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Enjoying

A little bit late today...

I'm enjoying...

making one of my family's favorite dishes: picadillo...

catching my husband contemplating life (or else figuring out how much farther we need to walk on the trail!)...

taking a walk on a bright sunny day...

getting in the mood to bake all last Saturday (most of what you see was eaten in less than 1 week!)...

loving my fig variation of Heather's vegan apricot raisin bars**...

catching a glimpse of a young bunny venturing too close to the house...

soaking beans overnight (and realizing that I stuffed too many in the jar!)...

being blinded by the colors of a carrot, beet & red cabbage salad...

repeating the above with the colors of new sneakers...

thinking that the zucchini on a bed of swiss chard looked great, but tasted sort of bitter (not sure why but will try again...I'm sure it's not the recipe, but the cook)...

finishing a knitting project...

 

** I can't give you Heather's recipe but this recipe is sort of like them with quanitites changed, minus the whole apricots, and substitutions made for making it vegan, but you can get the idea.

Enjoying

Good Morning, Monday!
Still not quite ready for you.

I'm enjoying...

Gazing at the blue delphiniums that need to be planted (but not in this heat)...

Smelling the fragrance of new lavender (still in its container for the same reason)...

Making Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins (daughter is making!)...

Watching the family set up the gazebo-like tent for the graduation party (in 90+ degree weather)...

Thankful for air conditioning to cool things down...

Using decorations that we had on hand instead of buying new...

Thankful for friends and family who joined us for the celebration...

Watching our guests enjoy the spread (glad that two days of cooking and prepping paid off)...

Glad, too, that husband's co-workers enjoyed many many many many leftovers...

Happy for not having to cook for half a week after the party...

Watching my son grow up before my eyes...

Watching my daughter too**...

Thankful to the Lord that 2 of our 4 homeschoolers have journeyed all the way through and are now highschool graduates.

 

What are you enjoying today?  

 

** my daughter's "hair and makeup wasn't ready" to take her picture with her board of photos...

Enjoying

Hello, Monday!
A busy few weeks these past weeks.
This week will be no different.

I'm enjoying...

Loving how the Cranberry Orange bread loaves makes the house smell sweet and fruity.  Recipe from good old Betty...

Gazing at a new bunch of lilacs and wishing they'd last longer...

Thankful for some quick lunches (a before and after shot)...

Grateful to my two younger boys for sweeping and applying a little elbow grease to our long-neglected back deck...

Watching my youngest prep his pinewood derby car and realizing too late that only a little dab of gorilla glue will do...(notice how it foamed up...we had to scrape off the excess with an x-acto blade after it dried and repaint the whole thing...I think it's saved in time for the coming event)...

Appreciating the old adage, "necessity is the mother of invention" with a quick lunch of leftovers and some curried chickpeas and tomatoes.  Notice the vegan plate** (kale chips, kale & quinoa salad, broccoletti and chickpea dish)...I'm getting my kids (and husband) ready for a month of vegan eating...Actually, it won't be that difficult since we eat a lot of meatless things anyway.  I guess the hard part is the month without cheese and dairy and eggs and ... but then, Heather did say, I could change up her course to fit our family... we'll see...

** what you don't see is that we also had some mozzarella balls (a.k.a. monsteralla as my youngest refers to them) and some leftover chicken for Sunday lunch

What are you enjoying this week?

Baking: Raspberry Coffeecake

It's been awhile since I shared any type of cooking/baking recipe.  We have been eating all this time, and I've been cooking up a storm, but mainly it's been for all those judges I needed and still need to feed (another tournament is next week...feels like I just now recoverd from the previous workout). 

Raspberry coffee cake.  It's a variation based on our favorite Blueberry coffee cake recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini.  On Saturday when I pulled out all my ingredients, I found that I had no vanilla in the house...none!  So I subsituted almond extract instead.  We all thought it was tasty, but have to agree that blueberry is the preferred berry in this recipe. 

Enjoying

Good morning, Monday!

Another new week given.  How will we use it?

I'm enjoying...

Gazing at some simple store-bought flowers and thankful that something so simple can bring much joy...

Using my cuppow for iced coffee...

Attempting to feed some ducks who were not overly interested in eating...

Sauteeing baby kale with olive oil and garlic and watching that huge bunch wilt into a small pile!  Recipe from the back of the package (found HUGE bag of baby kale at Costco...love it)...

Being surprised by a kite and making note to myself to take our kite next time...

Baking 2 gallons of granola...getting ready for the next tournament...anyone want to come & judge?

Discovering a new shirt pattern and hoping to try it out soon along with a myriad of other sewing projects...

Thankful that some ribbon from my stash easily dressed up a few Easter treats...

Thankful too, for our Risen Christ!  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. ~ Matthew 28:6

Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake with Variations

Happy March! 
A nice month, indeed! 
Lots of birthdays and the beginning of spring...

Kristen from Wishing for Pine Needles had spotted this recipe on Pinterest which by the way sort or reminds me of that old commercial for shampoo.  (Pinterest, not the recipe) Can't remember the name of the product, but the ad went something like, "and they told two friends and they told two friends and they told two friends" and so forth and so on...

Anyway, I don't know if it was a good thing that Kristen spotted it, made it and shared a few slices with us, but I went home that same day, looked it up on Pinterest and made the recipe too. 

I doubled it like she did and had to add in extra baking time.  It is not overly sweet and has a touch of sugar on the top which also looks pretty.  It has buttermilk in it instead of sour cream.  Well...the blueberry coffeecake lasted only 2 days in our house!  So of course, I had to make more... but with variations...

We tried a pineapple & orange combo.  I sprinkled brown sugar on the top of this one. It was just 'okay'...

...and a raspberry lemon variation.  This one was better.  Both were just a tad dry, as was the original one.  All three are more 'cakey'.  The texture reminds me of a scone.  Truly, I think that the blueberry one was better...so far.

Perhaps something with apple & cinnamon or chocolate? That would be good.  Hmm...actually I think I'll stop making anymore right now so  I don't end up eating too much of it  my kids don't eat too much of it.

Enjoying

Happy Monday! 
I'm enjoying...

giggling at my youngest's artistic rendering of my husband...a pretty good likeness I think except my husband does not own a pair of pink pants...

watching new bathroom tile being laid down (did I use lay/lie correctly?  hmm...)

baking a triple batch of banana chocolate bread (and ending up with 4 loaves instead of 3 - good thing!)...

finding it amazing how grown-up my two older ones are...

enjoying my daughter's new haircut and enjoying that's she's liking it now (no more tears)...

squeezing in a little bit of practical sewing...

wishing the bouquet of white tulips and hydrangea lasted a little while longer (leftovers from Valentine's day)...

loving how my two younger boys work well together...mostly...

happy for a new book in the mail and hoping to make more sewing time soon...

thankful to God for a new week ahead...

 

What are you enjoying?

Enjoying

Happy Last Monday of January...
Hope your time over the weekend was restful and fruitful.
Right now I'm enjoying...

Realizing how deeply we all love good bread around here (no, I did not make it).

Watching my son make chocolate peanut butter balls all  by  himself...and share them with someone who's going through a rough time recently. (they're called 'buckeyes' ~ never knew what a buckeye was until a few years ago)

Loving the mystery of fog that crept into our neighborhood within a few hours. It always reminds me of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Happy that my children love a good game...this time, Telestrations and getting lots of laughs from it.

Baking Pumpkin Oatmeal Bake after reading about it on Ginny's blog. 

Finishing all 3 mini quilts (will show later this week).

Beginning to pick out fabrics for Randi's Fresh Squeezed upcoming Sew Along...what serendipity...my ironing board cover is...ahem...ugly and needs to be covered. 

Being thankful for another family meal spent together after listening to God's word preached.  What a blessing, indeed!

What are you enjoying?

 

 

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Saw the recipe on Pinterest and repinned it.
Its heady scent filling the house: lots of cinnamon and too much nutmeg.
Monkey bread in a different form.
Doubled the recipe.
I told them to wait. 
Let it cool down just a bit.
Boys! 
Feigning self-control.
Gone... just like that.

Enjoying

Happy Monday morning!
We had a busy weekend.
Good, but busy.
Enjoying (a tad later than usual this morning)...

slow-roasting pork for the men in my family so that they'd have something to eat while I was absent...

spending a good portion of the weekend at a women's retreat, studying God's word, praying together, sharing and encouaging each other, being challenged to grow and blossom...

leaving the nice warm hotel to be greeted with an ice-encased vehicle...

learning to pour warm water (never hot I was informed) around the doorframe so car doors will open and scraping for what seemed like an hour (or more)...

thankful for no slipping or sliding on the drive home...

being greeted by my men and a clean(er) house.  Yeah!  (Can you hear that really big shout of yeah!?)...

baking Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies again...

finishing (minus the edging) one baby blanket...

making a pungent Chermoula (Moroccan green sauce) from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and loving its spicyness...

hoping to have gotten more items done and ready for the new week...

being reminded that those things can wait...

playing instead, another new game with the family: Settlers of Catan (with extension) for hours...

happy that a fresh cup of coffee and a bit of knitting is a must while playing...

winning the game without fully realizing it (he he he)...

 

What are YOU enjoying?