Sunday Dinner, July 27, 2008

Home grown red ripe tomatoes -- It's what's for dinner. Well, those and some other things.

I happen to have a goodly amount of ripe tomaters right now, so sliced tomatoes will figure largely in our Sunday Dinner this week.

I also made a fresh batch of my homemade refrigerator pickles Friday night so those will be available to those who want them. Between them Jessica and Jason can eat a half gallon of them at one meal, and that's no exaggeration.

I'm going to make a pot of sauerkraut and weiners, or weinies and kraut in our local vernacular. I know Jessica loves weinies and kraut and I think everybody else likes them, with the possible exeption of Jason. I don't think he cares for kraut.

I've got a 5 quart Dutch oven brimful of pinto beans cooking away as I type this. They're almost done and ready to season with salt and bacon grease, or as the case is tonight, a little vegetable oil.

I had intended to make some homemade biscuits when I got home from church to round out the meal but I just remembered I don't have any self rising flour and I don't want to fool with adding the baking powder and salt to my plain flour so I guess I'll make some more cornbread to go with the beans.

So our menu for this Sunday Dinner will consist of pinto beans, cornbread, kraut and weinies, homemade refrigerator pickles and sliced homegrown ripe tomatoes.

If you'd like to participate this week just share your menu/plans for your Sunday Dinner in the comments.

By the way, all the pictures of pinto beans, corn bread and biscuits are some I've taken of past Sunday Dinner offerings.A few months ago I was pleasantly surprised when I received an email from a blogger who has ties to my home town. She somehow happened across my blog and after reading my profile she wondered if perhaps we knew some of the same people.

She has friends and family living in my hometown although she lives in the central part of Arkansas. After a few emails back and forth we discovered that one of her relatives was my and CECIL'S middle school social studies teacher, and I do indeed know some of her extended family living in my hometown.

And in the South, that means we're practically family, as anybody south of the Mason/Dixon line will assure you.

One email led to another and KELLI introduced me to her personal blog, KELLI'S CRAZY LIFE, and her online shop, KELLI'S KREATIONS.

Kelli makes personalized bags of several different fabrics and sizes and they are ADORABLE! Click HERE to visit her online shop, and HERE to visit her personal blog.

Kelli was kind enough to gift me with a personalized bag after asking my preferences regarding the colors of fabric and the size of the bag I liked best. I chose the larger bag with a floral lining and details, and purple for the outer fabric.

What she didn't tell me until she emailed me to let me know that the bag was in the mail was that she'd included a little something extra in the package with my bag. She included a copy of her family cookbook that she'd just completed and it has some great recipes in it. I can't wait to try some of them!

Kelli also was sweet enough to send a personalized bag for Emmy, just her size, with E-mo (Elmo from Sesame*Street) fabric lining the bag and bright yellow outer fabric and red details. Emmy loves her bag and has already been carrying it around the house here.

I think Emmy's gonna be a girly girl with her shoes and purses, so this bag is right up her alley.

Kelli didn't ask me to plug her online shop but I think her bags are wonderful and want to give you all a chance to look at them if you think you'd be interested.

I also asked Kelli before I put a link on here to her PERSONAL BLOG. I know some people prefer to stay out of the mainstream and keep their blog more private, but Kelli says she'd welcome your visits to HER BLOG.

If you've a mind to, please drop by Kelli's blog or her online shop and leave her a comment welcoming her to our little online community, and tell her Diane sent you. ;o)

I was going to make a button for my sidebar linking to KELLI'S ONLINE SHOP but I slick clean forgot about it until I started typing this post. I'll try to get that done soon, Kelli.

THANK YOU SO MUCH, Kelli, for the bags and for sending me a copy of your family cookbook! I do appreciate everything! :o)News flash! It's Summer! In Arkansas! For the next week the temps are supposed to be 100F and above, with humidity to match, making the heat index (humidex to some of my readers) rise into the 110's.

Can I just say - Ick! Just....ICK!And now that I've written a small novel I'll leave you with this prayer: May God meet all your needs, and may you have enough to share.