Thursday thingies...

Monday I knew that Brother 2 would be over at Mom's with a manly power tool, the chain saw, to remove 2 big branches from my Mother's Red Bud tree.  He needed some extra manly help so the Professor offered to Man Up and assist.  My bread pudding had 5 minutes left in the oven, well planned, don't cha think?

After the 2 branches had been brought down and cut up into smaller pieces, we all sat down to have a piece of this delicious sweet treat!  It got rave reviews.  My girl pal at work, Crazy Cat Lady Carol, had brought this in on one of our weekends to work and it was to die for.  Hers was made with blueberry preserves, I bought cheapie strawberry preserves and it was every bit as good.  Here is the recipe:

2 extra large croissants (I squished 11 little ones into the pan)
½ cup Smuckers Blueberry Preserves (any flavor preserves would be delish)
3 large eggs
1-14oz. can sweetened condensed milk (if you're worried about calories, use non-fat sweetened condensed)
¾ cup water (I used milk)
2 Tablespoonful butter
1 teaspoonful vanilla extract
¼ teaspoonful cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350°. Coat a 9" square baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. 

Cut your croissants lengthwise and spread each half with about 1 Tablespoonful of preserves.  Replace tops and cut into strips.  Place in your prepared baking dish.  Using small spoonfuls, daub remaining preserves on top (I did this last).

Whisk your eggs and then whisking as you add your sweetened condensed milk, water/milk, butter, vanilla and cinnamon until blended,  pour over cut-up croissants.  Press larger pieces down into the liquid and let stand 5 minutes.

Bake 45-50 minutes or until an inserted knife in the center comes out clean.  Cool 15 minutes.

I made a glaze of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla to pour over the pudding while it was still warm.   Oh my, get ready for a party in your mouth!

The Professor has been singing up a storm!  I made a huge pot full of beans and we have been enjoying them for the past couple of days.  Nothing special in them, Great Northern beans, a couple of bouillon cubes, onions, water, salt and then some of these, Morning Star Sausage Crumbles.

These little beauties were discovered when Princess Jujubead made biscuits and gravy a couple of years ago.  She has been on a semi-vegetarian kick for a few years, boycotting beef.  These were wonderful and you couldn't tell they weren't pork.  I find them at Hy-Vee in the Health Food section freezer.  The first ingredient is TVP (textured vegetable protein)...have you heard of that?  I really thought of cardboard when I first heard about "TVP".  This is definitely NOT cardboard.  The Professor will NOT eat pork and beef messes up his system, and he won't eat seafood that didn't once sport scales.  I will have to look into TVP a little more closely because I was astonished at how good it does taste.

Rose was out supervising the Professor yesterday morning as he cut the front yard.  I don't think she did a very good job as she was watching everything BUT the Professor!  Do not, I repeat DO NOT let your dog supervise your husband!  I think it is all a big scam!

April was feeling a little left out, she thinks I take more pictures of Rose then I do of her.  I felt bad because it is true, a Mom tends to take a lot more of her oldest and then fewer with the younger finkles!

I have been working through the black hole, aka "My Happy Room".  It is the room that things went into and never came out of.  One wall when cleared out is where my small kitchen table will go and that is when I can actually sit in there and stitch.  I did find the above piece in there along with the fabric I had bought to finish it into an ornament.  The design is from one of the older Just Cross Stitch Ornament issues. 

I have begun to collect goals for 2012.  You can see the list on the right up near the top.  I am not trying to wish this year away, I AM trying to savor every moment with my beloved Caribbean Prince.  Never in my life have I been so happy and so contented.  The man God sent to me is a wonderful blessing and even though life has it's bumps here and there, I wouldn't want any other life then the one I have.

Until later my darling readers, God Bless Us Everyone!