Thursday, February 25, 2010

A blustery day

Today feels like something out of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Hope we all don't blow away!

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Trendy Owl

You NEED to check out my friend Jocelyn's BRAND NEW Etsy shop. She makes the most amazing fabric flowers! They are as fun as she is!

Plus, she is offering free shipping for the next couple days...

So, click here and check out The Trendy Owl.


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pancakes...pancakes...pancakes...



I come from an Italian family...from my size you can tell that the love language is FOOD. "Do you want more? No? Here...just a little bit. Finish it up." Yeah, I am in shape...ROUND! But, I digress...

My mother is an amazing cook! She can make just about anything, and it tastes delicious. So, I grew up "helping" in the kitchen. I am not an amazing cook, but my food is edible.

When I got married, one of the things that I could NOT make was pancakes. I knew how to make them, but inevitably, they would burn, or be raw inside, or be to chewy, etc...

Someone was kind enough to teach me to watch the bubbles on the top burst before flipping...

But, I never could master the art of the pancake...until today.

If you read my blog, you know that I love, love, LOVE, the Pioneer Woman's recipes. They aren't healthy, but they sure are yummy!

I was out of pancake mix, so I checked out the PW's site, and sure enough there is was...the recipe for Perfect Pancakes. I was so excited to try it out, but then I saw it called for cake flour and I didn't have any. So I looked up a substitution for cake flour (1/4 c. corn starch with 1 3/4 c. flour). I followed her recipe to a T...and yep, we had PERFECT PANCAKES for dinner.

Seriously, you need to try them out. YUMMY!!! Click here for the recipe.

Ree, you have once again saved the day...well, at least saved the dinner!!!

(photo by Ree Drummond)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Treasures...

I was cleaning out a couple of drawers today...you know, the ones that you just stash stuff in because you have no idea what to do with it. Yeah, the ones you hate to clean out.

Well, in my cleaning, I came across a few treasures. No, nothing worth anything monetarily, but priceless to me.

There was the card J made for me in Sunday School a few years ago for mother's day...my favorite Lucky Charms watch with the orange band that used to wear in college...an old Christmas card from my best friend...letters and photos.. and a plethora of other things. Each is a treasure because of the person that it makes me think of. I found myself smiling, giggling and even teary-eyed.

I am sure we all have treasures like that lying around. Take a minute sometime soon and look through those old photo albums, or clean out your junk drawer. See if you can find a few treasures to make you smile.

Who knows what you will find...

Thursday, February 4, 2010

My Katie-kates

For those of you who don't know, this is my Katie.

We met in Missouri when we worked at Mardel together (where this ridiculous picture was taken). I never thought that Katie and I would be friends...she used to walk by my desk in the morning with her scowly face on (yeah, she's not a morning person). I used to think she didn't like me. We started spending time together when I found out she lived down the street from me and didn't have a washer and dryer. So every Thursday evening, Katie would come to my house and do laundry while we watched Survivor. We got to know each other better and better over those weeks. Soon, it would change into dinner at our house, too, before Survivor came on. I always looked forward to Thursdays.

As time went on, we both moved on to different jobs, and both of us moved (we ended up living about a half an hour away from each other. Still Katie would come on Thursdays for dinner and Survivor. We got to be better and better friends, not only sharing our love of Jesus, but also sharing our love of bacon and Reese's peanut butter cups, and laughing hysterically until we cry.

About two and a half years ago, my family moved to Virginia...taking me far away from my Katie and our fun Thursday nights. But soon after that, Katie moved to London for her job. Now it was only once a month or so that we could even talk on the phone.

Thankfully, my hubby was so gracious to allow me to go visit Katie in London. We had such a great time...honestly, one of the best times in my life. We visited all of the sites. Not only did I get to go to London, but Katie surprised me for our birthdays and took me to....

PARIS!!!!!

That trip in itself is a whole other story...Paris in a day. I should write a book! Riding on the Eurostar in the chunnel, eating raw hamburgers, climbing all of the steps in the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Louvre, climbing more steps (and throwing a fit about it) in Monmarte, and so much more...

Anyway, fast-forward to this past December...Katie got married to a wonderful man named Yvan, and he took her away to his home in Mauritius...an island off the coast of Madagascar out in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

I miss her so much! I miss not being able to pick up the phone and call. Even Skyping is difficult because of the time difference. But, I know it has to be much harder for her...culture changes, missing family and friends.

I've been living in Virginia for two and a half years, and I have not found a friend like my Katie...and I don't think I ever will.


Katie-kates, I love you and miss you. I thank God for giving me a friend like you.

Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

Those who know me best know that I love to read. I have read a lot of Biblical/Historical fiction books in my life, and Of Fire and Lions...