, golden brown!
Enjoy! Enjoy!
Oh….. End of story….. Bob Loves it! :)!
Meatless Meals for Fridays in Lent!
Not sure what to make as a Meatless Meal for a Friday night during Lent?
Well…..
We’ve got some ideas for you! Here is one of our Windish/Slovenian Favorites:
Cabbage and Noodles!
List of Ingredients:
- 1 head of Cabbage
- 1 bag of Egg Noodles (my hubby likes the extra wide ones by Pennsylvania Dutch or Light n Fluffy, doesn’t matter to me lol!) ALSO…any noodle will do 😉
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Little bit of Vegetable Oil or your choice of cooking oil
Directions:
Chop up the cabbage into small bite-size pieces. Place cabbage in a large skillet with a little bit of cooking oil, salt and pepper (we use a large stock pot cuz we’re gonna mix it all together anyway lol). Saute the cabbage until soft and lightly browned…salt and pepper to taste. While sauteing the cabbage, prepare the noodles according to package instructions. Strain the noodles and mix together with the sauteed cabbage.
Enjoy some Cabbage and Noodles hot off the stove!!! YUM!!!
Some people use this as a side dish, but we eat it as a meal! I absolutely love it!!! I usually eat way too much of it and get way too full…oops! But I do it every time! LOL!
Now, back in the day, my Grammy would chop the cabbage, place it in a large bowl with about a Tablespoon of salt sprinkled on top and let it rest for about an hour. She would then squeeze the cabbage (really builds the muscles lol) to release any water in the cabbage (the salt helps pull it out) and then saute it. Sometimes I still like to do it Grammy’s way 😉
On the other hand, my mother-in-law would boil the cabbage in salt water until soft and then brown it lightly.
And others like to put some chopped onion in too…that’s up to you!
Different ways to come to the same delicious Cabbage and Noodle outcome! 😉
Let us know if you try our recipe and how you liked it 😉
More Meatless Meal recipes to come….
Quit Smoking! Start Vaping! ~ A Healthier Transition
How many of you smoke? Be honest now!!!
2 pack a day Smokers…
1 pack a day Smokers…
1/2 pack a day Smokers…
Social Smokers….
Even the Closet Smokers…
By that I mean…..
the ones that never smoke:
- around family
- around work (or no one at work knows you smoke)
- around certain friends
Why don’t you smoke around certain people or places?
Because….
in a way, you feel ashamed of your closet habit!
Do you want to know why I know this? Because I was a closet smoker too!!! I was so thankful for having friends who knew me for who I was and who accepted me for who I was! Because around those people I could just relax! No one to go…
“Oh, she smokes? She doesn’t look like a smoker!”
I know I shouldn’t care what people think about the things and choices I make in my life, but that’s me…I can’t help it sometimes! Some people found out along the way and didn’t care, but I still hid it at times…
I quit a few times in the past, but went back for some reason or another…always thinking “Why did I pick those dang things up again?!?!”
Well….things change….you grow up….you figure out that you’re sick of hiding that you smoke….sick of smelling like an ashtray….sick of feeling crappy….sick of smoking in general!
Woohoo!!! What a great decision!!!
I’m here to tell you that I can help you along your way! Here at LifeDesigning1, we want to help you create a healthier you! So….
Here’s what I did and it has been amazing in my experience! Results may vary! Everyone has heard of E-cigarettes! Well, have you ever heard of vaping? If you are a smoker then you probably have seen or even tried one of those disposable electronic cigarettes in hopes of kicking the smoking habit. You may have had a similar experience as I did and found that they were just not fulfilling enough and went right back to cigarettes. The little disposables were certainly on the right track but were just not there yet. I then discovered the ever advancing and technology driven world of vaping. With vaping, one can decide just how advanced you would like to get and what kind of a vaping experience you would like. You can choose from an endless selection of mods, tanks and flavors. Unlike using the old disposables, which were very limited in performance and selection, vaping allows you to remain very basic or move to very advanced.
I have quit smoking and transitioned to Vaping! I feel soooooo much better!!!!
Vaping: The process of using a battery powered device in order to heat and vaporize a liquid which can then be inhaled.
E-Juice: Liquid that is vaporized when using an e-cigarette like device. Also known as: E-Liquid, Juice, Nic-Juice
E-Juice commonly consists of 4 ingredients:
- Propylene Glycol (PG)
- Vegetable Glycerin (VG)
- Nicotine
- Food grade flavoring
All of these ingredients can be adjusted to personal taste, we recommend a reputable American E-Liquid Company. Many of the larger venders will adjust the level of each of the above ingredients to your personal preference when ordered. I have been enjoying a 100% or Max VG blend from Mt Baker Vapor.
I’m in love with Movie Theatre Fish lol. It’s my ADV (All Day Vape)!
Mod: The battery powered device chosen for vaping.
The Battery Powered device or “Mod” is just as diverse as the rest of the key elements in vaping. You can have a very small or a very large rechargeable device. A simple to use device or an advanced electronic wonder gadget. On some you are even able to regulate your own voltage or wattage. The options are never ending and new items are popping up almost daily. You can even select styles to suit your taste and personality.
Tank: The device that contains your heating coil, wicking system and e-juice when filled. Commonly these are plastic or glass and go by names like cartomizer or atomizer. This “tank” attaches to the battery or “Mod.”
The tanks, as shown below, come in many different sizes. They can hold different amounts of juice and have different replaceable coil and wick systems. The very advanced vapers can even rebuild atomizers to truly gain the vaping experience they desire. The tank system you choose will be dictated by the flavor and amount of vapor you want. Many of the tanks can be used and interchanged on many different Mods.
The above terms are ones that I will be using in order to educate you more on Vaping. 😉
I went with MigCig’s Mig 21, I wanted a tank to be able to see my choice of Juice…but yet have a mod with the look of a cigarette. Still one of my faves by far!!!! I’ve moved up in my choice of mods since then, but always go back to my MigCig! The MigCig is a powerful little device that is just close enough to a cigarette for a beginner. It, through the refillable tank, allows the user to fill it with whatever kind of E-Liquid they would like. It made my transition from cigarettes far easier than I would have thought. I truly enjoy vaping not just for the better health aspects but I find it much more fun and less expensive then smoking. Please keep in mind that your results may vary. I do highly recommend the MigCig for anyone who wishes to try and quit smoking and begin vaping. Check out the link below if you are ready to make the change.
This post gives you my story so far and gives a general idea of vaping. I will have several more posts on this topic and give more details on specific items. Please post any questions or share your experiences in vaping…More from me later 😉
What would you like to read more about? Let me know below 😉
