Homemade Philly Cheesesteak and Oven Baked Fries

Tonight's supper: Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches - thinly sliced sirloin steak sauteed with onions and green pepper strips and topped with melted slices of Provolone cheese on toasted buns. Oven baked fries - strips of potato with skin on tossed in a bit of oil and Italian seasoning and roasted in a 450 degree oven for 10 minutes on each side. Sprinkle with sea salt. Ymmm. Very good.

Mystery - Magpie Tales #66

Magpie Tales is a creative writing blog by Willow at Life at Willow Manor. Click on the link to see the other entries.
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It's not like her to steal a book from the library and boldly display it among her own. Of course, it does have a nice binding. Did she love it so much she just couldn't take it back? Or did she claim it was lost and pay for it? Or just stop using her library card? Maybe she bought it at a book sale because the library had more than one? Too late to ask now. She is gone. This book is just one more little mystery from my list of unasked questions.

Mother's Day Dinner at Jasmine Thai

Entrance to Jasmine Thai Restaurant

Entry Table

Alan

Aaron and Irma

Me and Jaime

Red Curry

Green Chicken Curry

Shrimp Pad Thai

Amazing Land

Duck Jacuzzi

An awesome dinner at Jasmine Thai Restaurant with Aaron and Jaime and Aaron's mother, Irma and Karin and Alan. Thank you, Aaron and Jaime.

Mother's Day Breakfast

Roger and me

Me and Cory

Cory and Stephanie

Fried Green Tomato Eggs Benedict

Goddess Omelet (Spinach, Tomato and Feta Cheese Omelet) and Pumpkin Pancake : )

Grits, Eggs, Bacon and English Muffin

Scrambled eggs, rye toast and sausages

Breakfast at Steph and Cory's favorite breakfast place - J. Christopher's. Click on the link for the menu. Delicious! Thank you, Stephanie and Cory.

True Family Story - Magpie #64

Magpie Tales is a creative writing blog by Willow at Life at Willow Manor. Click on the link to see the other entries.
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For some reason, this week's Magpie prompt reminds me of an old family story. For my daughter.
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Jaime, your grandma on your dad's side grew up on a ranch out west. She had an identical twin sister who got sick and died when they were about eight years old. I have seen an old picture of them together once. You should ask your Dad or your Aunt Diane to see it.
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Anyway, her mother, your great-grandmother Pavey lived out west and they say she was even on a real wagon train. Your dad has the cast iron dutch oven that went on the wagon train with her. It has a trivet that fits in the bottom for cooking biscuits over the fire.
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Your great-grandmother Pavey was known for her housekeeping skills. To hear your grandma tell it, she was the Martha Stewart of her generation. She baked all her own bread and she had a big press that she used for ironing sheets, pillow cases and even her husband's underwear.
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An Indian woman used to come to help her with the house work. The Indian woman would hang her baby in a papoose board on a tree limb outside. Great-grandma Pavey worried for a long time that the Indian baby needed a bath. One day when the mother was not around, your great-grandma decided to take that baby out of the tree and unwrap it. The baby, unused to being handled this way by a stranger, began to cry and the mother came running. The story always ended there. I don't know what happened after that but I don't think the baby got a bath that day.

Thai food for beginners like me

Spicy sweet Chai Tea

Khanom Krok (Thai street food - coconut pudding balls)

Coconut balls sprinkled inside with spring onions

Cast iron pan for cooking coconut balls

Fried bananas

Grilled chicken skewers* (All images from Google Images)

I'm a late bloomer. The only thing I knew about Thai food was a rich peanut sauce I tasted once. I didn't think I liked it. My trip to the Buddhist temple with my daughter and her friend changed my mind. Here are a few things I tried and can't wait to have again. (I guess I am the last person in the world to try Chai tea. They even have it at Starbucks!) These are foods that anyone could like, crunchy sweet fried bananas and grilled chicken skewers. The most adventurous thing I tried was the coconut balls with the surprising taste of green onion inside. They became addictive. The Thai version of an egg roll and what looked like a spring roll did not taste as good to me as the Chinese versions I am used to, but my daughter likes the egg rolls a lot.

Thai Buddhist Temple

Wat Mongkolratanaram

My daughter and her friend and my granddaughters

Beautiful golden bird lanterns surround the temple

A large covered wooden building where much of the food is sold

A dock built out over the Palm River

A shrine perched in a tree

My first visit to a Buddhist temple near Tampa. Every Sunday they have a wonderful selection of food, plants, vegetables and other items. There are plenty of picnic tables under the trees by the river. Sometimes you see a monk in robes of yellow. It is a beautiful place and a beautiful experience. Here is a link to learn more.