Wednesday

Today has been a good day here in Floyd. The girls and I decided it was definitely time to put up the Christmas tree. We had lots of fun. We put on some Christmas music and got busy. They decorated the gingerbread house. Then we put up the tree, the nativity, and a few other decorations. Simple, nothing too complex. Temperatures here have been much warmer than normal. I like that.

Our van is fixed. YEAH! Dave, Jess and the kids came up Sunday so Dave could help Hubby work on it. Thanks so much, Dave! Hubby finished getting it all put back together Monday. Monday evening we rode it to the feed store to get chicken feed and everything worked fine. Yesterday, the girls and I rode it to Sam’s. No problems!! I am so glad.

Yesterday, the boys had a terrible stomach virus. They were both very sick. Daniel was hit especially hard. He told his mom he felt like he was living in a bad dream. Today they both seem on the mend. We are all praying no one else gets it. Jess said that baby Sam was calling for his “Maw” when he was sick in the night. You know that just touches my heart. We are hoping to go down Saturday to do Christmas with them. Lots of good food planned.

Well, I guess that’s about all that has been going on here. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 14, 2011 6

Mrs. Sally’s Home

Thursday evening we went to our pastor’s home for a visit. We ate supper with them and had a wonderful visit. Mrs. Sally, pastor’s wife, had lots of beautiful Christmas decorations up. This nativity scene was purchased in Israel. It is made of olive wood. Very pretty.

This carousel came from Germany. You can’t really see it but on top of the carousel are propellers. The heat from the candles cause the carousel to go around.

This is Miss Izzy. Pastor Tom tells her all the time she is the most beautiful cat God ever created. I think she believes him.

Julie and Sadie had a great time together.

Mrs. Sally is a great seamstress. I think I have mentioned before she is teaching my girls to sew. This quilt was so bright and colorful. I thought you all would enjoy seeing it too.

We have still been having vehicle troubles. Today, we took the girls over to church for play practice. Our youth christmas play is tomorrow. Hubby thought the alternator was going bad on the van. We were going over to C-burg to Auto Zone to have them check it. We started having more serious trouble with it, so Hubby thought we should just try to make it home. We didn’t make it. About 4 miles from home, the van decided that was just all it could do. It stopped right in the middle of the road. I’m here to tell you all God is good! Not more that 5 min. after the van quit a young man came by that we used to go to church with. He went up to his Grandpaws and got a pickup truck and a chain. He and Hubby hooked the van up to the truck and he pulled us all the way home. No charge! Anyway, it is the alternator. So I guess the van will have to be parked for a few days until Hubby can get it fixed.

Well, that’s been our day. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

December 10, 2011 8

Fantasy Fudge

I got this recipe years ago from the back of a marshmellow creme container. I have used it since for making fudge. It is easy and delicious.

Fantasy Fudge in the microwave

3/4 cup butter, 3 cups sugar, 5 oz. evaporated milk, 1 12 oz package chocolate chips (2 cups), 1 7 oz jar marshmellow cream, 1 tsp. van.

Microwave butter in 4 qt glass bowl on high 1 min. Add sugar and evaporated milk. Mix well. Microwave on high 3 min. Stir. Microwave on high 2 min. Stir. Microwave on high 3 min. Stir. Microwave on high 2 min. Stir. Remove from microwave, add chocolate chips. Stir until chips are melted. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan. Cool at room temperature. Cut into squares. Makes approx. 3 lb.

I use this same recipe for peanut butter fudge, vanilla, and butterscotch. Just substitute the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips or whatever type you are using. When making chocolate fudge, we prefer milk chocolate chips.

December 8, 2011 0

How to make self rising flour

1 cup flour, 1 1/4 tsp. baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt. Combine.

December 8, 2011 0

Banana Bread

Betty’s Banana Bread

1/2 shortening (can substitute applesauce), 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup mashed banana (2 overripe bananas), 1 1/4 cup self rising flour(I use whole wheat), 2 eggs, nuts. Combine all ingredients. Bake at 350 until done. Approx. 45 min.

December 8, 2011 1

Flavored Coffees

You all know what a big fan I am of flavored coffee creamers. Well, I also love flavored coffees. They are expensive though. My lovely daughter (Jess) bought me a subscription to Kraft Foods Food & Family magazine. I love it! Here are two flavored coffee recipes I got from the magazine. I made this one yesterday.

Maple Cinnamon Coffee

6 tbsp. ground coffee, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/2 cup pancake syrup, 4 1/2 cups cold water, 6 tbsp thawed cool whip. Place coffee in filter in brew basket of coffee maker, sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour pancake syrup into empty coffee pot. Add water to coffee maker, brew. When brewing is complete , stir until well blended. Top with cool whip. I did not follow their recipe exact. I just made us 6 cups of coffee, using the amount of ground coffee I always do. Adjust it to your taste. I did not top mine with cool whip. I did however use coffee creamer. This is good with gingerbread creamer but you could use whatever you like. There are lots of new flavors available right now.

I made this recipe today. Spiced Orange Coffee. Into the brew basket I added the ground coffee, enough to make 6 cups. Add to the coffee grounds, 1 tbsp orange zest, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon. Put 1/3 cup packed brown sugar into empty coffee pot. Brew. Stir until sugar is well blended. Both these coffees were very good. I know many of you don’t like coffee but maybe you could use these recipes with tea or even hot chocolate.

We have gotten tons of rain yesterday and today. They are forecasted us to get snow flurries tonight. We’ll see. Right now, it is just gloomy and soggy wet. Temperature is mid 40’s though so that is nice. School is finished for the day so I guess I better get busy doing other things. Supper tonight is fried chicken, biscuits, gravy, corn and homemade jam for dessert. I hope you all have a great evening and God bless.

December 7, 2011 6

A Christmas Tin

Hello everyone! I thought I would show you one of my newest Christmas tins. I love these things. I think they look so cheerful and happy. I got this one at the Salvation Army store a little while back. I only paid .50 cents for it. Yesterday, after school, I decided it was time to start filling up some of these tins. I made pinwheel candy to put inside it. This is one of our favorite Christmas candies.

Several people on our gift list will be getting homemade candy this year. Chuck (oldest son) has already called and gave me his wish list for what he wants in his “goody basket”. I made some peanut butter and chocolate fudge over the weekend for Dave and Jess. I will post that recipe soon.

We will be doing school today as usual. We plan on taking a 2 week Christmas break starting on Dec.19th. I hope you all have a great day and God bless.

December 6, 2011 7

Pinwheel Candy

I got this recipe from a dear friend of mine, Vanessa Looney. She was my supervisor for many years. She took the time to love me and tell me about Jesus when I definitely wasn’t very lovable. She has been with the Lord for many years now. When we found out her time on this earth was short, she said to me “I’m not afraid of dying. I’ve lived my entire life to see my Lord!”

1 box powdered sugar (3 1/2 cups), 1/2 stick butter softened, 1 tsp. vanilla. Add evaporated milk-1 tbsp at a time. Could take as many as 3 tbsp. Mixture needs to be a little dry. Roll out on wax paper sprinkled with powdered sugar. Spread peanut butter. Roll up, chill, slice and enjoy.

December 5, 2011 3

Venison Roast

Venison roast in crockpot

3 pounds boneless venison roast
1 large onion, sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoon dry onion soup mix
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can of water
Directions
1. Put cleaned meat in slow cooker and cover with onion.
2. In a small bowl combine remaining ingredients. mix together and pour mixture over venison. Cook on Low setting for 6 hours.

I usually put it on in the morning, cook on high until time for supper. Also good with beef roast. I got this recipe from Allrecipes but have alterned it some to suit our taste.

December 5, 2011 0

The Bed

Hello ladies! We have been busy this weekend. The bed is finished. We loaded it up in the van and took it down to Dave and Jessica’s. The van was packed pretty full.

We got started putting it together as soon as we got there. Daniel was a great helper.

I tried to show the trim Hubby put on it. The pictures did not turn out as well as I had hoped.

The finished product. Jess said I should have wanted until she had it made up but I didn’t think about that. It looks really good with her comforter and everything on it. We stayed overnight at Jessica’s. It was late when we got it all put together and we were very tired. David helped Hubby work on the van today. They think they have the brake issue fixed. On the way down yesterday, we started having trouble with the battery on the van so they worked on it today too. Hopefully, all the vehicle issues are fixed for a while.

We came home this evening and hurried to fix a fire. The inside temperature was 55 degrees. Pretty cold. It is warming up nicely though. It was very nice down at Jessica’s. When we left, they were all outside on the porch and the boys were playing in the yard. Well, we have lots to get done. I wanted to show you all the pictures of the bed before I got too busy. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 4, 2011 7