In The Kitchen - Mississippi Roast

This past weekend I tried out a new crockpot recipe. It was really simple and turned out pretty good so I thought I would share it with you. I found this recipe when a friend shared it on facebook and the original poster boasted that it was by far the best recipe they had tried, so naturally I had to try it out. Here's the recipe:

MISSISSPPI ROAST

Put chuck roast in crock pot, Sprinkle with dry Hidden Valley ranch dressing mix, add packet of dry McCormick Au Jus mix, a stick of butter, 5 pepperoncini peppers. DO NOT ADD WATER. Cook on low for 7-8 hrs

Mississippi Roast

Here's what it looked like in my crock pot.

Now, in case you are wondering, I had two roasts in there because I feed an army at my house. I threw in a bunch more of the pepperoncini and my ranch dressing was buttermilk flavored, but these are the only changes I made to the recipe. It was quite easy, which most crock-pot recipes I've tried usually are.

I let it cook for 8 hours on low and then sliced it. I drizzled some of the juices from the pot onto the sliced roast and served it up. The family loved it. I, myself, thought it was pretty good but would not go so far as to say it was by far the best recipe I had tried. I fixed a hash brown casserole to go with it that I much preferred to the roast. Maybe it's the thoughts of getting ready to start a low carb diet and knowing that potatoes will soon be off my eating list that swayed my opinion...maybe.

Anyway, it was pretty good, worth making again. I think I might try just regular ranch mix next time instead of buttermilk to see if that makes a difference.

If you try the recipe out, let me know what you think.

Mind, Body, and Blog Redesign

With everyone updating their blog designs it got me taking a closer look at mine and I have decided to redesign some aspects.  I have been working on it for a little while now and it will be making its debut soon, so stay tuned.

I've been struggling lately with my weight and health.  Three years ago I set off on a weight loss journey and lost 40 pounds, and I felt so much better, my blood pressure lowered and my cholesterol was in a good range.  But, in the last year I have once again gone back to those bad eating habits and have gained 20 of those pounds back.  I'm tired of feeling sluggish and just generally blah all of the time so I am determined to get myself back into shape.  I am thinking that I will share my progress with all of you because I think that it will help me be more accountable.

Marilyn was ahead of her time working out with weights and eating high protein/low carb diets.  Photo source here

Something else that I have always struggled with is my own personal perceptions of my body.  Isn't everyone too critical of their perceived imperfections?  This body of mine is nearing 50 years old and has given birth to six children, it can't be as tight and firm and slender as it was when I was 20.  Realistically I know this, I am a  semi intelligent woman after all, but it's difficult to let go of those self criticisms.

Nothing is perfect, everything can use improvement.  Even my mind, body, and blog.

Jackie - The Happiest Time

"It was really the happiest time of my life. It was when we were the closest-- I didn't realize the physical closeness of having his office in the same building and seeing him so many times a day."  - Jacqueline Kennedy  (Photograph by Cecil Stoughton)

On January 20, 1961, John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office to become the nation's 35th president and at age 31, Jacqueline Kennedy became the first lady. 

Shortly thereafter, Jackie began a major renovation of the White House. She wanted to make it into a real home for her family. She turned the sun porch on the third floor into a kindergarten school for Caroline and 12 to 15 other children, and added a swimming pool, a swing set, and a tree house on the White House lawn for Caroline and John Jr. 

Photo taken in early 1962 during a televised tour of the White House

Jackie also thought about what the White House represented to its many visitors and to citizens everywhere. She wanted people to have a greater appreciation of the history of America's most famous residence and its past inhabitants. She enlisted the aid of many experts, established a White House Fine Arts Committee, and created the position of White House curator. Gathering outstanding examples of American art and furniture from around the United States (including many items that had belonged to former presidents and their families), she restored all the public rooms in the White House. There was a televised tour of the newly restored White House, in which eighty million Americans watched, and it earned Jackie an honorary Emmy Award. To help defray the renovation costs, The White House: An Historic Guide was published.

Her legacy of fostering a national interest in historic preservation extended to her own "neighborhood," when she reversed a previous federal plan to destroy the historic Lafayette Square across from the White House and helped to negotiate not only a restoration of old buildings there, but a reasonable construction of new buildings with modern use.

Jackie used the White House to "showcase" the arts. She became the most prominent proponent for the establishment of the National Cultural Center in the nation's capital, and eventually it was named for her husband. She hosted performances of opera, ballet, Shakespeare and modern jazz, all performed by American companies. After her meeting with French Minister of Culture, Andre Malraux in May of 1961, she dazzled him so much that he made a loan to the U.S. from France, of the Louvre Museum's famous Mona Lisa painting, in which she presided over the unveiling.
Jackie traveled with the President, representing the US abroad. On a trip to Paris, as the President went from meeting to meeting, she maintained a schedule of her own events. Already admired for her style and beauty, she bedazzled the public with her knowledge and affinity for the French language, culture, and history.  She was a particular sensation, and the President delighted in her success. During a speech, the President introduced himself as, “I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it.”

As first lady, Jackie also traveled to many foreign countries such as Italy, India, and Pakistan. Her interest in other cultures and her ability to speak several foreign languages, including French, Spanish, and Italian, brought her good will and admiration around the world.  And, on many of these trips, she forged personal friendship with world leaders, which helped to further the interests of the President and the U.S.

Jackie had an intense interest in the issues faced by the Administration and privately she was known to provide the President with her assessments of the political figures with whom he was negotiating.  She, also, subtly showed support of the Civil Rights movement by ensuring the kindergarten at the White House was racially integrated and that photographs of the group were publicly released.

JFK and Jackie arriving at Love Field, Dallas
Photo Credit: LIFE Magazine

In August 1963, Jackie prematurely gave birth to another son, Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, however, he suffered from a serious lung ailment and was rushed to the Children's Hospital in Boston, where he died two days later. While still recovering from this loss, another terrible tragedy befell her. On November 22, 1963, the President and Mrs. Kennedy were in Dallas, Texas. As their car drove slowly past cheering crowds, shots rang out. President Kennedy was killed and Jacqueline Kennedy became a widow at age 34.

While many of her outfits are considered iconic, it's the pink Chanel suit that she wore the day of her husband's assassination that remains in the forefront of the public's consciousness. Even as Lyndon Johnson took the oath of office, hours after the President's death, she refused to remove the suit, even though it was splattered with blood and brain matter, telling his wife Lady Bird Johnson, "I want them to see what they have done to Jack."

She planned the President's state funeral, it was broadcast around the world, and millions of people shared her grief and admired her courage and dignity.  She has since been noted as saying, “I have been through a lot and have suffered a great deal. But I have had lots of happy moments, as well. Every moment one lives is different from the other. The good, the bad, hardship, the joy, the tragedy, love, and happiness are all interwoven into one single, indescribable whole that is called life. You cannot separate the good from the bad. And perhaps there is no need to do so, either.”

Stay tuned for part three, Jackie - After the White House.

Daily Outfits

Here are some more of my daily outfits.  This beautiful dress was thrifted, the cardigan I can't really remember where I got it and the shoes you've seen on here a lot, and that's because I love them and wear them with everything.

You've also seen these pants and shoes before.  The sweater I have had for many years.  I picked it up at a thrift store and I love it because it is so soft.  I don't wear it all that often, though, not sure why.

I love this flower from Belle Blossoms, it's one of my favorites.  These pants I picked up at a sell from a local shipping factory.  They usually have a sell a couple times a year of their excess inventory, most of their clothing goes to places like JCPenney and I think these pants are Worthington brand.  I got them brand spanking new for $5.  It's hard to see the design in the top but its a lovely shade of pale blue and gray and has an adorable ruffle down the front.

This is such a comfortable dress, its like a soft t-shirt material and you just slip it on.  I got it ages ago, I'm talking close to 10 years ago, and I still love it.  You can't see in the photo but I have added an aqua tank top underneath for more modesty.

What have you ladies been wearing lately?

Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy

Jacqueline Bouvier, 1935.
Photograph by David Berne in the
John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston

In honor of Jackie's birthday coming up on the 28th, I am celebrating with posts throughout the month dedicated to her life and style. And, since America is celebrating our Independence Day today, I thought it would be a great day to give you some tidbits on one of our Nation's greatest First Lady.

Jackie was born Jacqueline Lee Bouvier on July 28, 1929. She lived on Park Avenue and spent her summers in East Hampton until her parents divorced. Her mother remarried in 1942 and moved Jackie and her sister, Lee into their new blended family's home just across the Potomac from the nation's capital. They then spent their summers in their new family's 28 room Victorian estate in Newport, Rhode Island.

She loved horses and was a skilled rider. In 1940, she scored a double victory at the National Horse Show in Madison Square Garden. “Miss Bouvier achieved a rare distinction,” The New York Times reported. “The occasions are few when a young rider wins both contests in the same show.”

In high school, her innate sense of style was already obvious to her classmates. It was said that "She could put on a beret the right way while the rest of us would put one on and look like someone’s cleaning lady trying to cover her hair."

Besides riding her horse, Jackie spent her time writing poetry, painting, and was an avid reader. In 1947, when graduating high school, she ranked in the top 12 percent of students in the country on college board exams. That very same year, as a debutante, she was named "Queen Deb" by a society columnist.

That Fall, she enrolled in Vassar College, where of course she made the Dean's list. Shortly after, she met John Fitzgerald 'Jack' Kennedy, who at the time was a young congressman, on a train from Washington, D.C. to New York where they chatted briefly. It would be three more years before they met again.

In 1949, Jackie spent her Junior year in college, in Paris - she spoke fluent French, living with a French family while taking classes at the University of Grenoble and studying art history at the Sorbonne.

The following year she decided not to return to Vassar College but enrolled instead at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. from where she graduated with a B.A. in French Literature. After graduation, she and her sister, Lee, embarked on a trip abroad. They chronicled their adventures and in 1974, One Special Summer, was published featuring Jackie’s illustrations.

That same year, Jackie won Vogue magazine's "Prix de Paris" essay contest. Her subject was 'People I Wish I Had Known'. Those she sited were Irish playwright, Oscar Wilde, 19th Century French poet, Charles Baudelaire, and Sergei Diaghilev, founder of the Russian Ballet Russes. The requirements for the essay were rigorous and Jackie beat out 1279 other college seniors. According to her biography on the National First Ladies Library, in addition to the essay, the submission required an original theme for an entire issue, illustrations, articles, layout and design, and an advertising campaign that could be tied into the issues content. As the winner, she was entitled to a position as junior editor spending half the year in New York and the other half in Paris. However, she turned down the position at the insistence of her mother, who feared she would stay in France.

Instead, Jackie took a position at the Washington Times-Herald as the "Inquiring Camera Girl" making $42.50 a week where she would snap on-the-street pictures of people and ask them questions about current events. While in this position she covered the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

In 1952, Jackie again met Massachusetts congressman John F. Kennedy, this time at a dinner party thrown by mutual friend, journalist Charles Bartlett and the two later began dating. That November, Jack was elected to the Senate.

In 1953, her engagement to Jack was announced and in September of that year they were married at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Newport where a crowd of 3,000 surged past a police barricade, nearly swarming the bride. After the ceremony, she and Jack stood in a receiving line for 3 hours greeting their 1300 guests. They honeymooned in Acapulco, then made their home in McLean, Virginia.

In 1954, Jackie suffered a miscarriage and then in 1956, their daughter, Arabella was stillborn. Finally in November of 1957 their daughter, Caroline was born. They purchased a Federal style home in Georgetown and in 1958, Jack was reelected to the Senate. Jackie organized his campaign schedule and edited several speeches as well as made several short speeches in Italian, French, and Spanish to the ethnic constituents.

In 1960, John received the Democratic presidential nomination. Jackie was once again pregnant and while on bed rest she penned a weekly syndicated newspaper column, “Campaign Wife.” It was also during this time that Jackie, who wore primarily fashion from French designers, sought help from Diana Vreeland and Hubert de Givenchy on chosing an American designer.  Wearing an American designer versus French was meant to help her husband's bid for the presidency. She chose Oleg Cassini as her official designer, but her fashion was still heavily influenced by French design.

JFK was, of course, elected as the 35th President of the United States, and shortly after, Jackie gave birth to their son, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. In January, 1961, Jack was sworn in and for the ceremony, Jackie wore Cassini’s greige A-line coat with a Halston’s pillbox hat. 

For the evening’s whirl of balls, she debuted an ensemble of her own creation, executed by Ethel Frankau and Emeric Partos.  It was an ivory column floor length dress with silver-embellished bodice, veiled with a sheer over-blouse. A matching cape added a royal touch.

Jackie influenced Jack to invite many artists in all disciplines to his inauguration ceremony as a symbol of the Administration's intent to support the arts.  Her appearance in the large pillbox hat at the swearing-in ceremony overshadowed this news, however, and started a popular millinery style.  

Stay tuned for Part Two:  Jackie - The Happiest Time.