Fritatta!!

This was the second blog post I ever wrote...I LOVE that it was about a fritatta!! And the pictures are reminding me that one day....not so far from now...IT WILL BE WARM AGAIN. And we'll be eating on the porch, enjoying the hummingbirds.

Two of my favorite people in the world -- my sister Ronda and our good friend Phyllis -- came for breakfast on my porch. I made a fritatta. Every woman should have one "go to" delicious thing she cooks really, really well. Years ago, at a Sunday morning breakfast brunch in New York City -- I discovered fritattas. Since then, I've made them with feta cheese, spinach, leftover spaghetti or hashbrowns, green onions -- it is a very flexible dish.

Fritattas are often featured on my favorite cooking shows (yes, I am addicted to the Food Network!). Another great thing about a fritatta is that you can make it on top of the stove, or in the oven. It is great for leftover vegetables, macaroni and cheese, meat, olives, leftover green beans...whatever you like. Here's the one I made:

Cheese/Bacon/Fritatta

In a mixing bowl, beat 6 eggs and 1/2 cup of milk. Then, I added:

1 cup leftover pasta

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 small white onion, chopped

1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped

1/2 cup cooked bacon (or ham, salami, meatballs, sausage, pepperoni, etc.

Pour into a large pie pan (no crust). Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until set. (I added another handful of grated cheese on top, with lots of crispy crumbled bacon).

P.S. If you have the right size non-stick skillet, you can cook it entirely on top of the stove -- and it takes about half the time. But the secret is to have it "set" (without burning) -- and then use a plate to "flip" the whole thing so it cooks on both sides...OR -- you can start on top of the stove, and finish it off under the broiler. It's one of those easy, versatile dishes...

We also had a fruit salad and warm scones. HEY -- they were not as good as the *Fischer Scones we get at the Puyallup Fairgrounds -- but because I had a jar of delicious homemade peach jam, they moved up the taste ladder to AWESOME.

* Ever since Debra Justice gave me a Fischer Scones Mix gift box years ago -- I have occasionally made scones from scratch. Frankly -- the mix is better! 

My guest room...

I wrote this in 2009....I don't know if Mary is coming for a January visit....but I STILL LOVE this room!!

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MANY of you are dealing with Christmas visitors. Whenever I get company -- my favorite part is making up their beds. I especially love to hang their sheets out on the line so they smell fresh and wonderful. And, of course, I dig out my best embroidered pillowcases. During Mary's recent visit, I washed my most elaborate embroidered top sheet...


The quilt on the bed is a winter scene, complete with ice-skating. But, of course, the really big story in our guest room is the paint job on the walls...


This paint job happened years ago, after Ross moved out of the house. I invited my sisters & cousins to my house for a paint party and the room got a complete REDO. We were experimenting -- there may have been Margueritas involved...

I wasn't content with every wall being a different color (like my living room). Why not paint free-form lightening bolts and use two or three different colors of paint?? This is the door...

Notice the yellow ceiling...which comes down onto the wall. Mostly because we were all laughing too hard to deal with a fussy straight line...


This is Mary's last night -- packing up two GIGANTIC suitcases full of Ya Ya treasure...we had to get up at 4:00 AM to get her to the airport.

I told her we couldn't have coffee for the trip to the airport -- because the caffeine would interfere with my master plan. Which was to drive her there (45 min.) drop her off, drive home, get back in bed and pretend it never happened...

My favorite Christmas Ornament/Movie

The kids are out of school this week, and we are busy making the most of our time off.  (AND planning our outfits for next week's Hamilton trip!).

So, I'm gonna post some re-runs....This is an oldie...

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Before Christmas 2009 goes away forever -- I'd like to point out one of my favorite FARRO traditions --


Hanging in our living room -- every year -- my fabulous cardboard ornament of Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed in a scene from IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The best Christmas movie EVER made. I watch it every single year -- it goes beyond Christmas tradition. It's what life is all about -- not just for one day a year, but EVERY day of your life. Making a difference. Just by taking care of your family, going to work every day, being kind....

All the people you touch with your life -- but never really think about. I LOVE the movie..

Maybe 15 years ago, Target decorated their stores with scenes from It's A Wonderful Life -- and I sucked up to the local Target manager, spent hours shopping there every single day during the month of January -- hoping to snag one of the ORNAMENTS before it went into the dumpster...


My persistence paid off. As persistence always does. And this ornament became a fixture in the Farro living room...

Yep. It IS a Wonderful Life...

Christmas Lumpia

EVERYBODY should have one food specialty during the holidays that becomes a family tradition. My mother made wonderful divinity...we all look forward to my sister Deena's Candy Cane cookies. For years now, I've been making Lumpia...here's a post I wrote awhile ago...

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Many years ago, my cousin Denny married Rosie from the Philippines and she brought "lumpia" into our lives. My boys were little and they LOVED lumpia. I invited Rosie over so she could teach me how to make it...and it became a family favorite.

However -- because of all the prep time -- I seldom make lumpia when it's just the two of us. Several years back -- I started making them BEFORE Christmas. On Christmas Day -- lumpia is a hot, delicious, very appreciated special meal.

Like all the best dishes -- it's more technique than recipe...

It starts with a trip to the Oriental Food store to buy lumpia wrappers. The best ones are round, and they're very thin -- made out of rice flour. But this year, they are square -- and look like large eggroll wrappers.



The filling is simple -- the proportions are up to you...

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 lb. pork
1 c. onions (some yellow onions, some green onions, including the tops)
1/2 c. carrots
1/2 c. celery
(Use the food processor to finely chop the veggies.)

Shape the raw meat/veggie filling into a cylinder...place the meat on the wrapper at a diagonal, folding the top corner over, then fold in both sides as you roll it up. Seal the last corner with an egg white wash.

This year, Carrie wanted Lumpia for her Christmas, so I went to her house and we made a HUGE BATCH.  She had the perfect set-up, and we had a real deep fryer in her attached garage.  I didn't get any pictures of us that day -- so I am using photos from many years ago...(I've improved on this wrapping technique now)...and my lumpia are small, almost cigar-sized. 

Of course -- the best part is that they are FRIED. That's what makes them so delicious!!

What you're going for is brown and crispy. They are DELICIOUS right now. I fry them all off -- drain them, layer them on a cookie sheet, cover with foil.  Then FREEZE.

When it's time to eat -- I lay them on a clean towel to thaw, then heat in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.


Serve them with your favorite sweet and sour sauce. Heat the sauce and add crushed pinneapple and chopped green onions...it is so tasty!!

Rolling and frying the lumpia AHEAD OF TIME made Christmas eve dinner a breeze...
Well done, Carrie and Rita.  Lumpia is a gigantic ONCE A YEAR HIT...and yes,  my arm is hurting from patting myself on the back...

BEST CHRISTMAS PRANK EVER!!

On the day we went to see Fancy Nancy -- I had Ross's inflatable in the car. Of course, making it a "surprise" means I have to call Ross to make sure he won't be at his house...

Once I was sure Ross left his house -- the kids and I went there and got to work.

We'd done a trial run at my house, so we knew it worked.

The kids watched it inflate -- and then pounded the guide lines into the ground.

They were pretty darned pleased with their efforts...

One might say DELIGHTED AND EXCITED...

They were hiding on the side of the garage, waiting for Uncle Ross to come home and 'BE SURPRISED""

Lilly had a bucket of her special treats for Uncle Ross (caramel corn, fudge, and one perfectly decorated cookie)

Uncle Ross acted shocked and surprised...

Oh, yeah, Uncle Ross played it PERFECTLY...

We went back after dark, to make sure it was still working.

When Christmas Sucks

I mostly wrote this in 2011....

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MERRY CHRISTMAS...

If you're reading this -- maybe your day sucked. At least a little bit. Christmas is a time for families... And we all have this vision in our head of what the PERFECT FAMILY CHRISTMAS LOOKS LIKE.

Of course, the truth is -- nobody has a perfect family. Every family has their share of problems.
In this blog, you will only read the Pollyanna-ed version of my family, that's for sure!!

My point is -- everybody is dealing with something. Nobody is happy all the time. Life can be lonely. Husbands and wives disappoint one another. Maybe your adult children aren't nearly as much fun as you once hoped. You could be dealing with a bad job, or NO job, children with behavior problems, drug addiction, economic problems, unpaid bills, a cancer diagnosis.

Or, maybe this year, you've suffered the biggest grief life holds....your child died.

Whatever is wrong in your life at this moment, it will be magnified a thousand times on this day.

Which is why Christmas OFTEN SUCKS. Most of the time, we are victims of our own high expectations.

If you are feeling sad, or alone or hurt today -- I am giving you permission to have ONE BAD DAY.
You can eat whatever you want...Snickers can be your main meal. Or buy dinner at the mini-mart. My local Casey's has awesome pizza -- and they're open until 6:00.

Veg out in front of the television. LIFETIME and Lifetime Movie Network are both running marathon Christmas movies ALL DAY LONG. They'll be sad...bound to be tear-jerkers....which is exactly what you need. Just go with it. Let the snot run down your face...you can have a 24-hour-pity-party...

Or --Plan B -- TNT is running A Christmas Story all day long. Watch it at least three times, while eating hot, gooey Caramel Corn and you'll be warm all over...really...

With on-demand and/or Netflix, you could create your own television marathon. Here are the shows I've watched in Marathon Mode, and highly recommend:  Downton Abby; Entourage; Sopranos;  Sons of Anarchy; Britain's Got Talent.

Last year, Ross watched 50 YouTube videos about how to make his own concrete counters (he swears he could do it now)...

Then -- roll out of bed tomorrow morning and GET OVER IT. Pull up your big girl pants and do something that matters. The good news is -- YOU get to decide what that is...

More good news -- Christmas is just ONE DAY, babe. That's all it is. ONE DAY.

And SURE -- on this day -- somebody, somewhere, is having the very BEST day of their life...

But tomorrow it could be YOUR TURN.

And you are not alone...

Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas

Since school started in the Fall, my usual Grandma rhythm is that the kids sleep over on Friday, and we spend Saturday together.

My surprise Christmas Event on this particular Saturday was gonna be the children's theater at Circa 21. Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas...

Even though Warren had a wonderful, full night of sleep -- he got up at 7:00 AM, and watched the entire Polar Express movie (for the 456th time).

So, on our way to the theater -- THIS HAPPENED...

Once we got seated, he perked up and got involved in our Bananagram game...

Lilly takes her word games pretty serious...

And she is getting pretty good...and she's quick to switch it out when necessary...

After the show -- Warren was delighted to meet the cast! (this is a new confidence)

Lilly got lots of autographs on her program.

In front of the theater.

THEN -- on to lunch at Steak and Shake!!

The perfect ending to this perfect pre-Christmas day would be to prank Uncle Ross...

Ritaluck and I found the blow-up inflatable of Santa and two reindeer playing poker at a thrift store. For $20. AND IT WORKS...so -- since Ross loves to play poker, the kids and I were going to surprise him by setting it up in the front yard of his new house....

Fingers crossed....

2017 Christmas Lunches

There are SO MANY WONDERFUL events during the Christmas season!! You simply have to pick and choose...

The Christmas luncheon at the Outing Club is a no-brainer!!

The topic this year was "Growing Up on a Scott County Farm in the 1960's"  So, OF COURSE, I invited my friend Sue.

It was our TMBC Christmas event (speaker in the middle)

THEN -- as if I hadn't packed enough holiday cheer into this week -- I invited my sister-in-law, Jeanne, to go with me on a Christmas Adventure...(the very next day).

Here we are, at the Abbey Depot in Moline, Illinois.  Jeanne didn't know where we were going...it was lunch and a choir event.

The Davenport Central choir was SPECTACULAR.

We had such a nice time, I asked one of the students if they did a public Christmas concert. (because I'd love to take Lilly). And he said, YES -- on December 18th. So, Jeanne and I got together AGAIN on that night, and took Lilly to that concert.

Grandma Camp Gingerbread

THANK GOD some genius decided to make Gingerbread KITS. They are absolutely the best holiday invention EVER. They're right up there with artificial trees and inflatable yard ornaments. A Gingerbread KIT is a fast forward ticket to Christmas fun. Unless you are a master baker -- making and baking the actual Gingerbread is a boring, time-consuming job that is a hit-and-miss activity at BEST...and no child can last until the end.

These kits cost $7.99 each.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME??

AND, PEOPLE -- THERE IS A TRAIN!!  The gingerbread is beautifully engineered, and so sturdy...

We laid out some extra candy, sprinkles and cereal...

Warren COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED...

And Lilly knew EXACTLY how she wanted her village to look like.

Her favorite apron (look familiar, Linda?)

Once Warren was in cooking mode, I decided to teach him how to make an epic grilled cheese sandwich. (the key is to use mayo instead of butter)...