Good morning sweet stuff! What's happening with you today? Me? I'm just chilling and resting a bit. Enjoying a hot cup of coffee and glad to be living life. That said, what about the FOOD? That's what you are here for, after-all. I had a guest over for dinner on Valentines Day and I heard the comment about cooking dinner, "everything just looks like it's no effort and no problem". My response is, "because it isn't". Then, with a different conversation, I mentioned about how figuring out anything at all about fashion (what goes together, what looks good on me, what is in style, etc.) is a big mystery to me. I literally take instruction from my youngest daughter about what looks good, what fits and what goes together. It dawns on me that how I feel standing in front of my closet is probably how many people feel standing in front of their fridge. Shoulder shrug and "I wish someone would come do this for me". Well, no worries! We are here to help each other, right? We each have our own gifts and strengths and I'll do my level best to help you with your cooking challenges. (Maybe you can at least overlook my penchant for blue jeans and T-shirts?) So, with that under our belts, I'll give you a huge hint. ANY dish can be made better or more fancy with a sauce. I'm not even kidding. Think for a moment about a lowly bag of frozen meatballs. What can you do with those? Most folks, plop them in a spaghetti sauce and put them on noodles. Boom. A sauce made the whole thing come together. You COULD heat the meatballs up and offer a flight of sauces. Wouldn't that be a fun appetizer or "small plates" dinner? You could do a Yum yum sauce, a mustard sauce, a barbecue sauce or a marinara sauce! If brown gravy is your thing, you could do that! What about a sausage gravy? See how that works? There are a LOAD of sauces on the Loaves and Dishes website. Just search "sauce" with the little eye glass to find what you are looking for. I've got everything from Bourbon sauces to Lemon Pepper Sauce and none of them are difficult. You can pep up your dinner today! Just pick one and go! __________________ HOT COOKING TIP OF THE WEEK This week, like so many recent weeks, I couldn't find what I wanted and needed at the grocery. You too? Yeah. It reminds me that we have to be extra vigilant with avoiding waste. How do you handle that? For me, I share my extra food with friends. Try to find ways to use up the bits of this and blops of that. Feed scraps to my chickens who then turn it all back into eggs and compost. Then, there's also, good ol fashioned "warming left overs up". Do you know that the various "how to warm leftovers" posts are some of the most popular on the website and the YouTube channel? Here's the down low so that you can warm things like a champ too...
Perhaps that will help you save some of your leftovers for a few more dinners, save yourself some money and keep food on the table! ___________________ THREE LITTLE THINGS I'm trying to be more thankful for the small things as a reminder to also be thankful for the big things. I'm sharing those here to remind you too. I find that the more grounded in gratefulness that I am, the more humble, gracious and patient I become. God wants me to shine in the fruits of the spirit and this is one way to be centered on such.
_____________________ A FINAL WORD I didn't share last week what I was going through because it seemed so overwhelming and huge that I just didn't know what to say. It ended up that I needed an emergency surgery which was completed early this week and hallelujah, I'm so much better already. I can't say enough about how loving, caring, kind and considerate my friends and family are. What would I do without them? They've been right here beside me. I know you would have too if I had told you what was going on. Thankfully, I'm on the mend and the follow up labs have all been just fine, which I don't think my doctors were expecting as they had told me to expect more treatments and surgery right away. It's the best possible outcome. Thank you Jesus. Which brings me to my next point. All of this has brought into sharp focus how much less life I've been living while hiding out from the dreaded C-19. I've spent a lot of time just waiting for things to pass rather than living each day to the fullest. Have you? For me, this stops RIGHT NOW. I'm not saying to take unnecessary risks, but I am saying, there's plenty I could be doing and enjoying while also being safe. I need to do more of that. This coming month, I'll be traveling to a food conference with a new foodie friend (taking every precaution that can be taken). Next month, as the Dorks with Sporks Podcast celebrates the beginning of Season 4, we are going to do a fun out of state excursion and enjoy every single moment. This summer, I plan to head to the beach with friends and family where we will cook together, plod up and down the beach and venture into Charleston. To me, living life to the fullest involves some travel and good eating. Of course, I'll be sharing what I learn with you here. Besides all of that, I plan to spend as much time as is humanly possible in my kayak this summer with my little black pug at the bow navigating the waters of North Carolina. Want to join me? I'd love to have you. Do you have plans to live life a little more? What are they? Life is so short. Please enjoy it. I hope you know how much I've thought about you this week. It crossed my mind more than once, "what if I can't do the website anymore"? Because, believe me, you are WAY more to me than a job, a website or an internet friend. It's more like we are family. I could never just walk out on family. I'm glad you are still stuck with me. My prayers are with you, wherever you go this week. Love you! See you next Friday in your inbox, God willing and the Creeks Don't Rise. Wendi Unsubscribe | Update your profile | PO Box 82 , Danbury, NC 27016  |
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