Monday, October 31, 2011

Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

Posted by Lori:

When I went on a cookie baking frenzy a few weeks ago, this is one of the recipes I chose to make.  They were a special treat for my kiddos, too, since I kept some of the dough frozen in one inch balls and baked them for special after supper treats.  It was also nice to have frozen balls of dough when I needed to take cookies to a church dinner.

Why don't I do that more often????  Why don't I mix up dough and keep it in the freezer for special events or activities? (Maybe because I might be tempted to eat the dough or bake cookies for myself???  Yes.  Quite possibly that is the reason I don't! :)


Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

2 - 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 cups peanut butter chips (I saw chips that were half peanut butter and half chocolate.  Those would be good, too!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt.  Beat together butter, sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until creamy.  Beat in eggs until will blended.  Gradually add flour mixture, beating well.  Stir in peanut butter chips.  Drop by rounded teaspoons (I used a 1 inch cookie scoop) onto ungreased baking sheet. Bake 8 -10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet onto wire rack.  Cool completely.
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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Chicken Stroganoff

Posted by Donna:


I got this recipe from a friend's daughter who posted it on her blog a couple of years ago. It's similar to one that Lori just posted, but decided to share it anyway. The sauce is really good. It reminds me of the Alfredo Sauce at Olive Garden. Larry liked the flavor of the sauce, also. I guess you noticed he commented on the good sauce--again, he had no comment on the chicken!!!!!


Chicken Stroganoff

3-4 chicken breasts, cubed
2 T. butter, diced
7 oz. pkg. Italian Salad Dressing mix (I used the Good Season's brand.)

After cubing the raw chicken, place it in a slow cooker. Put the diced butter and Italian dressing mix on top of the chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. My crock pot cooks fast; so, it only took 4 hours.

Stir in:

1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed

Cook on high for 30 minutes.

Serve over egg noodles.

The chicken with just the butter and Italian mix is good even before adding the soup and cream cheese. I really think I'll do just the cream sauce without the chicken next time--just because that's how I always order my Fettucine Alfredo--minus the chicken. Pin It Now!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Candy Corn Cake in a Jar

Posted by Lori:
Our high school secretary asked me to help her out with a special treat for one of her husband's high school math classes.  It happened to be my daughter's class, so that made it kind of neat, too.  She decided to treat them at all of the holidays throughout the school year.

For the treat, I decided to do Candy Corn Cake in a Jar. I used clean 1/2 pint jars. They are the perfect size for one serving.

Instructions:

Place all of your jars on a baking sheet. (One cake mix will make 12.) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix white cake mix per package directions. Divide cake into separate bowls and tint with Wilson gel icing colors.  Pour layers into jars.  I used a cookie scoop.  A small scoop for the yellow layer and a larger scoop for the orange layer.  (This will be about 1/3 cup of cake mix total per jar.)  You could leave some of the cake mix white, but I didn't have enough to do that, so decided the icing would be the white part.
Bake until toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out mostly clean (a few crumbs is what I prefer so it's really moist). Mine took 28 minutes. Take cakes out and allow them to cool. Now either top them with the caps and rings them until ready to use or freeze until ready to use.
Top with white icing and sprinkles. I used homemade butter cream. (Here's my recipe as a guide.) Canned would work, too. I used a 10 M Wilton tip to decorate the top with icing. Note: You could do a small amount of icing before putting the rings and lids on then they would be ready to give to someone. The only thing is that the icing wouldn't be as generous of an amount as I've shown here.
The treats were a big hit with this group of high school juniors.  It's kind of neat how a special treat can make someone feel special and important to others.  The secretary said that all day she had kids coming up to her and thanking her for thinking of them.  She's special to them anyway, because she cares about them and they know it.  She didn't have to give them a treat for them to know that, but, it's kind of neat to hear how they responded to her kindness, isn't it?
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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Southwest Creamy Ranch Crock Pot Chicken

Posted by Lori:

I posted a Creamy Ranch Chicken last week, saying I was going to try it the next day.  Well, actually I tried it that day, but when I went to get the cream cheese out, I didn't have any, except for a new product of Philly Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme.  I decided to try it.  It was DELICIOUS!!!  I'm excited to try the regular Ranch recipe, still, but now I have two new chicken recipes!!  If you wanted to, you could leave out some of the ranch seasoning if using the Philly Blend, but the flavors worked well together, as is.

(I'll post a recipe photo here later.  Don't have time right now!)

4 Chicken Breast (can cut into tenders, if desired

2 tablespoon butter
1 Ranch Seasoning Mix Packet
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
5 ounces Philly Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme
1/2 cup chicken broth

Wash and dry chicken and place in crock pot. Drizzle with 2 T butter and sprinkle ranch packet on top of chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours. Add cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and chicken broth and cook another 1.5 hours. Tastes great served on top of egg noodles, tortilla chips, or corn tortillas.
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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Swiss Chicken

Posted by Donna:

Last week we were visiting our daughter in Lubbock. She fixed this for Sunday dinner. It's really good.

Swiss Chicken

Chicken breasts, either split or thinned
Swiss cheese slices, (one for each chicken breast)
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup milk
1 pkg. Pepperidge stuffing mix
1/2 cup melted butter


Place chicken breasts in a baking dish that has been sprayed with Pam. Place one slice of cheese on top of each breast. Mix the soup and milk together and pour over the chicken breasts. Sprinkle the stuffing mix on top. Pour the melted butter over the top. Cover with foil and bake.

Our daughter put hers on about 7:30 at 275 degrees since she wanted it to be ready at 11:00 when we got home from worship services. This is rich, but definitely a great comfort food. It's so simple to make, but oh so good. Pin It Now!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Andes Mint Cookies

Posted by Lori:

I think this is now my two middle boys' favorite cookie of all time.  Just for something different I bought a bag of the Andes mint baking chips, knowing that they liked the chocolate and mint combo.  With a few tweaks in a chocolate cookie recipe I found online, these new cookies were a big hit for them.  And, an added plus is that since I don't like mint/chocolate together, I'm not tempted to eat them!

Andes Mint Cookies
3/4 cup butter
1 and 1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
12 ounce bag chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/4 teaspoon soda
1 - 10 ounce bag Andes Crème de Menthe Baking Chips


Melt together butter, brown sugar and water. Add chocolate chips and stir until melted. Let stand 10 minutes to cool. Add remaining ingredients, except baking chips.  Mix well after each addition.  Stir in Andes baking chips.  Drop by teaspoon fulls (or use cookie scoop) onto baking sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (my oven takes about 13 minutes).
 . Pin It Now!

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Creamy Ranch Chicken

Posted by Lori:

A friend sent me this new recipe that she had just tried and said was delicious.  I can wait to try it!  In fact, I am thinking that tomorrow, since our children will be out of school for Fall Break, it would be a great time to make it!.  Thanks, Renee!!
Creamy Ranch Chicken.

4 Chicken Breast (I used chicken tenders)
2 T Butter
1 Ranch Packet
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
8 oz cubed cream cheese
1/2 cup chicken broth

Wash and dry chicken and place in crock pot. Drizzle with 2 T butter and sprinkle ranch packet on top of chicken. Cook on low for 3 hours. Add cream of chicken soup, cream cheese, and chicken broth and cook another 1.5 hours. Tastes great served on top of egg noodles. 

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Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Lemon Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

Posted by Lori:

Yesterday I needed to make several cookies for a school event.  I found this great recipe for Lemon Coconut Thumbprint Cookies in a  "Christmas Cookies" magazine.  I wasn't sure if kids would like them, knowing for certain mine wouldn't eat anything with coconut, but much to my surprise, a lot of the teens did!  A lot of adults did, too.  They are delicious!  

I bought this lemon curd at Walmart by the jelly, but you can also make your own (I've tried once - unsuccessfully) or find in a gourmet shop.

Side note:  My devotional blog post for today is about ZEST!  (Click HERE for post.) It's something I've thought about since making these cookies and using my favorite kitchen utensil - the MICROPLANE (shown in picture on my Shine Like Stars post).

Lemon Coconut Thumbprint Cookies

2/3 cup butter, softened (use real, salted butter)
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg yolks (save whites)
1 teaspoon lemon zest (peel)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
2 egg whites (from saved ones above)
1cup toasted coconut
Lemon curd

In a large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.  Add sugar.  Beat until combined, scraping bowl occasionally.  Beat in egg yolks and vanilla until combined.  Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.  Stir in any remaining flour.  Cover and chill for about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll chilled dough into 1-inch balls.  Roll in  egg whites, then in toasted coconut.  Place one inch apart on greased cookie sheets.  Using your thumb, make an indentation in each dough ball.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until bottoms are light brown.  If centers of cookie puff during baking, re-press centers with the rounded side of a measuring teaspoon.

Transfer cookies to a wire rack; cool completely.  Just before serving, fill centers with lemon curd.  NOTE: It said to use about 1/2 teaspoon, but I think I used a lot more than that!  Sure was good, though!

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Monday, October 17, 2011

Mexican Cornbread

Posted by Donna:


I posted another Mexican Cornbread recipe with ground beef, but this one is without the meat. We had this with butter beans today for lunch. Yum----I'm getting to where I like the butter beans better than the pinto.

Mexican Cornbread

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup flour
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 small can cream style corn
3-4 T. chopped green chilies, or to your liking
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the dry ingredients together. In another bowl, combine the eggs, buttermilk, oil, corn, chilies, and cheese. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together. Pour into a greased 9 inch dish.

Bake at 350 degrees until the cornbread browns on top. Mine took about 40 minutes.
It's best to let the cornbread set for about 10 - 15 minutes before cutting. This is a very moist cornbread.






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Frank Casserole

Posted by Donna:

My brother from New Mexico came down for a visit last week. He had gotten this recipe from a show on television and was anxious to make it. He said the man on the show ate this growing up--it had been one of his mother's recipes. I haven't made it yet; but, wanted to go ahead and share it with you. I can see why Billy likes the sound of this--it has "weiners" in it. I think he could eat them every day and not get tired of them.

Frank Casserole

1/3 cup brown sugar
3 cans pork and beans
Weiners, cut up and browned
Barbecue sauce, to taste
one recipe corn bread or two boxes Jiffy made according to directions.

Mix together the browned weiners, brown sugar, pork and beans and barbecue sauce. Pour the cornbread mixture on top and bake at 350 degrees until browned on top.

The first time Billy told me about the recipe, he said to use the barbecue sauce, but a couple of days later when I started to write it down, he never mentioned the barbecue sauce. I think the goal is to get the mixture tasting like any barbecue weiner mixture and you're good to go. I didn't catch this difference until I started doing this post. Pin It Now!

Blueberry Breakfast Rolls

These are so good!  My whole family enjoyed these tasty rolls.  Some would have preferred less blueberries, but most liked them just like this.

1 12.4-ounce package (8) refrigerated cinnamon rolls with icing
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed and well-drained
1/3 cup blueberry preserves
1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel (I forgot to buy a lemon, so used 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice)
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I didn't used the pecans)

Lightly grease sixteen 2 1/2-inch muffin cups.  Remove cinnamon rolls from package, set icing aside.  Cut each cinnamon roll in half crosswise (as pictured).   
Press a roll half in bottom and about 1/2 inch up on the side of each muffin cup.  In a small bowl stir together blueberries, preserves, and lemon peel.
Spoon filling into muffin cups.  Sprinkle with pecans, if desired.  Bake in a 375 degree preheated oven for about 12 minutes or until golden.  Cool in muffin cups on wire rack for 5 minutes.

Remove from muffin cups and place on wire rack.  Cool for 5 minutes.  Place icing from the package in a small bowl.  Thin with a small amount of milk.  Drizzle icing over rolls.  Serve rolls warm.  Makes 16 rolls.

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Thursday, October 13, 2011

Green Bean Bundles

Posted by Lori:

This recipe looks fancy, but is simple to make.  There are a lot of different varieties of the same recipe on the internet, so you can easily adjust ingredients to your liking.  I bought fresh, organic whole green beans (they are thin and long).  They come packaged, not loose.

Green Bean Bundles

1 pound fresh green beans –  (thin/young)
Approximately 1/2 pound of bacon – slice bacon in half
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
a few dashes of pepper

toothpicks

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Boil a big pot of water.  Place green beans in boiling water for 3 minutes.  Remove the green beans and dry them off.  Wrap 10 green beans with bacon and bundle them together by wrapiing one piece of the halved bacon around them.  Secure bacon with a tooth pick.  Place bundles in 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Repeat until you run out of green beans or bacon.


In a small saucepan combine butter, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and pepper, and mix until the butter and brown sugar has blended. Drizzle butter/brown sugar mixture over each green bean bundle. Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minutes.
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Burlap Wreath

Posted by Lori:

Last week I bought a magazine called "Christmas Cottage".  It had a really cute burlap wreath pictured that I wanted to make.  The only place I've found burlap on a roll is at Michael's.  Saturday I was able to get to a Michaels to get the supplies, but by the time I was ready to check out, their cash registers were no longer working because of power outages due to thunderstorms.  Anyway, yesterday I was able to go back to Michael's and get the supplies.....again!

Burlap Wreath

3 rolls of 10 foot burlap (The magazine craft said to get 2 rolls; however, I had to use a little more. Mine was 6 inches wide.)
Wire wreath form (this is a large one)
Jute or string
Decorations for "bow" area
Without cutting burlap, form a loop (as if you are making a bow).  Tie loop with string and attach to the wire wreath form.
Continue tying loops all around the wreath, being sure to make loops on the whole width of the wire wreath.  At first you may wonder if you're doing it right (I did!), but soon it will begin to take on the look you are wanting.
Continue until wreath is full.
Add decorations as desired.  The magazine suggested that the typical bow for a wreath is usually ribbon, but that in this case the decorations become the "bow" part.  I added the leaves.  They showed holly.  I'm not sure I like the leaves, but left them there for now.  I'm thinking a raffia bow with some leaves and fall picks might be better?  We'll see.  But, I do know I'll be keeping this wreath on the front door for many months, changing out the decorations to fit the holiday or season.
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Sunday, October 9, 2011

Oatmeal Cookies and the 4-H Demonstration Contest

Posted by Lori:

The very first 4-H demonstration I ever did was a team demonstration with my cousin, Shelley.  She and I made this oatmeal cookies.  Not too long ago, I came across the typed out demonstration pages.  It brought back memories....funny memories!

During the demonstration, Shelley and I would switch back and forth with one of us being the narrator, and one of us demonstration the "how to" part of the recipe.  Well, apparently, as Shelley was narrating the ingredients, I poured the wrong ingredient into the bowl!  Shelley began to laugh.  I didn't know what she was laughing about and can't remember now if I laughed or not, but I probably did.  All I remember is seeing Shelley's mom giving her the "evil eye"!  She was trying to get her to stop laughing, but it was impossible.  And me....still clueless about what had happened!

Now fast-forward about 30 years to another 4-H demonstration contest, but this time I was the "evil-eyed-mom"!  This time it's my oldest son and his best friend, who, by the way, is Shelley's nephew!  They laughed during the entire demonstration!  They were demonstrating how to make Puppy Chow.  It was out-of-control with the laughter and of course the judge marked off points for their inability to contain the giggles, but now, looking back, it was still a great experience for them.

Do you have any funny stories about demonstrating contests?? (Recipe for Oatmeal Cookies below)

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup oil
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 baking powder
2 cups oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1 cup oil, brown sugar, and white sugar together.  Add egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add flour, soda and baking powder.  Mix well, then add oats. (Dough will be very stiff.)

Roll into small balls with hands.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake for 10 minutes or until lightly browned.
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Thursday, October 6, 2011

Rules for a Clothesline

Posted by Donna:

I happened to run across this a few days ago. It was sent to me several years ago by a long time friend. I have had it saved in my "stuff" file. Anytime I find something that I consider "special," I store it in this file for safe keeping. Otherwise, I delete it accidentally. I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.


THE BASIC RULES FOR CLOTHESLINES:


1. You had to wash the clothes line before hanging any clothes- walk the

entire lengths of each line with a damp cloth around the lines.



2. You had to hang the clothes in a certain order, and always hang "whites"

with "whites," and hang them first.



3. You never hung a shirt by the shoulders - always by the tail! What

would the neighbors think?



4. Wash day on a Monday! . . . Never hang clothes on the weekend, or

Sunday!



5. Hang the sheets and towels on the outside lines so you could hide your

"unmentionables" in the middle (perverts & busybodies, y'know!)



6. It didn't matter if it was sub zero weather . . . Clothes would

"freeze-dry."



7. Always gather the clothes pins when taking down dry clothes! Pins left

on the lines were "tacky!"



8. If you were efficient, you would line the clothes up so that each item

did not need two clothes pins, but shared one of the clothes pins with the

next washed item.



9. Clothes off of the line before dinner time, neatly folded in the clothes

basket, and ready to be ironed.



10. IRONED?! Well, that's a whole other subject!



A POEM



A clothesline was a news forecast

To neighbors passing by.

There were no secrets you could keep

When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link

For neighbors always knew

If company had stopped on by

To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the "fancy sheets"

And towels upon the line;

You'd see the "company table cloths"

With intricate designs.

The line announced a baby's birth

From folks who lived inside -

As brand new infant clothes were hung,

So carefully with pride!

The ages of the children could

So readily be known

By watching how the sizes changed,

You'd know how much they'd grown!

It also told when illness struck,

As extra sheets were hung;

Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,

Haphazardly were strung.

It also said, "Gone on vacation now"

When lines hung limp and bare.

It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged

With not an inch to spare!



New folks in town were scorned upon

If wash was dingy and gray,

As neighbors carefully raised their brows,

And looked the other way . . .



But clotheslines now are of the past,

For dryers make work much less.

Now what goes on inside a home

Is anybody's guess!



I really miss that way of life.

It was a friendly sign

When neighbors knew each other best

By what hung on the line! Pin It Now!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Almond Cookie Crisp

Posted by Lori:

I shared my sister-in-law's Indian Tea recipe with you last week.  This is another great recipe of hers.  Each little cookie crisp has only 25 calories!  They are delicious!

I've added a note from Deborah about the change she makes from the recipe below:  The only change I made to the cookie recipe was I didn't put almond slices - I ground up my almonds and mixed them into the batter. (You really put a very small amount on the parchment paper. )

Almond Cookie Crisp: (Adopted from Agnes Chang’s Baking Made Easy)

Makes 42 to 45 cookies (depending on the size)

2 large egg whites, room temperature
a pinch of kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons castor sugar
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 cup almond slices
2 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat oven 325F. Line baking sheet with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
In a small mixing bowl, whisk egg white, salt, vanilla extract and sugar until foamy. Whisk until sugar is completely dissolved. Whisk in flour until no lumps. Then, gently fold in almond slices and butter.

Spoon 1 to teaspoon of batter onto prepared baking sheet and spread batter into a 2 to 3-inch circle. Make sure the almonds flakes are not overlapping each other. Spoon the rest of the batter on baking sheet with each cookie at least 1-inch apart. Might need to bake cookies in batches.

Bake 9 to 12 minutes depending on their size, rotate baking sheet once during baking. Bake until slightly golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and cool completely on wire rack. Cookies will crisp up once completely cool.

*Do not over bake them because they tend to turn a little more golden brown after they're out of the oven. Pin It Now!

Pumpkin Pudding Delight

Posted by Lori:

This week we have been having luncheons every day during a lesson series we're having with our church family.  I decided that instead of the regular Pudding Delight with chocolate (also called Quad, Dilemma, or Pudding Cake....and maybe other names, as well!) I would try the dessert using pumpkin pudding.

It turned out delicious!  The pumpkin pudding is a seasonal item and I bought several boxes last fall, after Thanksgiving when it was marked down.  I think next time I make it I'll add just a little cinnamon to the bottom crust.....1/2 teaspoon or so.

Pumpkin Pudding Delight

1 cup flour
1 cup pecans, finely chopped
1 stick butter, softened
(The second time I made this, I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon to this part.)

Mix ingredients together and press into 9 x 13 inch cake pan.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 15 -20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Allow to fully cool before adding next layers.

1 - 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipped topping (such as Cool Whip....French Vanilla would be good with this!)

Mix with hand mixer until well blended.  Spread over cooled crust.

1 small box pumpkin spice Jello instant pudding mix
1 small box vanilla Jello instant pudding mix
3 cups milk

Mix together well using electric mixer.  Spread over cream cheese layer.

Whipped topping
Cinnamon

Spread whipped topping over pudding layer.  Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon.  Chill several hours before serving.


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Monday, October 3, 2011

More Fall


Posted by Donna:

I guess my favorite time of year is fall. I've always heard the word "crisp" associated with fall, and I tend to agree that's a great word to describe it. I love seeing how everyone displays their fall decorations--the colors are just beautiful.

My most favorite thing in my yard is the swing Larry made; but, my second most favorite is my bicycle. Of course, my porch swing and rocking chairs rate up there, too. I think I'm digging myself a hole!!!!!

The bicycle in this picture is the first bike my daddy used to ride before my brothers and I gave him a new one a few years before he passed away. He used to ride his bike everyday---- as long as the weather was favorable. He would occasionally ride his bike 10 miles--which worried me to death. He was 86 years old at the time.

This "yard" bike actually belonged to my younger brother when he was just a young boy. It was kept at Mother's and Daddy's; so, Daddy took it over after Mother died and started riding it. After Daddy died, I brought the bike to our home and kept in our garage for my brother to get; but after it sat here for six years, I decided to use it in my yard. My brother has seen it and just laughs about it. It's mine now and he knows it!!!!! Anyway, I just love it!!!!! I've still managed to keep the potato vine alive in the basket, but I've also added some fall flowers as well. (artificial, of course)

When I first put the bike in the yard, I really had intended to paint it white; but, a friend of mine told me everyone has a white bike--leave it natural. So, that's what I did. I'm glad I took her advice.

You've probably figured out by now that I'm quite sentimental. I keep things around me that belonged to family members or that friends have given me. I get such an enjoyment seeing them and revisiting lots of memories. I'm not very "fancy," but I definitely "fancy" and "cherish" things that have been given to me. Pin It Now!

Indian Tea

Posted by Lori:

My sister-in-law, Deborah, makes this tea.  We had it last weekend when we stayed the night with them.  It's soooooo good! 

I've posted an almond tea recipe on here before, but this one is even better!  Thankfully, she let me share it with you.  It would be especially pretty for a shower or reception with lemons floating.  She says you can make it "fancier" by adding 7 UP, Sprite or Ginger Ale.
INDIAN TEA

4 gallon size tea bags
1 cup sugar/Splenda/Truvia
1 can frozen lemonade (it's the larger one - She wasn't sure of the exact ounces)
1 Tablespoon almond extract
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
(My sister-in-law uses Honduran or Mexican vanilla. She says you can really tell a difference and if she doesn't have it...she just leaves the vanilla out of the tea.)
Boil water - probably 1/2 gallon or so and put the tea bags in there to steep for 5-10 minutes.

She recommends putting the tea and water in a gallon container at this point. Then add the sugar or splenda - let it dissolve. Add the lemonade and flavors. Fill the container with water to make one gallon.

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