[Maggie]

♪♥♫ GOOD AFTERNOON IN APRIL MAGNOLIAS ☺♫

It is another lovely day in the high 60˚s and just a breeze blowing. AH what a beautiful day. We were out and about and getting gassed up for our trip out of town where Will preaches once a month for those folks.

Not much going on today around here. We went out to the range and popped a few caps and hardly anyone else was there. Collage graduation was going on today so that may have had something to do with it.

Everyone have a lovely weekend and be safe.

Always remember ~ Never, never, never give up

[Jean]

Maggie -- Thanks for starting the new thread! It's graduation weekend here too,our high school as well as the Catholic high school, nearby smaller schools, and the college. Not too smart in the planning process imo. The grocery store was really busy this afternoon but it didn't take me long since I knew where everything I wanted was located.

[gma22]

Good morning girls. Another here today. I hope it stops before we go out today. I need to go by the optometrist and pick up a pair of contacts in my old prescription. She said she would give me a free pair until I go in August and since it is only a couple months away thought I would go and get a pair so I can wear them when I go out at least.

The beading class had myself and one other woman who was an interior designer and left after an hour because she had a client. The owner led the class, but kept getting up and going out to customers the whole time even though her worker was out front. I won't be going back. I felt it was a rip off for the money she charges since she wasn't totally involved in the class, but gave us what she called a syllabus, which I found amusing. It was a handout basically about materials. I left my expensive wire so have to go back and pick it up, but am going to wait for a couple weeks until I go to get my hair done since it is in the general area and they are both clear across town. I picked all these beads out and had made the design before I even got there so I could bead them without a lot of deciding. I think it turned out great without her help about much of anything as far as the necklace placement and such went. The other lady did a necklace with all the same beads and since she is a repeat customer I felt got more attention than I did. She kept up a talk with her and didn't even respond when I talked about my hobby, though she went on and on about her going to design school and the other lady's business. She wasn't much help except to show us how to put the crimps on and such. Her stuff is way too expensive so if I am going to buy stuff for other necklaces I will go online to the place I have bought my ready made necklaces and earrings for vacation. I support small business shops, but her stuff seems really marked up and that class was more like $10 or $15 not $25. She just moved to a new place because of a parking issue where she was before and there is no parking available here either. The first time I was there was a weekday and I had to park way down the block at someone elses business and hoped I didn't get towed. There was one spot free when I got there yesterday. Maggie, she wants $75 and you buy the supplies for a beginning soldering class. I can learn to do soldering from Jack for nothing!!! I can do advanced classes at the same site I buy stuff for free and even learn how to make clay beads.

Jean: I think Thomas's last week of school was Friday, but it may be a couple days next week so I am sure graduation was either this weekend or next. I know my niece graduated from college in Arizona last Sunday. Another year of school gone. Does Ian start high school this fall or 8th grade?

Maggie: Hope you had good weather for your weekend trip.

Everyone have a great day. Weigh in tomorrow so hope it is good. Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning! The sun is shining, the breeze has kicked in, and it's so-so chilly outside. Either the air was on at church, or the furnace fans circulating the air. I was cold and others said the same afterwards. Bob always thinks it is my imagination. He is singing at second service so won't be home until probably close to one. We ran 15 minutes over and that service is always longer for some reason. The singing group is going out to eat tomorrow night, that's a first so will be interesting. Have no plans for the day except working on the afghan and maybe some laundry. I thought we had one more weekend before Memorial Day weekend, but noticed that it is next weekend, then another whole week of May. I always thought of Memorial weekend as the end of the month.

"Gma" -- It's too bad your bead class didn't turn out better. At least you did learn how to do the crimps, whatever that is. You are creative enough to do your own designing! I like your necklace that you made! Ian will be in 6th grade next year, so not quite as old as Thomas. Their last day of school was Friday and I asked him if he passed. He gave me a puzzled look and said they don't find out until they register in the fall. I asked him if he was at all worried that he didn't pass (because academics aren't his main focus right now) and he assured me he would. He is such a schmoozer, very polite and always with a smile willing to help. I'm sure his lady teachers love him. He always greets us with a hug and a "thank you for coming" hug when we are there.

I need to change clothes and get potatoes and eggs cooking for a potato salad tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your day wherever you are and whatever you are doing!

[gma22]

Good morning to you all. Summer has definitely arrived. It is going to be mid eighties into low 90's here this week. I hate the higher utility bills, but am ready for summer for sure. We are now only 18 weeks from vacation so we are getting excited.

If you like pepper steak, here is my recipe for it. We had it last night over rice and a salad and Jack just gushed about how much he liked it. High praise as he said it was better than the Chinese restaurant we would always get it from. Pts are 8 pts for 5 oz of meat, with sauce and veg. What I did was when it was finished, I took out the meat and weighed it because I started with a lb of sirloin and it cooked down to 10 oz.

Pepper Steak

Pam olive oil spray
1 medium onion, sliced in thin strips
2 large bell peppers, sliced into thin strips
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 pound sirloin or flank steak, cut into thin strips
1 Tbl corn starch and 1 cup water mixed

After cutting peppers into strips, place in boiling water for 3 minutes to blanch for tender softer peppers or not if you want crisper peppers. Remove from pot of water and follow directions:
1. Spray skillet with olive oil spray over medium heat. Cook onion, bell peppers, and garlic in oil until tender-crisp, stirring frequently. Set aside in a bowl.

2.Using same skillet over medium-high heat. Pour soy sauce, honey, and red wine vinegar in pan and stir to mix, then add beef. Cook beef, stirring frequently, until done, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in cooked vegetables, and cook another 10 to 15 minutes. Mix corn starch and water and pour into mixture and cook until thickened. Serve over your favorite kind of rice.


My convection/toaster oven comes today so will be interesting how much we like it. We don't have the room, but I move come counter stuff around to have a place for it. It looks like our microwave might be on the way out now too. {{{sigh}}} I know one thing when we put in new cabinets I am having a slide out spice cabinet put in next to the stove. I have my spices in the top cabinet next to the stove and it is stuffed and everything falls out all the time. The cabinet on the other side has stuff like brown sugar, syrups, bread crumbs stuff like that and it is stuffed too. Drives me nuts having to dig through stuff and having it all fall out on me.

Weigh day and I am down 3.4 lbs and Jack is down 1 lb. He has 7 lbs to go to get to his summer goal and 17 to get to his ultimate goal.

My grandson didn't finish his Olympic triathlon on Sunday. He finished his Saturday sprint triathlon, but it has been cool here for several days and raining and when he came out of the water from the swim part on Sunday he was blue so he was done. Mom took him back to the hotel and warmed him up. Dad was pretty cold when he came out too, but he kept going and finished I guess. Haven't heard from Kelly on his finish. I know Thomas has to be disappointed, but darn he can't put his health at risk.

I am supposed to go out this Wednesday with Kelly for lunch, but haven't heard anything more from her yet. I hope she picks someplace I can't get lower fat stuff.

I have a hair appt two weeks from Saturday and I am going to have her cut it really short. I am tired of dealing with my cowlick causing me problems a week after getting it cut so I am going to get it cut even shorter and spike it again.

Jean: How is the afghan coming? I am a good third of the way on the scarf being done. I need to rip out something I started and don't like the color combo so am going to do something else with all the yarn I bought for it. Thomas is kind of boring. We ask him about his grades and he has made straight A's since kindergarten so though it is fabulous, no excitement with his grades. I wonder how well he will do once he goes into the AP high school program. He is going to be with all kids his intelligence and I imagine he will have more competition then he ever had in elementary or middle school. He actually is taking geometry as a freshman because he took algebra this year I guess. He is going to take Spanish so that will make his aunt happy I imagine. The crimp is this tiny round tube that after you put on our last bead you slip it on then either the end that has the claso or the ring on the other end and thread the wire back so you have like a loop then you pinch the crimp across one way then across the other way then you put on a crimp cover to keep the wire from rubbing and wearing faster over the crimp and crimp it closed and feed the remaining wire back through the beads. It can be tough when you have acrylic nails. I had to use needle nose pliers to hold onto stuff that was tiny.

You girls have a great start to your week. Faye

[QuilterInVA]

Good morning, ladies! A chilly 59 degrees right now and I had to put the heat on for a little while. It was just too cold in the house. It's back to the 80s by Wednesday, however.

This was a busy, fun weekend. The quilt show on Saturday was a lot of work and we were really tired when we got the last rack put back in the storage shed, but there was a turnout of several hundred, mostly senior, residents of the retirement community and surrounding town. We thought maybe we'd have 100 show up. We had a great lecture time in the afternoon where people brought family quilts and told the story of them. One lady had a quilt that was dated 1789! It's been in her family all that time. It will be going to the Colonial Williamsburg textile collection when she passes away for her children don't want "that old thing."

We have a new Paragon Movie Theater opening Memorial Day Weekend. Saturday they had free movies, small popcorn, candy, and small drink for those with military id. Quite a value these days. Yesterday it was open to the public with $1 movies. The movies were older ones, but Sandy and I hadn't seen them so we saw Frozen and American Hustle. The theater has all reclining big seats with trays for your stuff and cup holders. It was heavenly. We spent a total of $4 for the 2 movies, then had to pay $17.50 for a value-sized bag of popcorn and 2 value-sized drinks. One of our local country radio stations was broadcasting from the lobby and I was bold enough to ask if they had any freebies and I got a "The Other Woman" (very funny movie) mug that had a little red round case in it containing dental flossers, sewing kit, chap stick, emery board, bandaide, and wet wipe. We had an hour between movies so we walked around and looked into the shops. Coldwater creek is closing and they had some good bargains but since it was the first week of the going out of business sale I decided to take my chances and wait to closer to the actual closing date. I'm cheap.

Today I'm catching up on housewo0rk and then quilting.

Faye, congratulations on your weight loss. Your necklace is very pretty. Classes are expensive. Typical quilt classes start at $30 for half day and $50 for full day and go up. If I take a class at Mid-Atlantic it is $65 for a half day and $100 for a full day and those classes will have 25 people in them. Craft shops have to charge more than internet sites for they have the costs of the store front to pay. We had a unique situation here where a girl took college classes while still in pubic school (at age 12) and she just graduated from Hampton University at 16 with a BS in Physics and she will graduate from high school the first week in June. Her sister is following in her footsteps. She is now going on to get a MS and wants to work at Jefferson Labs or NASA when she has it. She also plans to keep going for her Ph.D and wants to have it by the time she is 19. What is even more amazing is this is a low income family living in subsidized housing.

Jean, I make a cauliflower salad that is the same as potato salad but no potatoes. I love it in the summer. Here in the south we use Duke's Mayonnaise and it is so good. I will make some this weekend for sure.

Maggie, what are you up to today?

Have a wonderful day, ladies!

[Jean]

Good Morning! Another windy, cloudy, cool day in my neighborhood. We balanced at church on the first try and my computer posting did likewise. I stopped to pick up the gift shop money which was pretty skimpy again this week. Been to the bank to deposit that and now need to put the books and computer away. This afternoon I have an auxiliary board meeting to plan for the summer volunteer workshop we are hosting in June. Tonight we are going out to eat with Bob's singing group.

"Gma" -- I'm hoping for some warmer weather and the sooner the better! to both you and Jack on your losses this week! Thanks for sharing your recipe, it sounds delicious! My spices are in/on a cupboard door. They are easy to grab, but the rack also takes up some of the shelf space. I admire Thomas for even competing in a triathlon! After ripping out several rows because of a missed stitch, I am back to where I was on the afghan. Will is 6'3" and wants it long enough to cover him. I've got it about 2/3 done, I think.

Susan -- My furnace is running this morning too. It's great your quilt show was a huge success! The movies sound like a nice treat for you to enjoy. What all do you put in your salad! Sounds interesting!

Bob will be home soon for lunch so need to put my gift shop stuff away. Hope you all enjoy a marvelous Monday!

[Maggie]

♪♥♫ GOOD AFTERNOON IN APRIL MAGNOLIAS ☺♫

It is another lovely day in the 100˚s and just a breeze blowing. AH what a beautiful hot day. We were out and about and got the ingredients for some spaghetti for dinner. I always make enough to freeze a meal. Plus I like to cook enough of the spaghetti noodles to make a nice pasta salad which I will do tomorrow.

We went out to the shooting range today to test some of the reloads and then we can make some adjustments if need be.

I am down a pound and slowly getting back to where I was when I gained some. Hopefully I can keep from doing that again.

Not much going on around here except trying to stay cool.

JEAN What fun for you balancing the books. Hope you will be going out ot eat at a yummy place with that group.

SUSAN I can imagine what a nice time you had at that new theater. I can't remember when it was the last time I was in a theater for a movie.

Donna Faye Did you get the Cuisinart convection toaster oven with the side water compartment for steaming? I love mine and it is my main oven now days. Congrats on that weight loss.

Always remember ~ Never, never, never give up

[gma22]

Good morning all. It is going to be a hot one today I imagine. Going to get upstairs early and get my cleaning done before it gets too hot.

I am working on another cowl for fall. It is yellow and purple. I hated the colors of the one I started a few months back so ripped it all out and will use the yarn in other ways. I am still working on the scarf.

Jack is having to fix an electrical issue in our house that could have caused a big fire. We have been having some issues and didn't know why, but we found out last night when I had the microwave going and Jack was plugging in the convection oven on the one socket. It had been covered up by the ice tea maker and that's when we saw the socket was burned and I hurried and turned off the microwave because it was glowing red hot behind the socket. This condo has all aluminum wiring and a few years back we paid $1000 to have it pigtailed, but he didn't do the sockets. On top of that, the morons who built this place put all but one socket on the side the stove is on in the kitchen all one one circuit. That means 4 sockets plus the fridge plus the light above the sink all on one circuit. My kitchen is a mess because Jack took the socket apart last night and turned off the power on that side of the room. He found the sockets are all aluminum wired too and combine that with the over wattage and it made for a big mess. We had to move the freezer into the other room, unplug the microwave and all the little appliances and I put my kitchen aid on the table in the dining room so I could plug in the convection oven on the side the stove it on so I could use it this morning. We have a suspicion that is why the toaster was acting up too. Jack is going to start pigtailing all the sockets in the house, which will make them all safe then as we can't afford to completely rewire the whole house. The first of the year we are having a friend from work who is a licensed electrician replace the big breaker box outside. That will cost us another $1000 but it is going to have to be done. In the mean time, we are going to reduce the electrical pull on that side of the kitchen. Jack turned the breaker off to that last night since the socket is hanging out of the wall, but I went to get in the fridge this morning to get the chicken to put in the crockpot and the fridge was dark. That is how we discovered it was all on one circuit. My kitchen looks like a disaster area. I had to put the crockpot on the freezer in the dining room so I could use it today. When we do the renovations we may have to spend the money and rewire everything.

Maggie: No, I bought a West Bend platinum convection oven. Congrats on the loss.

Susan: I saw you posting on FB about it and went and looked at the link. It looks like a really nice movie theater. How did you like Frozen? I took Jackson to see it last time he was down here.

Jean: Can you weave a dropped stitch in crochet? Unless it is a really complicated pattern, I can usually weave the dropped stitch up the rows and not have to tear it back. Hope you are warming up. It is already in the upper 70's in the house this morning.

You all have a great day. I am going to go take my meds, take my fiber, and get some breakfast. Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning! The sun is shining, no wind (yet), and it's warm enough to have the sliding doors open! A beautiful morning in my corner of the world! I have nothing going on today except to work on laundry and get back to the sorting and pitching. Oh, and the afghan is waiting too. I finally am back to the spot where I had to rip out several rows because I missed a stitch. I will be glad when this one is done!

Maggie -- Wow! Your temperatures have really warmed up! on another pound gone forever! We ate at a new sports bar last night; the food was good, it was busy with a "younger" crowd, but wouldn't be my choice of places to go. The place was a steak house years ago with a bar in the back half. Over the years it has been a pizza place, and then bought by a local family who turned the bar area into a meeting room and a bit larger room with longer tables to accommodate larger family get togethers, plus a regular restaurant in the front part. Groups would meet, in the smaller areas, to play cards in the afternoon. The sports bar has remodeled in the back two rooms; the restaurant part closes at 2 with the sports bar opening at 4. I am a bit unhappy with the 2:00 closing because this is where I went for coffee with my friends. We need to find a new place.

"Gma" -- I'm sorry about your electrical challenges! It's scary to think how shoddy construction can be, especially when electrical and could cause a fire. We had to update our electrical box when we added on years ago, but the wiring in the walls is still the original. Hope you like your new oven! The missed stitch is obvious because the row is vertical; if there is a way to fix it I don't know how. It's caught in the next row, so won't unravel, but noticeable to me.

I need to get dressed and get busy! Enjoy a terrific Tuesday!

[Maggie]

♪♥♫ GOOD AFTERNOON IN APRIL MAGNOLIAS ☺♫

It is another hot day here in the ♥-Land with 84˚s at this time which is 5:15 pm. We were out about and that new born buffalo girl is sure growing visibly already.

We went to our favorite place to have things done to the Jeep which called Xibit Customs. They always do a great work for us. Sometimes they tell us we can get the articles cheaper elsewhere and they will install them for us which is a great service. What we want now is a metal radiator to replace the newly installed plastic one that the dealer put in recently. Our last plastic one barely lasted 2 years and that is unacceptable. Along with the new metal radiator we want installed an electric fan which improves the working of it plus a noticeable difference and improvement in the running of the engine.

I did get the spaghetti sauce with meat balls all packaged up and in the freezer now which will be for two more future meals. I made a pasta salad with the leftover noodles which we will have for dinner tonight with some ham which is being thawed out as I type and some yummy asparagus.

Awhile back I got an offer of buy one and get one free for bath mats which are super absorbent for the MH. They are a beige color and will go fine with the décor. I have had good success finding just the right things to put in that rig. One of these fine days we will bring it over here and park it out front so we can load the things we have purchased for it in their proper places and get them out of the house.

JEAN I certainly do hope that you find a nice suitable place to have your meeting with friends for your gab fest. Changes, there are always changes aren't there.

DONNA FAYE Ouch! Those electric woes can sure cause a crimp in ones budget for sure. Such a good thing you discovered the burn area before it caused havoc with your place. Jack can sure save you some money by doing the fix it work himself since he is so handy with that stuff. To be safe you will probably decide to rewire everything.

Always remember ~ Never, never, never give up

[gma22]

Good morning to you all. Upper 70's already and the house is warming up quickly because I have the dryer going.

All is well with the electrical problem, thank goodness. My toaster works fine now as does my microwave and no expensive fix as it was the plug next to the sink that was faulty and not the breaker switches. Jack put pigtailed the aluminum wire with copper and capped it then put in a new socket with a breaker built into it so it will pop off if overloaded. We moved stuff around to distribute the electrical current and moved the freezer into the dining area, which will eventually become the pantry anyway and would have to be moved.

I am having lunch with my dd today at 11. I went to their website and found a turkey sandwich with veggies on it and a small side salad with ff tomato basil dressing so should be good to go that way. We are having pork chops with cornbread stuffing and salad for dinner tonight. Salad is one way I can get Jack to eat some veggies so we have been having it a lot. Breakfast for me today is strawberry whole grain eggos with sf syrup, fresh strawberries and bacon. I buy the precooked bacon as it has more of the fat cooked off and it is thin sliced too so I cook it in microwave and blot any fat that may be on it when it comes out. I like it crisp and not all limp.

I am 2/3 done with the cowl, but ripped out the purple as I didn't like it so it is all a bright sort of yield sign yellow. I need to order the yarn for T's socks while they still have it as I am going to take it on vaca with me.

Jean: I think Jack is going to put breaker sockets in all the outlets plus do the pigtail copper. He explained to me what it does and it makes it safe that way without having to totally rip out all the electrical. I guess back in the 70's aluminum wiring was legal and cheap so they used it, but they have found because it is soft, it is a potential fire hazard. Most homes 40 years ago have the aluminum in them. Glad you were able to fix the afghan and keep on going!

Maggie: I have a group on my FB page that is Amish recipes. It has a database of something like 1800 recipes. I was looking through them last night and found some great ones my grandma used to make and I never got the recipe from her before she passed away. I am German descent and grew up eating sauerkraut, sauerbraten, german potato salad, etc.

Well breakfast is waiting. Have a great day all. Faye

[Jean]

Good Morning! The sun is shining and the birds are chirping. My black squirrel flew across the deck this morning with a red squirrel right behind him. We hadn't seen him for a few days so I was afraid something might have happened to him. I have potatoes and eggs boiling for a potato salad later. I need to take checks to the hospital, put my sweatshirts away, and work on the afghan. Kolby has a game tomorrow night but it's supposed to rain so will play that by ear.

Maggie -- It seems like you were just checking on buffalo babies. Time flies by too fast! I brought bath mats home from the cabin, and decided after looking at them, to pitch them. I know they were old and the pile was a longer fuzzy kind. I was afraid they might fall apart in my washer or worse yet, plug up the sump pump. I think our coffee group is too busy to meet in May. Graduations, showers, and weddings seem to be in abundance this year.

"Gma" -- It's great that Jack could fix the wiring! When we ate at Perkins, after soccer a couple weeks ago, Bob ordered breakfast. The bacon was wonderful -- the whole strip was crispy well done. I usually end up picking mine apart and don't eat what's not crispy. I buy the precooked bacon too. I've never had it but there is a church lady who makes warm German potato salad. Everyone raves about it and she won't share her "family" recipe. Her family doesn't live anywhere around here.

Bob is cleaning the boat and asked if I will go get more "green" cleaner. I can do that! Hope you all enjoy a wonderful Wednesday!

[Maggie]

♪♥♫ GOOD AFTERNOON IN APRIL MAGNOLIAS ☺♫

It’s another very warm day here in the ♥-Land up in the 90˚ area. Since it is Wednesday and we have mid week Bible study we will be going out to eat at I-Hop afterwards. I have learned what to eat and what to “stay away from” on their menu. If I want boiled eggs they are kind enough to accommodate me and boil them to my satisfaction.

There is still only one little buffalo but a couple of the other females look like they may have one soon.

I am so sleepy this afternoon and I did have a good nights sleep. Must be the heat but it isn’t hot in this house. Maybe I had better get up and move around some. I have been doing work on this computer for awhile and need a break.

JEAN That is so neat that you saw the black squirrel and nothing had happened to him. We have been seeing more squirrels lately gathering up "stuff" to eat. I'm sure they fill their cheeks with the seeds we put out for the birds which get dropped on the ground. The birds love those black sunflower seeds.

DONNA FAYE How nice that Jack was able to fix that wiring problem and now you can breathe a sigh that it is fixed with not much of a money outlay. How nice you found a place where you can get those treasured recipes. I also have Germans in my family tree which goes back to the the 1600'ds. They were quite a fierce and hardy bunch.

Always remember ~ Never, never, never give up

[gma22]

Good morning gals. Hot and beautiful this morning. I am going out around 9 and head over to Walmart to get my nails and toes done, then get a couple more things I didn't get yesterday and come home. I have been having trouble sleeping as my hips have been achy at night and I can't get to sleep so I might try and sneak in a nap after I get back before I have to go get Jack.

I have decided when I go to get my hair colored in 2 weeks to tell her to chop it all off pixy type short. I have too much trouble with it once it grows out a bit and it is too hot for me so off it comes. I am going to get her to spike it I think and if I can talk her into it maybe get funky tips on the spikes. Wouldn't Jack love pink in my hair?

Went out to lunch with Kelly yesterday and that was nice. She didn't have a lot of time so we only had about half an hour or so. She told me the lake water was 68 degrees and the air temp was in the 50's when Thomas got out from the swim part so that is why they had him stop. He must have been freezing to death without a wet suit on. He "graduates" from 8th grade tomorrow then he will be a high schooler.

Here you go Jean if you want to try it. This is the official version as I know what my grandma put in it and my grandpa was German. I use the canned new potatoes as they stay firm and don't get mushy. I bought these new Airwick spray thingies that spritz fragrance into the air on a timer. They are battery operated so no outlet is needed. I got their newest fragrance, the baby magic baby smell and I love it. I bought three for the kitchen area, but since we have a semi open area it does put scent into the living area. I think I will get one for our bedroom and one for the hall downstairs. What is the green cleaner?

Hot German Potato Salad

Ingredients
7 - 8 medium round red or white potatoes
6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon celery seed
Dash pepper
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup white or cider vinegar

Directions
Place potatoes in medium saucepan; add enough water just to cover potatoes. Cover; heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low. Cook covered 30 to 35 minutes or until potatoes are tender; drain. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Cut potatoes into 1/4-inch slices; set aside.

In a large skillet, cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon; drain on paper towels. Do not discard bacon grease.

Cook onion in bacon grease in skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in flour, sugar, salt, celery seed and pepper. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat.

Stir water and vinegar into onion mixture. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute; remove from heat. Stir in potatoes and bacon. Heat over medium heat, stirring gently to coat potato slices, until hot and bubbly. Serve warm.


Maggie: I don't know if you use "starter" for breads, but if you join the amish recipe group on FB they have several different kinds of bread starters including the friendship, sourdough and regular bread.

Well girls, I need to go. Have a great day! Faye