Hodgepodge on the 11th

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 394

Here are the questions for this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog then join in the fun with Joyce at From This Side of the Pond.

1.      It's the 11th day of the 11th month and bloggers often make lists on days like today. Let's go with a list of eleven things you're feeling grateful for today.

1.      My husband

2.     My children and their spouses (who I think of as my “children”, too)

3.     My granddaughters!!

4.     My friends

5.     My job (I love!)

6.     My church (faith/church/God/spiritual life?)

7.      Our home – it is just right for us at this stage of our lives

8.     My sisters and my in-law siblings

9.     The fact that we live in a city where there is excellent medical care

10. Clean drinking water – at the tap of a faucet

11.  Diet pepsi (boy, that is a sad sad answer!!)

12. I should go back and lump #1, #2, #3, #8 together as family which would give me more slots (I'm doing that which means I now have 3 more numbers!)

13. Sunrises (and sunsets) – I can see the sunrise from our house – his mercies are new every morning

14. Good health – including strong leg muscles that can walk 1.5 – 1.75 miles every morning and ride the recumbent stationary bike for 30-45 minutes every night

15.  The ability to buy whatever groceries I want to buy at the store – fresh produce, good meat, seafood – food on our table and food to share

 

2. What's something you decided to do or act on at the '11th hour'?  I can’t think of a single recent thing. There have been times where we thought we didn’t want to go anywhere but at the last minute decided to jump in the car and go. You know what I mean? Sometimes when you get home from work and change clothes you think, “yes, we were invited to so and so but we are just too tired.” Then at the last minute, one of you decides that you both should throw on your nice clothes again and go. Make sense? Anyone else?

3.  Apparently the Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe contains 11 herbs and spices. What's a dish you make that calls for exactly eleven ingredients? Feel free to share the list and/or recipe. I prefer recipes with fewer ingredients! I have probably made a million several hundred pans of these Brown Sugar brownies and I think they have 11 ingredients.

Preheat oven to 350

1 & 2 - In a glass mixing bowl, melt two sticks butter

3 - While butter is hot, add 1 pound of brown sugar (whole box or ½ bag – I love it when I can get the 1 pound boxes!)

Stir well with wooden spoon

4 & 5 & 6 - Add 3 jumbo eggs and stir with wooden spoon

7 - Add 1 ¾ cups up to 2 scant cups self rising flour and stir gently until mixed with wooden spoon (do not use a mixer – they will be tough and unfit to eat – I’ve tried it!)

8 - Add 1 tsp vanilla

9 & maybe 10 - Add 1 cup butterscotch chips (I added a few mini chocolate chips to the batch today). Mark likes me to use all chocolate chips and a mix of those big dark ones and mini semi sweets but my kids always preferred the butterscotch when they were younger.

11. Add 1 cup chopped pecans.

Gently stir.

Spray 9 X 13 pan with pam (I have an old metal one that is my brown sugar brownie pan – I have probably made 1000 batches in it.)

Spread batter into pan – batter will be thick.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Let cool completely in pan before cutting. (they fall apart if you try to cut while hot). As you know, different ovens cook hotter or colder. When my oven was new, I had to cook for about 27 minutes. My oven in this house requires 26 or 27 minutes.

 

4. Something you remember about your 11-year old self? I turned 11 in the summer of ’69 and I guess I started 6^th grade in fall of 1969. I can still visualize the school classroom. I was one of the smart kids and I remember giving a speech at the 6^th grade graduation. I’m pretty sure I was Salutatorian. I remember at some other point that year having to memorize a poem or something from a play and I remember reciting it over and over but I cannot remember what it was. We wore lots of dresses and it seems like we wore knee socks with our dresses. I’ll have to see if I can find a picture. We had the sixth grade banquet and I do remember a picture of me and Susie Battles (she died this year!) and Mariea Allen Bridges all dressed up for the banquet. Back then, dressed up for a banquet meant a Sunday dress.

5. The 11th of November is Veterans Day in the US of A. This is a day to honor those who have served their country in war or peace-dead or alive-although according to the government's website it's largely intended to thank living veterans for their sacrifices. 

Memorial Day is when we honor military personnel who died in service to their country. 

Share a thought relating to Veterans Day or tell us something about a Veteran you know-love-admire. 

Yesterday, one of our ministers went to visit a man in our congregation. He was able to visit with him outside at the Veteran’s nursing home located about an hour away. This Veteran will be 100 years old on Monday. His mind is still sharp. He flew airplanes and was shot down. He told the minister yesterday that he wasn’t supposed to be on that mission but his superiors woke him in the middle of the night and told him that the pilot was drunk and they needed him to fly the mission in the place of the drunk guy. He was shot down and he wasn’t even supposed to be on that mission!! He was hidden by the French underground and moved from place to place until he was rescued by U.S. soldiers.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

I think I mentioned this last week – we had our children and granddaughters over for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate 3 November birthdays. I was a VERY HAPPY momma. We had family photos taken at 4 and then hung out and had a beverage and ate dinner together. I made 2 Tollhouse pies for birthday dessert – one with pecans and one without. I decorated with icing before serving. Here is a partial pie! I also made two apple rolls. You can check out this old recipe here. 

Just FYI, the apple roll on the left literally slid out of the oven when I opened the door. I had a cup of boiling water in one hand and an oven mitt on the other. I opened the door and slid out the rack and that pan went flying through the air and hit the hardwood floor. The pastry and apples you see in that pan stayed in the pan. The remainder – probably a stick of butter and a cup of apple chunks blew up everywhere. It is funny now but it wasn’t funny then! I’m going to have to paint two walls (they are small walls) with kilz and then wall paint. It took us a roll of paper towels, several dish towels, a bath towel, and 3 cleanings with Shaw Hardwood floor cleaner to get it off the floor. There were apple bits clinging to the woodwork. There were even apple bits and butter in the pantry. I should have taken a picture but I literally walked out of the kitchen and went to the garage and said to Mark, “I need you in the house.” He said, “Are you bleeding?” I said, “no, but I need you in the house now.” It was definitely a two person clean-up!