I'm Still Here!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I have been trying to adjust to the new (very early) high school schedule of my dd & working diligently at my Avon business. In fact, today I have a meeting with a new recruit! I'm so very exited and thankful to the Lord. Yes, I have a very full day ahead of me so I'm off to the races and will be back to share with you soon! Have a wonderful day everyone!

Autumn is in the Air!

We had a wonderful Summer making new memories that we will treasure for a lifetime! Swimming, blowin' bubbles, making snow cones, watching fireworks, and enjoying our road trip to San Antonio...
And now...

School summer break is officially over. My "baby" started her first day of
high school this year and she loves it. We wake up well before the sun and she boards the big yellow school bus in the dark. She will be learning French this year and we have
begun to incorporate a couple of the words into our conversations to help it become more natural.
For me, there is something so cozy about this time of year. The new school year is a time of new beginnings and the anticipation of cooler days and holidays make me downright giddy! I've been in the mood to nest more, cook more and bake more. Our Autumn decorations are slowly making their way to their seasonal perches to inspire dreams of heavenly golden days to come, and the heady scents of mouthwatering apple, sweet cinnamon and spicy nutmeg fill the air. Mmm...can't you just smell the delicious aromas of Fall in the air!

Along with my desire to provide tasty, nourishing meals to my family, I also feel compelled to be more careful with the wonderful foods that we are blessed with. Lately, I have allowed myself to become lazy and not as diligent about planning meals and using up leftovers before they find their way to an obscure corner in the back of the fridge, only to be found long after they are of any use to us anymore. So wasteful of me!

With a creative, open mind and with ingredients I had on hand I was able to make a delicious bread pudding, beef fried rice (from leftover steak the night before), breakfast casserole with country ham (the ham was stored away in the freezer in a FoodSaver bag from a meal many moons ago), a tasty brisket (that had been hiding out in the deep freeze a while), beef stroganoff (from the leftover brisket meat. I also froze half the cooked brisket for a future meal. Those prepared frozen dinners come in handy many a night! ;) ). I also made this cinnamon perfumed buttermilk coffee cake one Saturday morning. It was a hit with the hubby! So, see what you have on hand, search through your collection of cookbooks (and when all else fails, you can search the internet for recipes!). You may find that you do have to purchase and ingredient or two to make the recipe, but the challenge I like best is to find a recipe that calls only for what I have on hand! It helps me use up (not waste!) what I've already spent our money on rather than spending MORE.

Why don't you bake a Buttermilk Cinnamon Coffee Cake for your loved ones too...

Ingredients:

2 1/3 c. sifted flour

2 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 c. butter

1 egg, beaten

1 c. buttermilk

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. cinnamon

nuts (optional)

Get your oven going by setting it too 350 degrees. Grease, or spray with cooking spray, a round or square 9" pan. Mix two cups of the flour (set 1/3 cup aside) and the brown sugar in a bowl and, with a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it looks like coarse meal. Set aside 3/4 cup of this mixture to be used for the topping. Add the reserved 1/3 cup of flour to the larger amount of remaining butter mixture and mix well. Add the beaten egg, buttermilk, soda and cinnamon, mixing just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into the 9" pan. Sprinkle reserved butter mixture over the batter in the pan (*you can add chopped nuts to the topping mixture if you like them About a half cup should do!). Bake 50 - 55 minutes. Cool. 6-9 servings, depending on how much your tummy is growling!

*If I am baking for company or a gift recipient, I usually don't add nuts because you never know who may be allergic to them. AND...something I can't comprehend...some people just don't like nuts!?!?

Buttermilk

Want to make your own buttermilk? It's easy...I make it Candy's way and try to keep it on hand for all my baking. But there is also an interesting approach over at Our Little Homestead . Hmmm, maybe I'll buy some goats milk at the Farmer's Market next weekend...

It's good to be back after taking the summer off! Thanks for stopping by, "see" you soon!

Please Stand By...

I'm taking a little time to enjoy the summer with my daughter and family.

Back soon!

Happy Mother's Day!

Wherever you find yourself this Mother's Day, I hope you have the sweetest one ever spent with your babies (no matter how old they are!).

And don't forget to take a little time for yourself...

listen to some soothing sounds...

light a candle...

take a bubble bath...

indulge...

totally revel in the fact that God blessed you with children and don't forget to thank Him for that honor...

However you spend your day, at the end of that day, cozy up under your covers for a good nights rest and drift off to sleep with a smile on your lips.

Sweet dreams, moms~~~

Weekend Jaunt...

This past weekend we took a little road trip to visit my parents. Soon after we arrived, we hopped back in the monster (what I call my hubby's big ole vehicle) and headed down the road to Crockett for a 90 mile long garage sale. Yes, you read that right. From Texas to Louisiana. No, we didn't travel the distance, we just shopped a small portion of it. After that we headed into town and visited a couple of antiques stores. Fun, fun, fun!

Just a few sites we saw...

No parking sign...!

Girls will be girls! Mom trying on vintage hats...

Straight ahead...sidewalk shopping!...

The front of an old bank building...

It was a great beginning to our weekend. We were tired, our feet hurt and we slept mighty good that night!

Thanks for sharing these memories with me!

Happy May!

Summer is fast approaching isn't it? It's warm and humid here where I live. The mosquitos are lovin' it!

I'm still trying to work the kinks out of this new computer config we have going here :-( but I thought I'd drop in & share a couple of tips straight from my Sweet Home to yours...

*we came up with an idea to solve the age old question "are the dishes in the dishwasher clean?" this way. When we have removed the clean dishes, we immediately fill the dispenser with soap so, if the dispenser lid is closed, we know they are dirty and just start loading them up from there.

*I started carrying antibacterial wipes in my purse a while back. They come in handy when we have left a garage sale or thrift store & have that "germy" feeling or walk in to a restaurant to have a bite to eat! (or anywhere else for that matter!) I just fill a sandwich size zipper bag with a few and pop them in my purse. Don't forget to refill when you have used the last one though! (How would I know to warn you about this? ;-/ ) I know I could buy small packets of them but that isn't always frugal. And I prefer to have a wipe over the gels that you can buy~it just feels cleaner to me. Like having a wash cloth
Do you have any tips you would like to share?
Have a great day y'all!

Simple Pleasures...

are what I like best.

Lit candles on a rainy day. Knitting, crocheting, reading a good book. A steaming, fragrant pot of soup. And of course, the ones I love around me.

I hope you are having a "simple pleasures" kind of day!