FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE; Coalinga-CA

For Heaven's sake! 🤦🏻‍♀️

Again, the drive to Hanford did not happen 🙄 - I didn't sleep more than a few quick winks last night (cold weather aches & feral dogs barking), and Holland didn't fare much better than I did; he's breathing much better this week, praise the Lord 🙏 … but those trolling, barking feral dogs are not allowing anyone in the Park, a peaceful rest period 🐕🐾🤬

Our city drive scrapped; & knowing we'd both be catnapping 😴 off and on throughout the Day (Holland already slipped back into bed upstairs 🛌💤) - I put a bean soup 🥣 on slow cook ⏱️; did some body toning 💪 reps for muscle strength (also hoping for some refreshing alertness, for Heaven's sake), watched a vintage Clifton Webb & Edmund Gwenn movie for some good Heaven's Sake humor 😇😉 … and worked more rows on the little pink WIP, for Heaven's sake - in a positive way 💝🎁😘

An impromptu, hearty winter soup, to finish off last night's garlic bread. General Cooking from scratch, burns roughly 100-150 calories per hour (chopping, stirring, moving). Washing dishes by hand, burns approximately 75–180 calories per hour.

Count your reps as you do them as follows: (1-2-3-4, ONE; 1-2-3-4, TWO) aiming for a consistent pace & rest between each set for a 10 sec. break before going into the 2nd+ set(s): 3 rep sets = 100 cals.

Bicep Extensions Exercise: 

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5dfkW6w5qI)

Arm Scissors Crossover Exercise

Bodyweight Standing Phelps Chest Stretch

Stepper, slow and easy 10 to 15 mins; x3 reps = 90 cal's. The ideal frequency depends on your individual fitness goals, current activity level, and how your body responds, so listen to your body and adjust as needed.

Accurate raglan sleeve length, is measured the whole length = from neck to cuff end.

Accurate gown body length, is measured from armpit to hemline. Knitting can burn approximately 100-150 calories per hour.

For Heaven's Sake 1950 Clfton Webb, Joan Bennet & Robert Cummings:  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns8TXKJqp9c)

Supper was delish - a definite repeat 😊

Val's Slowcooker Winter Pinto Bean Soup:  (https://roadgypsiesvalandholland.blogspot.com/2025/12/vals-slowcooker-winter-pinto-bean-soup.html)

VAL'S SLOWCOOKER WINTER PINTO BEAN SOUP; Coalinga-CA

YUM!

It has been cold here, in CA 😱

And it is shocking to me, because the hype talk since I moved West with my parents in the summer of 1965, was "it's always like summertime in sunny california!" But, I am finding out what my husband (who was born in Santa Cruz- CA and spent a good portion of his life living in and working in california) has always known: it gets downright cold 😳 in california valleys, in the winter months!

35-degree early morning hours, with a thick dense fog that holds a solid barrier between the sun's normal hot sunrays and california's valley tera firma … makes for cold atmosphere: cold days call for a good hearty, warming, soup; coupled with garlic bread 🥣🥖👌

While I was drinking my morning coffee with cupped hands & a space heater aimed in my direction, thinking this weather here reminds me of WA winters (sans the nonstop rain, freeze, or snowfall there) - I decided to pull a tasty soup together 😉 I had fat & sassy ham hocks in the freezer, a bag of pinto beans in the pantry, veggies in the 'fridge, & spices in the cupboard: drawing on memory of pinto soups in the past, I gathered together everything that came to mind; and got busy 👨‍🍳

This soup is very tasty.

This soup is satisfactorily filling.

Val's Slowcooker Winter Pinto Bean Soup ~serves 8

1-lb. bag of Pinto Beans, rinsed * 2 Ham Hocks, smoked * 1 large Yellow Onion, quartered & sliced * 6 Garlic cloves, peeled & sliced cross-grain * 2 c. Turkey stock (or chicken) * 4-5 small, skinny Carrots, sliced into thin coins * 3 skinny stalks Celery w-leaves (inner stalks), sliced thin * 2 c. Water * 1/4 c. bottled BBQ Sauce * 1-1/2 TBSP. Brown Sugar * 1 tsp. Baking Soda * 1 tsp. Paprika, smoked * 1 small Bay Leaf * 1/2 tsp. Black Pepper, ground * canned Pineapple chunks, drained * 1 Lrg. Crockpot (8-10 qt., oval) * 1 Lrg. Cooking Spoon, slotted * 1 whisk * 1 Lrg. Pyrex Glass Measuring Cup

1) Combine beans, hocks, vegetables, & turkey stock in the slowcooker crock - with bean and hocks at the bottom; then in the large Pyrex measuring cup, gently whisk water, BBQ sauce, sugar, baking soda, & spices together - add to bean mixture.

Pinto beans.

Frozen Thanksgiving Turkey Stock.

Garlic, onion, carrot, celery, ham hocks, pineapple, BBQ Sauce.

Garlic sliced cross-grain.

2) Set slowcooker temperature to HIGH until the crockpot blend boils (about 1-1/2 hrs) … then reduce heat to LOW and cook for 3-1/2 or 4-1/2 more hours: remove ham hocks from soup, & with fork tines removes meat from bones in chunky bits - discard bones & return meat to soup mixture. Add pineapple chunks, and continue cooking another hour - or until beans & veggies are cooked to desired tenderness.

3) Serve up & enjoy 😁

My husband says this soup is a definite repeat 😘