What about me???

Ben here, just want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween. I'm not into the whole dress up thing, Devil Horns are as far as I will go! Here on GrannyMountain, we're giving little Halloween bags with candy and some cool sunglasses. We live in the "boondocks" so the only Trick or Treaters we have are neighbor's kids, 5 to be exact! That's 5 ding-dongs, 5 barks and 5 "Oh, your so cute Ben!"

Since it's Halloween we deserve something good to eat too! Ask your Mommie to make you some of these homemade jerky treats. They are YUMMY and healthy too. I get three if I wear the Devil Horns tonight...

Jerky Treats
This is a great little treat that can be made quickly. I use a premium dog food and use my smallest ice cream scooper (about 1 tablespoon of dog food). Just flatten with a fork to 1/4" thick and bake...Ben loves these for a special treat or in his dish with his dry food. I use the oven method and they turn out like jerky!

Microwave - Open a can of wet dog food. It's best to use a kind that is not overly moist or chunky, more loaf like in texture. Cut the roll into 1/4" slices. Then cut those slices into bite sized pieces for your dog. Microwave them on a microwave safe plate for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes (keeping in mind that microwave wattage differs, so you may need more or less time). The texture should be chewy and crispy. Cool completely before serving to your dog. Store the treats in the refrigerator for one week.

Oven - You can use the above directions, but instead of microwaving, place the bite sized pieces on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. Cool completely before serving to your dog. Store in the refrigerator for one week.
Printable Recipe

Now That's Cute

Ten years ago, it was hard to find a Halloween costume for a dog or cat. Today they are everywhere. We are in a Recession but hey, Fido needs a costume for Halloween! A little bling or properly draped scrap of fabric can transform your pet into almost any animal or character. To get your dogs in the mood, "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan suggests... "Walk the dog, get him tired so when you put the outfit on, he is relaxed!" The more you laugh while getting the dog dressed, the more they will clown around, he says. Without the fun, some dogs will refuse to put on a costume, no matter how much you paid for it!

Some dogs actually like the whole "Dress Up Day!"

Devoted pets do whatever we ask of them, no matter how silly!

He's thinking, " I look GOOD!"


Costume fits Personality!

Shifty eyes=Pirate!

We do this too our kids too,
put them in a costume they can "grow into!"

MEOW!

"I better get a treat for doin' this!"

Hot-Diggedy-Dog!

Pretty In Pink...

The Chain Gang!

So tell me what your pet is going to be for Halloween???

Halloween Worms

Recipe Zaar has a creepy recipe that would be great for Halloween. This takes a little time to prepare but it would be worth all the work when you see the faces on your favorite

Trick or Treaters!

Halloween Worms

By: Linda Johansen Oct 3, 1999
Notes: Use a cleaned 1-quart milk or orange juice carton to hold straws
makes 100 worms
Ingredients(6 ounce) package raspberry gelatin powder or grape flavor gelatin
3 (1/4 ounce) envelopes unflavored gelatin
3 cups boiling water
100 flexible plastic straws
1 tall slender 4 cup container (same height as extended straws)
3/4 cup whipping cream
12-15 drops green food coloring
Directions1. In a bowl, combine gelatins.
2. Add boiling water; stir until gelatins completely dissolve. Chill until lukewarm, about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, gently pull straws to extend to full length; place in tall container.
4. Blend cream and food coloring with the lukewarm gelatin mixture. Pour into container, filling straws.
5. Chill until gelatin is firm, at least 8 hours, or cover and chill up to 2 days.
6. Pull straws from container (if using a carton, tear carton away from straws). Pull straws apart; run hot tap water for about 2 seconds over 3 to 4 straws at a time. Starting at the empty ends, push worms from straws with rolling pin, or use your fingers; lay worms on waxed paper-lined baking sheets.
7. Cover and chill until ready to use, at least 1 hour or up to 2 days.
8. Worms will hold at room temperature up to 2 hours
Printable Recipe

Happy Halloween!

CREEPY!

There are some things that are just creepy. Things that make our skin crawl just to think about. Spiders would be on that list. Snakes too, bats, mice, newt an eye of newt...which bring me to today's post. When the GRANDsons were here this summer, we had a garden spider that had built her web right outside the living room window. Every night she would bask in the bright light from Hubby's inside favorite spot, his recliner. We are country people who live and let live. As creepy as she is, I would never knock down her web until her cycle of life is finished. If I'm correct she basically eats and reproduces, then dies. So, the web stayed and she ate and got big. By the time the kids got here in August she had an intricate web.

Jackson got some great pictures, notice the look on Hubby's face...

But the look on Jackson's face is priceless...

CREEPY!

The Rorie Sisters

Mom T. loves her family. She is the matriarch, the oldest sister and her baby sisters marvel at her good health and her strength. She is able to do whatever she puts her mind to, her faith carries her through the hard days. But when they are together, they are children once again. Living down a dirt road, back in the "boondocks," their parents struggled during Depression years. They remember chopping wood with their Dad and being in the kitchen with their Mom, she was always in the kitchen with a large family to feed. They remember spying on each other when they had a date bring them home. Going swimming and walking to town together, riding on the tractor. When they talk there's a closeness that comes with time, between sisters that is unspoken. They could finish each others sentences but they listen and re-live the memories. Life has been very good to the Rorie sisters, very good...

Mom was thrilled to have her sisters come for a visit and Saturday we all got together to watch the Razorbacks play Ole Miss. Other than the fact that we lost, the day was wonderful! Nadine (on the right) and husband Nelson were down from Topeka Kansas. Joyce (to the left), also known to my bloggers as the famous "Aunt B." and husband George live closer, just outside Fort Smith Arkansas. I made beef stew and cornbread and Sam's Club was nice enough to fix a great pumpkin cheesecake that we had for dessert. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day, finally some sunshine and the temperture was in the 60's. Fall in the Ozarks is breathtaking for only a short time. The first of the week the trees were so pretty, but we had rain and then a couple very windy days and the leaves are falling fast. The only way to enjoy that time window is to take some pictures, that's just what I did!

Oh, Heavenly Day!

My Grandma used to say that when she was surprised or exasperated, it was her by word. I think she must have said this to remind herself that the Lord was there with her always to carry the burden or share the joy.

I hate to watch the news these days, all bad news and not a chance of things getting better if you listen to the newscasters. The economy affects us all and we dread the weekly trip to the grocery store. My husband’s Aunt B. told me recently she picked up a bag of onions at Wal-mart and when she saw how much they had gone up, she put them back. Just buy one and hope next week things will be better. Do and make do, use it up and wear it out; those were slogans that our parents lived by during the lean times of the depression. Grandma and Grandpa were good at saving… jars to reuse for making jelly…string to tie up onions for drying…lard cans to store the popcorn and peanuts they grew each year in the garden. That garden provided so much of the food they ate. Big red slices of tomato, golden corn on the cob, white fluffy potatoes and big orange sweet taters that my Grandpa was SO fond of. When we were around the table at Thanksgiving he always would thank the Lord for the bounty provided for us.

I can still see my Grandparents in that garden; Grandpa with his big straw hat and Grandma in her flowered cloth bonnet. They would bend and stoop hoeing the weeds and carrying water in the heat spells of summer. After dinner we would sit out under those big sycamore trees and enjoy cold watermelon that they had grown. Soon the lightning bugs would start their flickering dance in the air and the sound of crickets filled the night. My parents and grandparents would laugh and talk and I'd be lulled to sleep in that glorious security blanket called "home."

Bad News for Chocoholics

The economy isn't recovering AND there's more bad news! That glass of chocolate milk could be hiding a dirty little secret. A study by the University of Florida found pre-mixed chocolate milk has significantly more bacteria than the regular white milk. In fact, the tests showed the chocolate milk was crawling with bacteria. GROSS! Come to find out, the milk that is used to make the chocolate variety often didn't make the grade the first time around. It may have failed pasteurization the first time and after repeated pasteurization it will sometime develop a yellow color. Then it can no longer be sold as white milk so they put in chocolate. That's more than a little disturbing because that's my Grandson Gavin's choice of milk at school everyday.

Many people believe they can tell their milk is bad by giving it a good sniff. But apparently your nose doesn't know. Simply sniffing the milk is not enough because because many of the pathogenic organisms that can be in milk don't have an odor. So for a worry free glass of chocolate milk, it's better to mix your own with powders or syrup.

Eat Like A Pig...

Our daughter Stephanie brought us a wonderful product that she is able to buy at her San Antonio HEB grocery called BaconSalt. It's a low sodium, zero calorie, zero fat, vegetarian and kosher seasoning that adds an authentic bacon flavor to anything you use it on. Bacon Salt comes in a variety of flavors, including Original, Hickory, Peppered and Natural. I first saw it advertised on QVC Shopping Network. Since then, it’s been on Oprah, Good Morning America, ABC News, Daily Candy, NPR, and Fox News. I'm almost out of the bottle she brought, so this morning I went to their website J&D's to find out if I could buy their products in our town. No such luck, but I did find them at a couple of meat markets in towns that are close by.

I'm anxious to try their "Baconnaise." Bacon, mayonnaise...the world's most perfect food in spreadable form! It has received high praise in the regular and "Lite" version. We eat a lot of turkey sandwiches around here, in hopes of losing a pound (that never happens but we don't give up easy!) At our advanced age our goal is really just to eat as healthy as possible with a few treats every now and again to keep life exciting!

I have to admit I was a little giddy as I bought the Baconaisse Lite and carried it out to the car. Anticipation does that to a "Foodie!" But the reward came when I got it home, popped the seal under the lid, and slathered the Baconnaise on our Turkey, lettuce, sprouts, and tomato on wheat and took a bite. It's smoky and has a real bacon flavor. Looking on the back it is made with oil, water and egg yolk, just like mayo. At 30 calories, O grams of trans fat and only 105mg of sodium it fits that Healthy Guideline that's so hard to do. We love the taste o'bacon, but it's greasy and messy to fry up. Now with Baconnaise, I can get real bacon-y flavor right out of the fridge in seconds to doctor up those boring turkey sandwiches!

The Post Secret Project

Everyone has a secret. Frank Warren is the founder and curator of the PostSecret Project, in which he invites people from every walk of life to send him creatively decorated postcards bearing secrets they have never told anyone.

So far, Warren has collected more than 200,000 of the highly personal postcards mailed to him anonymously. In 2006, his PostSecret blog, postsecret.blogspot.com, which receives more than 3 million visitors every month, was awarded six weblog awards, including “Best American Blog” and “Blog of the Year.”

Since its inception in 2005, PostSecret.blogspot.com has been a safe haven to share their confessions, their hopes or their dreams. The instructions are simple: create a four by six postcard, decorate it along with an honest but never-before-confessed secret. Then mail it to Frank Warren, a complete stranger who may or may not post it on his blog. Each Sunday, people around the world find out they are not alone with their long buried but unforgotten secrets. To those who follow it religiously, PostSecret is both inspirational and empowering. Seeing others’ brave confessionals can sometimes give them strength to confront their own fears. You could also look it as cheap therapy at the low, low cost of a postage stamp.

Warren’s first book, “PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives” (ReganBooks) became a New York Times bestseller. He followed it up with “The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book and A Lifetime of Secrets.” His traveling exhibition of PostSecret cards was called by The Washington Post, “One of the five best art shows in 2005.”

The All-American Rejects approached Warren about using actual PostSecret images in their “Dirty Little Secret” music video in 2005. They offered Warren $1,000, but instead he asked them to donate $2,000 to 1-800-SUICIDE, where he volunteered. The donation was made, and the music video became one of the most requested on MTV. Warren has now released another “PostSecret” book focusing on religion and spirituality, “PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God.”
Warren continues to receive between 100 and 200 postcards every day. He updates his Web site on Sundays and is working to produce four more “PostSecret” books. He continues to call himself an “accidental artist” because he has no artist background or training.
“I have been asked many times why I started this,” he said. “It still feels to me as though this project found me. All I try to do is make the right decisions every day to protect the integrity of the project - and learn to trust the journey.”Warren has appeared on the Today Show, 20/20, CNN, MSNBC, ABC’s The View, CBC, NPR, and Fox News.

Go to the website and watch the youtube video, it's thought provoking message needs to be heard.

Clinic Cats Rule!

Ben had his annual check-up last week and got a good report. He has ongoing ISSUES with ear, eye and skin problems...after all he's a Cocker Spaniel and that's the M.O. for cockers! Winston, the clinic cat was on patrol and greeted us with his typical excitement...ok, he barely noticed us and he considered Ben's insistence to smell him an affront to everything he considers sacred!

Clinic Cats are secure in their jobs.

They remain calm under the most stressful Mondays.

They watch and analyze people as they come and go...

"Look at him, I would never act like that!"

Daring the receptionist to make him move when the phone rings, he stakes his claim to THIS SPOT on the desk!

But it takes a sweet personality to meet and greet the public,

some cats are better than others at this trait!

It's hard work, but the rewards are great...

Warm places to nap...

Sunny places to snooze...

...and job security. NO ONE had better move the cat!

Free Food Comes With A Price

Before Sam’s Club we would have never thought that buying 24 rolls of TP, a gallon of dish detergent or more muffins than you could eat in a month was a good idea. But the market gurus at Wal-mart changed all that when Sam’s Club was born in 1983. The concept of a warehouse club selling a wide variety of merchandise, in which customers were required to buy large, wholesale quantities of the store's products, made these clubs attractive to both bargain hunters and small business owners.

It’s No Frills Shopping AND we have to pay an annual membership in order to shop. But there are perks…inside these walls there are smiling ladies behind sample tables offering to hungry shoppers all manner of "Vittles."

FREE SAMPLES could be the two sweetest words in the English language! If you are brave enough to go to Sam’s Club on a weekend, then you know that Free Food comes with a price…shoppers and free food can be a dangerous combination. Here are some tips to consider if you are planning a shopping/dining experience at Sam’s.

1. Keep Your Eyes Peeled

Even though most of the samples are situated by the freezers, there may be a sample table wedged into another section of the store. Keep your eyes peeled for a sample of M&M‘s, a stick of gum or a squirt of hand sanitizer. You have to be willing to partake food in the order that it’s offered.


2. Circle

If you go up to the first sample station and it’s all gone, just go to the next one. If the food isn’t ready there, go to the third. Keep going until you hit pay dirt. Make a circle and double back to the stations that were on the cooking phase and keep surveying until the food is ready. Remind yourself that this is “Hunting Mode!”

3. Don’t Be Shy

You have to be assertive when you reach for a sample or you might lose out on a chance for chicken chunks or a sliver of pie. But you can't be too aggressive either. Never underestimate the little old lady and make a beeline towards the cheesecake, don't stand in her way. She can and will hurt you if you try to jump in line!

4. Visit More Than Once

Sample etiquette says that you should not take more than one piece or cup or toothpick at a time. It makes you look like a pig! But there's nothing wrong with re-visiting the station after you've visited all the other ones. It's the only way you're going to be able to eat enough food to stave off your hunger. Those poor attendants are too busy cooking, cutting and stiff-arming the herd to remember how many times you've stepped up to the trough. So just step up, grab the goods and walk away nonchalantly.

5. Don't Think About What You're Eating

Most of what's being put out there is in one of four food groups: Fried, Creamed, Sweet or Greasy. Be adventuresome, try out whatever concoction they made in the Vita-Mix. It could be a delicious berry smoothie or a vitamin laced prune juice…either way, just say "Thank You" and partake!

If you happen to fail at Sam’s Club Sampling, just step over to the snack bar for a slice of pizza or a Nathan's Hot Dog.

For Heaven's Sake, don't go home HUNGRY!