A Fresh Beginning

Today marks a new day, a new month, and a new year.  That's a lot of new for one morning.  And really, even though it is just a continuation of our story from yesterday, there is just something different about this morning each year.  It's like we've been given a fresh start, a do-over for some, or a fresh outlook on what lies ahead.  I kind of like to think about it as if I have been handed a brand new, blank canvas.  God is my teacher, and by following His instruction, I can finish up this year with a beautiful picture.  Undoubtedly this year will be filled with many blessings, many trials, and unforeseen events.  But that's how we learn from Him.  It isn't paint-by-number, but closely following His teachings, having faith, and trusting that He has a plan for our lives.  Happy New Year everyone.

Simple, but Nice Gifts

Christmas is drawing closer each day, and as I can imagine there are some of you really on top of things with gifts all wrapped and delivered, cookies baked, and cards written.  But I can especially relate to those of you who are still  preparing for the upcoming holiday.  I haven't even begun my baking yet, that's on the agenda for today; and I've been busily working on finishing the hand made gifts that I always seem to wait until a couple of weeks before Christmas to begin.  So just in case there is anyone out there still trying to drum up ideas for gifts, here are a couple that just might work for you.

Large acrylic drinking glasses with straws are a very fun gift to give.  And when you fill one with some of the individual cold drink mixes that are available in every grocery store, it adds just that little extra touch to makes it even that much nicer.  Costco sells a package of the drink mixes for such a reasonable price, that if you were going to make more than one of these gifts up, that is a great way to go.

And if it is cold where you live, and you would rather go the hot drink route, the insulated hot drink containers are also a great idea.  Pair one of them up with a cute tin of hot chocolate, and you are all set.

A Little Vintage Decorating

Vintage Christmas decorations add a bit of charm to the whole scheme of things, at least in my opinion.  This little jewel belongs to my mother-in-law, and I was so happy when my daughters pulled it out of storage and put it on display.  It just adds an extra bit of cheer to the holiday decor.

A Pre-Christmas Gift

A fun way to brighten the day of a good friend, sister, or even your mother, is to give them a pre-Christmas gift.  A little something to help them enjoy the Christmas season while they are making their preparations. 

Choose holiday labels, festive sticky sheets or note pad, and a scented candle

Place them all in a cute container, and voila, you have the perfect little hostess gift or just because gift.  You could even add a holiday CD and I can imagine the gift recipient will be wrapping gifts this year with a smile on her face.

Giving Thanks

This is the pecan pie that I have been waiting for.  Waiting for it to come out of the oven that is.  The reason being is that it is my last item to prepare before tomorrow's feast.

 A greater part of my day today has been spent in the kitchen with recipes here and there, along with various lists of what was needed to be accomplished, and the continuous loading and unloading of the dishwasher as items were crossed off my lists and placed in the refrigerator.  I just love cooking for this holiday.  Just think, a special holiday set aside for thanking our Creator for all of our many blessings.  And one of the blessings I am very thankful for is the mere fact that I can spend time cooking up a big feast for my family.  And tomorrow when we all sit down together at the table and I see everyone enjoying the meal, I will be giving thanks for my family that the Lord has given me, they are one of the biggest blessings that I have ever received.

Happy Thanksgiving.

To Sift or Not to Sift

Most modern recipes don't call for the sifting of flour when baking.  I think that because of more modern ways of milling the flour, it really isn't necessary.  However, I always prefer sifting.  I don't know if it even makes a bit of difference, but how can you go wrong by sifting all of those powdery ingredients together to form a nice little soft mountain.

Now, after reading such a strong argument in favor of sifting, why not reach up on your shelf and find your cutest muffin liners,

 

and gather the ingredients together to make these easy and delicious banana nut muffins.  I'll leave the sifting choice up to you.

 

Banana Nut Muffins

2 cups flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/3 cups mashed, ripe bananas
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  Set aside.  Cream together shortening and sugar.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Stir in mashed bananas.  Add dry ingredients all at once, stirring just enough to moisten.  Gently stir in nuts.  Spoon into greased (or lined) muffin tins, filling 2/3 full.  Bake in 350 deg. oven for 18-20 minutes or until golden.  Makes 15-18 muffins.

Back to School

Today is the day.  This morning is the morning.  Time to start back to school.  I'm not ready for summer to come to a close because it went entirely too fast.  But part of me is looking forward to settling back down into a routine and adding a bit of order to our lifestyle.  And of course with a new school year comes new school supplies.  It always makes me happy to see how some new pens, pencils, notebooks, and paper can bring a joyful start to the new year -- especially new crayons.  Even though my daughter is well beyond her crayon years, I still buy her a box as a special surprise on the first day of school.  It might seem silly to some, but for us that has become a happy tradition in our little home school. 

Harvesting

Summer is really clicking right by, and it is so hard to believe that the middle of August has already arrived.  We have had beautiful weather this summer (well at least since the weather straightened out and stopped raining), and my garden has been producing very nicely. 

At first were the radishes ..... I love planting radishes because they just pop out of the ground so quickly, and really make you feel quite accomplished:

And next on the agenda came the zucchini, green onions, and cucumbers:

Speaking of cucumbers, a couple of days ago, I got up early and picked while it was still cool outside.  I picked an entire basket full.  They actually weighed in at around 7 pounds worth.  (And yes, I weigh my cucumbers when I pick them, because I have an antique scale in my garage, and I figure I might as well put it to good use):

You might be wondering what I plan on doing with 7 pounds of cucumbers.  Why, make pickles of course:

So far I have made 15 quarts of dill pickles, and hope to make at least that many more.  My recipe is the same recipe my grandma used for years and years, and has become a family favorite.

My garden hasn't received the special care that I had hoped to give it this summer, but it is such a blessing to still receive a bountiful harvest despite the fact that I planted it so late in the season, there are still many weeds that need pulling, and plants that haven't gotten properly thinned. 

Lesson Learned

I have favorite recipes in particular cookbooks that I just always know are there whenever I need them.  And that works just fine unless it is the only recipe in the cookbook that I use.  Which was the case for my recipe for Mini Meat Loaves.  This particular cookbook belonged to my daughters, and it was always on their bookshelf whenever I needed it.  Until one day I went for it and it wasn't there.  When I asked them where it was, they said they had assumed I had copied down my recipe, and since we didn't use the book for any other recipes, they thought they had donated it to a thrift shop.  Well, I hadn't copied it down, and really wished that I had as it was one of those go to recipes that I like to use.  But fortunately the little book was found in a stack of books on their way to the thrift shop, and I was so happy.  I immediately copied the recipe down and realized that I need to do this with other recipes that I like from books I don't use for anything else.  So my lesson was learned, and in case you are interested, the recipe follows.  If you like meat loaf, these have a very good flavor, and because they are small, they cook very quickly.

Mini Meat Loaves

1/4 cup ketchup
2 T light brown sugar
1 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 cup tomato sauce
1 large egg, lightly beaten
4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
salt and pepper

Line a broiler pan with foil and place in oven.  Preheat oven to 425 deg.  Whisk together ketchup, brown sugar, and mustard in a small bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients, but do not overmix.  Divide mixture into 4 equal portions (I actually divide it into even more portions) and shape each into a mini loaf.

Bruch each loaf with ketchup mixture.  Remove pan from oven and mist with Pam.  Transfer meat loaves to hot broiler pan, and bake about 20-25 minutes or until center registers 160 deg. F.  Let stand on broiler pan for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to plates.

Cherry Season

Since my last post, our lives have been going through a time of adjustments.  Adjustments in getting used to life without my father-in-law.  For those of you who left comments, thank you so much for your very kind words.  It's been nearly four weeks now, and it is kind of hard for the brain to kick back into a normal routine.  But God is good, and each day continues to bring blessing after blessing.  One particular blessing I had this past week was to pick cherries with my brother at his house which is not too far away.  I arrived early and we had the best time visiting and picking.  I determined that he picks cherries twice as fast as I do, but I guess since they are his trees, he has had a lot more practice.  I came home with buckets of Bing Cherries, Rainier Cherries, and Pie Cherries.  They have all been washed and are now in the refrigerator awaiting my next step.  I think today I will start with the Pie Cherries and get a few pies put away in the freezer.  Nothing quite beats being able to reach in the freezer and bake a cherry pie at a moment's notice.