Blogging Anniversary and Giveaway

Sheep on the Askrigg Common

Today I realized that on the 28th of January, I had been blogging for five (yes, FIVE) years. How does this happen?? Anyway, I thought it would be a great time to hold another Giveaway of my handcrafted, vegan soap for all my lovely followers. Check out the easy instructions below the post, which happens to be a copy of my very first blog post, published on January 28, 2010.

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"Okay, this is it. I've been lurking long enough and it's time to step into the wide, wide world of blogging. It's a pretty steep learning curve, but I'm told that it's best to just jump in, which is against my nature, and learn as I go along. I'm trying to get this posted so I can let myself watch Mystery tonight on PBS and get ready for the weekend at our son's home - our first 'overnighter.' We're looking forward to seeing the grandkids and having breakfast with the fam on Saturday morning!

In case anyone wants to know, my favorite little sheep is a cross between a Scottish Blackface and Yorkshire. We met these delightful creatures in the Yorkshire Dales a few years ago. I never tire of looking at the darling little face which, I'm sure you've noticed, carries a sweet smile.

I wonder if I'll clean off my desk before we leave for the weekend. It's always such a dilemma: clean off the desk and never find anything again OR don't clean the desk, know where everything is, and have the mess staring at me. Worst of all, when my desk is piled high with papers and books, I can't view my Tube Map of London which is under my glass desktop. How will I know if it's Bakerloo or Circle and District that runs from Picadilly to Elephant and Castle.

Speaking of order, having lost the rabbies vaccination certificate on Bridger, my big German Shepherd, I had to pay for a duplicate so we could get a dog license again. Why, oh why, my husband asked, is your file labeled 'Vet Bills' under the D tab? What a stupid question. It's under D for dogs, of course. Where else would you expect to find it?? I could have been more specific, I suppose, and put it under B for Bridger. Alas, I was probably in a hurry and filed the rabbies vaccination paper under something like Vaccination or Health or maybe even Miscellaneous. I don't know. It was definitely worth the $3 to get another certificate from the vet clinic and not have to spend the entire day looking for the thing. They FAXed one to me immediately. Isn't technology wonderful!"

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Note added February 2:  Upon re-reading this blog post, I am reminded how some things never change. You know what they say about old dogs.

 Why didn't I brush her before taking this shot?

Because as soon as she sees a brush, she falls into her 
'I'm being tortured' pose.

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On to the Giveaway

THREE of my sweet blog followers are each going to receive two of my natural, handcrafted vegan soaps. Check out HomemadeSoapnSuch.com or HomemadeSoapnSuch.Etsy.com.  Then come back here, leave a comment on THIS POST with the name of the two different soaps you'd like if you're one of the three winners. Giveaway entries close on Friday, February 6, at 10 PM CST. Giveaway winners will be announced on Saturday's (February 7) Cranberry Morning blog post. 

Thanks, friends. I hope you all have a wonderful week.

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Check out my natural, handcrafted vegan soap!

Buy any 5 or more, Get 1 FREE

Downton Abbey Celebration

Country Gentleman

Highland Tweed

English Rose

Lady Mary

...and more! Check out all my handcrafted soaps at

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and at

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This post is linked to

Anything Goes Linky Party

PORK AND RICE CASSEROLE

Emergency Church Casserole

It was about 9 PM on Saturday evening when my husband nonchalantly said, 'Remember what tomorrow is?'

Hmmmm. I dredged my little brain for the answer and all of the sudden remembered that we were having a pot luck dinner at church, after Sunday School.

I was not in the mood to do ANYthing at that time, but after getting 3 nice, thick pork loin cuts out of the freezer, I poured some balsamic vinegar and some minced garlic into the Ziploc baggies they were in, stuck them in the refrigerator, and stopped worrying about what tomorrow would bring. I knew I had a good head start, and would come up with something eventually.

So morning arrived and I decided to throw together the following:

PORK and RICE CASSEROLE RECIPE:

     3 thick-cut pork loin pieces

     4 cloves garlic, chopped

     6 T. balsamic vinegar

     Combine meat, garlic, and vinegar in a Ziploc bag and marinate overnight in the refrig.

In the morning:

Cook enough white rice to have 3 cups of cooked rice for this casserole.  I usually use 2 c. of rice and 4 c. of water, then the cooked rice I don't use gets put into the refrigerator to use later in the week.

Cut the pork loin pieces into very thin strips

With a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil in a skillet, saute the pork loin strips until nice and browned. You can get started on a med high heat, but you'll have to turn it down to med or med-low to slowly brown it. Stir occasionally to get all sides browned. (Browned is just so much nicer, making it a bit crispy.)

While sauteeing the pork, use another skillet and a couple Tablespoons EVOO to stir-fry the following:

     1/2 stalk (The stalk is the whole thing; a rib is one of the pieces) celery, sliced thinly on the diagonal

     1 large carrot, pared and diced

     1 large onion, peeled and chopped

When the vegetables are translucent and tender and the pork is browned, combine the cooked rice, vegetables, and pork into a large bowl. Stir thoroughly.

Stir in some Sea Salt, Chinese 5 Spice Powder, and Cayenne to taste.

I used about 1/2-1t. Chinese 5 Spice Powder, 1/2 t. salt, and about 1/2 t. Cayenne.

Pour into casserole dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about a half hour. 

If you don't want any of the rice crispy, then cover the casserole before baking.

If you're in a rush, you don't actually need to bake it at all. At this point, everything in it is cooked anyway.

You'll be surprised at how good this is!

The best part? It was easy, fast, and didn't contain any canned soups which have so many scary ingredients in them!

 

Be sure to enter my 5-bar Handcrafted Soap'n'Such Giveaway, running only this week. Hurry! Ends Friday evening.

...and more! Check out all my soaps at

Soap'n'Such

This post is linked to: Making the World Cuter Mondays and Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and Making Monday Marvelous and Made from Scratch Tuesday and Made by You Mondays and Delectable Tuesday and Anything Related Tuesday and Take a Look Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday  and Tasty Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday and  Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays  and Two Maids a Baking and  What's Cookin' Wednesday and Cast Party Wednesday and  It's a Party at Creative Princess and Lisa's Gluten-Free Blog and Foodie Friday and  I'm Lovin' it Friday