Thankful Thursday - Birds, A New Recipe, and a Tip

So much to be thankful for this week.  Cooler weather for one thing.  Now cool in Florida is quite different than most places.  Cooler here in central Florida is 80-90 degrees.  Nights are in the '70s.  It is wonder-full, Gail-Friends.  I can spend time on my porch in the mornings without two fans blowing on me.  I'm loving it!

This morning, I saw my first male painted bunting of the season.  October 3 is way early, so it must already be getting cold where this little snowbird lives.   Sorry for the bad (phone) photo.  Hopefully, I'll get more in the days ahead.

We had a great Rosh Hashanah celebration to welcome in the new year 5780.  Lots of shofar blowing:

food and fellowship:

Round challah is a tradition for Rosh Hashanah - and we had this beauty-full one made by our Miss Barbara

I made this hummus dish and it was a big hit with everybody.  I found it on a website and changed it up a bit.  Here's my version:

Ingredients:

2 containers of plain hummus
olives - whatever type you like
cherry tomatoes
baby carrots
Cumin
Paprika
Dried parsley flakes
Salt and pepper

 Preheat the oven to 350

Split the tomatoes in half and cut the carrots to small pieces.  Toss in olive oil, then roast until veggies are tender to your liking.  I did mine for about 45 minutes.

Let veggies cool, then sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

Empty the hummus onto a plate and use a spoon to spread it into a big circle.

Sprinkle cumin and paprika over the hummus.
Sprinkle the olives and tomatoes on top of the hummus
Place the carrots around the edges of the dish
Sprinkle all with the parsley flakes.

VWA-LA!!!  Refrigerate.

Serve with crackers or pita wedges.  SO GOOD!

I also made a sugar-free, gluten-free apple dessert.  It did not turn out good.  I figured out why later...I forgot to add the butter to the crumble topping.  (Martha Stewart I'm NOT!)  I must admit, the topping tasted like sawdust.  But the filling was fabulous!  I used glucomannan to thicken the apple juice.  That part was perfect.  It's a Trim Healthy Mama recipe if anybody's interested in making it, let me know and I'll give you the info.

Also, I'm thankful for a great tip I found this week.  I learned how to keep apples from turning brown.  It's so simple.  Core and slice the apples, cover them with water, and then add a tablespoon of plain old table salt.   I made these apples way ahead of time, stored them in the frig, and they stayed perfectly white  as you can see below:

I love getting to use my little bumblebee honey dipper.  Isn't it cute?

Minnie Blue met a new friend at the library this week.  She's thank-ful.

Well, that's all for this week, Gail-Friends.  I hope you have a great week ahead.  Shalom and blessings to you.

Thankful Thursday - New Friends

 

Greetings, Gail-Friends!

Mini Blue made some new friends this past week.  We went to a meet-up at the beach with local Mini owners and she had a lot of fun.  Blue seems to be a popular color, so Mini felt welcome, and they all lined up together.

I love the color orange, so this was a fav for me

I really love this first generation Mini Cooper.

I'm thankful for this group.  They were a great group of people and do frequent meet-ups and road trips together, so it sounds like fun!  They're also very helpful about sharing information about owning a MINI and shared the rules with us:

1. Always park next to other MINIs.
2. Always wave to other MINIs.
3. Take your MINI to meet other MINIs, kinda like taking your dog to the dog park.  MINIs need socialization.
4. Make your MINI unique.  No two MINIs should look alike.

 We love our MINI (like all the others) and know we're going to enjoy this group.

Since we only a block from the beach, we went down to watch the sunset -- my favorite time of the day.  The wind was blowing like crazy due to a hurricane way out in the Atlantic, but I got a couple of good photos with my phone:

 We took a MINI day trip to Winter Park yesterday and had lunch at this beautiful spot.

 

I'm keeping it short today because I'm busy with preparations for Rosh Hashanah, which starts Sunday at sundown. So I wish you Shana Tovah - a good year!  Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Jewish new year and we'll be saying goodbye to 5779 and hello to 5780.  

It was a very good year, Gail-Friends, and we've been blessed abundantly.  I'm so thank-full.  I always like to look back and record the blesssings of the past year, so I'll be sharing a post about that next week.

Blessings and shalom!

Thankful Thursday - A New Family Member

Greetings, Gail-Friends!  This will be short 'cause I'm a busy girl this week. 

First, I'm thankful for our kitty-cat, Toonie.  He's such a good boy and he seems to be adapting well to being an inside cat.  My friend, Barbara The Cat Lady, says he must have been an inside cat in the past.  He's happy and is getting along fine with our dog.  He's taught her a good dose of respect by bopping her on the head when she gets too close.  Mostly, he just stares out the window, naps and loves to lay in my lap.

He's got a white spot under his chin

I'm thankful to have a meet-up last week with some family members I haven't seen in a long while.  We had such a great time eating and talking together.

I also am thankful for our new family member.  We bought a much-needed second car.  She's a 2012 Mini Cooper, and we named her Minnie Blue.  Her sister, Minnie Pearl, is glad to have her join the family, too

What are you thankful for this week?