Black Patent Leather Shoes

As a child I can remember wearing saddle oxfords to school. But come Sunday morning no other shoes would do but my shiny black patent leather shoes. All little girls should have a pair to wear when dressed up in their best.

Drawing Hedgehogs

"She was running, running, running up the hill - and where was her white frilled cap? and her shawl? and her gown-and her petticoat?

"And how small she had grown- and how brown - and covered with prickles!
Why! Mrs. Tiggy-winkle was nothing but a HEDGEHOG!

We adore this story by Beatrix Potter, so in her honor we drew hedgehogs. I love the prickles on Charlotte's little critter.

There are days I too feel all prickly, just as I can I imagine a hedgehog would be, but today was not such a day. Sigh.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Nothing like a cold day and chocolate chip cookies. But then in my book there is not a day nor a season that chocolate chip cookies don't enrich to the utmost. They put smiles on faces, calm sweet tooth cravings and absolutely make a marriage with a mug of ice cold milk.

Pouring in the entire bag of chocolate chips and...stirring with all your might...that's Charlotte's version.
The goldenest brown baked cookies cooling on wire racks, but the spaces tell the true story... we just couldn't wait any longer


I have tried a slew of chocolate chip recipes in my quest for the best. Without fail I find myself returning to this all time favorite. Maybe it is because they have an inordinate amount of sentimentality attached since I have been making them since I was ten years old. You just can't beat them.

Week's Lessons

"For Thou, O God, has proved us: Thou has tried us, as silver is tried."
Psalm 66:10

If I have a backache....I will praise Him.

If I am tired from a sleepless night...I will praise Him.

If my mother with Alzheimer's tells me she is writing me off... I will praise Him.

When the hormones put me on a "roller coaster" and I despise roller coasters....I will praise Him.

If I run out of gas on the Interstate at 5:00 in the evening....I will praise Him.



Proverbs 17:3 states,"The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts."

Through it all He takes my heart and purifies it for His glory, many times using the everyday happenings of my life, good or bad, to make me so utterly dependent on Him! I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known His faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 89:1)

Bright Tights

Wearing of dresses and skirts can make bare legs cold when the temperatures dip low; therefore, Charlotte has a vast array of tights to pull from her drawer for such winter days. Some of them are of the plain neutral colors that go with most things..... white, black, brown. But my favorite by far are the brightly colored print ones. She still needs helps with putting them on, but she is getting the hang of the "tugging dance" quite well.

on the needles

I am in a knitting frenzy these days. Just the sheer activity of knitting gives a creative sense of pith to my day. There's always hope that I will manage to knit every day somewhere, somehow and usually this is doable.

I am thrilled about a late March arrival to my expectant neighbor, so to join in with her joy I thought I would knit something for the little fellow. I know the yarn looks navy blue, but it truly is more of a slate blue and my brain is already spinning with the thoughts of the perfect buttons. It will cover him with warmth next Fall when his seven-month old preciousness will need a little slate-blue sweater for the times his mother takes him out ....I can't hardly wait.

Creamy-colored Things

While it was snowing the other day I was contemplating making a dessert for my family, something special for an extra special day.Gingerbread has been the sweet food of choice on snowy days in the past. But since I did not have any molasses in my cupboards that was not a possibility. Snow cream made from freshly fallen snow kept stirring my memories, but I have a difficult time with the thought of using snow these days. We get so little snow...and we all know what things one can find on the ground.

So I decided I to pull the Cuisinart off the top pantry shelf and make my own delicious soft serve "snow" cream.


And can you believe it? Bright red strawberries in January which made the ice cream just burst with rich flavor, and that of course took this dessert up a step to be listed as " healthy" eating.

Easy Ice Cream

Blend:
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar

With spatula, gently stir:
2 cups of heavy cream
2 teaspoon vanilla

You can also add 1/2 cup powdered cocoa to the milk and sugar if chocolate is your craving.

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I do believe I am becoming acclimated to the bread making process. This particular recipe for a baguette is so incredibly simple. How appropriate to begin showing my littlest baker how to make bread. As usual she was a willing student.

People my age speak of crinkly eyes as the surefire way of declaring time marches on, but just for the simple fact that my hands are ever before me, I see the passing of the days and years in my hands. However, I am discovering another beneficial aspect of aging; some things just do not matter. I desire that my children remember my busy hands, lovingly touching sick brows, deftly twisting hairbands into ponytails, rhythmically knitting and purling luxurious yarns, and purposely kneading the smooth nourishing dough. Life is entirely too short to get tripped up on temporal things. Baguette

1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cup warm water(105-115 degrees)
4-4 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2-2 1/2 teaspoons salt

Sprinkle yeast and sugar over warm water and let stand for about 5 minutes.
Stir in 2 cups of flour with wooden spoon and then add remaining flour and salt until stiff dough forms.

On lightly floured surface, knead the dough approximately 8 minutes. Your dough needs to be smooth and elastic.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled deep bowl, turn to coat dough, cover with plastic wrap until double in size, about 1 1/2 hour.

Punch dough and form into long slender loaf, 21"x 3"
Set on a lightly greased cooking sheet. Let rise uncovered for 3o minutes.
Make 3-4 slashes and brush lightly with cool water.

Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Snowy Day Pursuits of Happiness

Yesterday we awaken to wispy dots of snowflakes swirling and blanketing the ground with whiteness. Scrooge would have been considered a saint to my children on any sort of rating scale if I would have failed to cancel school for the day!

A daily list of things to be accomplished was formulated in my mind as I scurried behind the children helping them to don snowsuits, toboggans, boots and waterproof mittens or gloves.
First I would bake a loaf of bread. Making bread has been playing peekaboo in my mind for some time now and something I have wanted to begin doing on a more regular basis. It just speaks to me of being home, because after you start the process you are not as free to wander far from the hearth. I decided on a baguette to go along with the chili I was planning on fixing since the ingredients for both bread and chili were purchased the day before in hopes that the forecast of snow would actually materialize.

Then, most important of all, I was determined to finish knitting a pair of lace-like blue socks I had been working on since before Christmas. I was so glad I did. These socks feel so heavenly on the feet. These are the first pair of solid patterned socks I have ever attempted and I found I truly enjoyed the challenge even though I could probably improve on my method of keeping up with what row I was on, especially since I seldom have uninterrupted knitting times.

Chili

2-3 lbs of hamburger
1 onion, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 gloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon crushed hot pepper flakes
32 oz of beef broth
1 large can of diced tomatoes
2 cans of kidney beans with juice

Saute green peppers and onions in 2 tablespoons of oil until done; add garlic and a little broth.
Brown hamburger and drain any excess grease.
Add tomatoes, broth, and spices.
Simmer on low heat for several hours. the beans need to be added after about an hour of cooking.

In truth, my chili is never quite the same. I really tried to make a point of measuring my ingredients this go round in order to give a more accurate recipe to record. You may alter it and still come up with some very tasty chili. Last night I appreciated my son's compliment, "Mama, you make good chili." Some of the members of my family have a preference for more heat, so they add extra hot sauce at serving time.

Happy things

"Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things."
Chaim Potok,The Chosen

I received this stout teapot from Witt as a Christmas gift. I certainly have enjoyed putting it to use almost every afternoon when my energies web and I need a little pick-me-up both mentally and physically. Rose and Charlotte will hurriedly finish up any leftover matters (such as schoolwork and chores) and we sit down to a pot of hot tea, of course, we talk about happy things!












Don't you just love the peekings of these flowers over the rim of the teacup?

Sprinkles

Brrrrrrr...It is cold here! As the temperatures drop across the country we are hungry to see snow fall. But only the bluest crisp skies welcome us along with the bursts of the sunshine's bright rays trying to convince us that it isn't that cold.

I fixed Charlotte a special warm-up drink of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles. I am convinced sprinkles are important in a child's life. The colors of the rainbow and promises all in one mug.

Music for Life

Listening to instrumental music brings me to great heights of serenity, especially when it is excellently done. Lately I have found myself absorbed in the music from the soundtrack Little Women by Thomas Newman. I hum through the portions of my day with the dramatic displays of the music's essence, rising and falling. It parallels the intricacies of my life these days.....the rises and the falls.

My siblings and I are experiencing such difficult times with my mother and her sickness. It meets with me as I awaken on these frosty mornings and it lingers heavy on my mind as my head buries itself upon the pillow at night.




This picture has absolutely nothing to do with music or Little Women. However, it is a photo I took while in Pennsylvania of an old covered bridge and I like the contrasting light patterns.