The Day After Thanksgiving

Blueberry pancakes.

Starbucks Sumatra.

Black.

Lots of it.

Christmas decorating.

Christmas shopping in my AVON store.

Relaxing with family.

Thanksgiving leftovers.

A delicious day...

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving as you gather 'round the table hand in hand with your loved ones!

Savor the turkey, savor the pie but most of all savor the moment!

My Online AVON Store is Open!!!

I'm SO excited to announce the grand opening of my online AVON store! Grab a steaming mug of your favorite beverage, put you feet up and stop in & browse around!

//tommielombardi.avonrepresentative.com/

The Golden Days of Autumn...

They bring such pleasure. I love the golden haze that shrouds the afternoon on a clear, crisp Autumn day. The scents of mouthwatering apple, scintillating spices and earthy wood smoke. Mmmm...love it.

Along with the pleasures of Fall come other things that aren't so pleasant. Like the flu. Yuck. No, we haven't had it but it seems we can't escape the daily deluge of news reports of H1N1 compliments of the media. It scares a lot of people but I for one am not going to join that bandwagon. I don't plan on getting a flu shot even with the media's best efforts at trying to cause a panic. I've only had one flu shot in my life and that was when I was working at a doctor's office during cold and flu season. It just seemed the thing to do when you have hundreds of people breathing their flu germs on you everyday. Anyhoo, my plan of action for myself and my family is what it is for any other day of my life: put my trust in God, wash my hands or use hand sanitizer OFTEN throughout the day, build my immune system with supplements, teas and wholesome, nourishing, homemade food as often as possible. What, exactly, is in those vaccines anyway? Okay, now if someone will help me down off this soapbox please...

This past week has been blessed and full as always. I've decided I need to rearrange my office/craft room and clean out stuff I'm not using. At the rate I'm going, it could take a year or more but, hey...baby steps.

Ari & I enjoyed an after school lunch on Wednesday at one of her favorite restaurants, Panda. It was a precious time of a little girl talk, great food and looking into those beautiful hazel eyes.

I continue to build my team and Avon business and welcome to the new ladies! Darla, Vera, Betty and Brenda. We are gonna do great things girls!

I've been focusing on my walk with the Lord and pursuing a deeper relationship with Him. I've seen Him move in my life in ways big and small since I have committed to this with Him.

AMAZING!!!

All day today I have been slow simmering homemade chicken stock in the slow cooker...

smells delicious

I'll put it away in the freezer in one and two cup portions to add to hearty winter meals in the future.

And on the bread front:

I made a couple of loaves of cinnamon raisin bread a couple of days ago. One for us and one for Lee, Josie and Jesse. We found out last weekend that the leftovers make really good french toast! (if it lasts that long ;-) ) And I made a new sourdough bread recipe yesterday; it turned out great! This afternoon I made banana bread...can you smell it? Mmmm...

And right now, I'm working on crocheting some coasters from a natural colored cotton yarn to keep those pesky rings off the furniture. Nothing fancy. Simple. Sweet. Functional.

What's been keeping YOU busy this week?

Thank Goodness It's Saturday!

I always look forward to the weekend with my family. Even though we may all be in other places in the house at any given time pursuing our own interests, it's still comforting to know we are all together.

This has been a busy week for me. My new recruit called yesterday to check in and told me she already had 12 orders! Good for her...I wish her continued success! I have had a load of other things keeping me busy in the pursuit to contribute financially to our coffers and am looking forward to a little girl time at the mall with my baby girl on Sunday.

I am holding steady following the Somersize plan and have lost 6 pounds over the past few weeks after years of the scale steadily climbing...climbing...climbing. I eat well and I eat plenty; this is my kinda "diet"! I enjoy trying out different recipes from the website community archives and the Somersize cookbooks. In fact, I just finished making a couple of batches of Somersized basil pesto to slather on baked chicken thighs tonight. I'll use it on whole wheat pasta as a sauce for the family along with the chicken since they have no interest in sticking strictly to "level 1". They enjoy (most of) what I make and I sometimes tweak it to appeal to them more (i.e. adding the pasta to the meal).

Basically, I have just been spending time these past few months enjoying all the blessings God sends my way...

A certain precious boy. Grand-ma'ma's pride and joy (roll the "r" in "Grand" if you please...and add emphasis on the "ma ma"...I'm not the least bit eccentric!)

who just turned 3...

family...

shopping...

good times...

simple pleasures...

Yes, it's good to be blessed!

I hope that you consider yourself blessed today!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!

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!