R is for Remember

Sharing bride-to-be suggestions at a family bride shower, my mom pulled out an old box of my great-grandma's. She grew up in the Great Depression, and kept everything that might ever become useful in the future. She had everything organized, and labeled for who it should go to when she died. When the grand-kids came searching for an old umbrella for a road show, she responded "Oh! I knew that would come in handy someday!" She then went directly to their storage place, and brought back five. Even one with just the wire skeleton. That was just typical Marie.

This elegant little striped shoe box was tied together with a ripped piece of fabric. Inside are letters. Not just any letters. Letters from my great-great-great-grandma to my great-great-grandma. Letters from the 1800's. Letters to my great-grandpa from my great-grandma. Now that might not seem like much, but to people like me who only have a few meaningful pictures of me as a baby in her arms? That's a treasure. The little things like the small antique envelopes, and her perfect cursive. It's a treasure.

That's not the only gift she's left behind. We have four large boxes of her antique hats. She collected hats, and has every kind you could ever imagine. They're the best for dress up, and Halloween. But mostly for remembering. Getting to know that woman in those pictures.

So what do we do about it? Save those kinds of things. Save the things from your childhood to give to your kids in their childhood. Save the handwritten letters for you great-granddaughter to find at the top of a closet someday. Save the city baseball legue trophies, the journals,  pictures, your favorite teddy bear. Anything that is meaningful to you, or could be meaningul to your posterity. It only takes a shoe box in the back of a closet.

-Jannallred

Q is for Quote

Yay for quotes! They are my favorite thing.


This is my favorite quote. I like the picture too. :)

-jannallred

P is for Peanut Butter

So I ask my mom what I should blog about today..... "Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches, and why they're the best lunch. Do some research on peanuts." Haven't I ever told you my family is all about learning things? Hence:

Your Daily Unnecessary Facts About PB

• The average American child will eat 1,500 peanut butter sandwiches by the time he or she graduates from high school. I will probably eat double that because PB&J is my comfort food.
• Americans eat about 3 pounds of peanut butter per person each year, totaling about 500 million pounds... enough to cover the floor of the Grand Canyon.
• Americans eat enough PB in a year to make over 10 billion sandwiches (~2 tbs. PB per sandwich)
• Americans spend almost 800 million a year on PB
• This year's consumption rate is expected to be enough 18 ounce jars to form a line 1 and one-third times around the world.
• Nearly half of the US peanut crop is made into PB each year
• World's Largest PB sandwich? 40' long, 150 pounds of PB and 50 pounds. (November 1993, in PA)
• Kids and Woman like creamy, men like chunky
• 96% put peanut butter on first
• Peanuts are not a nut. Botanically classified as legumes, peanuts contain properties of both bean/lentil and tree nuts.

(peanutbutter.com   fun facts)



PB&J, cherry pie, Mac n' Cheese and my mom's homemade dinner rolls are probably my favorite comfort foods. I don't think my PB obsession started till I was at least in the double digit years. Reese's are probably my favorite candy too.

But PB can get old, am I right? But I just found 18 ways to eat peanut butter, from off of a spoon, to the extreme like in sushi. But some of these ideas look legitimately good:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/09/interesting-ways-to-use-peanut-butter-slideshow.html#

Well, I hope you're inspired to...eat some peanut butter. :)

-Jannallred

O is for Opppurtunity

Challenge: Take any opportunity you can. What do you have to lose?

-Jannallred

N is for Nectarine

So I found this idea to grill nectarines...weird, right? But I bought myself some nectarines, and put them in a brown paper bag to help them ripen a little bit more... store bought in early spring are never guaranteed yumminess... but I'm excited to try this.



Just stick em' on the grill (Add some seasons on first if you want), top it with some vanilla ice cream, and if you're feeling gourmet, add some mint leaves for garnish.

 Get creative with this! Slice it up, shake some brown sugar or cinnamon sugar on top, grill it, broil it, try it fresh in a bowl of cream or milk. Add different seasonings and toppings. Experiment. This is why I love cooking. And nectarines. And Spring. The best of THREE worlds. :)

-Jannallred

M is for Marathon

Our hearts go out to the Boston Marathon Runners today, and those that were injured or killed.



-Jannallred