Sunday, April 11, 2010

Words to Live By

mom holding child 2

All children need a laptop.  Not a computer, but a human laptop. Moms, dads, grannies and grandpas, aunts, uncles - someone to hold them, read to them, teach them.  Loved ones who will embrace them and pass on the experience, rituals and knowledge of a hundred generations.  Loved ones who will pass to the next generation their expectations of them, their hopes, and their dreams.

                                                                         --  General Colin Powell

 picture credit

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Strawberry Cream Crepes

Strawberry Cream Crepes

Back in high school, I took a gourmet cooking class -- funnest class ever! I still  make some of the recipes from that class; here's one of them...

Perfect for Spring. Perfect for strawberry season. Perfect for breakfast or a fancy dessert! This is an easy recipe that gets me lots of 'yums!'

Enjoy.

 

Strawberry Cream Crepes


12 crepes

2 pints sliced strawberries

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1   3 oz. package of cream cheese

1 cup whipping cream

sugar to taste


Prepare crepes using your favorite recipe. Toss the strawberries with the 1/4 cup of sugar and set aside. With a hand mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Slowly beat in whipping cream until smooth and thick, but not stiff. Add sugar to desired sweetness.

Place a some cream in each crepe and roll up. Chill. Serve strawberries over the crepes.

Hints:

♦  I double this recipe, especially if company's coming over.

♦ Use a *hand* mixer, not a stand mixer for this recipe.

♦  Sometimes we like strawberries inside the crepes, too.

♦  I've seen this recipe done with chocolate crepes. Oo-la-la! Try it!

picture credit

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Words to Live By

resurrection morning

He is Risen!


Mr. H's favorite picture of the Savior...
thinking of our friend Jason today...
feeling very blessed...
Happy Easter.

Friday, April 2, 2010

A New House

Its a Wonderful  Life Housewarming gift basket

No, not for me! For my sweet brother and his wife. These two have been through hell for the last few years, and today they move into their own home and get a little heaven! I am so happy for them!! These two are my heroes. I hope I can be like them when I grow up.

Here's a little housewarming gift basket I put together for them: it's based on the house blessing from "It's a Wonderful Life".  (you know I *love* that movie!) Do you remember that scene where George and Mary Bailey welcome Mr. Martini and family to their new home?

Mary: Bread... that this house may never know hunger.
[Mary hands a loaf of bread to Mrs. Martini]
Mary: Salt... that life may always have flavor.
[Mary hands a box of salt to Mrs. Martini]
George Bailey: And wine... that joy and prosperity may reign forever. Enter the Martini Castle.
[George hands Mr. Martini a bottle of wine]

Bread Salt and Wine

Here's what's in the basket:

  • ♥  salt, yummy specialty bread, and wine Sparkling Grape Juice (no one in my family drinks alcohol)
  • ♥  tags with Mary's house blessing attached to each item
  • ♥  a housewarming card

A housewarming gift basket -- simple and inexpensive -- but full of love and happiness for these two wonderful people! I love it when good things happen to good people. Bliss!

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

March!

soldiersmarchingclipart_lgThe month of March sure lived up to its name for me -- it's been a crazy month! The to-do list getting longer, and the calendar filling up until I was crying 'uncle', but no -- the days "marched" on!

With a lot of help, I pulled off a big event for the women in our church, but, oh my goodness, there was so much to do! This new church job is keeping me pretty busy from day to day.

I also got our Sweet Girl registered for her (gulp) junior year of high school, and Mr. H and I have attended her winter guard performances on the weekends. She is thriving -- we are *so happy* to see her strong and healthy and active. Hallelujah! :-)

Mr. H finished up his "bird in the hand" 6 week contract, but not before another 10-month contract came along. So, for a couple of weeks he was working two jobs, and I never saw him! (I know -- feast or famine, right?) He's done with that now, and back on an 8-5 schedule. He's got a bit of a commute. Oh well. We are beyond thrilled that he has some work. Hopefully this contract will get us through to the time when the job market is stronger...

Please don't think badly of me when I say I've felt a little down since he started working this longer temp contract -- there is a part of me that is so weary of just surviving and just wants a "real" job and real security (is that even possible anymore?).  Health benefits that actually benefit my family. Is this too much to ask? Although I am *thrilled* he is working, I guess I wanted a "finish line" at the end of this trial. Kind of a "you made it through, against all odds, and here is the payoff -- a permanent job with benefits"! **Trrrrr-ing** (that would be a magic wand sound-effect)

The reality is that we are going to have to sacrifice, be disciplined and work hard to recover financially from these unemployment/underemployment times, not something a weary person especially wanted to hear. So I had a little pity party.

That didn't get me anywhere, so after a bit, I picked myself up, dusted myself off and had a good talk with Mr. H. We can't control much in the job market, in the world, or in Washington -- but we DO have control over our household and our little kingdom. That is a good thing. We are healthy, and have the strength and power to change things. Those are blessings -- not to be wasted.

So we cracked open our Dave Ramsey books (loooooove him!) and made plans and became proactive.  Boy, it feels good! They are all just baby-steps, but they. are. steps. Couple this with my firm belief -- that you do all you can on your end, and the Lord will bless you -- and I know life will improve, and get better and better. It's not perfect. (I doubt it ever will be, even with a fortune at our feet!)  But it's better already.

Baby-steps! March!

picture credit

Friday, February 19, 2010

Cozy

february snowflakes 

Outside. 

me love cocoa

Inside.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

A Table for my Valentines

Valentine table setting

I didn't do a whole lot of decorating 'round the house for Valentine's Day this year, but to ignore the holiday completely at our house, would be a cardinal sin to at least one of our family members! Valentine's Day is the #1 holiday to our Sweet Girl. She's loved it her whole life. Look -- she even has valentine PJ's! :-)

Valentine jammies

Since the kitchen is truly the heart of my home -- we travel through it when we come home, and you can see the table from the front door -- decorating our table with a valentine theme was the perfect idea. I 'shopped the house', and came up with some sweet ideas. Here's what I used:

Valentine place setting-1

My trusty red tablecloth. He's the star at Christmas *and* Valentines. I try to buy a color of tablecloth I can use for multiple holidays.

Lacy placemats.  Can you believe they're vinyl? Easy-peasy to clean. Love it. Again, these are used for multiple holidays. I pull these out for Mother's Day, Easter, Spring dinners, etc.

Red heart plates from Target. ($2.99? Be still my heart!)

Aww, that looks like a valentine right there! But I added just a couple more touches to the table...

Valentine colors in apothecary jars. No budget for filling these babies to the brim with candy. (Although I love that look) Pretty tissue paper provided lots of fun valentine color for free!

Valentine jars 

A personal touch.  My favorite. A Valentine picture drawn by our daughter when she was five added such a sweet touch to the table and paid homage to our Valentine fangirl!

 Valentine art

There you have it. A table for my valentines...