Shelton's phone collection

While the latest addition to Shelton's phone collection is far from new, it is certainly new to the wall of our kitchen. It's over one-hundred years old and is a Western Electric model 317n Magneto Wall Phone.
The fun thing is it actually works as an extension to our phone line and uses the original century old transmitter and receiver. A turn of the crank will even make the magneto ring the bells.

Chris relocates to California

Being of a sales oriented nature, Chris has ventured into Jewelry sales in Southern California and is now located closer to family.
The relocation places Chris closer to his brother and makes it easier for visits to his nephew and sister-in-law.

Be sure to visit our Photos page for vacation photos.

Shelton's favorite meal preparations:

These are quick and easy recipies and have been a hit everytime they are prepared.

- Chili -
It's no secret, I use Carrol Shelby's Chili Fixin's. It comes in a little brown & red box with the perfect blend of spices and masa flower to thicken the sauce. However I have to claim my additions as the secret to the come back for more success as follows;

Ingredients:
Carrol Shelby Chili Fixins
1 lb. ground sirloin
1 lb. ribeye steak cut into 1/2" cubes
8 oz can of tomato sauce 
2 16 oz cans Mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz can chopped Ortega chili
1 16 oz can Red Kidney Beans
1 16 oz can Jalapinto beans (Pinto beans & Jalapeno's)
1 16 oz can garbanzo beans

Toppings:
1 Sweet Vidalia onion
Shreded Mexican 4-cheese
Sour cream

Start with a large dutch oven pot or larger if you multiply this recipe.
Brown the meat, drain off the fat.
Open the cans of beans and separate the packing juices from the beans. The juice and beans will be added separately later. 
Add the tomatoe sauce to the meat and seer it into the meat.
Pour the packing juices from the beans into the meat mix and add all the Carrol Shelby spices including the Cayene and Salt. 
Bring to a boil stirring regularly
Add the stewed tomatoes and Ortega Chili, stirring in well and bring to a boil
While waiting for the boil, mix the masa flour with a 1/2 cup water and add to the mix
Bring all this to a boil and then reduce heat to a very low simmer.
Fold in all the beans and let the pot simmer for no less than an hour.

Ok - it's good to eat at this point, but if you want it to really taste good, put the pot in the fridge overnight and let the mixing of ingredients go to work.
Make some chopped sweet onions, supply some shredded Mexican 4-cheese and sour cream for toppings.
The next day a slow simmer reheat or a crockpot on high for a couple of hours and you will have a meal that will have your fans begging for more.  

- Tamale Pie -

This is an economy dish my mom Mary Pauline Bagwell - Shivers made.
It is a gringo casserole that is an attempt to duplicate the great taste of a tamale on a large scale.

Ingredients for a large crock pot casserole (5 quart):

2 packages of sweet cornbread mix
2 lb. ground sirloin
1 package taco seasoning
2 16 oz cans mexican style stewed tomatoes
1 6 oz can chopped Ortega chili
1 16 oz can cream corn
1 16 oz can whole kernel corn
1 16 oz can pitted whole black olives

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Prepare the cornbread mix and pour 2/3 of it into the oven bakeable crockpot
Brown and drain the fat off the ground sirloin
Add the packing juice from the whole kernel corn and the stewed tomatoes to the meat
Add the taco seasoning, stir well and bring to a boil.
Add the stewed tomatoes, Ortega chili and cream corn and simmer 20 minutes, adding the black olives in the last 10 minutes.
Pour or ladle this meat and vegetable mix into the center of the crockpot with the cornbread mix in the bottom. The cornbread will make its way up the sides of the meat mix.
Pour the remaining 1/3 of the cornbread mix over the top, completely covering the meat mix.
Place the oven capable crockpot bowl in the oven for about 20 minutes, removing when the cornbread starts turning a pleasing golden brown in spots.

The Tamale Pie is ready to eat at this point, but just like the Chili recipe, a night in the fridge steeps the flavors and returning the crock to it's heater on hi for about 2 hours will have another next day casserole that will have your family or guests begging for seconds.

Meet Cuddles

With Dad passing and Alice going into assisted living, we have inherited their prize baby Cuddles. She is a Peekapoo, half Pekingese and half Poodle. No one is a stranger to her. Anyone entering the house is a reason to be excited and great with outstretched paws and dancing on the hind legs. She is a pleasure to have around and has trained us completely to give her treats.

Busy at Work

Both Shelton and Colleen are gainfully employed. Whilst retirement age is just around the corner it is not attainable with today's economy and downturn of incomes. We enjoy our jobs, Shelton in the network control center of NTS Communications and Colleen as a clerk for code enforcement for the city of Lubbock. We long for the economy to turn up the incomes to what we made just a few 7 years ago, and are thankful that we are at least employed.

Making Memories

Colleen and Shelton are finding their way back to their favorite pass times.
Shelton enjoys a few things that work well together: Maintaining a family tree record on Ancestry.com that is linked to his copy of Family Tree Maker on his PC, and Photography for capturing family and all those beautiful adventures we squeeze time in for. Sharing those captured memories on-line and in DVD movies is a joy to prepare and share.
Colleen has had her participation in Shelton's hobbies also, while her main distractions are letter writing to family and friends, gathering pieces for future scrapbooking and slowly learning how to use her new embroidery sewing machine.
We both love having a beautiful garden and are finding it a bit more challenging in Texas than it was at our home in Washington.