I have had a list of errands that we’ve needed to run for weeks now, and I keep postponing doing them, as they are mainly returning items and picking up others.  I had ordered a shadow box frame from Michaels that was supposed to be in their wedding section and measured 12×12″….I ordered it online so it would be ready when I got to the store….note to self…never fall for that “time saver” going forward. I ordered the frame and some heavyweight white cardstock and thought I’d go to the cashier with another small purchase to collect the items I’d pre-ordered. You don’t pick them up at the cash register, are you crazy?  No, you pick them up in the back near the custom frames (where no one is working.)  I finally found a couple of employees talking, and asked if they could help….They already had my frame in one of their bags, so I didn’t take the time (right then) to open it and look at it…Luckily, when I got in the car I decided I should see what it looked like…Online it looked like a weathered white shadow box frame.  In person, it was an unfinished wood frame with no glass.  I’d never heard of a shadow box frame without glass, but there you go…You learn something new every day…at least I do..So back to Michaels to return the shadow box frame….back to square one.

I had a huge box of wedding reception “things” that I’ve been collecting for our nephew’s wedding. The wedding is in an aquarium, and they wanted white (Christmas lights) to wrap around the columns in the aquarium to give more lighting during the reception….I had found several strands at garage sales and threw them in a box…They also wanted sea shells to put on the tables…oddly enough, in N/W PA a lot of people have some pretty fabulous shells they want to part with, so there were several of those inside.  The bride wanted the ring bearer to carry a sea shell with the wedding rings into the wedding and again, in N/W PA, you wouldn’t think you’d easily find something to fit that bill, but a woman had a sterling silver box with a seashell lid…perfect for the wedding…I added a bunch of other things that I knew they’d need for the wedding, included a wedding photo framed of my parents, and the card I made them.  I’m not sure if anything in the box is something they’ll be excited about, but I sure was happy to get it out of my kitchen…it’s huge and weighed over 10 pounds.  And luckily, Staples took it off our hands and mailed it..YAY!!!

I don’t know if anyone cares about tradition any more, but I really wanted to make the bride and groom a family recipe album from the bride and our side of the family.  So far, I haven’t gotten any information from the bride’s side, but am hoping at some point they offer some recipes.  My sister and brother-in-law are going to handle his family and my mother’s recipes and I’ll handle mine and ones we use from Rich’s family.  I went to Hobby Lobby and got a great recipe book that had the cards included for $10….and hope that the bride and groom will use it.  I know the recipes I’ll include will be simple, as I’m a traditional meat and potato cook, and spent most of my married life working, and lived and died, by the Crock-pot.  I know a lot of people are using the Insta-Pot today, but you still have to wait 30-45 minutes for a meal….With a Crock-Pot, you throw everything in while it’s frozen and come home to a great dinner, ready to eat.  You can’t beat that.  When I would get home from work, sometimes I’d be surprised that that house smelled like supper, because I’d forget putting food in the Crock-Pot that morning…(I’m not a morning person, so you can connect the dots.)  I still think it’s one of the greatest inventions for the working woman.  And trust me, if I used an Insta-Pot after I got home from work, in the half hour it would take for supper to cook, I’d have already consumed half a bag of potato chips and a cookie or two before it was ready and then would be full by dinner….I’m also impatient…are you shocked?

I have a few recipes that are foolproof and always make me happy to eat…and are simple…That’s my idea of a great gift..helping a newly married couple find ways to make the most of their time together and eating great food while they do so…

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