Grilled Steaks with Peach Relish

I'm a steak lover who lives high on a dime and this is one of the cheapest and tastiest beef recipes around!

Ingredients:
4 thin slices lean beef top round (4 oz each)
1/8 Tsp each Salt & Pepper
2 Tsp Olive or Canola Oil
2 Scallions, finely chopped
1 Tsp Red Wine Vinegar
1 Lb fresh Peaches
1 Tbsp Honey
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
1 Tsp finely chopped fresh Ginger (or 1/4 Tsp ground)
1/8 Tsp hot Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:
1. Trim fat from steaks. Place 2 steaks between sheets of wax paper and beat to tenderize. Season with salt & pepper.

2. Marinade Mix: Combine the oil with vinegar & scallions. Place meat on a shallow tray and spoon marinade over it.

3. Turn meat in the mix to coat it thoroughly. Marinate in fridge for at least 1 hour.

4. Peach Relish: Peel peaches and coarsely chop them. Place peaches in a bowl and combine with honey, lemon juice, ginger, & hot pepper flakes. Cover and allow to stand at least 30 minutes.

5. Heat a cast iron grill pan until a drop of water evaporates immediately. Grill steaks about 2 minutes per side. Serve with peach relish.

What's a Keeper?

I grew up in the 40s/50s with practical parents. Mother, God love her, washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen before they had a name for it. Father was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones.

Their marriage was good and their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, t-shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand and dish-towel in the other.

It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, a screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress. Things we keep.

It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing. I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.

But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.

Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away, never to return. So while we have it, it's best we love it, care for it, fix it when it's broken, and heal it when it's sick.

This is true for marriage, old cars, children with bad report cards, dogs with bad hips, aging parents, and grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it.

Some things we keep, like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with.

There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special, and so we keep them close!

I received this from someone who thinks I am a "keeper", so I've shared it, and it's your turn to share this with those people that are "keepers" in your life.

Faces In The Tree

I love optical illusions, as they put one's eyesight and imagination to the ultimate test. It's funny how people can look up into the clouds and are able to see things like animal shapes or faces in them. Some people can even see the face of someone in a potato chip or the foam of their coffee... but what about the faces in a tree?

A tree with no leaves, and just its branches, can turn into remarkable things if you just look hard enough. The fun with this particular illusion is discovering how many different faces you can find in this tree. Some people see only a half dozen, but some can see up to one dozen faces... it all depends on the limit of your own imagination.

No-Bake Cookie Bars

I love any dessert you don't have to put a lot of effort into and it comes out great... these tasty cookies certainly fit that bill!

Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Spray an 8″ square pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Measure the peanut butter and oats and set aside so they’re ready when you need them.
3. In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa.
4. Bring to a boil and once it reaches a full rolling boil, cook for 1 1/2 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the peanut butter until melted, then stir in the vanilla and lastly the oats.
6. Immediately pour mixture into prepared pan and put on a cooling rack to set until completely cool.
7. Once cool, cut into bars.

*To make this recipe into the regular round cookies, just drop the mixture by spoonfuls onto wax paper and let cool. You can store them in an airtight container several days at room temp or over a week in the fridge

Dear Tech Support

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance — Particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5 and then installed undesirable programs such as NFL 5.0, NBA 3.0, and Golf Clubs 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs, and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. I’ve tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail.

What can I do?

Signed, Desperate

Dear Desperate:

First keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package, While Husband 1.0 is an Operating System.

Please enter the command: “http: I Thought You Loved Me.HTML” and try to download Tears 6.2 and don’t forget to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If that application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

But remember, overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0 or Beer 6.1.

Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do, DO NOT install Mother-in-law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). Also, do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0 program. These are unsupported applications and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance We recommend Food 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck,

Tech Support

The History of Aprons

I don't think our kids know what an apron is. The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath because she only had a few. It was also because it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and aprons used less material. But along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks and sometimes half hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold Grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden it carried all sorts of vegetables. After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron and the men folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes."

Orange Swirl Fudge

This is the tastiest fudge I have ever made!

Ingredients:
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 can white frosting (not whipped)
1 Bottle Orange Crush Ice Cream topping

Directions:
Melt frosting in a saucepan over low heat until glossy. Pour in chips and continue melting over low heat, stirring until chips are melted and thoroughly blended with frosting. Pour mixture into a greased 8" x 8" pan. Drizzle Orange Crush Ice Cream topping over top and swirl through fudge using a fork or toothpick. Cool in refrigerator until set.

Optional combinations for different flavors:
Chocolate Fudge: Chocolate chips and fudge frosting
Peanut Butter Fudge: Peanut butter chips and white frosting
Mint Chocolate Fudge: Andes Mint chips, chocolate frosting and a little mint extract, to taste