Roll out the Barrel and it is the Hodgepodge

 

Hello Friends,

It is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge! 

  April 7th is National Beer Day

We have a question about beer in the Hodgepodge today. I am sharing photos above of a past Mother's Day with our boys at Leinenkugel's.

Alright, roll on with the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. Egg on your face, putting all your eggs in one basket, a good egg, walk on eggshells, nest egg, or a tough egg to crack...which eggy idiom currently applies to your life in some way? Explain

I am going to go with "a good egg" ... my PT guy encouraged me to try an eight week exercise program to help me gain some strength that I have lost. It is called Slow Burn. I was a good egg and signed up for the class. 

2. April 7th is National Beer Day...are you a beer drinker? If so do you have a favorite? Beer battered fish, beer bread, beer can chicken, beer brats...which one sounds good to you? Have you made any of these?  

I do enjoy a beer every once in awhile. My husband enjoys Leinenkugel's.  I will say the Leinenkugel's Juicy Peach is very refreshing on a hot summer's day.

I like beer battered fish, beer can chicken and beer brats. 

My husband will grill me a beer can chicken every year. 

Grill season will start this week in our neck of the woods, I cannot wait.

 

 3. Do you have siblings? What's the best thing about being your sibling? If you don't have siblings, what would you say are the pros and cons of being an only child? 

 

 I have a younger sister. It is great to have family you can count on when in time of need.

 

 4. How do you feel about floral scents in products? Do you have a favorite?

I like lavender. I have a lavender lotion that I love to use in the evening when getting ready for bed.

  5. What's one thing in your home that begins with the letter G that you would say is a keeper, something you'll hold on to? Tell us why. 

Our grill ... can you tell I am getting excited for grilling season. We do not grill year around. When the grill comes back out on the deck, it is like opening day of baseball around here. 

My husband does all the grilling. He uses a charcoal grill. He is a master with charcoal. It has been fun to watch how he has taught our son's to use a charcoal grill.

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

2026 Easter Cake

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

A little bird nest in the middle with robin eggs.  

Happy Easter! 

 

 

  

Happy Easter Week and it is the Hodgepodge

 

A little craft project. Using Mod Podge creating fun Easter eggs out of old sheet music. Using the old sheet music, colored paper and silk flowers to create butterflies to add to a spring basket.

 

Happy Easter Week my friends and it is the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. March is rolling on out of here. Sum up your March in ten words or less. 

March weather added excitement to an already full calendar.  

 2. Are you afraid of heights? When was the last time you found yourself dealing with a height, and did it make you nervous?

I am not.

Below is a photo of Sears Tower ~ Chicago, Illinois ~ my sister and I had a fun adventure in the city and we had great fun exploring Sears Tower.  

  3. What's a word you struggle to spell on a regular basis, and sometimes need to double check before writing it down? Use the word in a sentence that tells us something about your April calendar.

Miracle  

Oh this word gives me trouble. 

We will be celebrating our first son's birthday in April. It was a true miracle and blessing when he arrived in this big world. It was a difficult time getting him to come on out into the world, a difficult labor indeed. Ha!

Fast forward today, he is a leader to several other young men and women. 

He sends me photos of his deployments and trainings. 

In this one he simply said, "Hi Mom"

 

 Happy April Birthday Sam!

 

 4. Love 'em or hate 'em, with Easter comes the sweet treat known as Peeps. So... do you love 'em or hate 'em? Speaking of peeps, what's your favorite way to have chicken? 

No, I am not a  fan. 

I have used them for decorating my Easter cakes.

I love grilled chicken breasts. My husband makes up his secret sauce, he soaks the breasts in the sauce overnight before grilling. 

 

5. This week's Hodgepodge lands on the first day of April, which happens to be National Poetry Month. Do you like poetry?  Share a favorite line or two from one of your favorite poems. What makes this one a favorite?  

  I do like poetry.

In Flanders Fields ~ John McCrae

 

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

    Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

        In Flanders fields.

 

It is a powerful poem. 

It is a favorite because my dad memorized this poem in grade school. My dad did not like school and I have many stories about his shenanigans as a school boy.  He did work hard to memorize In Flanders Fields as a young boy, even though he did not like school, that makes it even more special to me.

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here.  

 

Please join me in praying for our troops.

 ♥

 

 

April Showers and it is the Hodgepodge

 

 

Hello Friends, above is our 2025 Easter Cake. I made my son Atticus' favorite cake, Sugar Cookie. I decorated with fresh violas. I did try to sugar the violas, but I failed at it. I will share the cake recipe and how my sugaring went in a future blog post. 

 Today it is time for the Hodgepodge. 

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

1. The Hodgepodge lands on National Picnic Day...will you celebrate? Do you enjoy picnics? Dining out of doors picnic or otherwise? What are three or four things I'd find in your picnic basket? 

We will not celebrate. It is not picnic weather here in my neck of the woods. I do enjoy picnics. We do picnic on our adventures. We enjoy kayaking, after we will enjoy a picnic overlooking the lake we were on.

You will find a tuna sandwich, pickles, crackers and cookies for dessert.

2.  A time recently where you felt 'antsy'?  

Our Spring elections, I was running for a position.

3. As the saying goes...'when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.'  Do you like lemonade? When did you recently need to make lemonade out of lemons, figuratively speaking? 

I am not a fan of lemonade. 

While I was sugaring the violas for my Easter cake, things were not going well. I had to come up with a plan B. 

4. Recently five 'celebrities' made a brief (ll minute) foray into space aboard Jeff Bezos Blue Origin rocket. Did you hear about this? Your thoughts? If money were no object is this something you'd like to do someday?

I did not pay attention to this. 

No, I am not interested.

5. Favorite thing about the 'space' you're sitting in right now?  

Looking up at my bulletin board seeing photos, quotes and more of my favorite things tacked on my bulletin board.  

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

We gifted our maple syrup for Easter. 

Two Tree Maple Syrup is the name of our little Sugar Shack.  

Happy Easter Hodgepodge

 

 

Happy Easter my Friends.

It is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun. 

 

 1. Do you complete your own taxes? Besides actual taxes, what's something you've found taxing lately?

 No, we do not complete our own taxes.

Balancing my time... spring can get very busy for me with all my seed starting and garden preparations.  I am trying to do a better job of balancing my time.

 2.  What are three values you treasure most in a friendship? 

My dear friends are the ones who listen to me... sometimes go on and on and on. And they still love me when I am all done and give me a hug. 

Laughter and joy...  my dear friends have a way to make me laugh.

Helping me stay the course when I feel like tossing in the towel. 

3. Do you meal plan or do you mostly wing it? Share your dinner menus for this week.

We do meal plan. 

I am writing this on Sunday, April 13th.

Tonight's dinner is spaghetti and meatballs with a side salad. 

We have a meeting to attend Monday, so we will have leftovers Monday.

Tuesday  ~ I will make chicken - cranberry quiche 

Wednesday ~ I have a meeting, so we will have left over quiche. 

Thursday  ~ my husband plans to grill hamburgers. I will make steak fries and we will have coleslaw. 

Friday ~ fish fry

Saturday ~ we will be busy with Easter dinner preparations. I will grab a soup out of the freezer that I made earlier and froze, we will enjoy soup and bread sticks.

Easter Sunday's Menu ~ ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans and hot cross buns.

And Easter Cake for dessert.

 4. Thomas Sowell is credited as saying, ''There are no solutions, only trade-offs.' Agree or disagree? Discuss.

 Agree. Nothing will be 100%... you will always have to decide to just be with something in your life. An example is purchasing a home, you love the house, but the garage is not exactly what you want. You have to trade off and make the garage "work" the best you can. You will do your best and sometimes that is all you can do.

 5. What's the best perk you've enjoyed at a job?

It has always been the friendships I have made. 

6.  Insert your own random thought here. 

 

Last year's Easter Cake. 

I will share our annual Easter Cake next week.

Happy Easter!!

 ♥

Carla

 

Pass the Salt and Pepper and it is the Hodgepodge

 

 

Hello Friends, we are still waiting for spring blooms, I am sharing a past bouquet full of lily of the valley, tulips and more. And now on to the Hodgepodge. 

 Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 

 1. What's a lesson you've learned from a mistake?

 I have learned ... PATIENCE!!!

 I have been impatient recently. I will dig up plants thinking they did not make the winter. Yet... they are alive just not ready to wake up to wish me a happy spring.

I told my husband the other day, PATIENCE is my new word for 2025!

 

 2. Do you salt food while you're cooking or let diners add their own?  What's a food you think must be salted? Do you like pepper? 

I let the diners add their own.

I like to add salt and pepper to any egg dish, fried, scrambled, quiche and more.

Yes, I like pepper.

3. What was the last gathering you attended and what did you do there? 

We had a family birthday party for my son's girlfriend Cate. 

It was  held at Sam and Cate's duplex. She showed me all her indoor plants. We got to play with the their cat Joey. Their other cat hides when people come over. 

We enjoyed pizza. And I made a strawberry tart for birthday dessert. Cate loves fruit desserts. We gave Cate her birthday gifts.

Homemade Strawberry Tart

Happy Birthday Cate, my husband built Cate a plant stand.

 

Sam and his birthday girl, Cate!

 

 

4. Your favorite shade of purple? What's your favorite purple flower?  

I enjoy all shades of purple. 

Purple sweet peas are a favorite. I also love my purple bearded Iris. 

I have a dark purple gladiola, that is almost back. I really like it too. 

Oh, I just LOVE flowers.  

 

5. Share a favorite spring travel memory. 

 

It would be a hike we took with our boys when they were in their early teens. We were hiking to a rapids along the Flambeau River. The usual route was washed out. That did not stop us. The boys made a make do bridge for us to get across with old logs and rocks.

 

 

 6. Insert your own random thought here. 

The annual TePaske Easter Cake is being created in my mind. For those of you new to The River, I bake and decorate an Easter Cake for our family. We make a big deal out of the Easter Cake Reveal. 

A couple photos of years past... 

 

 

2024 Easter Cake

 Hello Friends, here it is the 2024 TePaske Easter Cake...

drum roll....

Strawberry Layer Cake 

with 

Buttercream Frosting

I used Lindt chocolate shaped tulips as the spring decoration on top of the cake.

 

Everyone loved this cake, it may have become our new favorite cake.

My husband as requested I make it using raspberries for our next celebration.

 

We enjoyed a lovely Easter with our boys. 

And as always, it is very special for me to continue the TePaske Easter cake tradition. I love the excitement my grown boys still get out of seeing what mom created this Easter.

♥

Carla

TePaske Easter Cake

 

2023's Easter Cake

 

Hello Friends, it will be that time, the 2024 Easter cake reveal. And this year all of our family will be together to celebrate. Our son Sam has missed two Easter's with us due to deployments. When he is able to be with us, it makes it extra special. Both of our son's enjoy the Easter cake reveal, we make a big deal out of it.

 

 

Next week I will reveal the 2024 Easter cake... until then...

At Easter, we remember a love that sacrificed all... a power that conquered all... a hope that reaches out to all.

 ♥

Carla

 

On The Road Friday ~ Arizona

 Hello Friends,

Get ready to hop into your time machine for a blast to the past.

A few weeks ago while writing answers for the Hodgepodge I shared about a favorite Easter break and Easter dress.

Here we go .... into the past on this on the road Friday.

 

My Uncle Paul's mom lived in Tuscon, Arizona. I had the opportunity to travel with my Uncle and Aunt from Wisconsin to Arizona to celebrate Easter with my Uncle Paul's family.

 

My favorite Easter dress. One of my Aunt Sally's hobbies is photography, she had me do several poses wearing my Easter dress.

 

I remember loving the desert. I still do. And I always say if I get tired of Wisconsin winters,  we just might move to Arizona. As for now, Wisconsin will remain Home Sweet Home, even with our crazy weather.

 

Another thing I notice looking back at these photos and answered for a recent Hodgepodge, is my second favorite color is pink. Look at the pink Easter dress and pink shorts. 

I also had my childhood bedroom painted pink.

Thank you for coming along with me on the road Friday and down memory lane.

♥

Carla

This and That

 Hello Friends,

A little of this and that to catch up with you today.

The No Fooling April Fools Day Blizzard!

14 inches of snow with plenty of wind to create drifts.

 

I created our Easter table settings. 

I planted microgreens in washed out egg's. They were a hit. We snacked on our table settings as well as looking spring time pretty.

 

Another great harvest of maple syrup. My friend Lori calls it, liquid gold.

 

 

The first bloom. 

A reminder of the promise of spring, new life and not to give up having faith.

 

On the road between the houses of friends grass does not grow.

♥

Carla

2023 TePaske Easter Cake

 

 

Hello Friends,

Here it is, the 2023 Easter Cake. 

I see now, that we did not turn the cake to get all the chicks smiling at you too. Oh dear. You can see the one smiling chick.

 

 

White Texas Sheet Cake

1 cup of butter

1 cup of water

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

In large saucepan, bring butter and water to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in flour, sugar, eggs, sour cream, almond extract, salt and baking soda until smooth. Pour into greased 15" x 10" baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes or until cake is golden brow and tests done. Cool for 20 minutes. Spread frosting over cake.

Frosting 

1/2 cup of butter

1/4 cup of milk

4 1/2 cups of powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

In a sauce pan, combine butter and milk, bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add sugar and almond extract, mix well. 

 Enjoy!

Happy Easter and it is the Hodgepodge!

 

Happy Easter Friends,  today is Wednesday and that means it is time for the Hodgepodge.

Joyce asks the questions.

We answer the questions.

Click here to join the fun! 

 1.What would you say is the most difficult task when it comes to spring cleaning? Cleaning our ceiling fans. Have you completed that task this year? I did the two I can reach on Monday.  Any plans to get it done? I have to call in the tall guy 'aka' my husband to help me with the others.

2. Your favorite pastel color? Pink Favorite thing you own in a pastel shade? Pink is my second favorite color. I have several mementos from my childhood that are pink. My grandma Vida would usually gift me something in the color pink, she knew it was a favorite color of mine.

 3. Do you like ham? Yes, I do like ham. Do you fix ham year round or is it mostly just a 'holiday food'? We bake a large ham during holidays. We enjoy small ham year round. Baked ham-ham and eggs-ham and cheese sandwich-scalloped potatoes and ham-Hawaiian pizza....what's your pleasure? Ham and Swiss cheese with mayo, mustard on a croissant, oh yes, lightly toasted. 

4. Do you celebrate Easter? Yes What did Easter look like when you were a kid? We would celebrate with family. My parents took a lot of time and effort in creating Easter Basket hunts for us kids. It was always great fun. What are your plans for Easter this year? We will be traveling to visit my parents. My sister and her husband will meet us. 

 

 
5. Something that makes you feel hopeful amidst all the chaos and confusion this world brings? I am enrolled in a The Bible in a Year study. I am always excited to get to it each day, because it really is helping me remember that TRUTH has been revealed to us.

 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Family faces are magic mirrors. Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future. 

Gail Lumet Buckley

 

 

 

This and That

 

2021 TePaske Easter Cake

 

Hello Friends,

A little of this and that going on this past weekend and week. 

We visited Catie for her birthday. If you are new to The River, Catie is our deployed son's girlfriend. 

It was great to catch up with her. And we all are marking X's on our calendar's as we wait for Sam and the 157th to return to the United States.

 I started seeds.  

We cooked down our first batch of maple syrup. The syrup is dark this year, my favorite.

Easter of 2022 I missed out on making our TePaske Easter cake. Again, if your new to The River, we started a tradition of the TePaske Easter cake.

 Click here to see some of the past Easter cakes 

Lemon Bundt Cake Recipe 

I am happy to report I am back in business. We will be hosting a Palm Saturday gathering and we will be enjoying the 2023 Easter cake for dessert. Stay tuned.

 ♥

 Carla

 

2021 Easter Cake

One of my past favorites.