This is a picture that I ran across when I was looking for my diaper cake picture from a shower I attended.

This is a set up from a baby shower I helped host a couple of years ago. The guest of honor/mom-to-be sat in the blue chair, draped on it was the mom-to-be's blanket when she was a baby. To the left was a gift table and to the right a small table for the guest of honor to rest a cup of water or plate of food. Behind her, a clothes line filled with new clothes and clothes that were hers as a baby and ones that belonged to her nieces were strung across the fireplace and on the mantle was a collection of baby themed stuffed animals.

Diaper Cake

I was at a Baby Shower today and it reminded me of how cute diaper cakes are. I think they are a little work to get done, but they do add a really nice touch to the shower.

Here is a diaper cake that my friend, Veronica, made a couple of years ago.

New Cleaning Strategy: 30 min. Speed Clean

I call my brother in law, Mr. Clean. That dude can tidy up a place in a heartbeat. His mom was the queen of clean. She taught me to take blinds off your windows and dunk them in the bath tub to get them clean. Honestly, I had no idea blinds in apartments could be so dirty. They are. They may look clean, but the water I saw that day was black. Ugh.

Anyway, I dropped in on my sis the other day and she had her timer going and she was running around tidying up. She said she was "speed cleaning". Apparently they clean in 15 to 30 minute bursts, during the day. That way they aren't bored with the monotony of chores and are keeping the place in check.

I've been giving it a try. It works! Don't come to my house right now, b/c I haven't been home long enough the last 24 hours to do squat-o-la...but on days when I am around. I feel like this is a pretty worthy method of tidying up.

Um, technically I am suppose to be doing said "speed cleaning" right now, but I decided to get on the blog and tell you about it instead...so I better get back to work!

Draw your Own Placemat

Drawn by an aspiring artist. Cody, age 5.

I may have written about this before, but we were at a Kid's birthday party, where the hostess had a long role of brown paper stretched out on the table, with large rectangles drawn at each place setting.

Sitting center of the table in colorful little tin buckets, were art supplies.

Each child was given the opportunity to draw their own placemat. It was super cute!

Pretty Table

This is a table setting from my friend's engagement dinner, when the families of the Bride and Groom met each other. Dishes were turned upside down b/c the dinner was held outside!

Ronald McDonald House

Did you know that you can volunteer your time fixing meals for families that are staying at Ronald McDonald House? Did you know that you can also contribute groceries to their houses, for people that need to stay there while their child is being treated for a serious illness at a children's hospital?

Did you know that you can save the tab off the top of your soda cans, and turn the tabs into Ronald McDonald house? Then they can send the tabs to a recycling companies that will turn those tabs into $$. So, you are doing good for the environment and helping a home that offers a place to sleep/rest for families who are caring for sick kids.

I have friends that served brunch to a Ronald McDonald House about 40 minutes from my home last Saturday. They made breakfast casseroles, muffins, made to order omelets and pancakes hot off the griddle. They had so much fun cooking together and meeting the families, they are going back next month!

Bobbie's Strawberry Pie

My friend, Bobbie, sent me this recipe for strawberry pie. Can't wait to try it out!


Bobbie's Strawberry Pie
1-8oz package Cream cheese (Philly)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
Dash of nutmeg
1 cup strawberry slices
1 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
9" inch ready pie crust (easy) graham cracker taste good with this

TO MAKE:
Combine softened cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg, mix until
well blended.
Mash 3/4 cup strawberry slices; stir into the cream cheese mixture. Whip cream with the confectioners' sugar until stiff peaks forms; fold into cream cheese mixture. Fold remaining strawberries into cream cheese mixture. Spoon into crust. Chill for several hours or over night. Garnish with additional strawberries if desired.

Flowers for a Friend

Vase from the $1 store.

Flowers from my garden. Well, my four rose bushes. If you know me, you know I clearly have no idea what I am doing! :-)

Here is where this gets funny. The flowers were actually for my daughter's teacher during Teacher Appreciation week. Children were asked to bring in a flower for their teacher, and I was asked to bring the vase in for the flowers that the kids would be bringing in. So I went to Wal-mart, got a tall vase. I knew we would pick our flowers from our rose bushes, but didn't take in to account that our stems would be super short. So, said tall vase that I got, didn't work with my short stemmed roses! I felt like a real dufus. The only short vase I had was square shaped. So I had to shear my rose bushes, so to fill the vase. It turned out cute for a really big mistake.

BUT, it made other kids feel bad. Which I didn't take into account as I was shearing bushes, so that my child wouldn't get upset about her contribution to the flowers.

What does this say? To me it says, give from the heart...don't worry about what others think. But am I teaching this to my children? Something for me to think about.

More Cards!

Laura's Baby Shower

First let me say, this was sooooo much fun to plan with my other 3 co-hostesses! I have pictures, but I am having computer problems...so as soon as my computer is behaving I'll upload pictures.

We had the best, the BEST baby shower games ever. It also helps when your game leader, aka cruise ship director, is bubbling with personality!

Games
Purse Scavenger Hunt- points awarded for things like grocery store receipts, voter registration cards, ponytail holder, baby shower invite, etc.!

Baby Gift Scavenger Hunt- You are given a blank board and you predict what gifts the mom-to-be might get. She opens a gift, you check your board, first one to bingo...gets the prize!

Put a sock in it! Our game leader, Jaime, put baby socks on a safety pin, and then pinned the socks to a ribbon that was sort of a necklace. Everytime someone said baby, they lost their sock.

Baby Pictionary

Baby Songs- divide into two teams come up with songs that either had baby in the title or in the song and paired with the artist name.

I cannot take credit for any of these games! Jaime did it all and it was really fun!

Carvel Ice Cream cake was our cake. Sweet baby bear napkins and blue plates.

Rachel's 9th B-day Party

Recently, my daughter was invited to her friend, Rachel's 9th birthday party. First, I loved that they had the party in their backyard. They had a luau theme. 4 long tables decorated with luau themed decorations, bright colors. Each girl received a lei when they arrived. They played limbo. Each girl was given flip-flops to decorate and take home. They were also given tiki cups with lemonade or fruit punch. And then they were given these super cute party favors. Plastic cone shaped bags, lined with scrapbook paper, filled with layers of skittles, swedish fish and gumballs.

Really fun!

Having computer problems!

I haven't given up on the blog, just given up on my computer!

I have oodles of pictures and ideas I've gotten over the last several weeks and I can't wait to share them with you! In the mean time, please pardon my neglect of the blog. Life has been crazy, but mostly I am suffering from serious computer issues.

I'll get back to work soon! Promise!

More Cards!

Aren't they cool? My friend, Tracy, designs them and has a bunch of girls over to her house to make them. We talk, we eat and we make cards. It is great! Tracy is a Stampin' Up Representative, so if you like what you see and you are local, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with her!

Knorr's Veggie Dip

This was served as appetizer at an event I just attended. The dip was Knorr's Vegetable dip. I hear you can throw shrimp in it and it is super tasty. It was a crowd pleaser. YUM.

The hostess also had small individual sized ranch dressing cups for the kids, so they could have their "own" ranch to dip in. We didn't have to worry about double dipping. I thought that was pretty thoughtful.

I don't like it.

One time one of my children told my husband that she was having a tough time enjoying having people over to our house. I thought that was kind of funny, b/c she loves having people over. Apparently, one of her parents, I am not going to say which one, is really not very much fun to live with the day before people come over. Apparently, said parent is "grumpy and mad".

Here's the deal...she is talking about me. But in my defense, Easter weekend was quite busy. There was Easter grass from the baskets all over the floor and laundry to be done. There were Easter decorations to put away and lots of leftovers shoved in every corner of the fridge. I hadn't really had time to clean, so things were pretty untidy.

In my defense, there was a lot to do. But I don't want my child to grow up with this complex that the house has to be a certain way for people to come over or for her to abandon the whole idea of having friends over to her home, just b/c she has such bad memories of a crazed mother the day before company arrived.

I am pretty sure that we all suffer from this problem in some form or another. What do we do about it? I remember my parents fussing with us to clean when folks were coming over.

I think on a practical level...I need to give her a zone. This is her zone to clean. She just has to keep this zone of the house clean and ready and she's set. She doesn't have to worry about pitching in anywhere else. I also need to make sure I am not fussing too much. This another classic example of me making having people over about "me" and not about the company. Yes, the house needs to be tidy...but at what cost? The words that we use when we are angry/worked up/stressed/mad are far more harmful, than a guest seeing a dust ball in the corner or a scuff on the wall. Am I fussing b/c of my perfectionism or do I have a real complaint?

This is one of those things where I just have to push it on to God and say "I give up. I am perfectionist. I scrub my baseboards and fuss at my kids when someone is coming over for 3 minutes...please forgive me. Help me." Two things are bound to happen here..I am going to learn how to trust God with that crazy long clean up to do list and my kids aren't going to have to suffer with listening to mom rant about the house being clean.

Fancy Dish

This is a fancy dish that I got for Christmas. It's amazing how a display can "fancy" things up. I bought $1.50 worth of strawberries and $2.50 in grapes and put them on the dish...and it was a nice inexpensive addition to a meal with friends.

My Favorite Salad

This is my favorite salad for the moment.

Red Romaine (mostly green with a reddish/purplish tinge at the top of the leaf)
Green Pepper (Chopped)
Cherry Tomatoes
Carrots (Sliced in circles or shredded)
Crutons

Paul Newman's Italian Dressing or Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing.

Always, a hit with guests!

Cool Stuff

Place holders for the table/treats from the hostess for all the kids in attendance of the Easter lunch we went to today. The little baskets were in the $1 section at Target. Filled with a few goodies and print the name on the basket and they make really fun place holders!


Sugar Cookies from our Easter Celebration! Aren't they cool? Our friend picked them up at a local bakery.



Not a great picture. Sorry about that! The red egg shaped thingy is an egg timer. It was a stocking stuffer gift from my dad and mom in law, a few years ago. We love it at our house. Can't believe we didn't have one before. You put it and the eggs in a pot, cover with water, place on the stove and watch the timer for whether the eggs are soft, medium or hard boiled.

Easter Cupcakes

Check out these cupcakes my friend, Wendy, made for an Easter gathering we had this week. I love the petite cupcakes that were for the kids and the big cupcakes for the adults! Yummmmmm. Soooo, good.

It was super easy to arrange the cupcakes. This was my first stab at something like that. But basically I took easter basket grass, which I already had and placed it around the tray and cake stand. Bought 88 cent Peeps for accent.

My sweet grandmother, Mimi, use to have the most amazing cupcakes and cakes for Easter. She always had candy laid out for us in baskets and the cakes and cupcakes displayed so beautifully. She even had Easter Eggs that hung from her trees outside.

I hope that your family enjoys a wonderful Easter weekend. And I hope that you might know or be reminded of Jesus' love for you.

"The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said." -Matthew 28:5-6

Been On A Blogging Break

Dear Reader:

I've been on a blogging break. I've been doing all sorts of this and that. But I've really been thinking a lot about the blog and me.

In the next few weeks, I can't wait to tell you about some new recipes:

Eclair Cake
Melanie's Spinach Dip
Becky's Peanut Butter Pie (If I can get her to share the recipe with me!)
Banoffie Pie
Strawberry Cream Pie

Wait....a second!!! These are all desserts!

I've also got some pictures to share with you from some cool stuff I've been to and been doing.

And last but not least, I have stories to tell on myself. So, keep checking back!

Erin's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay, you are going to have to try this recipe!

Erin made these cookies for a PTA thing we did earlier in the school year. They were quite the hit! I promise I'll make them this weekend and post a picture. Thanks for sharing your recipe Erin!

Erin's Chocolate Chip Cookies
aka Personal favorite of the Elementary Teachers at our school!

Cream together:
2 cups shortening (if you like crispy cookies, use butter instead)
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla

Mix together:
4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda

Mix flour mixture into shortening mixture, then add 2 cups of chocolate chips and mix together. Bake at 325 for 11 minutes.

Some qutoes

I am just writing these down because, well, I loved them. I heard both of them this week.

"I really like blueberries, Kelly. Because they are very, very blue." --C.P. 3 years old

While holding a small infant...
"I think it was really kind of God to send us into this world as babies. So sweet, so gentle. What if He had sent us all in to the world as 15 year olds? Ugh. It's nice that He gave us time to be so small and loved as babies..." - Mrs. Mc

Eve Cake

Like the Eve Cake? My Husband made it. Love that guy!

And I made the cupcakes...not as cute, but what my daughter wanted.

Eve Cake cost my hubby some time, but was less than $5 to make. The cupcakes were a little more expensive...but the came out around $8 for 18. Most of the cost was the Wall-E themed cupcake wrappers and Wall-E shaped candies. It took a little time, but we managed to make plenty of cake for $13 vs. the $26 and change the grocery store wanted for the Wall-E cake.

Cleaning Shortcut

Awhile ago, my friend, Becky, told me about Scrubbing Bubbles Action Scrubbers. They come with a handle thingy and disposable sheets that velcro on to the handle thingy.

http://www.scrubbingbubbles.com/products.aspx?product=action-scrubber

Anyway, it works great! Here is what you should do. Give your shower a good scrub down like you would normally do. Then once a week or more often if you need too- just use this action scrubber thing and it makes keeping the shower clean a lot easier, faster and I am using a lot less paper towels and cleaner as a result.

I don't enjoy the fragrance of the scrubbers at all,but I love that you can use them on the handle or take the sheet thing off for cleaning too. It cleans under sliding glass shower doors really well!

Another hint: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser with Fabreeze scent--has made cleaning my baseboards/molding so much easier this spring.

I don't usually endorse cleaning products like this, but they've made my life so much easier! :-)

Key Lime Cheese Ball

Tastefully Simple's Key Lime Cheeseball is pretty good. Very easy to make. Took just a few minutes to put together. Longest part for me was the running back and forth to the grocery store b/c I picked up....REGULAR Honey Walnut Cream Cheese, instead of REGULAR plain cream cheese. I am such a dork. Anyway, it tasted really good with the green apples...would've never thought of that combo..but it was very yummy!

Pinata

Isn't it awesome? We had a great birthday party. Pink and Princess was the theme. We did some kite flying and then a pinata. Then we went inside for a light sandwich, fruit, cheese and chips. Then we had a princess cake from the local grocery store. Shaped like a castle and decorated with Disney princesses.

The pinata was really a fun part, the kids all loved it.

Waaaalllll-eeeeeeeeee

Wall-E cake from my now 4 year old's birthday party. I didn't do it! It's awesome though, isn't it? A $13 pan and hours of work! They loved my little one well. Thanks guys!

March So Far...

This is a place setting that my friend, June, set at her table. The bag is the goodie bag for the birthday girl. The theme was movies and she had a place for each of the children. The birthday girl got the celebrate plate, which is similar to The Red Plate I talked about recently. The Celebrate plate is sold by Pampered Chef.
June pulls out the plate for all of her celebrations. Cake is from Blue Moon Bakery. YUM. Chocolate, Chocolate. See the the movie themed art work?

Wasted.

"As it turns out, Americans waste an astounding amount of food — an estimated 27 percent of the food available for consumption, according to a government study — and it happens at the supermarket, in restaurants and cafeterias and in your very own kitchen. It works out to about a pound of food every day for every American."-- New York Times

Here is where you can find the article...(sorry link is still not working on my blog..you'll have to cut and paste into your browser)

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/weekinreview/18martin.html

Gives me something to think about...

Soccer Goal Safety

I know, nothing to do with hospitality. Some of you are probably rolling your eyes at me, b/c this is the 3rd time you've heard this story!

But sometimes the only way to change things....is to get the word out.

So, my daughter was hit in the head last week by a falling soccer goal. The goal was not secured to the ground. It says on the post, "to prevent serious injury, goal must be secured to ground".

She was just playing soccer on her school playground and it was a blustery day. She and a friend were under the goal, her foot got stuck in the net, they bent down to fix it, the wind knocks over the goal...it hits my 9 year old in the head and the other 9 year old in the back. Now these goals according to the manufacturer weight btwn. 200-425 lbs each..depending on the model. So it hit both of those children hard, and thank God there were two of them, b/c if it had been just one of them, I assure you the results could've been far worse b/c the force of the goal falling would have been much harder.

I did an internet search and there have been serious injuries and around 30 deaths that have occurred b/c soccer goals were not secured to the ground.

My suggestion is, 1) always check to make sure the goal is secured and can't tip over 2) make sure kids don't hang on the goals 3) don't let them play soccer with the goal if it isn't secure.

Such a Control Freak!

Seriously. I am such a control freak! Recently I was at an event that I didn't plan, and things were going awry, and I kept suggesting that we do something else. My husband had to pull me aside and remind me, that this wasn't my thing...I needed to chill and let the hostess take the lead.

I totally didn't mean any harm. I was just trying to be sensitive to others, but I probably ended up being pretty offensive and not so sensitive to my hosts.

Just a reminder, when you are in someone else's house...no matter how things are going along, it's probably best to let your hosts take the lead. It's so hard to do some times, b/c some of us, have a really hard time hosting or sometimes we have a really hard time keeping our mouths shut and following someone else's lead.

As for me, I am just a control freak and I need to get over that!

Paper Towel Challenge

I wrote earlier this year that I was going to be more eco-friendly and economically minded this year. Being a very big paper towel user, had to figure out how to cut back on that expense and waste.

So, I got a bunch of bar mops for Christmas and decided to be more diligent about wiping up messes with bar mops instead of paper towels.

I am happy to report that I am reformed! :-)

We are using less than one roll of paper towels a week. This was a big feat for me b/c we were using a lot more than that a week.

Also, on the dishwasher and clothes dryer front, we have noticed a difference in our electricity bill. I also have noticed since I've been following the directions on the packaging for washing powder/detergent...that we've not had to buy as much detergent. A lot of times we put more soap in than was really required.

Anna's Taco Dip

Ate this Taco Dip at a Baby Shower recently and my friend, Anna, sent me the recipe.

Taco Dip

1 block cream cheese - softened
Sour Cream (several dollops - I don't measure, but appox. 3/4 cup)
1 packet Taco Seasoning
8 oz. Mexican blend cheese, shredded (or cheddar)
Jar of salsa - drained

Mix cream cheese, sour cream, and taco seasoning. Spread evenly on bottom of pie plate. Drain salsa. Spread on top of cheese mixture. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Chocolate Lovers Event for Teachers

This week our PTA put on a Chocolate Lovers Event for the teachers and staff at our elementary school. It was part of our monthly Teacher Appreciation project. All the food was donated. We provided drinks and chocolate for the teachers. Then parents emailed in comments/notes of encouragement for the teachers and we put those comments on hearts and hung them up in the teacher's lounge.

We wrapped gift boxes and covered the tops with wax paper and placed all the dessert on the boxes. The idea was to not have to worry about returning a lot of dishes to parents and to make for a quick clean up. It did take awhile to set up.

The Teachers and Staff at the school really enjoyed it. Mission accomplished: they felt encouraged.

Valentine's Day Cookie

I went to a Preschool party this week. For dessert one of the parents brought these cookies. She baked a big cookie/pan cookie/cookie cake. Then took heart shaped cookie cutters and cut out the cookies. Then added a little icing.

Very cool! I didn't know you could do this. It was the perfect size for the preschoolers.

Fruit Trays

So, I can never figure out how to do a fruit tray and it not be super expensive. We had a PTA event recently and they needed a fruit tray. I usually buy my fruit trays from the grocery store, b/c they are time consuming and I can never pick out the best in season fruits.

This time I didn't have the extra money to spend, so I did my own.

$5.50 on 2 lbs of Red Seedless grapes
$1.00 on 3 tangerines/sliced and then quartered them
$1.00 on 3 oranges/sliced and then quartered them
$3.00 on 3 kiwi
_________________
$10.50 Total

I think it was a pretty good deal and the fruit was good.

Tracy's Stamping Party

Handmade cards. We used stamps. Aren't they cool?

I am a stationary addict. I spend hours in card stores looking at stationary.

This week I got an email from a new friend, Tracy, that lives in my community. She asked if I'd like to come over to her house, once a month, to hand make cards.

She designs the cards, we just come in, sit down and make them. She'll teach us if we don't know how. We have to pay $10/month in supply charges, but she does the rest. This was a win-win situation for me. I like crafty things, it was a good chance for me to meet other women in my area, and I didn't have to design the card or buy any "expensive starter kit" to get going. I just had to show up.

It was fun! Tracy had yummy snacks, music in the background and there was a bunch of good conversation. I met women from all over the United States and at different stages in life. Some worked outside of the home, some didn't. It was just good to hang out.

Tracy's stumbled on to a good idea...have your friends over, share something you love to do with them and just relax.

A Coupon Hero

There is a woman in Iowa, Kay MacVey, who clips coupons for military personnel and then ships the coupons to them worldwide. I read about her in the American Profile in our local paper. She has a goal of saving our men and women in uniform over 1 million dollars.

I clip coupons every week, and I am sure that I save enough money each week to pay for a stamp to send the coupons I don't use to Mrs. MacVey.

Here is her address:
Kay MacVey
3419 Polaris Dr.
Ames, Iowa 50010

I don't think you even have to clip them, you can just send the stack of coupons in your paper to her and she has people that are her "clippers". If you are local to me, and would like to just hand your coupons to me, I'll mail them for you. :-)

Chili Recipe

Please forgive my photography! We always serve chili with rice around our house. It stretches the chili out so it serves us longer.

Okay, so I adapted a recipe out of Cooking Light Magazine. Honestly, it is pretty good. It tastes better the 2nd day after it has been sitting in the fridge, freezes well too and tastes even better after it has been frozen.

Here goes:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 pkg. Turkey Sausage (don't get Polly-O stuff is gross)
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1 pound lean ground beef
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 Tbs. brown sugar
1 Tbs. ground cumin
3 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
2 bay leaves
2 (28 oz.) cans whole tomatoes, undrained, coursely chopped
2 cans (15oz) red kidney beans, drained (I like Bush's brand)
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Remove casings from turkey sausage.
Chop your veggies
Measure out all your spices/seasonings.
Drain your kidney beans.
Open your tomato cans
Be careful when you add the tomato paste and seasonings cause it'll burn!

Here goes:
Heat large pot over medium high heat. This is when I add a little olive oil. Add sausage, onion, bell pepper, garlic, sirloin, jalapeno pepper to your pot cook around 8 minutes or until sausage and beef are browned. It makes your house smell fantastic. Add Chili powder, brown sugar cumin, tomato paste, oregano, black pepper, salt, and bay leaves. Stir quickly add tomatoes and beans. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. Uncover and cook for 30 more minutes. Take out bay leaves. Sprinkle each serving of chili with cheddar cheese.

I Burned the Toast

I have a bunch of stuff to write on the blog. It's just been wild and crazy the last few weeks.

I really did burn toast. I often wondered how people can burn toast, and then it happened to me. I did such a good job, I set off all the smoke detectors in my house, so I had to open my doors and let the freezing cold air in and the smoke out. Then, b/c of where my house is situated in our neighborhood you could hear the smoke detector sound echoing through the neighborhood.

My husband was laughing b/c as he sat on the couch, he thought it was hilarious that I had burned the toast and then in my madness to get all the smoke out of the house, I started to burn my spaghetti sauce. And I guess I was just hysterically funny as I ran around trying "to fix" it all.

I was just a big 'ole mess.

But I do have some recipes to share with you and a few ideas on how to encourage the teachers at your child's school OR your co-workers. Pretty inexpensively too. :-)

So, I'll try to post later today!

The Red Plate

I heard about these plates "You are Special/The Red Plate" a few years ago. You use them on special days to recognize someone in your family. A mother of 3 teenage girls told me, she the red plate when raising her girls. She pulled it out on their birthdays, days when someone had reached an exciting goal or was recognized for something and then on days when she felt like one of her girls (or her husband) really needed some encouragement. That family also tied the tradition of everyone going around the table saying something special about the person who had the red plate. One day this mom was having a bad day, one of her girls was slated to set the table, she started to serve dinner only to find, that there was the red plate sitting in Mom's spot at the dinner table. Then everyone in her family went around and said how much they loved their Mama. It meant so much to her that her children would love her that way. She cried and has always remembered their loving words.

Here is our first use of the red plate. We used it to serve my husband breakfast on his birthday. Thanks to my sis-in-law, CB, who gave it to me. I've always wanted one! I've had friends that used the "red plate" or they went to a paint your own pottery place and made their own. There is a pen that comes with the red plate that allows me to document when we used the plate.

Brown Stew

We absolutely love this recipe. My mom-in-law gave this recipe to me.

Brown Stew
2 pounds beef chuck, cut in to 1 inch cubes
2 tbs. olive oil
4 cups boiling water
1 tbs lemon juice
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 glove of garlic
1 medium onion, sliced
1 bay leave
1 tbs. salt (seems like a lot!)
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. paprika
Dash of allspice

6 carrots, quartered
1 pound small white onions (optional- I don't do it)
2 cups cubed potatoes

I always measure out all the spices first and put them in a prep. bowl. Things get to moving kind of fast once the stew gets going. Pick a big soup pan do cook this in. In another saucepan boil your water. Brown meat in Soup pan, add boiling water. Add all ingredients through allspice. Cover, simmer 2 hours; stir occasionally. After 2 hours remove bay leave and garlic.

Add carrots, potatoes. Cover continue cooking 30 minutes or until vegetables are done.

Slightly off topic...but worth it!

Okay, so my husband says that I cannot post about this, b/c it has nothing to do with hospitality. I say this is my blog....I can do whatever I want.

Today I had the day off and a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory.

Never had their cheesecake before, but I talked my husband into a piece. It's $8.99, but worth every penny.

The 30th Anniversary Cheesecake.

It's got plain cheese cake and chocolate. Look, there are just days when you need cheesecake. I am thinking that even though I haven't made it to tomorrow, I may need another piece! :0) Just kidding. It was great though!

Be sure to share with someone else b/c the piece is huge. We weren't crazy about the dollop of frosting on top, but hey what are kids for...give them the frosting you eat the cheesecake!

Soup and Sandwich Dishes

Check out these dishes I got as a wedding gift.

Soup n Sandwich plate.

Isn't it cool? There is a place to put the bowl so it doesn't slide around.

It's a great gift idea!

New Soup

Trader Joes has a tomato and roasted pepper soup that part of my family is really enjoying. It's organic. Pretty healthy tasting.

My husband and father in law like to eat it with a sandwich and some fruit.

Give it a try! But be sure you shake the carton, all the good stuff is on the bottom!

Random, but funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83JDXXKzOXg

You have to go to the the You Tube video above. The link on Blogger doesn't work. I tried to get to work several times but it won't. So sorry you have to copy and paste the address in.

But I promise I laughed until I cried.

Check it out.

Something to laugh about on this cold NC evening.

Money and Energy Saving Tips

So, I have a recipe I hope to publish on the blog later today. So, come back and visit!

In the mean time:

I just read energy saving tips on our Electric Company's website. It says most of the cost of drying your clothes, comes from the the heating element/coil in the dryer having to heat up. So, it says keep a continuous cycle of clothes drying going, so the heating element doesn't have to heat up over and over again. So I've switched doing doing laundry on certain days, instead of everyday, in order to save money and energy. It's actually worked out well. I am also hanging up more and more of my clothes to air dry. I've been doing this with my daughter's jeans and I promise she's been getting a lot more wear out of them.

I've been cooking a lot of chili, soups and spaghetti sauces. I have decided as long as the stove is on and the kitchen's a mess, might as well spend a bunch of time cooking and preparing stuff to freeze, to save time and energy later.

I requested a bunch of bar towels/mops for my kitchen, in an effort to save paper towels. That has also worked nicely.

I got a a Brita Ultra Water Pitcher/Filter system for my fridge. It has already saved us a bunch of money from having to buy bottled water. Bottled water was a must in our house, since I have a sensitivity to our town water.

I turned the drying cycle off on my dishwaster. Who cares about a few water spots? And the plastic never dried anyway, so just opening up the washer at the end of the cycle and letting it air dry, is making a difference.

Now if I could just convince my three year old to stop turning on all the lights.

The First Meal I Cooked and Delivered.

Stress. I still feel stress when I think about the first meal I volunteered to bring over to a family with a new baby.

Good grief.

Okay, let me tell you all the things I did wrong. First, I decided to cook a recipe that I'd never made before. Keep in mind, that I barely cooked to begin with and I decided to make a gourmet roast chicken. Also keep in mind that I still had a baby at my house, so this was an ambitious project for me. Also, it was an expensive recipe to make.

So that's all the things I did wrong. The meal was late, I was a wreck. I am pretty sure I neglected my own kid trying to get it ready.

Why do we feel the need to impress people? It just ridiculous. When I realized that I was in over my head, I should've called the family and said...your dinner didn't come out the way I planned for it to. Could I please bring you guys your favorite take out? Chinese, Pizza, or curbside service from a restaurant?

Sometimes it is just best to realize we have limitations. When you are doing something for someone else, and you try to go over the top, you have to realize that you may be missing the whole point of caring for the other person/family. It's not about how well it came out. It is about helping when there was a need.

This particular time in my life is just another example about how I made showing hospitality/helping others about me and not about those I was trying to help.

Having been on the receiving end of meals after a baby was born, it's just nice not to have to think about what to cook. Your tired, emotionally exhausted and hungry...it's just good to have someone bring food and put it in front of you.

Gourmet Roast Chicken...what a nuthead I was. Seriously. I barely knew how to use my gas oven! I didn't even know what a roasting pan was. I was a mess!

Strawberry Bread

My poor neglected little blog!

Check out this recipe that I got from from Martha Phelps Stamps The New Southern Basics Cookbook.

The bread is gooey. My husband likes it okay. My old College roomie, makes it all the time and loves it. So it will either be a hit or miss with you.

Strawberry Bread

(This will make 2 loaves of bread)

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
4 eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 cup strawberry jam
1 cup chopped walnuts (I think nuts are a waste..but you do what you want)
1/2 cup sour cream


Preheat Oven to 325 Degrees

Prepare loaf pans (grease and flour)

Cream together butter, sugar and lemon juice. Add eggs and beat. In another bowl, sift together flour, salt and baking soda and then mix into butter/sugar mixture. Mix together in another bowl, jam, nuts (optional) and sour cream. Fold into batter. Pour the batter into the loaf bans, bake for "around" an hour. Sorry there is not a precise time to this one. Keep your eye on it! Cool in pans for 10 minutes before placing on the baking rack.

This bread is good toasted as well.

A New Year!

=
More fondue! This is on the list of to-dos for 2009. It's so much fun to share with friends and it can be inexpensive, IF you plan it right.

Also on my list of to-dos for 2009, learn to make soups and to use my crock pot. I have only used my crock pot maybe 5 times.

On my list is eat my fruit and Veggies. Below--Isn't this a cute orange sunshine my 8 year old made for a brunch we went to?




Happy New Year!