A New Chapter - the katy rose

It's official - we are now residents of Texas! We moved in one month ago today, and among our many experiences -

A tropical downpour...

a visit to the beautiful Heights area in Houston...

new grocery stores!...

and a delicious "zebra" chocolate cake from our realtor...

We love our new town with all it has to offer and our proximity to our son and family; and the church where my husband works has welcomed us with open arms. My catering activities are now reduced to baking for his office staff, so as I partially close the door on For Goodness Sake, another blogging door opens in the form of the katy rose. Come on over to read about new adventures in Texas!

You Say Goodbye, and I Say Hello

After no new posts for nearly two months, I thought it was time for an update. We are moving to Texas, and we have been very preoccupied with interviewing for a new job, selling our house here in Oklahoma, and the really fun part - picking out a new house in Texas. Processes on both houses are nearly complete, and all then all that will be left is to do is pack up and head out!

If you want to add some excitement to your life, decide to move! In spite of being very happy in Oklahoma, everything about this move indicates that it is the right thing for us, and we are ready to move forward. One particular advantage will be proximity to our son and family. We will be close to the grandkids! During a recent trip to house-hunt, we stayed with them. During our visit the granddaughters decided at 8:00 one night to bake a cake for their mother, who was leaving on a business trip the next day. Of course they wanted Grandma to help!

I learned from one how to easily dip a strawberry by using a corncob holder - brilliant!

Keeping a watchful eye over the cupcakes.

Finished products.

That night was just a foretaste of future fun events!

Baked Chicken Penne with Lawhorn's Signature Seasoning

It isn't often I see the name "Lawhorn", and never associated with a commercial product. Lawhorn is a very special name to me, as it was my maiden name. As proud as I was (and still am) of being a Lawhorn, it was a name I had to spell for every person that I met, and it was a relief to marry a man with a simple four-letter last name and not have to spell my name anymore. (I never understood why everyone wanted to pronounce and spell it L-o-n-g-h-o-r-n! Ugh!)

When I saw this seasoning mentioned on Steph's awesome blog, Plain Chicken, I was dumbstruck. "Lawhorn"? You've got to be kidding! I immediately researched and found their website and emailed the link to my relatives with "you won't believe this" in the subject line.

Brown Sugar Pecan Cookies

Last week my son and DIL went out of town for a much-needed break, and while they were gone I was lucky enough to be invited to stay with my grand-kids, aged 12, 10, and 8. In between trips to Hobby Lobby and the grocery store, swimming, belly-laughing, and generally having a great time, I made them Brown Sugar Cookies from the blog of Baking Bites. These were a big hit - we all loved them! When my son and DIL came home starving after their 3-hour flight, they couldn't stop eating them.

Lemon Herb Rice

For a side dish for my husband's birthday dinner, I served him Lemon Dill Rice from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. My version included Minute Rice, fresh-from-my-garden oregano, and both lemon zest and lemon juice. It was so good! Next time I'll add even more herbs and lemon.

My Beautiful Mother - 1912 - 2010

All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.
~Abraham Lincoln

This older post is a reminder to me of my Mother's kitchen--the wonderful kitchen of my childhood.

~ What a brave soul she was, still trying to make each day count in the face of a debilitating illness.
~ What a magnificent life she led.
~ What a great amount of love she bestowed.
~ What a privilege to be loved by her.

Happy 34th Birthday, Little Girl!

At 6:00 a.m. on the morning of October 24, 1975, I was awakened by a clap of thunder and the unmistakable feel of my water breaking.

Since October 23 is our anniversary, my husband and I had celebrated the day before with pan-fried steaks, baked potatoes, salads, and hot fudge sundaes for dessert. Was that a smart thing to do? Probably not.

After realizing I was in labor, I promptly got up, took a shower, got dressed, and straightened up the house (I was manic!), only sitting down when contractions forced me to stop. At 9:00 a.m. we went to the hospital, and three hours later we had a beautiful 6 pound, 14 ounce baby girl who promptly became the apple of our eyes.

Our beautiful little hazel-eyed, button-nosed brunette is still the apple of our eyes, and we are so proud of her. She is strong, kind, incredibly smart, and funny. She is a wonderful daughter, her brother’s favorite little sister, her grandmother’s “Dollbaby”, her nephew and nieces’ loving Aunt Jenni, a delight to her friends, and the best kitty-mommy in the world. She has a big heart, a gentle soul, and is a joy to know and love. She is fashionable, has impeccable taste, is a decorating guru, a gifted artist, and a very creative cook.

My birthday wish for you is that you enjoy life to the fullest and find the joy that you so richly deserve.

Spring Peas, Spudnuts, and my Beautiful Mother

My mother will be 96 years old in July. She lives with my husband and me and is still incredibly young. She is a petite beauty who reads large-print books, writes letters, walks around the house for exercise, goes to the hair salon every week, and amazes her doctors. She is my hero.

One of my favorite culinary memories is watching my Mom shell peas on our porch steps one spring evening when I was 11. My Daddy worked until 9:00 at night in our small town pharmacy, my oldest brother was married, and my teenage brother was probably on a date. Consequently Mom & I were alone many evenings.

She had planted a tiny garden and had a nice little "mess" of spring peas gathered in a bowl. As we sat outside in the growing dusk, she showed me how to shell peas and we quietly talked. When the peas were all ready, we went inside and I watched while she made creamed peas. I'll never forget the taste of those peas--little bursts of sweet starchiness in buttery, creamy sauce. On that spring evening, between the shared sunset, the shared task of shelling, and the shared plate of fresh, simple food, a cherished memory was born.

Another culinary memory is one of her making Spudnuts, which are doughnuts made with potatoes or potato flour; Spudnuts were the Krispy Kremes of the 1960s. My brother was home from college one weekend and requested that Mom make doughnuts, specifically Spudnuts. Although Mom didn't have internet access and had very few cookbooks in her kitchen, she somehow managed to come up with a "copy-cat" recipe made with mashed potato-infused sweet yeast dough. She rolled the dough on her tiny countertop, used a little red doughnut cutter (wish I still had it!) to cut doughnuts, and let them rise on top of the oven. Then she fried them one by one in melted shortening in a deep saucepan and immediately dipped them in powdered sugar glaze. Those doughnuts were better than any we had ever had or that I have had since--I still remember biting into that light, crisp, sweet tenderness with the still-warm icing.

Mom doesn't think she was an inspiration to me in the kitchen. She refers to my grandmothers as the cooks in the family and talks about their incredible cinnamon rolls, sugar cookies, and pies. And although replicating their recipes has been my goal for many years, watching Mom in the kitchen is what I remember; by observing her, I learned basic skills, good habits, and the desire to please. Now I remember those days with longing and a touch of sadness, wishing I had paid more attention to what she was doing, wishing I had offered to help her (or even to wash the dishes), and wishing I had told her what a great cook and a wonderful Mother she was.

So on this Mother's Day 2008, I honor my little Mommy, Ruby, and thank her for being my inspiration and for encouraging my passion for baking and my joy in the kitchen. I love you, Mom.