January 21, 2013

“You have my whole heart. You always did. You're the best guy. You always were.”
-Cormac McCarthy, The Road

~BigSis

January 21, 2012

Each year on this date we take time to acknowledge the anniversary of our Dad's passing.  Today is the fifth anniversary.

It's hard to put into words, but some days it seems like it's been forever since we've seen him or talked to him and on other days, it feels like it was just yesterday.

Our dad was a photographer for most of his life and growing up we even had a darkroom in our garage. It was always fascinating to watch him develop his own photos.

In memory of our dad and his love of photography, today I thought I'd share with you some of my son's photography. We are slowly but surely working on a Haden Bauer Photography website and some day, hopefully soon, you'll be able to see more of his awesome photos, which mainly reflect his love of surfing, sunrises, and sunsets.

 Haden's Pappy would be very proud.

~LilSis

July 30, 2011

Eternity

He who binds to himself a joy
Does the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the joy as it flies
Lives in eternity's sun rise.

~William Blake

Each year, we take this day, July 30th, to mention our Dad's birthday. This is the fifth year that we haven't been able to celebrate his birthday with him and we still miss him every single minute of every day, not just on birthdays or special occasions.

We loved our dad and we know how much he loved us. Even though our lives will never be the same without him, we choose to believe that he's with us in spirit, even though not in body.

~LilSis

July 30, 2010

Today is our dad's birthday. He would have been 75 today.

In some ways it doesn't seem like 3-1/2 years have passed since we lost him, but at the same time it feels like forever since we've seen him. Our birthday celebrations are definitely not the same since he's been gone; we always used to celebrate Bry's, Daddy's, and SisMama's birthdays all at the same time since they were just days apart. And even though our dad is not with us in body, he's with us in spirit.

We're thinking about him today as we do every day, and just look forward to the day when we can see him again when we get to Heaven.

Happy birthday, Daddy. We love you and miss you!

~BigSis

January 21, 2010

Same day. A year later.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day we lost our Dad. But, you know what?  We don't like that word. Lost. He's not lost. What do you say? Passed? Passed away? Died? We don't like any of those words.

There really isn't one word to describe what it is that happened on this day three years ago. It's just the day our Dad went to Heaven.

So, today, we're quiet, in his honor.

~LilSis

October 14, 2009

I made apple butter at Christmas for several years because Daddy liked it.  I'm not sure if he especially loved my version as much as his favorite store-bought brand, but he always acted like he did.  Apple butter still reminds me of him whenever I think about it or smell it or taste it.  I haven't made it in a long time, and it's kind of bittersweet to make it now knowing I can't take him a jar of it.

But I did make apple butter again for the first time since he's been gone.  I had 6 giant Fuji apples left after the Gooey Apple Cake/Cobbler stuff, and didn't want them to go to waste.  I was super busy on Sunday getting ready for our BlogWorld trip, so I didn't have time to fuss around with a boiling, spitting, scorching pot of apples on the stove.  The solution?  My underutilized crockpot, of course!

I added a cup of water to the apples to get them started, but I've seen crockpot apple butter recipes that don't use any water at all, and I suppose they might  take slightly less cooking time.  My apple butter was in the crockpot on high heat for 10 hours, and then the next day I still wanted it a little thicker so I simmered it on really low heat on the stove for another hour.  Just cook it til it looks the way you want.

The flavor in this is exactly the way I wanted it.  I love that it's not very sweet, and has the zip of the lemon and the perfect blend of incredibly flavorful spices from Penzeys.  I think Daddy might like it too.

Crockpot Apple Butter

6 large Fuji apples: peeled, cored and chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup water
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cloves
Healthy dash of salt

Place all ingredients into crockpot, and mix together. Cook on high heat until desired thickness is reached; probably 10-12 hours.  Use a stick blender for a smoother consistency if you wish (I wished).  Best served on a big steaming buttered homemade biscuit!

Note:  I plan on finishing this up within the next few weeks and keeping it chilled, so I didn't worry about the whole canning/processing procedure.

~BigSis

July 30, 2009

Today is our dad's 74th birthday.

We know that where he is, birthdays don't exist because we won't age, we won't be sick, and we won't ever pass from that that place of eternal joy!

Life will never be the same for those of us that he left behind. SisMama lost the one and only love of her life and we lost a great dad that loved each of us unconditionally, no matter what!

Until we see him again, we all miss him every single minute of every day.

June 21, 2009

Happy Father's Day, everyone.  As we've mentioned before, we lost our dad on January 21, 2007, so this is our third Father's Day without him here.  The other day, I was thinking about another approaching Father's Day, and started remembering some of D's favorite foods and what we would have if he was with us now.  I made a list of some of his favorites that came to my mind, and wanted to share some really good recipes for them.

• Lemon Meringue Pie – Grandma's Lemon Meringue Pie from AllRecipes sounds great, and got excellent reviews.  D liked his lemon pie very “puckery” and so do we all!

• Banana Pudding – this recipe for Old Fashioned Banana Pudding from RecipeZaar sounds very similar to the way we've always made it since we were kids.  Homemade vanilla pudding, vanilla wafers, sliced bananas, and NO meringue, no cream cheese, no Eagle Brand!  Not that there is anything wrong with any of those ingredients; we just choose not to include them in our nana puddin.

• Chicken Fried Steak from Toby Keith's “I Love This Bar” in Las Vegas – we found this recipe a while back, and now we can't put our hands on it.  Cook's Illustrated has a recipe that sounds really yummy, but you can only see it if you have a membership as I do.  BTW, I love their site, and this is the only web site I pay for access to, except for Consumer Reports.  But if you don't want to pay for recipes, you could check out Alton Brown's Chicken Fried Steak.  Alton seems to know what he's doing, so I imagine his version is good even if he's not Texan.  😀

• Sardine-Mustard-Onion Sandwich – no recipe needed!  We all have our unusual favorite combinations, right?  This was one of D's.

• Schlotzsky's Pastrami Sandwich on Dark Pumpernickel – we love this sandwich place, and I'm really sorry that you can't find them all over the country.  One of the special things about them is their bread.  Here's a copycat recipe for Schlotzsky's bread, although I haven't tried it yet.

• Keurig Coffee – the best coffeemaker, hands down!  Get yourself some Green Mountain K-Cups, and prepare to enjoy a wonderful coffee experience.

• Red Beans with Ham and Cornbread – Paula Deen should know how to make pinto beans, right?  She has a Slow Cooker Pinto Bean recipe that sounds pretty simple.  Lots of recipes use tomatoes, kidney beans, bay leaf, roasted garlic, etc. but we were never that fancy!  We also didn't pre-soak our beans. All of the ingredients went into the pot, and they simmered for hours til tender.   I think this recipe for cornbread from Hillbilly Housewife sounds great!  It uses buttermilk and a cast iron skillet, so it's off to a promising start.

• Sunday morning breakfast with eggs, biscuits and bacon – who doesn't love the smell of this meal cooking, not to mention getting to eat it?  It maybe one of my favorite smells ever.

• Potato Salad – we'll give you our family recipe in another post. It's a good one!  It originally came from SisMama's dad, who was a magnificent cook with a fiery German personality!

• LilSis' Brisket – LilSis will share her recipe in a separate post too.

Most of all, D loved to eat anything that SisMama made.  If you are fortunate enough to still have your dad, make one of his favorite foods for Father's Day!

~BigSis

January 21, 2009

Today, January 21st, is the two year anniversary of our Dad passing away. We don't want to talk about recipes or beauty products, or anything trivial today.  We would just like to reflect on what all has happened in these past two years. On one hand, it seems like only yesterday, and on the other hand, it seems like a lifetime ago. It's been a rough two years, but we all know that he is in a better place, and that he is at peace!

I've had several friends ask to see the tattoo that I got on the inside of my arm in Daddy's memory, but I've never really thought that there was an appropriate time to share it on this blog. But, today might just be the right day to share it.  Here's the memorial tattoo that I got last summer for D.

John 11:25 says:

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

We all miss our Dad terribly, and SisMama misses the love of her life more than anything.  Today we send a big hug out to each other, to SisMama, BDot, BooBoo and all the rest of our family and friends.

~LilSis