FloridaNative

about me

My name is Kitty, and I'm a native Floridian, wife to Greg and mother of two children (Steven 22 and Rachel 10 years old) and 3 fur-babies, Apache our Aussie, and MiaMariaBonita (Mia) and Berger, our 2 cats.

~~~~~AN IRISH PRAYER~~~~~
May God give you...
For every storm, a rainbow,
For every tear, a smile,
For every care, a promise,
And a blessing in each trial.
For every problem life sends,
A faithful friend to share,
For every sigh, a sweet song,
And an answer for each prayer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Many of the recipes I've posted are my mom's or mine, with some from my favorite cookbooks or friends. The ones that say "Mimi" in the title - those are from my mom, and I have more of her recipes to go through and post. I am also in the process of posting recipe 'snippets' from magazines that I have had for years, just to have a safe place for them - this is making DH happy, as I am getting rid of 'old papers' in the process. It's hard keeping track of all those small pieces of paper plus they seem to multiply exponentially on their own.

Just to let you know too, I try to send each individual who tries and rates one of my recipes a personal zmail. Sometimes, I lose track or just plain forget, busy with other things. So I'll say it here, " Thanks so much for trying my recipe, and I'm glad you enjoyed it." If you didn't enjoy it too much, offering suggestions or other comments are welcome too, both for me and other chefs who might be thinking of trying that recipe. But, remember to be nice. We're all in this together !!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MY PERSONAL INTERESTS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I love the Lord Jesus Christ, my church and having church luncheons once a month!

I enjoy spending time with my family & friends.

I enjoy going to the beach, kickboxing, gardening, quilting & cross-stitch (when I have extra time), watching movies, cooking and hanging around in the kitchen.

I love to read ~ Christian fiction, historical fiction, and good old murder mysteries. I enjoy my cooking magazines, EatingWell and The Food Network ~ I love to look through these each month and try new recipes. I have been a 20-year subscriber to Southern Living Magazine (doesn't every southern girl get this?)

Our family spends a lot of time together so that leaves lots of opportunities for new adventures, especially in the kitchen. I really enjoy Zaar for that reason ~ finding new recipes and trying new things together is fun for all of us. My daughter says she wants me to teach her how to cook...if she only knew...but she got her 1st very own cookbook for Christmas, and we're working together in the kitchen. I'll be posting her recipes soon.

I also 'collect' stuff (much to my DH's despair — hehe) - I especially like 'old' things, and have collections of pewter, transfer ware, and Depression glass. My only active collecting today is hobnail milk glass items ~ they take me back to when I was a kid. I have a huge collection of shot glasses from around the world that I continue to add to ~ I started with these in the early '80s. I love all things Celtic as I am half-Irish (the temper part) and DH is Irish/Scots.

My favorite colors are cobalt blue, seafoam green and aqua - colors of the ocean.

I would love to visit Israel one day to see the land my Lord Jesus loves, and I dream of leaving the 'corporate' world and becoming my own boss in a business that leaves more time for family AND me!

I have a "servant’s heart", and I like to make large meals for family and friends and just enjoy everybody while they enjoy the food. I like to make special treats and give them as gifts to friends and others who have blessed me with their attitude or small favors. I really enjoy giving to others.

I have a 'tender' heart - I cry at TV commercials and I seem to have passed this on to my daughter. DH laughs at us...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WORDS OF WISDOM that make me smile:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"For God SO loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." ~ John 3:16

"We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same." ~ Carlos Castaneda

"Ride on! Rough-shod if need be, smooth-shod if that will do, but ride on! Ride on over all obstacles, and win the race!"
~ Charles Dickens

BUMPER STICKER: "Destined to be an old woman with no regrets."

"Because NICE matters"

"If you can't pronounce it, DON'T put it in your mouth." ~ FloridaNative

"Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." ~ Faith Baldwin

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye." ~ Helen Keller

"Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way" ~ Native American saying

"May you always be overwhelmed by the Grace of God rather than by the cares of life." ~ Unknown

"Nature doesn't adjust to your skill level" ~ Unknown

"Don't carry a grudge. While you're carrying a grudge, the other guy's out dancing." ~ Buddy Hackett

"You’ll never regret the angry words you do not speak" ~ Unknown

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SWAPS, PARTNERS & TAGS (2009):
Swaps: the 2009 Calendar Girls Swap, the 3rd Annual Basket of Herbs & Spices Swap, the H&I Swap, the Honey Swap, the J&K Swap, the 3rd Annual Garden Swap, the Cookbook Swap, the Annual Holiday Ornament Swap...

2009 WONDERFUL PARTNERS: Breezytoo, Lynne the Pirate Queen, & Lynne the Pirate Queen (2nd time!), **Tinkerbell**, NELady, Acadia, HokiesLady, UT Theta Chef...and more coming soon...




COOKING TAG GAMES AND CONTESTS
++++++++++++++++++++

Favorite Foods:

We became an "organic" family in May 2007, so we try to stay as close to 100% organic as possible — my motto: If you can't pronounce it, don't put it in your mouth! I'm also a type 1 diabetic, so I have some challenges with the foods I eat - I stay away from white sugar and flour, but artificial sweeteners are not my favorite either...I'm looking for natural ingredients for use in baking and desserts. I use both raw honey and raw agave nectar ~ both are sweet enough and have some healthful benefit. We rarely eat pork now, and we're eating less and less meat - which I must admit I miss. I LOVE a medium rare steak! I am learning to like and use more veggies and whole grains in our meals, and I want to learn more about canning so I can make our garden's abundance go further without any waste.

"Comfort food" is my favorite and here's a list of those things I like best: French onion soup, grilled buffalo steaks, chicory coffee with cream (cafe au lait), chai tea lattes (YUM), hot (green) tea with honey, peanut butter pie, red beans and rice, chili with cheese, fresh baked bread, really GOOD soups, roasted nuts, shortbread cookies, bar-b-qued ribs, potato salad, chicken and dumplin's, mac & cheese, Italian pasta dishes with fresh mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses with delicious tomato sauce, Italian Tuscano wines — yuummm, fresh salsa with blue corn tortilla chips, chocolate milk, and after a long day - single malt scotch - Glenfiddich is my favorite. Add to this one of my new favorites, ~Nimz~ Buttermilk Pie. If you've looked at my recipes, you can probably tell that I (we) love pasta, beans, and rice ~ these are staples in our house.

BTW — my most HATED food is mushrooms, can't stomach the smell of them cooking or the texture when I eat them. Even if they're diced fine, I can tell if they're "in there"... ... they totally ruin a dish for me...poor DH, he loves them. I've also found I don't really care for red beets or raw broccoli ~ to me, both of them are a bit too "earthy", e.g., they taste like dirt! I do like the golden beets though, and use those in vegetable dishes and salads.

http://www.facebook.com/mzrock