I told Hubby about 2 weeks ago that I would really like to have a poinsettia. I think they are so pretty and make everything look so festive. It was simply a statement, not a demand and something I never gave any more thought to. Yesterday, Hubby came through the door with, yep, you guessed it, a poinsettia. I thought it was probably one of the most thoughtful things he's done for me in a very long time. Sometimes he just amazes me. The thought was more important to me than the plant, that's for sure. He remembered, and he didn't have to get me one either but, he remembered . . . and he did get me one!!! He could have handed me half the world on a platter and it wouldn't have meant as much to me as him remembering that I wanted a poinsettia. Strange how the heart works, isn't it, but he has melted mine - time and time again.
I tried a new recipe today and oh my . . . it was a killer!! Apple Crisp Baked Brie is way at the top of my list of yummy things to indulge. Oooey, gooey warm and cheesy, sweet goodness . . . but not too sweet! Oh, it's just wonderful. I'll put the recipe on my Recipes page. It's easy, fairly inexpensive and for an eye-catching appetizer tremendously satisfying.
I told Hubby about 2 weeks ago that I would really like to have a poinsettia. I think they are so pretty and make everything look so festive. It was simply a statement, not a demand and something I never gave any more thought to. Yesterday, Hubby came through the door with, yep, you guessed it, a poinsettia. I thought it was probably one of the most thoughtful things he's done for me in a very long time. Sometimes he just amazes me. The thought was more important to me than the plant, that's for sure. He remembered, and he didn't have to get me one either but, he remembered . . . and he did get me one!!! He could have handed me half the world on a platter and it wouldn't have meant as much to me as him remembering that I wanted a poinsettia. Strange how the heart works, isn't it, but he has melted mine - time and time again.
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I had a meltdown yesterday evening. I had been cooking and cleaning all day and yes, I was sort of cranky but happy. I had just made the crust for the Herbed Cheesecake (the last thing of the evening), pressed it into the pan like the instructions read, had baked it to perfection, pulled it out and the bottom of the pan fell out of the ring onto the counter. I suppose - better on the counter than on the floor, huh? I could not believe my eyes!! I yelled like a banshee!! There was my beautiful cheesecake crust cracked and crumbled. I put the ring very gently back on and pressed the crust into a somewhat-correct shape again, put foil all around and under the pan, went ahead and made the filling, poured it in and baked it anyway. A "younger" me, a more immature, impatient me, would have broken down in tears and gave up; but the older me says, ain't no way I'm wasting all this good crust and time. It turned out looking great and you'd never know the crust was cracked and broken . . . but I know and I'm still fuming. Guess what's on my list to buy at the store after Christmas?? I got up this morning and made a Sausage and Egg Casserole. It will sit in the frig overnight and then I can either bake it tomorrow or freeze it for later. Hmmmmm! What to do! Check out my Recipes page for the Herbed Cheesecake recipe. Oh my gosh, I just don't think you can go wrong with this recipe! By!
Late last night I made up a few Sleep Pillows for some friends. First, I mixed together some of the herbs normally used for sleep, then added a little extra lavender essential oil and sealed a container for about a week. Then last night, I took some old leftover material, cut out rectangles and sewed the pillows up. I filled them and they smelled heavenly. If you are using an herb that is really stiff or extra crunchy a lot of times you can put soft filling in and then put the herbs in between the two layers of filling but the herbs I put inside the pillows will be fine. Then instruct whomever you are giving the pillows, to slip them inside the pillowcase of the pillow they normally lay their head. I used herbs that would not only help you sleep but that are used for dreams. I put them in baggies so they would retain their scent and . . . that's all there is to it!! Last night I also made some Cranberry Walnut Biscotti. Ooooh, these are decadent bites of goodness, especially if you love chocolate. Folks, I have a very busy day today and I've got to get busy. I'm doing laundry, cleaning house, making Zucchini Bread and baking an Herbed Cheesecake so I'd better get on it. Today I'm posting early and I'll talk to you tomorrow. Christmas is right around the corner!!!!!
I did the grocery shopping early. I usually do it once a month on a Wednesday but I'm going to start shopping on Tuesdays from now on. One of the grocery stores here in our community sells the absolute best meat, but even better, on Tuesdays I can get a 10% discount on my groceries because I'm a . . . dare I actually admit to it . . . no . . . maybe not . . . I do hate labels . . . but no I am what I am . . . a "Senior Citizen"!!! There it's out!! I said it!!! Yuk!!! I'm not sure I like the sound of those words, but I do like 10%!!! I really lucked out today too. This particular store had amazing deals!! Needless to say, I came home a happy girl!
Hubby and I had a late lunch and I got to work. Today I made biscotti. Biscotti is one of my most favorite cookie. Ever since I tasted my first one, dipped in hot tea, I've been hooked. I also baked some chocolate almond spiral cookies and they turned out pretty good. I'd never made them before. They are pretty tasty! In the midst of all the baking I went out to the chicken house and collected 5 eggs. It's simply wonderful to have your own fresh eggs to bake with. After I came back in the house, I grabbed a quart of vegetable soup and that's what hubby and I had for supper. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have canned vegetable soup and have it ready and waiting in my pantry. Whenever I have days like this and I'm so busy it's a really nice break for me. So it's back to baking more biscotti. You really should try baking some yourself. They are so yummy! Hello!! This morning, when I went out to feed the animals, the sounds were exactly what you hear in the Spring!! It must be the unseasonably mild weather we're having right now for the birds were singing like crazy. It was amazing to hear. As I was walking out to the barn I noticed Missi taking her stance and facing the garden. When she takes that stiff, 4-legged look and doesn't move her head I know she's heard or spied something . . . and sure enough the deer were munching down on our hillside but when I startled them they all scattered. Makes for an unbelievably joyous morning!!
The wedding yesterday was beautiful. I was supposed to be at the reception hall to make sure it was open by 5:00 p.m. for appetizers and then the meal was to be served later. Hubby and I left the wedding immediately after and went home so I could put on flats and we could pick up ice and a few other items for the bride's mother and went ahead on over to the reception hall to turn on lights, make coffee and get things out ahead of time. I nearly died when we pulled in the parking lot of the reception hall and there were already 10 vehicles sitting there waiting to get in and it was just 4:00 p.m. I'm one of those organize freaks and I thought I was going to "stroke out" but hey, what are you going to do? So I opened the doors and put a lot of the women to work. I had one turn lights on, a couple of them light candles and others put out the food. I was nervous trying to give direction since I was winging it anyway; but it all worked out, things went smoothly and we served appetizers at 5:00 p.m. right on schedule!! Sometimes you just have to suck it up and roll!! By the way, the bride was gorgeous and the groom was noticeably in love. May they live "Happily Ever After". I made Creamy Caramels today and they were a total and complete failure. Needless to say, it just made me sick. I also made Lemon Rosemary Cookies and Spicy Sugared Nuts. These both turned out pretty good. The cookies are not terribly sweet and are more like a shortbread cookie. These are something you would eat with a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate. Not a "wow" cookie but a nice little sweet bite that could also go well with a bowl of ice cream. The Spicy Sugared Nuts? EVERYBODY makes these!! Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without them. We had a great time at the church dinner. We ate til we couldn't eat anymore, talked and laughed and enjoyed the moment. I will say we were relentless with our teasing one gentleman at the table. He brought 3 desserts back to the table and trust me, he will NEVER live it down!!
--------------- Today I'm going to pick up the wedding cake and deliver it to the reception hall, busy myself for a little while while the lady puts it together and then back home to jump into my clothes and head to the wedding. Then later hubby and I will go back to the reception hall, open it up and do a few final tweaks before the guests arrive. I'll tell you all about it on Monday. Sunday we have another dinner. Hubby's work is taking all the employees out to supper Sunday evening. This holiday season is tearing my scale up. I had started to see a slight downturn and now I'm noticing an ever-so-slight rise of the little black needle. Ah, 'tis the season!! -------------------------------- Cake is delivered and I'm back home. Time to get all dressed up. My most favorite thing to do in the world. I don't get this opportunity all that often so I'd better get to it!! It takes a wee bit longer now that I'm older. Have a nice Sunday. I think I made everyone happy this morning! Hubby got warm oats before he went to work, the horses got an apple each and the chickens got a big pan of warm oats to eat. Brrrrr, it was cold and I was in the mood to baby all the animals. Hubby gave Sam, our dog, canned dog food instead of the dry stuff and all the babies were fed. Now I'm off to help decorate the hall for the wedding reception.
---------------------------- Well, I'm back and grabbed a bite. I went out, got the chicken eggs and came back into the house to try and look presentable for our church Christmas Dinner this evening. I've been looking through all my decorations for a particular item. Ah!! There it is - my Christmas Spider. THE LEGEND OF THE CHRISTMAS SPIDER (A folk legend from Germany and the Ukraine) Once upon a time, long ago, a gentle mother was busily cleaning the house for the most wonderful day of the year.... The day on which the Christ child came to bless the house. Not a speck of dust was left. Even the spiders had been banished from their cozy corner in the ceiling to avoid the housewife's busy cleaning. They finally fled to the farthest corner of the attic. T'was the Christmas eve at last! The tree was decorated and waiting for the children to see it. But the poor spiders were frantic, for they could not see the tree, nor be present for the Christ child's visit. But the oldest and wisest spider suggested that perhaps they could peep through the crack in the door to see him. Silently they crept out of their attic, down the stairs, and across the floor to wait in the crack in the threshold. Suddenly, the door opened a wee bit and quickly the spiders scurried into the room. They must see the tree closely, since their eyes weren't accustomed to the brightness of the room... so they crept all over the tree, up and down, over every branch and twig and saw every one of the pretty things. At last they satisfied themselves completely of the Christmas tree beauty. But alas!! Everywhere they went they had left their webs, and when the little Christ child came to bless the house he was dismayed. He loved the little spiders, for they were God's creatures too, but he knew the mother, who had trimmed the tree for the little children, wouldn't feel the same, so He touched the webs and they all turned to sparkling, shimmering, silver and gold! Ever since that time, we have hung tinsel on our Christmas trees, and according to the legend, it has been a custom to include a spider among the decorations on the tree. I know it's silly but kind of sweet too, huh? It's nice out this morning . . . not nice as in sunshine and roses but nice as in mild and fresh. It made me feel like rambling through the woods, which is exactly what I did. I am preparing mini-cheesecakes for the wedding today but the cream cheese has to soften, the house is already clean, so much of the morning was mine - all mine!!! I love walking in the woods and when I came back to the house I was ready to tackle anything.
I prepared mini-cheesecakes all day. It's not that it was difficult or mind-bending, it was just time consuming. I ended up with about 200 cheesecakes. I will keep them in cold storage until tomorrow evening and then I will put a cherry topping on each one with a little mint leaf. The last time I looked I had mint but that's still a little up in the air. I didn't check today when I went out but nevertheless, with or without the mint leaves, they'll be cute as they can be. This morning I put some of the sauerkraut I made this summer in a crockpot, diced 1/2 onion on top and laid 3 gorgeous, thick pork loin slices on top of that. I sprinkled a little cumin, salt and pepper on top and this evening made some mashed potatoes and cooked up a quart of green beans. Oh my, it was so good and the only thing that came from the grocery store was the pork. That's pretty good, eh?!! I'm finally almost finished for the day. I have a button to sew on one of hubby's shirts, need to press my wedding outfit and then hop in the shower. Tomorrow morning I'm going to help decorate the hall for the wedding reception and then tomorrow evening is the church Christmas dinner. It's going to be a busy day!! Morning folks!! Sort of a dreary morning but there's no ice, sleet or snow so . . . I'm busy doing laundry today and cleaning house. Not my favorite thing to do but getting this accomplished leaves my head in a much less mental mess. There's something about having things in order. A clean house is like a clean mind for me. Try it, your whole day will go better, you'll be more relaxed and will be less of a procrastinator too. As I've said before, I like to have lists made as well. I go through and mark each item off and it gives me a vivid tally of where I am and how much time I have left to accomplish the rest. I know, I know, it's sort of like a game but it works! For instance - here's my list for the day. 1. Answer e-mail to a family member regarding whether to buy certain natural products (which means a little research)/a.m. 2. Feed and water chickens and horses/a.m. 3. Water and check on chickens/p.m. 4. Do Laundry 5. Mop kitchen and bathroom 6. Vacuum dust rest of house 7. Go outside and cut pine boughs and finish decorating house/a.m. 8. Check on special glassware for dinner next week 9. Post blog See - and today happens to be a very easy day. I've already checked off most of these and that makes the rest of the day easy-peasy. I always try to put the "must" items on my list and any items I think I might forget. We're having company tonight and I think I'm ready!! Not that I want you all to think that you're second best or anything and I definitely don't want you to think you're being slighted but . . . I didn't even think about posting until about 4:00 p.m. today. I usually sit down during the day and type a little then go on with my day, finally type more during the last part of the day, and then post; but I've been so busy today I didn't even think about the blog!! My bad!!!
Why??? I've been playing Santa. Nope, can't tell you anything because it might get out and nobody wants coal in their stocking, right? Today I made some zucchini bread, divinity and fudge. I tried my best to hide it from hubby but it didn't work. No, really I had to try! Yesterday, by the time I finished the second batch of caramel corn he had scarfed down most of the first batch. He's just terrible!! I can't let him eat all of this because I'm packing it up to send to one of the boys. But I had to laugh. He was thoroughly enjoying himself sneaking a piece here and there. What can I say? My girls laid 5 eggs for me today. I just can't believe they are laying so well. I think it's wonderful. I sent another 2 dozen eggs to work with hubby this last week and today I have over 4 dozen in the refrigerator. Some friends of ours are coming over tomorrow and I'll send a dozen home with them and that should take care of the excess eggs. I can easily use 3 dozen and whatever I get in the next week or two I'm going to save for my oldest son and his family. You all have a nice evening, okay? |
AuthorMy name is Nina. Southern Indiana has been my home since 1952. I've been a legal secretary most of my adult life and for my leisure time I enjoy everything connected to the world of herbs and cooking is almost like a "fever". I am also quite opinionated but try not to push my opinions on others. My family is grown and I'm left with a wonderful hubby sharing life with me. I'd guess you'd say my passion is living that life to the fullest. Archives
May 2016
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