Decorating Ideas

Posted by Lori:

I enjoy decorating - a lot!  Today I would like to share with you some pictures of decorating ideas from baby showers, school functions, and church functions.  I always like getting new ideas and thought that you might, too! I'll share more in a week or so (when I don't have a new recipe to post :).

Each year I decorate the teacher's workroom area for Teacher's Appreciation Week.  This particular year was an "Under the Big Top" theme. 

The bright colors were so much fun!  Food is served to the teachers throughout the week.  All teachers and staff, Kindergarten through 12th, get food, but I only decorate the elementary workroom.

This was a baby shower, but I have also used it for the teacher's workroom, as well as a wedding shower.  Baby Chloe, who will be one year old soon has her room done in black, white and hot pink.  These decorations fit perfectly!

This is actually a display stand for merchandise at my little tiny booth-rental store, but it was brand new when it was time to decorate for the shower, so it became a cookie stand.

This umbrella is a favorite of mine.  It's a nice touch for a "shower"!

This is a random photo of my husband dressed up for the school Dr. Seuss celebration last year.  He did the whole lesson for me (read about that on my other blog here.).  Since today is Dr. Seuss' birthday, I thought I needed to share this with you!

Cody's daddy is a sports fan....deluxe!  He'll be one tomorrow, so I thought I would share pictures from his baby shower.  Since our mascot is a tiger, I used a lot of my daughter's stuffed tigers.

A "CODY" pennant, a sports fleece blanket, baseballs, bats, footballs, and helmets....all taken from my boys' room.

You may notice that a lot of the pictures are taken in the same room.  It's our church fellowship building.  The round tables are so much fun to decorate.  We have them on half of the big room.

This was a Senior Saints' Banquet for the older members of the church.  Our Bible class hosts the banquet every February.  Obviously the theme for this particular year was western.  I have a friend who gave me a sack full of denim jean pockets!  She has some, too, so we put them together for large events.

The other half of the fellowship room has rectangle tables.  Since the "seniors" only sit on the round table side, I don't decorate quite as much for the other side.  We want to make them feel especially....special!

I hope you enjoy the pictures!  Happy decorating!

Pin It Now!

Creamed Corn Cornbread

Posted by Lori:

I should first explain that I didn't have a cast iron skillet for this recipe, so I had to improvise.  Also, I doubled the recipe, so that we would have leftovers.  The original recipe serves eight, and with my family of six, we always need more than one recipe so that we can have leftovers. 

This recipe was found on Food Network's site and was made by Alton Brown.  I'm sure in the episode he told all about the science behind cooking cornbread in an iron skillet!  He's interesting in that way!

Creamed Corn Cornbread

2 cups yellow cornmeal
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar (I doubled the sugar)
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 cup creamed corn
2 tablespoons canola oil (I used butter and melted it by heating it in the 9 x 13 pan in the preheated oven.  That's why in the picture, the cornbread was browned on top.  The butter browned.)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place a 10 inch cast iron skillet into the oven.  In a bowl, combine the cornmeal, salt, sugar, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk together to combine well.

In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, and creamed corn, whisking together to combine thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients to the buttermilk mixture and stir to combine.  If the batter will not pour, add more buttermilk to the batter.

Swirl the canola oil in the hot cast iron skillet.  Pour the batter into the skillet.  Bake until the cornbread is golden brown and springs back upon the touch, about 20 minutes. Pin It Now!

Bran Muffins

Posted by Donna:

Larry came home last week and wanted me to make bran muffins. One of his coffee drinking friends said that his wife makes these all the time and that they're really good---and quite beneficial!!!!! This morning I broke down and made them. Most bran muffin recipes are pretty much the same---this one came from allrecipes.com-- with a few of my modications .

1- 1/4 cups bran flakes

1/4 cup bran buds

1 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup applesauce (The original recipe called for 1/3 cup oil, but I preferred the applesauce.)

1 egg

1/3 t0 2/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup raisins, carrots, apples, or bananas (These additions are strictly optional) The classic recipe calls for raisins, but since we're not big raisin fans, I made ours plain. Next time, I plan on adding bananas and pecans for Larry's taste.


Mix the bran and buttermilk together and let stand for 10 minutes. Mix the applesauce, sugar, egg, and vanilla together. After the ten minutes, add to the bran/buttermilk mixture. Next, combine the dry ingredients and add to the liquid mixture. If raisins, or any other fruit or nuts are added, fold them into the batter. Put about 1/3 cup of batter into each greased muffin tin compartment and bake for 15-20 minutes.

I'm anxious to try adding apples and a little cinnamon to one batch. You can pretty much do what you like as long as you have a basic recipe.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Pin It Now!

Fried Potatoes and Onions

Posted by Lori:

Rarely do I make French fries for my family - or anything fried very often, for that matter (not that they don't eat it elsewhere such as at school or fast food/restaurants) - but yesterday we were having beans and cornbread and I mentioned that fried potatoes sounded good to go along with the meal.  My oldest son, Zachary, asked what I meant by fried potatoes.  I explained them to him - that they were a soft type of French fry.  He sounded interested.  I got to thinking and concluded that I hadn't ever made fried potatoes for them - these kind of fried potatoes, anyway. So, I decided to look up different fried potato recipes.

I found this recipe at Food.com.  The recipe was called Uncle Bill's Fried Potatoes and Onions and was written by William (Uncle Bill) Anatooskin.  So, thanks, Uncle Bill, for a great recipe!  I think it said it was his grandmother's recipe.  I'll share it will all of you, too.

Fried Potatoes and Onions


4 large russet potatoes or 4 large Yukon gold potatoes
1 large onions, sliced thin
4 tablespoons butter, if necessary (or more)
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Peel and slice potatoes about 1/8 inch thick or thinner.

Slice onion thinly.

In a large frying pan on medium-high heat, melt butter.

Add sliced potatoes and onions, cover and fry for 10 minutes. Using a spatula, turn the potatoes and onions over so they do not break apart. If potatoes appear too dry, add some additional butter.

Sprinkle with granulated garlic powder, salt and pepper and continue to fry with cover removed for another 5 minutes or until potatoes begin to turn slightly brown; turning occasionally.


Serve hot with your meal.

Note: You may use 2 or 3 large garlic cloves (chopped small), instead of granulated garlic powder. Add to the potatoes after the first 10 minutes of cooking time.
Pin It Now!

Necklace Charm Craft

Posted by Lori:

Although I'm not much of a jewelry wearer myself, I think the handmade jewelry crafts are really cute and fun!  I enjoyed making these, for sure!  I'll give them away or sell them or something... 

Anyway, I found these cute little charms that are indented and used a Modge Podge product called Dimensional Magic, which dries clear and forms a thick coating on crafts (Mom posted clothes pins with fabric that had this type of product on top.)  The charms turned out really cute and I look forward to making the rest of them!

Modge Podge Dimensional Magic ($4.99 at Hobby Lobby and could use a coupon and get it cheaper)

Other supplies needed:  waxed paper, scissors, indented necklace charms, scrapbook paper, stickers if desired, pen or pencil, and glue (such as regular Elmer's school glue).

Set of 6 Charms - fronts are indented for decorating (these were $2.47 at Hobby Lobby, but on sale so1/2 price!).

Option #1:  Place charm on scrapbook paper.  Trace around shape with pen or pencil. 

I just left the part blank where ring was, but filled it in by hand.

Cut out shape, but make it a little smaller than marking so that it will fit into indention.

Place small amount of glue on indented part of charm.

Place paper into indention on top of glue.

Option #2:  Press small piece of scrapbook paper over back side of charm and rub with finger or gently with fingernail to make shape.  Cut with scissors, a little bit inside shape marks.  Glue shape into indented part of charm.

Follow directions on Modge Podge Dimensional Magic, but basically, just fill the indention with the product.  It says not to shake bottle or there will be bubbles.  I had bubbles anyway, but just removed them with the tip of my finger. (The bottle may have other hints....I'm just not a fine print reader :). 

Allow to dry for at least three hours.  Now you have a custom made necklace charm to add to any chain.  Aren't they cute???  I might even wear one myself some day! 

The best this about these is that they are so inexpensive to make!  Check Hobby Lobby and Michael's for specials and coupons to get items on half price, but even at full price, since I already had the scrapbook paper, all six charms were only $7.50 plus tax.  Yeah!

Pin It Now!

In the "Test Kitchen" of Life

Posted by Lori:

I've heard this little story before, and perhaps you have, too.  If not, it's worth reading.  It's not a typical "recipe", but a great illustration about life, itself.  We're each the "chef" in our own life, as this father teaches his daughter.

***A young woman was complaining to her father about how difficult her life had become.  He said nothing, but took her to the kitchen and set three pans of water to boiling.  To the first pan, he added carrots; to the second, eggs; and to the third, ground coffee.  After all three had cooked, he put their contents into separate bowls and asked his daughter to cut into the eggs and carrots and smell the coffee.  "What does this all mean?" she asked impatiently.

"Each food," he said, "teaches us something about facing adversity, as represented by the boiling water." The carrot went in hard but came out soft and weak.  The eggs went in fragile but came out hardened.  The coffee, however, changed the water to something better.

"Which will you be like as you face life?' he asked.  Will you give up, become hard - or transform adversity into triumph?  As the "chef" of your own life, what will you bring to the table?

*****Happy Thursday, everyone!
Pin It Now!

Nicole's Awesome Chicken 'n Salsa

Posted by Lori:I got this recipe from a friend and asked if I could share it with you. She said yes! It sounds delicious and I look forward to trying it myself! (*Note - after looking at Walmart the next day for the rice Nicole mentioned, I found that the ""caldo de tomato" made by Knorr is like a bouillon found in cube or powdered form.  Add it to regular white or brown rice to make a Spanish-style rice.)

Just for fun, I made it into a recipe card through the free site called "Smilebox" (There is a paying option, but for now I just did the free version.) Just click on "play" and it will take you to the recipe card. Enjoy!

I'm not sure if you will be able to open it if you receive our posts via email. If you can't, please visit our blog home page:  Life's a Bowl of Cherries.



Create a free recipe card design

Pin It Now!