Race Weekend

Rick and I have been at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend in the RV.

The weather was absolutely perfect. I enjoyed being with family and friends. Huge meals are always included in the these weekends. We've had a full breakfast every morning that the GUYS cooked. Other meals included brisket, baby-back ribs, Mexican food, and on and on.

Now, I should say I didn't even go to the actual races. I stayed back at camp and caught up on reading these.... 

as well as my ladies bible study material. One of the ladies in the group use to have her own floral shop and decorating business. She was thrilled to give us some pointers on bow making. I think if we had had our Christmas trees out there, she would have done them for us! Don't think I didn't consider the logistics of that for a few minutes! 

Hope you had a great weekend, too.

Banana-Split Cheesecake

Ok, you know me and desserts. Here is the next one I will be trying!

Ingredients

CRUST:
1 cup packaged chocolate cookie crumbs (such as Oreo)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted
Cooking spray


FILLING:
3 (8-ounce) blocks fat-free cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) block 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (8-ounce) carton low-fat sour cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 large eggs


TOPPINGS:
1/3 cup canned crushed pineapple in juice, drained
1/3 cup strawberry sundae syrup
1/3 cup chocolate syrup
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
16 maraschino cherries, drained

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325°.
To prepare crust, combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl; toss with a fork until moist. Press into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with cooking spray.
To prepare filling, beat cheeses and sour cream at high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add 1 1/2 cups sugar, banana, flour, and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time; beat well after each addition.
Pour cheese mixture into prepared pan; bake at 325° for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Cheesecake is done when the center barely moves when pan is touched. Remove cheesecake from oven; run a knife around outside edge. Cool cheesecake to room temperature. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours. Top each serving with 1 teaspoon pineapple, 1 teaspoon strawberry syrup, 1 teaspoon chocolate syrup, 3/4 teaspoon pecans, and 1 cherry.

From "Cooking Light" -- seriously!

Harley Davidson Quilt

When my husband sold his Harley bike, he had a whole wardrobe full of HD t-shirts literally from all over the world. I wanted to do something to save just a few of the shirts for him in some "Harley Hog" special meaningful way (whatever that means) and give it to him for Christmas. So I asked him to pick out twelve of his favorite t-shirts that he wanted to keep to remember perhaps certain rides or memories .

I cut the squares off either the front or back of the t-shirt depending on which side I thought would make the best finished 12 X 12 square.

I purchased for little or nothing one black sheet for the backing and some of this cool Harley-colored orange fabric for the borders, sashes, etc. I already had some batting on hand. Then I began to piece it square by square. It was finished off with a machine for durability. 

And here's the finished quilt. We both love it! It goes wherever we travel in the RV.

Always save t-shirts! They have such memories tied to them. And they really do make great quilts. Perhaps I can share some other t-shirt quilts I've done in the future.

I have hooked up to both Keelie and Kimba, so hop on over to both of these!

 Household Chores

Besides making our bed, another chore that Marilyn and I had at home was to help wash and dry the dishes. Marilyn and I took turns. One week I washed, and she dried. The next week we switched. This continued until Mother got a dishwasher. Then we helped load and unload it.  I don’t think I can remember a time when Mother left dirty dishes in the sink.

One side comment........ our kitchen detail was habitually interrupted early in the process each and every time. There was something about washing and drying dishes that ALWAYS sent a message to Marilyn—“I’ve got to go to the bathroom.” And off she would go. It was such a joke!
Living on a farm, we had some other things that we tried to help out with. I say that lightly because sometimes we were more of a hindrance probably than an asset to the task. Gardening was one of those. I think I was guilty of pulling up the wrong things from time to time in our garden. 

I was definitely a “chicken” when it came to going to try to gather eggs from under those things sitting on them! Who wants to stick their hand under a clucking animal?

Yikes…..

Weekend Wonders

Just wanted to share a few of the highlights of our weekend. 

We took Jonah, the RV, and went to the lake for a quick camping trip.

There was a great playground right around the corner of our campsite. 

I love this! Jonah worked on his bike--for real.

Our wonderful view at sunset! 

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Grace Greater Than our Sin

Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount outpoured,
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilled.

Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!