Windy!

Yesterday, hubby and I went to a funeral for a classmate and former neighbor of his. She discovered a return of cancer a short while ago and went very quickly. She had been to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester about six months ago and had been given a clean bill of health. It is serves as a reminder that we never know our future.

The funeral was well attended and the people had spilled over into the dining area with some even standing. The family is quite large and needed all the pews in this small church. Sometime about three-quarter of the way through the funeral service, the wind came up with rain and snow. It was so strong it rattled the windows and howled outside. When we moved out of the dining area so the family could come in, Ardmore and I headed outside. He had a meeting in another hour and although I had planned to stay a while, the conditions made me change my mind and I headed home against the ferocious winds. I was very glad to walk into my warm toasty home and make a taco pizza.

This morning dawned cloudy but warm and no wind. Would have been perfect for a walk but we had to be at church for an early morning meeting. When we returned home it was in the 20s and I decided to go for a walk. We ate and I went down and started puttering; it was almost 5 when I put on the winter gear to go for the walk, iPod in my pocket. About two minutes after I headed out a strong nw wind came up again, 22 miles an hour! I thought it was going to blow me over. I walked about a 1/3 of mile and nearly froze so turned around and walked in the yard where there was hardly any wind, just a lot of tree noise as the wind charged through them. Decided I was ride the stationary bike for a while and then iced the throbbing knee. TKR recovery is much harder than a person realizes, but the results are so much better than the earlier pain.

This week we had one of our favorite meat dishes, which so easy to fix. Years ago I received a Campbell' s Soup cookbook. It has several mum good, mum good recipes. This was one of them:

1 1/2 pounds round steak or tender chucks cut into 4 pieces
1 can French onion soup
1/2 can water
1 can cream of mushroom soup, I prefer the beefy mushroom but regular works well too.

Spray a 2 quart casserole dish and put the meat in, salt and pepper it on both sides and pour the French onion soup and water over the meat, add the mushroom soup and stir a little to combine.

Bake in a 350 oven for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours until tender. Serve over potatoes or rice.
An alternative to this recipe is to use ground beef, fried with 1 stalk celery and 1/4 onion, diced, add the soups plus 1 full can of water, then add 1 can uncooked rice. This can be cooked on top of the stove in an electric skillet and is ready in about 3/4 hour.

I was listening to the Splendid Table today and hear that the bundt cake is making a come back. As a Minnesotan, where the bundt cake originated, my ears perked. A new book has just come out Bundt Cake Bliss by Susanna Short. Most reviews were excellent, sounds like a good book to have on hand. I can even taste a chocolate cherry bundt cake with a drizzle of fudge frosting on the top. Yum!