Flowers

Here are a few pictures of some flowers that are blooming around our house now. I am pretty sure these are called violas. I so enjoy their tiny bright blooms. So cheerful. Purple and yellow are my favorite color combinations for flowers.

Yesterday, we made strawberry rhubarb jam. I had enough rhubarb to make a rhubard pie as well. The recipe I use is :

1 cup rhubard- finely chopped, 1/4 cup melted butter, 1 cup sugar, 2 tbsp cornstarch and 2 eggs well beaten. Combine all ingredients and pour into 1 unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees until done. It takes about 45 min in my oven. I have made this pie for about 25 years. It is a family favorite.

Today was friends day at church. We had a great day. Probably about 70 people in total. Our numbers usually run in the 40’s. We had some really good music, a good sermon from our pastor and a great fellowship meal afterward because you all know how much we like to eat. I took pinto beans, green onions and a peach sauce pie. We won’t be having evening bible study tonight so we plan on just relaxing this evening. The girls and I will be traveling down to Jessica’s tomorrow to watch the boys. She will be having an ultra sound tomorrow to (maybe) discover if she will be having a boy or girl. This all depends upon the baby’s cooperation of course.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

June 12, 2011 5

Geese

This morning as Hubby and I were having our morning coffee together, we saw what we thought were tracks on the pond. Then we thought maybe it was just where the wind had blown the snow in swirls. Later in the day, Grace took these pictures.

They look like they are having fun!

Maybe this is a sign of early spring. They do seem to be here kinda early this year. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.

Yesterday, for dessert I made an oatmeal pie. This is one of my favorites, also Julie and Jess. The recipe is:

2 eggs beaten, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal, 1 tsp vanilla, 2/3 cup melted butter, 2/3 cup corn syrup, 1/4 tsp salt. Mix all ingredients together and pour into uncooked pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for l hr.

Okay, so my crust is not too pretty but I promise you it tasted delicious! It tastes a lot like pecan pie. Temperatures here are warm-mid 30’s. We have some sun right now but a storm is supposed to be moving in. One forecast said 4-5 in of snow. We’ll see. Right now though it is nice. I have clothes on the line outside, hopefully, they will dry before the clouds come in.

Tonights menu is deer bbq, made from the roast yesterday, home fries and slaw. We still have some pie left for dessert. Enjoy your day and God bless.

January 25, 2011 6

White Christmas

Well, the snow did come yesterday-about 4″. So no family coming today. Hopefully, Dave, Jess and the boys will get to come about the middle of the week. I’m not sure when Chuck will come. The girls are excited today. There is enough snow to make snow cream, which is a favorite around here. There probably will be some sledding today too. The winds are supposed to start later today so we’ll just have to see how everything goes. The cows don’t seem to mind the snow at all.

I took these pictures from our dining room window. Later today, we will be going down to the barn to get milk. I will try to take more pictures then.

Hubby completely surprised me yesterday morning. We very seldom get each other gifts at Christmas but this year he got me this wonderful mixer. He even braved Wal-Mart on Christmas Eve to get it for me. Complete surprise! I got up yesterday morning, went to turn the coffee pot on and there it was. I squealed out loud and he just smiled that beautiful smile of his that always says “I love you”. He said with all the cooking and baking I do, he thought it would come in handy. Well, it certainly will. I made a batch of banana nut muffins in it this morning. I used a different recipe than I normally use and I think I like it much better. The recipe is:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I used whole wheat), 2/3 cup sugar, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp. baking soda, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/3 cup applesauce, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup sour cream, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. allspice, 2/3 cup mashed bananas, 1/3 cup chopped walnuts. Combine all ingredients. Pour into muffin tin. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min. I used my large muffin tin and got 6 muffins. Very good.

No church today because of the snow. I sure am glad we got to go Friday night to the candlelight service. Enjoy your day and God bless.

December 26, 2010 4

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

More Christfest Fun

For the first time this year, the kids got to play some of the games outside before it got dark. This was a lot of fun and much cooler than in the basement. I, for one, was extremely hot downstairs but then I should have known not to wear a long sleeve shirt. We girls got our hair cut yesterday. I decided to make a batch of cinnamon buns to take to the lady who cuts our hair. We all sat down and enjoy them while they were still warm before we started our haircuts. It was a nice visit.

Today it has been pretty chilly here in Floyd. We have kept a fire going all day. While the girls worked on school, I have been busy making pumpkin puree to put in the freezer. I used part of the puree to make a pumpkin pie for supper. It is in the oven now. The recipe I used is:

2 cups pumpkin puree, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup evaporated milk, 1 egg beaten, 1/3 cup plain flour, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice. Stir all ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees until done. Pie is done when toothpick stuck in middle comes out clean. Start checking for doneness at about 45 min. Years ago, we were at a farmers market and this older lady was selling pumpkins, cushaw and other fall squash. I ask her about a pie recipe for them and she just told me all the ingredient and their measurements, right from memory. I was of course very impressed. I hurriedly wrote them down (before I forgot them) and have used this recipe ever since. It is a favorite fall dessert around here.

Take care and God bless.

November 3, 2010 1

Apple Muffins

Here is a picture of the apple muffins I made this morning. They were very good. I definitely will be making them again. Thanks for sharing the recipe, Cheryl. Here is the recipe:

2 cups flour (I used whole wheat), 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tbsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 3/4 cup apple juice, 1/3 cup oil, 1 egg and 1 cup diced apples. Combine all ingredients and put into muffin pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 min. Next time I make it I will add nuts but I didn’t this time. Anyway they were really good.

Today has been rain, rain, and then some more rain. Extremely dreary. Hubby is having trouble with the van but has been unable to work on it because of the rain. We did manage to sneak in a picnic lunch over at the park. They have a shed there and we were fortunate enough to get to use the shed, otherwise we would have had to come home. We had hamburgers on the grill, pasta salad and yogurt. We got some more good pictures to share.

I hope you all enjoy your day and God bless.

October 27, 2010 1

Fall

Hubby took this picture from our dining room window. I think the dogwood is looking very pretty. Yesterday was a busy day. Remodeling always makes the whole house a mess, not just the area where you are working. Our house seemed to me to be very chaotic. The girls and I took some time before school to straighten up a little. Then we decided to take a morning walk. It would have made a good picture. Myself, Julie, Grace, our two dogs and one kitty cat. The little black cat, Moon, always loves to go on walks. She was very tired when we got back and had to take a long nap under the maple tree. Hubby got the first coat of mud on the drywall yesterday evening. It is starting to look more and more like a room now. Gets me excited thinking things will soon get back in order.

Today seems to be another beautiful day. Yesterday was very nice-sunshine, warm temperatures, breezy, a nice day for drying clothes outside. We made homemade doughnuts yesterday. They turned out okay, I guess. The girls and I did not care a lot for them, but Hubby thought they were good. He likes doughnuts much more than we do. I made the dough in my bread machine and then fried them. If I do them again, I think I will try baking them. A blogger friend of mine bakes hers and they like them better. I did discover though, the doughnut dough is excellent for making garlic bread sticks. The girls liked them better than the ones I did the other evening. The recipe I used is:

1 1/4 cups milk, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 cup shortening, 3 1/2 cups flour,1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 1 1/2 tsp. yeast. I put this in my bread machine in the order listed. Set it on dough cycle and let it work. I love that.

Today I think we will make some cookies-chocolate chip of course. They are the girls favorite-not mine. I am not much of a chocolate person. I know that goes against all nature-for a woman to not like chocolate- but I just don’t care a lot for it. Well, we better get started on our day. Take care and God bless.

October 19, 2010 2

Soft Molasses Cookies

The girls and I made molasses cookies today. They are one of my favorites. I thought I would share the recipe I use:

1 cup butter- softened, 1 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 cup molasses, 2 eggs-slightly beaten, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 1/4 tsp. baking soda, 2 1/4 tsp. ground ginger, 1 1/4 tsp. ground cloves, 4 cups flour (I use 3 cups whole wheat and 1 cup unbleached all purpose) Combine all ingredients and drop by spoon onto cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 min. Sprinkle tops with sugar.

These cookies always make me think of fall, however it has been pretty warm here today, upper 80’s. The night temperature though has been cooling down nicely. It was mid 50’s this morning, nice sleeping weather.

Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 31, 2010 2

Blackberries

Our blackberries are doing much better than I thought they would. Today makes 3 gal. I’ve picked. YUM!

Yesterday we finished the pears. Later, we went up to the garden and SURPRISE! Lots of beans were ready. We canned 15 quarts and had enough for dinner and lunch today.

Tomorrow we will be going down to Jessica’s. Sam has a doctors appointment so the girls and I will be playing with Daniel. Jess is going to make supper for us before we come back home. Last night’s menu was fried chicken, green beans, and rice. We had cantalope and watermelon for dessert. It certainly has been hot here for the last few days. Hotter than usual I think. Oh well, fall will be here soon and everyone knows what follows fall. I think we better enjoy these hot, summer days. Cold winter days will be here before we know it.

I think the girls and I will make pizza sauce to can today from the tomatoes we picked yesterday. The recipe I use is:

1/2 cup oil, 4 med. onions chopped, 4 cloves garlic, 1/4 cup dried parsley, 1 gal. tomato juice, 2-12 oz cans tomato paste, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 tsp. oregano, salt, and basil, 2 bay leaves, 3/4 tsp. black pepper. mix all ingredients, simmer about 2 hours. Process pints 30 min on 10 lb pressure. Yields about 12 pts. I will be adding banana peppers and some hot peppers to mine today as I have quite a few of these in the garden.

I guess I better get busy with these projects. Enjoy your day and God bless.

August 11, 2010 1

Spaghetti Sauce

Our spaghetti sauce turned out really good. We got 12 qts from a half bushel of tomatoes. Today we will do the other half bushel. The recipe we used:

Scald and peel half a bushel of tomatoes (we used our food strainer instead), 6 cups chopped onions, 4 chopped green peppers, 1 clove of garlic. Cook for 1 and a half hours, stirring frequently. Add 1 pt crisco oil, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup salt, 1 tbsp oregano, 1 tbsp crushed basil leaves, 1 tbsp italian seasoning, 1 tbsp parsley, 5-12 oz cans tomato paste, 4 jalopeno peppers. Cook another 45 min stirring frequently. Put in jars. Heat lids and seals to boiling. Put lids and seals on jars. Cover jars with towel and let sit overnight.

This recipe does not call for processing as the liquid is so hot when you put it into the jars. However, if you are uncomfortable with this method you can process in a hot water bath canner or freeze the sauce.

We better get busy. Lots to do today. We need to get busy on the other spaghetti sauce and on cleaning house. The ladies will come tomorrow for bible study. Take care and God bless.

July 22, 2010 2