Pinwheel Candy

It is raining outside today. We did not want to go to the building to get decorations so we just decided to make some candy. I usually make this only at Christmas time but I should make it more often as it is one of everyone’s favorite. This recipe came from a dear friend of mine and I have used it now for about 25 years. Wow, that makes me feel old(maybe I should leave that sentence out). Anyway the recipe is:

1/4 cup butter-softened, 1 tsp vanilla. Gradually add in 1 box powdered sugar. You will need to add a little evaporated milk at the end-only add about 1 tbsp at a time. 1-3 tbsp should be all you will need. It needs to be a little dry. Roll out and spread on peanut butter. Roll up candy length wise and put in fridge until chilled. Cut and enjoy.

Just a little note about the lady who gave me this recipe. Her name was Vanessa Looney and she was one of the finest Christian ladies I have ever known. When it became obvious to those who loved her that it would soon be time for her to be with the Lord, she made a profound statement to me. We were talking and she said “You know, I am not afraid of dying. I have lived my entire life for this moment. I will finally see my Jesus.” I consider this one of the most important statements a Christian could ever make-that we would all live our lives for the moment we will see Him. Just a little remembering on my part.

Well, I best be going. My girls want to play a game of cards. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 30, 2010 5

Our First Decoration

This is our first decoration of the season. I like to use decoration that will work for all winter, not just for Christmas. This is due to laziness on my part. I so enjoy putting them up but not so much taking them down. This way I get to leave them up longer. Both my girls are sick, so today has been a rather slow day for us. We only did what we call “half school” which was bible, math and language. Then we took a break, went up to the building and found our little village. This village sets every year on this table. When the girls were younger, it was continuously getting rearranged. They would play with the houses and the people for hours. My dad built this table for my mom when they first got married. There is a shelf underneath and when I was a little girl, my golden book collection sat on the lower shelf. Funny, the things we remember. After decorating, we enjoyed a game of cards and now they are upstairs playing a board game. I so enjoy days like today-just sorry my girls don’t feel well.

It is chilly here with rain moving in. A good day for enjoying the fire and each other. I pray your day has been as enjoyable as mine. God bless.

November 29, 2010 2

Grandbabies

This MawMaw’s heart is full to overflowing. I have had lots of MawMaw time this weekend. Thank you Lord! First, a picture of Sam. It will not be long until this swing is too small for him but he sure does enjoy it.

Daniel and Gilbert taking a small rest. Gilbert is Daniel’s kittie, an early Christmas gift. He loves Gilbert very much-sometimes maybe a little too much. Gilbert is a very good kittie though and takes it all in stride.

Alexius and Branson. Playing with kitties. Kittens and kids just go so well together.

Landon-wearing PawPaw’s hat. We went down to Jessica’s for Thanksgiving. She had a wonderful meal. Turkey with all the trimmings. Of course, we all ate too much. Then we did a little shopping on Friday. When we came home Friday evening it was very cold here. A huge change in temperature. At her house it was fairly warm but not here. The wind was fierce with gusts of about 40 mph. Inside our house it was very cold, 56 degrees. Needless to say, we hurried up and built a fire.

Yesterday when we came back from practicing at church, we had a message on our machine. Chuck was coming for a visit! He lives in West Virginia so we do not get to see him or his babies very often. It was such a nice visit. We had canned deer, mashed potatoes, green beans, blackberry cobbler and homemade rolls.

Today, we will be doing the music at church. The girls will be playing a congregational each and each will be doing one special. Hubby and I will-with 3 others- will be doing 2 specials. Pray that all goes well. I hope you all enjoy your Sunday and God bless.

November 28, 2010 3

Sausage Balls

Here is the recipe I use to make sausage balls. 2 1/2 to 3 cups biscuit mix, l pound sausage, 10 oz shredded cheese. The sausage and the cheese need to be room temperature. I use cheddar cheese. Any sausage will do. If you have your own that is great but if I am buying it from the store, I prefer to get the less expensive brand. They usually have more fat content and I think that makes them better. This is a hands on recipe. Then only way I have found to mix it all together is with my hands. First I mix the sausage and cheese together then gradually add the biscuit mix a little at a time, making sure it mixed well each time. Then form into balls. Bake at 300-325 for 15-20 min. Let cool and enjoy. These are one of our family’s favorite holiday treats. God bless.

November 23, 2010 2

Biscuit Mix

Tired of buying this out of the store? Well, today Jess and I came across a recipe to make our own. We found it in our Mennonite cookbook. I needed to make sausage balls for our thanksgiving meal and of course my store bought bisquick mix was out of date. I will be making this mix today but I felt confident enough in Mrs. Shank’s recipe to post it without trying it first. I very seldom do that but every recipe I have tried from this cookbook has been excellent. I feel confident this one will be also. The recipe is:

8 cups all purpose flour, 1/3 cup baking powder, 2 tsp. cream of tartar, 3 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, 1 1/2 cups dry milk powder. Mix together thoroughly. 2 cups vegetable shortening. Cut in until mixture is fine uniform crumbs. Store in airtight container in cool dry place. Yield 13 cups mix which makes 45-50 biscuits. To make biscuits, blend together 3 1/2 cups mix and 2/3 cup water. Stir just until liquid is mixed into the dough. Form into a ball and knead slightly. Pat or roll out to 1/2″ thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place on greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 min. Makes 12 large biscuits.

Temperatures are nice here today but the clouds are moving in. I have clothes on the line, hoping they will dry. Yesterday was a beautiful day with lots of sunshine. I certainly am enjoying these warm temperatures. I was looking on our calendar. Last year on Dec. 5th we had our first snow and it snowed all winter. It was a beautiful but hard winter. I wonder what the Lord has in mind for this winter.

Time for school. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 23, 2010 4

A Mountain of Rolls

One of the things I am taking tomorrow for our thanksgiving meal at church will be these rolls. I froze them ahead of time and have been baking them all day today. The one difference I have noticed is that the frozen dough did not rise as much as it would if it had not been frozen. They taste the same though and I guess thats what counts. I am also making cinnamon rolls to take. Not sure what else yet. After our meal, the youth of our church will go shopping. Every year they get two “angels” from the angel tree. A boy and a girl. Each family in the church contributes $5.00. Then the youth go shopping. They boys buy for the boy and the girls buy for the girl. It is a very nice tradition. Our youth really look forward to going. One year, they were shopping and picked out something they wanted to buy and they were a little short on the money needed to buy it. One of the boys said he had some extra from a job he had done that week. He gave the extra so they could purchase the item. I love that. Children being raised to give generously and without expecting anything in return.

Yesterday I had a WONDERFUL surprise. Jessica and Sam came up for a visit. I did not know they were coming. They just walked in the door. I was so happy. Daniel and David were at home. She stayed until after lunch. The bible study ladies had not gotten to see Sam yet. It was a great surprise. Have I mentioned I love happy surprises?

Beautiful day here in Floyd. Very nice temperatures with lots of sunshine. A great day for being outside. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 20, 2010 4

Just Beautiful

Our Christmas cactus is blooming so beautiful this year. It adds so much color to the room. This plant was a gift years ago from one of the bible study ladies. It is an easy plant to keep alive.

Today is ladies bible study. We will be watching the movie “The book of Ruth”. This will be the first time we have watched a movie on bible study day. We thought that since we had just finished our study on Ruth it would be good to watch the movie as a little break before we start our new study next week. I will also be busy making rolls for our thanksgiving meal at church. I have never frozen the dough before so I hope it works out well. I think I might make some cinnamon rolls to take also.

We have sunshine here today. A little cool but not too bad. I think I will be able to hang our clothes outside to dry. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 19, 2010 3

Favorite Chore

This is my Shadow’s favorite chore. He loves to follow me to the clothesline and then “guard” the clothes. He has done this since he was a young dog when we first inherited him from Jess. I’m sure I’ve told the story of how we got Shadow before but as I am getting older I forget if I have or not. If you already know it, skip this part, if not read on. 7 years ago when we first started working on the farmhouse getting it ready for us to move into, Dave and Jess already lived here on the farm. Shadow was their dog. They had got him from another lady who said he was just too much dog for her to handle. He is a rather large dog-chow and retreiver mix. Anyway, as a pup he was very energetic to say the least. They acquired him when he was under a year old. At the time we were working on the house, I estimate him to have been about 1 1/2 yrs old maybe close to 2. Jess would come over almost every day that we worked on the house. Shadow would always follow. He loved the girls. He considered himself their own private guardian. If they were outside, he was always with them. He wouldn’t let them go in the cow field or old buildings. He would stand in front of them and bark until I came to see what was going on. Remember they were only 4 and 3 at the time. By the time we were ready to move in, he had completely left Jess and Dave’s and stayed here at all the time, even when we left at night. He would just stay until we came back. We laugh and say we did not choose Shadow, Shadow chose us. Well, that says it all. We all love him and he loves us.

Today is overcast and chilly. I did hang the clothes outside but I’m not sure if they will be able to stay. They are calling for rain this afternoon. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 18, 2010 2

Cushaw and Pumpkin

Today along with my many other duties, I will be processing these beautiful cushaw and pumpkin. There were 3 cushaws altogether but one is already in the steamer. I plan to steam them enough to cut the peeling off, puree them in the sauce maker and then freeze the puree. You see the pumpkin in the box, I have never tasted this type of pumpkin. The lady who gave it to me said she thought they were called cow pumpkins. She said they were very good for pies. The cushaw was a gift from my mother-in-law. Thanks, Judy.

We had a nice afternoon yesterday. Hubby needed a haircut so we went over to our friends house who cuts our hair for us. We shared coffee and an excellent dessert she had made. Then after he got his hair cut, Hubby and Faye got out their guitars and we enjoyed singing some old hymns. I so enjoy these times. The dessert she made was very simple. 4 large apples, 2 containers of store bought crescent rolls. Quarter the apples and place a quarter in each crescent roll. Roll the crescent around the apple. Put into baking dish. Heat 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, cinnamon (to taste) and 1 1/2 cups water until melted. Pour this mixture over the apple dumplings and bake at 350 about 45 minutes or until cresents are golden brown. Serve warm topped with whipped creme. They were delicious. I guess since I am working up pumpkin today I thought this recipe would work with pumpkin instead of the apples. I think I would change the sugar to brown sugar, also add a little nutmeg. Maybe I’ll try that today. We’ll see. Sunday is our Thanksgiving dinner at church. I need to get started making rolls.

The sun is shining here today. Lots of wind-gusts of about 30 mph. This made walking a little more difficult. Hubby went with me though and that made it much more enjoyable. Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 17, 2010 2

Will I or Will I Not?

I know many of you are thinking “what is this picture of”. Did she make a mistake? No, this is the view from my front porch this morning as I comtemplated my walk. It was raining, the wind was blowing, everything was muddy and as you can see, it was foggy. Today was the first test of my determination to walk every day. It would have been so easy to just say YUCK! I’m not going today. I’ll do something else (which I knew I would not). I did finally put on my raincoat, gloves, hiking boots-which of course was another excuse not to go because I do not like to wear all this. I then stepped out in the yuck and began my walk. Guess what? It was exhilarating!!!!!!!! I really did enjoy it. Yes, I did get wet, my pants and my face and that was not too pleasant but it wasn’t too bad either. I really want to walk as long as weather will permit so I know I just have to stick to it. Pray that I will continue to be strong.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

November 16, 2010 3