Every Day with Jesus in the Garden

My grandma loved to sing and she had a beautiful voice.  She sang in the church choir for years.  She especially loved singing hymns and had several favorites that she sang or hummed around the house as she was cooking or cleaning.  Recently, I was at a church luncheon and we sang In the Garden.  It reminded me of Grandma and my youngest daughter, Aubree, as it was one of their favorites.  I talked to Aubree a few days later about the song and we reminisced about Grandma singing her go to hymns around the house. Aubree has vivid memories of Grandma singing, In The Garden, especially the chorus.  She said it was one of her "kitchen songs". Grandma would either sing or hum it when she was cooking in the kitchen.  My girls often spent Friday night with my mom and grandma and Aubree was always in the kitchen helping Grandma.  Every time Aubree hears, In The Garden, she hears it in Grandma's voice which is why it's so special to her.  I don't remember Grandma singing that one when I was growing up. I'm sure she did, but I don't have a memory of it.  We also talked about, Every Day with Jesus, which was another "go to" Grandma song.  She was always singing it around the house and Aubree and I both have vivid memories of her singing this one because she liked to sing it loudly to wake us up in the morning, my brother and I when we were growing up and my girls when they spent the night. It's still one of my favorites and every time I hear it memories overflow of growing up with Grandma.  It's such a happy song and I remember the joy with which Grandma sang it. Some other of Grandma's favorite hymns were Blessed Assurance, What a Friend We Have in Jesus and He Keeps Me Singing to name a few. It's amazing how memories are triggered and how they keep the person we love with us always. I'm sharing the words for Every Day With Jesus and In the Garden.

Every Day With Jesus

Every day with Jesus

Is sweeter than the day before.

Every day with Jesus

I love Him more and more.

Jesus save and keeps me,

And He's the one I'm waiting for.

Every day with Jesus

Is sweeter than the day before.

In The Garden

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses,

And the voice I hear, falling on my ear

The Son of God discloses.

Chorus

And He walks with me, and He talks with me.

And He tells me I am His own,

And the joy we share as we tarry there,

None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice

Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,

And the melody that He gave to me

Within my heart is ringing.

I'd stay in the garden with Him,

Though the night around me be falling

But He bids me go; through the voice of woe

His voice to me is calling.

To happy memories, Enjoy

Bamah

Lawton Farmers Market Spring opening

I love, love, love farmer's markets and the Lawton Farmers Market has a special place in my heart. This year's opening weekend was Saturday, April 6th.  I was very happy that it was my Saturday off and even though it rained, John, Clapton, and I  braved the weather and visited with friends, purchased local products plus got breakfast from Anna's Breakfast Bus, the food truck vendor for this year.  They have yummy breakfast burritos. I've made so many friends at the farmers market, discovered wonderful local products like soap from Turkey Creek Lavender, and lotion from, Taliaferro SoapWorks,  that I now use exclusively. I've bought wonderful fresh veggies from local venders plus local plants from, Coles Greenhouse,  that thrive in our climate.  My love, passion, obsession or whatever it's called has gotten contagious and now my husband, John, and dog, Clapton, love to go to the farmers market as well. They even go by themselves on the Saturdays that I'm working.  It's one of Clapton's favorite place and he always knows when it's Saturday and farmers market day.  He loves people and goes to greet most of the local venders for pets, especially the ladies from Legako Farms because they make homemade dog treats which are his favorites and they always give him samples.  He loves children and is a kid magnet. He's the unofficial farmers market dog and he loves it.  John has made friends as well and visits with venders whether I'm with him or not.  There's so many vendors and more will come as the season progresses.  There's several vendors with baked goods, Rannila Kitchen and Bakery, yummy cookies and cinnamon rolls, Ally's German Bakery, Hunt's cookies, decadent iced cookies. and Broken R Ranch have yummy parker house rolls plus eggs and beef.  Entwined Vines also has baked goods as well as wine, salsa and all kinds of jams and jellies. There are several vendors that sell locally raised meat, Red Truck Farm sells beef and eggs, Seven Farms sells pork and sometimes eggs and Limerick Farms sells lamb.  We love the lamb meat and I cook with it more than beef since John has liver issues.  It's still early for vegetables but Mary from Molsbee Farms has veggies from the Dallas Farmers Market, plus what she grows on her farm, Jason has greens and herbs and a new vendor this year, Ethan, has microgreens.  I bought some microgreens and ate them in my scrambled eggs and salad, very yummy. Another new vendor this year, Flower Market Farms from Wichita Falls brought beautiful cut flowers.  I bought a couple of bunches and made arrangements for my home.  I love having fresh flowers in my house, especially my bedroom.  I also bought plants from Cole's Greenhouse.  I try to buy mostly local plants for my garden/yard since they seem to do better in our Oklahoma weather plus I just like supporting local whenever possible.  The Lawton Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 8 to 12 and located in the parking lot of the Great Plains Coliseum at 920 SW Sheridan Rd. There are more vendors at the farmers market, I've just highlighted some of them and there will be more including craft vendors as the season progresses, especially during peak season in the summer.  Come and check it out and you might see John, Clapton and I there.

Enjoy,

Bamah

Pasta Salad with lots of veggies

Spring is the beginning of salad time for me and pasta salad is one of my favorites.  It's so easy and versatile by using different pastas, adding whatever vegetables that are in season, adding meat or not, olives or peppers. The possibilities are endless. The key to a good pasta salad is the pasta and the dressing. I like using rigatoni because it's a larger noodle.  A homemade dressing is good or use a really good Italian dressing. I use Reed's Italian Salad Dressing from Borger, TX.  They come to our Oklahoma State Fair every year and I've been buying their dressing for several years. It's my favorite, ever.  It doesn't have to be refrigerated after opening, has a really good shelf life so I get enough bottles to last me a year until the next state fair. They also sell online. I add the dressing to the drained, cooked pasta so it doesn't stick then add chopped veggies such as broccoli, carrots, celery, tomatoes and some kind of green leafy vegetable like kale, spinach or bok choy. I also add black or Kalamata olives, Parmesan cheese and sometimes banana peppers, pepperoni or summer sausage. Chopped onions or green onions can also be added but I don't like the taste of raw onions so I add either 1 teaspoon of sofrito (pureed onions, peppers and garlic, recipe on previous post) or I made a fermented onion and pepper relish that's really good added to salads. Here's the recipe:

Pasta Salad with Veggies

1 pkg. rigatoni pasta

1/4 to 1/2 c Italian dressing

1 to 2 chopped broccoli, carrots and/or celery

1 c chopped kale, spinach or bok choy

1/2 c chopped tomatoes

1/2 c black or Kalamata olives or banana peppers

1 t each seasoned salt, pepper and parsley

1 to 2 c shredded Parmesan cheese

1/2 c chopped pepperoni or summer sausage, optional

Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain.  Put in large bowl adding dressing and stir to prevent pasta from sticking.  Add rest of ingredients and stir until everything is incorporated.  Add additional dressing if needed. Refrigerate, will keep for about a week.

Enjoy,

Bamah