The Tales of The Traveling Tote #45

Tales of the Traveling Tote

It is with a heavy heart that I share the sad news that our dear friend Jenna, from The Painted Apron, has passed away.  We will miss her blog posts where she shared her art work and painting tutorials, scrumptious recipes, creative and lovely tablescapes, stories about her beautiful grandchildren and family and especially her friendship!  Heaven now has a sweet angel and may she watch over our travels.

Candy For Dinner

Rule #1:  Don't leave Nana and Papa in charge of the grandkids if you expect them to have a healthy meal.  

I promised the 2 y/o and 4 y/o that they could have "candy for dinner"!

It's Time for Brunch!

I hade a little brunch the other day and here is what I served:

I set the table for 4:

I greeted my guests with Hawaiian Mimosas:

Spinach, pepper and onion quiche was delish!

The quiche bakes for about an hour at 375°

Crispy Bacon Curls are a different way to serve bacon - crunchy and full of flavor!

I made the Tater Tot Appetizer Cups, but this time I used Peppered Cranberry Jelly

Little donuts added a sweet touch!

It was all delicious!

John's Birthday Gathering

John's birthday was Sunday and we had a few friends and family over for a cookout.

This is what I served:

Ham, pickle and cheese appetizers:

 tuna Cukes:

Cheese Tray

WHITE SANGRIA

London Broil and Jalapeno Jam

SALMON

OOOPS, I never got a photo

COWBOY CAVIAR:

Eggy Mac Salad

2 c uncooked macaroni (about 10 oz) - cooked al dente

4 hard boiled eggs, cooled, shelled and chopped

1 cup mayo

1/4 c each diced onion, and diced celery

2 T dill relish

1T yellow mustard

salt and pepper

Mix mayo, egg yolk, mustard and relish and then add all other ingredients and stir well to blend

FIRE AND ICE TOMATOES

5 large tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 med onion, sliced

3/4 c white vinegar

6 T sugar

1/4 c water

1 T mustard seed

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 large cucumber, sliced

Place tomatoes and onions in a heatproof, non-reactive bowl.  In a small saucepan combine vinegar, sugar, water, mustard seed and cayenne pepper and bring to a boil.  Cook for one minute, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Pour carefully over the tomatoes and onions.  Cool completely.  Stir in cucumbers and refrigerate, covered, overnight

John's favorite dessert is Strawberry Shortcake, so this is what I made:

Recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Charlotte

          

The Tales of the Traveling Tote #28 and a giveaway!

          The Tales of The Traveling Tote

This has been a great summer, but it flew by so quickly!  Here's how my Traveling Tote and I spent the time:

July Family pics

The last 3 weeks has been family time for us, spending time in Ohio, Rochester, at home and the Adirondacks.  This is a "photo dump" to remind me of the fun times we have when we get together!

Pirish 2021....

Pirish in 2021 will look a bit different than in the past due to this crazy pandemic.  

What is Pirish?

Since 2013 our family has assembled for "what the kids call PIRISH".

The "cousins", who are mostly Polish, love to celebrate St Patty's Day and renamed it "Pirish", for the Polish and Irish heritage we all share.

Our family now includes quite a variety of nationalities:  Polish, Cuban, Scottish, English, German and Irish!

This year we will celebrate with Caitlin and her family, so I made some Leprechaun Trash to munch on:

I made this with cheerios, pretzel sticks, wheat chex, and green M&Ms:

I packaged it in zip bags and buffalo checked boxes:

I also packaged some up for a friend:

Traditional White Trash:

 

3 cups Cheerios

3 cups corn chex

3 cups rice chex

1 cup peanuts

1 cup pretzels (sticks or mini)

1-1 1/2  lbs M&Ms

1 1/2 lbs melted white chocolate

Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl and pour melted chocolate over and toss and toss quickly!!  Spread onto wax paper to set.  Store in plastic containers or zip bags.

For other variations of this sweet treat:

Oreo Trash

Valentine Trash

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Another favorite recipe to make is COLCANNON, which pairs so well with Corned Beef:

There are many versions of this recipe, but I like to add garlic, cabbage, onion and minced ham or bacon and lots of butter!.  

My dad used to sing this song every St Pat's Day:

https://youtu.be/TCQbksGz67U

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So, off to Rochester we went to celebrate Pirish with this adorable little Leprechaun:

So, if you are Irish, or not, feel free to celebrate on the 17th - here's a sweet cocktail to try:

May your heart be a light as a song!

A few ways we have spent Pirish in the past:

2020

2019

2016

2017