A Hodgepodge By Any Other Name...

Welcome to June and this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for your neighbor there. Here we go... 

1. What do birthdays look like in your house? How are they celebrated? Any special traditions? What about birthdays growing up? 

If you've followed me for any length of time then you know I love celebrating birthdays, especially my own. True story. 

I also like to make the day special for my girls, my grands, and my hubs when their birthdays roll around. There will definitely be cake (or sometimes pie for the hubs) and I'm a fan of balloons to make things festive so there will always be balloons. 

And definitely a birthday card because I still love to write wishes inside a card. I also like to make a favorite or special meal if I'm celebrating with family in person. 

I love a theme and hosted many a themed birthday party for my girls when they were growing up. We enjoyed coming up with the theme and then adding lots of detail to make it happen. 

Oh and my favorite birthday parties are home parties with a made from scratch cake. A venue now and then is okay, but I love the coziness of a home party.  The big thing for me and birthdays, my own or someone else's, is I want the celebrant to feel like they were thought about ahead of their special day. 

As far as tradition goes, hubs always gets me a chocolate cake with raspberry filling and a chocolate ganache on top. 

Growing up I had birthday parties some years and others it was just family. My mom always made me a German Chocolate cake which is still a favorite. I remember feeling loved and special on my birthday which is how I want everyone to feel on their birthday. 

2. Someone is sending you a dozen roses...what color are you hoping for? Are you someone who gets accused of seeing the world through rose colored glasses? Is your accuser correct? Elaborate. 

If hubs is sending me roses they're most likely yellow as those have always been one of my favorites. I also really love the roses that are a little bit pink and a little bit peach. I think they're called Tiffany. 

I've often been told I wear rose colored glasses to see the world, but I'm okay with that. I'm a total optimist and I own that. Do I know the world isn't always rosy? Absolutely. But I'm always going to be the person looking for the silver lining, the bright spot, the rose amidst the thorns.  

3. June 4th is National Cheese Day...will you celebrate? What's something (besides a burger) you make in the summer months that calls for cheese? 

Since cheese is a favorite here I have it in some form most days. In the summer months my favorite is probably a Caprese salad with vine ripened tomatoes, basil from my garden, and sliced mozzarella with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic glaze. 

4. 'tis the season...any weddings on your June calendar? What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? 

We have just one wedding on the summer calendar and it happens to be in June. I love weddings and look forward to celebrating newly marrieds. 

The first word that comes to mind when I hear the word marriage? Trust. 

5. What are you most looking forward to this June? 

We have a lot on the June calendar to look forward to including the above mentioned wedding, catching up with friends we haven't seen in several years en route to said wedding, my daughter's birthday, a grandson's third birthday, our anniversary, Father's Day and celebrating all the wonderful dads in our family, and of course lake time. 

6. Insert your own random thought here.  

Have you watched the short documentary film on Netflix called The Quilters? If not I recommend. It's the story of prisoners who learn to quilt and then go on to make quilts for children in foster care, autistic children, and others. It's only about thirty minutes long, too short actually because you want to know more...definitely worth viewing.  

Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 605

Here are the questions to this week's Hodgepodge. Hop back here on Wednesday (June 4th) to add your link to the party...see you there!  

1. What do birthdays look like in your house? How are they celebrated? Any special traditions? What about birthdays growing up? 

2. Someone is sending you a dozen roses...what color are you hoping for? Are you someone who gets accused of seeing the world through rose colored glasses? Is your accuser correct? Elaborate. 

3. June 4th is National Cheese Day...will you celebrate? What's something (besides a burger) you make in the summer months that calls for cheese? 

4. 'tis the season...any weddings on your June calendar? What's the first word that comes to mind when I say marriage? 

5. What are you most looking forward to this June? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Say Cheese! It's The Hodgepodge

Welcome to June and this week's edition of The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then hop over and leave a comment for your neighbor there.  

1. It's National Cheese Day (June 4)...does anyone not like cheese? What's your favorite? Last thing you ate or made with cheese? 

I know people who can't eat cheese, but I don't know anyone who doesn't like cheese. How to pick a favorite? It depends on what we're doing (is it dinner? an appetizer? a sandwich?) and the time of day. Actually time of day doesn't factor in as I can pretty much eat cheese anytime. 

I love a good hard cheddar, mozzarella melted on pizza or atop a red ripe tomato with a sprig of fresh basil, a warm Brie in France, parmesan shaved over a salad or chunked on a cheese board, and even a good ole slice of American on a ham sandwich. 

Last thing I ate with cheese was a turkey wrap I made for lunch that had just a sprinkle of cheddar on it. 

2. Last time you were instructed to 'say cheese!'? How do you feel about having your picture taken? 

A few pics were snapped when we were with friends this past weekend, so that was probably the most recent. I don't mind having my picture taken if the person taking the picture aims for a nice angle. I don't need it perfect, I like real, but hubs has been known to snap my picture while I'm still mid-sentence, talking with my hands, or pushing my hair away from my face, and I'm not so much a fan of that. 

3. What's your travel packing strategy? Are you typically a light packer or do you throw in everything but the ktichen sink? When flying do you check a bag or aim for carry on only? 

With all the travel we've done and still do you'd think I'd be an expert, but nope. I've improved, but have not mastered the art of traveling light. And if it's a road trip I adopt the motto of 'just throw it in the car. in case we need/want it' whatever 'it' may be. No need to pack light if we've got a whole car we can fill, right? Hubs may or may not agree. Also I like a suitcase, but then I also love to have a couple of totes for different things. I like to use packing cubes and have clothes separated by outfit or day/night etc. 

I'm better with air travel because space is limited. For years I never worried about checking a bag for a week long stay someplace, but now we try our best to get everything in carry ons to be sure we have it on the other end. When we took a nine day road trip up the coast of California about a year and a half ago (which included a wedding along the way) I got everything into my two carryons.  

4. What is it about people's cell phone habits that you find most annoying? 

The list is long, but lately it's people on their phones in the car. Speaking as someone who has been on the road a lot recently, it seems like everyone is on their phone. I'm not talking about people using hands free, or their speaker, I'm talking about people literally holding their phone up in front of their face. I can't tell you how many people we saw facetiming!! while also driving on our most recent road trip. 

Oh, and one more annoying phone thing (I told you the list is long). People talking on their phone in a bathroom stall. Ewwwwwww!!!

5. What will be your summer mantra/slogan? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

My daughter1, who has the loveliest way with words, and who is just the sweetest, and who manages this adorable crew all day every day...

...and who blogs at Sincerely Shannon is celebrating a birthday later this week. If you have a minute, hop over to her blog and wish her a happy day. 

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Hodgepodge Questions-Volume 554

Here are the questions to this week's Wednesday Hodgepodge. Answer on your own blog, then hop back here tomorrow to add your link to the party. See you there!

1. It's National Cheese Day (June 4)...does anyone not like cheese? What's your favorite? Last thing you ate or made with cheese? 

2. Last time you were instructed to 'say cheese!'? How do you feel about having your picture taken? 

3. What's your travel packing strategy? Are you typically a light packer or do you throw in everything but the ktichen sink? When flying do you check a bag or aim for carry on only? 

4. What is it about people's cell phone habits that you find most annoying? 

5. What will be your summer mantra/slogan? 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Wednesday Medley

Not only am I more than a month behind in wrapping up the A-Z challenge, I'm also flip flopping the letters around because I can. V is alphabetically next but I'm going with W today because it's Wednesday and it works.

W is for The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Early in my blog life I started hosting a weekly link up called The Wednesday Hodgepodge. I asked five questions at random (leaving room for a hodgepodge thought of your own), and bloggers answered on their own blog then linked to mine. A little mid-week pick me up to get us unstuck in our writing, make us laugh a little-think a little. 

Along the way I met some of the absolute nicest people. What started on a whim became a sort of online coffee morning with a fairly large group of regular participants who got to know each other by sharing small and large bits of our lives through our writing.

It was delightful. 

I kept up the pace of weekly hosting for eight years then needed to call it a day. It was time. Nobody really wanted to lose the connection we'd made so another blogger picked it up, changed it a wee bit and on it goes today under the name Wednesday Medley (hosted by Terri at Your Friend From Florida) 

I haven't been able to join the party much in recent months, which is why I declared myself boss of the alphabet and moved letter W to today. Happily this week's questions are all about one of my favorite things (cheese!) and who doesn't find that delightful? 

Here we go-

1. National Cheese Day was Tuesday rather than Wednesday, but Terri thinks we should celebrate all week. Start by sharing your favorite cheese with us. Which one is always in your frig?

Well let me just say I never met a cheese I didn't like so picking a favorite is tough. A delicious salty Parmesan? Pimento cheese spread on a cracker? Maybe a creamy Brie preferably eaten somewhere in France because theirs is the absolute best?  I also really love a goat's milk cheese called Humboldt Fog which comes from California and has a line of edible ash running through the center. So good! 

I always have Parmesan in my frig. Real Parm, not that stuff that comes in a can! 

2. What is your preference? Mild, sharp, extra sharp? How do you use cheese most often?

I assume we're talking cheddar in which case I'd go for the sharp. As far as how I most often use cheese? Give me a charcuterie tray with some fabulous cheeses to complement the meats. Add small dishes of olives and assorted little nibbles, a glass of bubbly, and I'm a happy camper. 

3. Cheesecake? New York style or what other flavors would you rather have?

I like cheesecake, but it's not my favorite dessert (although it's rare I refuse any sort of dessert).  Cheesecake isn't the one I go for if offered a choice. I like NY style, love some berries on top, but am not big on all the various flavors of cheesecakes. Wait! I do like a pumpkin cheesecake because pumpkin is rich and cheesecake makes it seem less so. 

4. When you do grilled cheese sandwiches, which cheese do you prefer to use and what condiments do you use, if any? 

Give me good ole American cheese please. Is butter a condiment? If so then that's my answer. 

5. Number 5 on June 5th...say happy birthday to Terr's sister Tammy!!

Happy birthday Tammy! 

6. Share something with us about your week. If it includes using cheese in a recipe, please also share that with us too. 

Hubs and I started our day early kayaking around the neighborhood. Followed it up with coffee and breakfast on the dock. Not a bad way to roll into Wednesday. 

Also since we're talking cheese and Terri mentioned sharing a recipe... I love my mama's homemade enchilada's but this recipe (here) is an easy shortcut casserole that's also delicious. I sometimes use more tortillas than the recipe calls for because I like each layer covered, and add enough sauce to make up for that. Enjoy!