Gracious Rain

March 21, 2025April 27, 2025

A Chicken For Hazel

Little sweet Hazel asked me to make her a chicken…just because she loves them so, SO much.

And if you’ve been around here long enough, you know exactly what I said.

“Anything for YOU my dahling!” Heh, heh.

She turned out kinda cute…wouldn’t you say?

Wish granted my love.

March 12, 2025April 27, 2025

Kitty Moving Day

Welllllll, it’s not what we’d planned but bossy little Dali decided that she wanted the babies out of the laundry room and into the family room…under my sewing machine. Good grief.

I’m certainly not a bit convinced that it’s a good idea–but Miss Hazel certainly didn’t mind.

While she was holding this little one, Dali jumped up on her lap and grabbed the kitty by the scruff of her neck and took her back over to the blanket. Nothing aggressive about this little mom cat! Haha.

This baby fascinates me. We’ve never had a totally black kitty before!

Oh, Dali, Dali. I’ll give this a couple of days and THEN we’re going to make other arrangements that don’t include new kitties on my carpet. We’ll just see how you like that.

Bossy mom cat.

Sheesh.

March 7, 2025April 27, 2025

Our New Sweetheart

Happy Birthday Jessica!! We love you soooo much!

March 6, 2025April 27, 2025

Potato Pancakes

When I was a kid, and someone would mention potato pancakes–all I could imagine was adding potatoes to a perfectly good chocolate chip version and ruining them entirely. Didn’t even sound edible, to be honest.

Dang, was I ever wrong! As it turns out–potato pancakes aren’t pancakes at all. In fact they have nothing to do with actual pancakes as we know them. So that part of my worry was a total scam.

They are shaped more like crumpets–at least when I make them. But I don’t want to cause some crumpet loving child to have a life long misunderstanding about these crispy, crunchy, cheesy potato thingies.

Therefore, we’ll just stick with pancakes.

I originally made enough for two people…for a couple of days. Since nobody showed up starving or at all even remotely hungry, I had no choice but to…

eat them all myself. Heh, heh.

Breakfast, lunch, dinner, hot or cold. So. Freaking. Good.

Note: No part of this recipe is meant to intentionally resemble an actual pancake. Don’t be fooled. It’s potatoes, through and through.

Ingredients

2 cups mashed potatoes

1 egg

1/3 cup flour

1 cup shredded cheese- cheddar, Swiss, or parmesan

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Oil for frying

Directions

In a large bowl, mix together potatoes, egg, flour, pepper, salt, and onion powder until well combined. Stir in cheese.

Measure out evenly into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a ball, then press into a disk. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little more flour.

Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl. Gently press all sides of each disk into the breadcrumbs until covered.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil to about 1/4 inch deep. Heat to 350 degrees. Fry each potato pancake on each side until golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes. Drain on paper towel. Serve with sour cream.

Potato Pancakes

: Launi

: 8

Ingredients

2 cups mashed potatoes
1 egg
⅓ cup flour
1 cup shredded cheese--cheddar, Swiss, or parmesan
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
½ tsp onion powder
1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Instructions

In a large bowl, mix together potatoes, egg, flour, pepper, salt, and onion powder until well combined.
Stir in cheese.
Measure out evenly into 8 portions.
Roll each portion into a ball, then press into a disk. If the mixture is too sticky, add a little more flour.
Pour breadcrumbs into a shallow bowl.
Gently press all sides of each disk into the breadcrumbs until covered.
In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil to about ¼ inch deep.
Heat to 350 degrees.
Fry each potato pancake on each side until golden brown and crispy, about 2-3 minutes.
Drain on paper towel.
Serve with sour cream.