It's good that life doesn't stink all the time

Well, it's late Sunday night. Everyone's in bed asleep, but I'm not quite ready for that yet, so I guess I'll fill this wind-down time by stringing a few words together. Okay, done! Just kidding.

This was a really good, weekend, thank the Lord (following an interminably long, tiring week I didn't think I was going to survive). I got all my peaches canned, cookies made, floor mopped, embroidery worked on, some laundry done. I got in a quick trip to Good Will, where I picked up canning jars ,a toy for William, and a small pink, hand painted lamp shade for the girl's room. Chris did some good yard maintenance--he really tidied up the yard, with Zach's help. They got toys picked up, mowed, weed-ate , swept the concrete slab. Then Chris set up our chairs that are always getting knocked down or used as stepstools for the tree-swing, and we had a fire in our fire pit, aka, Weber. All of us were out pretty late having a relaxed happy family time. Enjoyed the full moon and the clouds giving way to clear sky and the resultant dramatic shadows. We ate popcorn, and burned up maybe the last of our wood. I was eyeing purposefully some trees at church that were cut down and lying there to make room for expansion.

Today, our pastor talked about the value of being interdependent and involved with the people in our church community. Chris and I were socialed out, so we enjoyed the community of family this weekend. The girls did get to go to a birthday party at an indoor pool last night. We had to go to Build a Bear at the mall to get an outfit as a gift. So Jessie was able to purchase an outfit for her own bear at the same time. I 'm pretty dumbfounded by the popularity of these stuffed animals and their outfits. They really don't do a thing for me, but plenty of kids these days seem to go ga ga for them! Stuffed animals were what I liked when I was a kid, too, but I guess mine were nudists.

Our cat, Max, caught a sparrow Saturday. I rescued it, named it Jack, and let Zach play with it for awhile. It even flew to the perch of a birdhouse in his room! Zach also found out, thanks to Max again, that his recently escaped snake lives in a crack in the ground right outside his window!

Chris, William, and I all had naps this afternoon. I made the most delicious dinner, which I found on recipes.com, a real source of inspiration. It's called Sweet and Sour meatballs, but it calls for canned peaches! And it has a rich, complex sauce! You could make your own meatballs, but I gave up on that a long time ago, and use Costco meatballs. Ikea's are the best, but they're too far away. =)

Sweet and Sour Meatballs

1 lb 1 oz ground turkey or beef
1.5 oz oat bran
1 lg egg, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp ground allspice
3 T light brown sugar
2 tsp cornstarch
1 c. canned peach slices in juice, drained (reserve 1/2 c. juice)
1/4 c. cider vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)
1/4 c. ketchup (I used chili sauce)
1 T. soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. sliced green onions

Preheat broiler. Combine meat, bran, egg, and allspice. Shape into 24 meatballs. Place on rach in pan 4 inches from heat; broil 3 min. on each side.

In 12 inch nonstick skillet, over med. heat, combine sugar and cornstarch. Whisk in reserved peach juice, vinegar, ketchup, soy sauce and garlic, stirring until cornstarch dissolves. Bring to boil until thickened, about one minute.

Add meatballs, peaches, green onion, stirring to coat with sauce; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 12-15 min or till meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Great over white rice.