Give Me the Simple Life…..

Of traveling the back roads

Of the taste of homemade strawberry jam on my toast…
Grannie’s homemade muscadine jelly…and cornflakes for breakfast

Of sprouting life from tiny seeds…watching them grow…
and shelling sweet peas that I grew in my little garden…

Of awakening to a cool morning with the songs of birds…
and watching bluebirds build their home; awaiting to see the babies fly

Of long conversations with my child, most of the time about nothing important

Of being able…

slow and easy…

taking in every little detail…

sitting in silence…

unfussy...

Of sweet prayers offered by a kneeling child...
and seeing a child being baptized on Sunday morning

Of reading a good book and living through the characters…
sharing their feelings, experiencing…being there in places I've never been 

Of making memories, one moment at a time…
and remembering them

Of dirt roads, running barefoot, picking blackberries,
reminiscing walks with Granddaddy down that dirt road

Of a tight hug, a touch of a hand, and a kind gentle word

Of …slow…easy…comfortable… uncomplicated … undemanding

"Things are simple, it is us human beings that make it difficult."

~Caprice Bourret

I trust that you will find your simple space, slow down

and appreciate those simple little things…

take it all in…

Breathe…

Take a ride in the country and just experience how simple life can be!

 

A Sunday Walk…

~ If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking.

Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk.

~ Raymond Inmon

I do not want the peace which passeth understanding,

I want the understanding which bringeth peace.

~Helen Keller

~ Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly

will acquire the skill to do difficult things easily.

 ~ Johann Friedrich Von Schiller

~ It is important to expect nothing, to take every experience,

including the negative ones, as merely steps on the path, and to proceed.

~ Ram Dass

~ Fear is not your enemy. It is a compass pointing
you to the areas where you need to grow.
~ Steve Pavlina

~ Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.
 ~ Bill Cosby


Enjoy your week!

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine is growing and giving me some veggies. I’ve had the pleasure of picking my first English peas…so sweet and tender; and heads of beautiful green broccoli. I love it! The horse poo has paid off.

~ The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for Him there~

George Bernard Shaw

I am most at home in my garden where it doesn’t matter if I wear make-up, my clothes don’t match, or that my shoes are dirty. The birds sing to me, the butterflies flutter by in their beauty, and a cool breeze flows by. Swoon~

Throw on you rubbers and take a walk with me through my garden…

Rows of tall green plants full of blooms and tiny pods of sweet peas…

Huge leafy broccoli plants with flowery heads begging to be cut...

Lined up green tops of onions growing and reaching toward the sky…

Bushy leaves on the bed where the potatoes sleep…

Tiny little plants growing up to make some okra…

Huge leaves connect each of the squash plants as they build a canopy for big bright yellow flowers which reveal little baby veggies…

Cucumbers trying their best to reach the fence to trellis on…

and bell pepper plants getting a fresh start, along with

some new tomato plants which I have already caged.

Along the edges are some mixed wild flowers growing

from their youth with petunias and daisies all around.

~ The best way to garden is to put on a wide-brimmed straw hat and

some old clothes. And with a hoe in one hand

and a cold drink in the other, tell someone else where to dig.

~ Texas Bix Bender

LaughOutLoudCute!

I get pleasure from my garden where I feel the sun’s warmth,

I get to dig in the dirt with my hands, and I get the delight of reaping my rewards.

I am at home in my growing space.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells, and cockle shells,

And pretty maids all in a row

When I don my yellow rubber ladybug shoes, with gloves on and tools in hand, I begin to cultivate my love of gardening. And when I tire and need a sit-down; the “pink” chair is my resting tool. Yes it is pink! Jackie even sits in it for a while! So…what’s on the menu for supper…baked ham, homemade mashed potatoes, fresh English peas, and sweet tea. Grab a fork and come eat with me!

~ Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint,

and the soil and sky as canvas.

~ Elizabeth Murray

Go dig in the garden and bury all your troubles…you will find peace there.

How does your garden grow?

              

My word for 2010-Experience

I’ve experienced growing things.

Peter Henderson Seeds and Mary Mary graphics found in Google search.

Thank you!

Gosh…I have so much to be thankful for. Better yet I should say that I am truly blessed  in so many ways. The love of family and friends just goes way beyond words. I am blessed with a family that loves me dearly in so many unspoken ways. I enjoyed my family's company as we went out to eat seafood last Friday night...Daddy’s treat! Can’t get much better than family and good food!

My love for blogging has opened a new friendly world for me. Since I do not work outside my home anymore, I have lost touch with my public! One of my daughter’s old boyfriends once asked me if I knew everyone in town because everywhere we went we saw someone I knew. I guess that’s what you get for being kind to people and I would not have it any other way.

Now that I do not see those people on a daily basis...I have gained some new friends…some without faces, some of different colors, some from every corner of this world, some without real names, and most of which I will never met in person or hear their words with their voice. But yet they are still my friends! We share a love for photography through Flickr, sharing and writing through Blogging, a love for our craft through Etsy, and staying in contact through Facebook. We are bound together through man’s ingenious www.  I delight in my friend’s written words; I nibble eye-candy at their beautiful photos; I adore and envy their creative craft skills; I shed tears for their heartfelt honesty, pain, and sorrows; I laugh out loud at their humor; I learn from their cultures; I jump for joy at their accomplishments; and I even attempt their recipes.

Blogging has linked me with many friends. Thanks to Gooseberry Patch’s Featured Friday which I had the honor of last Friday…I have gained many more acquaintances who share the same interests that I do. So I owe a huge THANK YOU to them for my interview post found on their blog.  Thanks also to every one of you who jumped over to visit my blog and read along with me. It was such a wonderful pleasure. Please come back soon and stay for a while…I’ll give you something good to eat with a glass of iced tea…southern style!

And then there are those that are just too sweet; like Angie, Mama Holli, and countless others. Some who have presented me with awards of all kinds…I know I have forgotten someone…shame on me and my bad memory. You are all faithful in your visits and thoughtful expressions. You know who you are…because you have touched my heart and soul with the kindest of words, compliments, gifts, e-mails, cards, surprises, recipes, awards, ideas, and love…as you joined me with each heaping spoonful of my life that I served up.   I love you all! Many thanks and BIG hugs to you.

I have also had the pleasure of finding that some of my photos have recently been featured on Explore at Flickr. Here are a couple of them:

  "Fresh Art"

This daisy pix is part of the Lens.Us.Together group of  photographer friends.

Thanks to them for creating a fun weekly themed challenge through photos.

"Beach"

Thanks for all the views, comments, and faves! Wow!

And of course there are my Facebook buddies and friends who I otherwise would have lost contact with, forgotten about, and never heard from again. This is the one reason I view FB…I have to keep up with what everyone is doing…from family visits, baseball, softball, holidays, chemo, sickness, surgeries, work, travels, vacations, moves, new babies, loss of loved ones, and simple life joys! It is a chance for me to touch them with a quick comment, a prayer, a laugh, or just to say Hi!

And last but not least are my friends that I talk to and see each day, the ones that hold my heart and hand, laugh, cry, joke, poke, and just love me for me. You know who you are!

This is how I feel about all of you:

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot

be seen or even touched-they must be felt with the heart." ~Helen Keller

A BIG warm and Heartfelt Thank-You for being here, visiting, commenting, listening, reading, sharing, and blessing my heart and home.

Here is a BIG thank you hug:

Much love,

                

My word for 2010-Experience

I’ve experienced friends from all walks of life and I'm grateful for them.

"Thank You" graphics compliments of Photobucket.
Flickr is a photo sharing site.
Etsy is a site for personally selling homemade and vintage items.
Facebook is a place for friends to connect.
Photobucket is another photo sharing site.

I Have Gooseberry-Bumps

Have I ever told you how much I love Gooseberry Patch? 

Yes I think I might have mentioned it a few times!

I’m so excited today to be their Friday Feature!

 Please go on over and visit with them, read the post about yours truly, and check out their website store…they have really great and fun products as well as awesome cookbooks.  You can also follow them on Facebook…they are always giving something away!

Wow I feel so special…just what I needed today!

The Miracle of Friendship

There's a miracle called friendship

That dwells within the heart,

And you don't know how it happens

Or how it gets its start...

But the happiness it brings you

Always gives a special lift,

And you realize that friendship

Is God's most precious gift!

~ B.J. Morbitzer

You can also join our Circle of Friends at Gooseberry Patch!

               

All graphics in this post are from Gooseberry Patch!

Happy 101 and My Promise

Lots of you know by now what makes me happy and maybe you don’t. Happiness is a part of being healthy.  Remember... laughter, a happy laughter, is the best medicine. Erin at Dropped Stitches has given me a Happy 101 Award.

Thanks Erin!

Here are 10 of many things that make me happy, make me smile, make me giddy:)

1. Jesus
2. Holly (and Richard)
3. Jackie
4. kitties
5. beautiful weather
6. finding vintage treasures and junk
7. gardening, growing veggies and flowers
8. sweet music
9. my home, its my space
10. nice gestures from others

I’m passing lots of happiness along to my others readers because I want to know what makes you happy… so if you wish; grab this award because it is presented to all of you who read this. Get happy with me!!  Spread a little happiness!

Now for the recipes that I promised you; because you asked…Slap Yo Mama Italian Bake, Hush Puppies, and De Lime in De Coconut Cheesecake.

**  Slap Yo Mama Italian Bake
           ~3 meats, 3 veggies, 3 jars of sauce, 3 pastas, 3 cheeses!

1 pound ground beef
1 pound pkg. Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small pkg. pepperoni
1 small bell pepper
1 small onion
1 small pkg. fresh mushrooms, rinsed

Three different boxes of the pastas of your choice: bow tie, spiral, ziti…etc.
Approx. 6-8-ounces of each, cooked according to pkg. directions

3-4 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce, I use 3 different flavors
8 oz pkg of shredded mozzarella cheese
8 oz pkg of shredded Colby/Monterey jack cheese
8 oz pkg of shredded fresh Parmesan cheese (not grated)

Brown all three meats together, drain and rinse.
Sauté mushrooms, onion and peppers in olive oil.
Boil pastas just until tender, do not over cook. Drain.
In a very large bowl mix all ingredients together except cheeses. Gently stir well to avoid tearing pasta to pieces.
Spoon into 2 large 9x13 baking dishes sprayed with Pam…sometimes I have enough for a third smaller dish which I send over to my parents. 
Top with the 3 cheeses.
Bake at 350* until bubbly and the cheese is toasty and melted. Approx. 30 minutes.
Serve with toasted Garlic Cheesy Bread and a fresh green salad and iced tea.

This is a great make-ahead dish for a crowd. We eat one and freeze the other for later when I don’t want to cook. To freeze, press plastic wrap all the way down against the cheese and seal against the sides of the dish. Cover with aluminum foil and the lid if it’s a Pyrex dish. Using a sticky note on top; write the name of the dish and the cooking directions. This dish is a great one to take to a friend, a reunion, or a church dinner.


** Southern Hush Puppies
           ~Mama’s Recipe

1 cup white Cornmeal
1/2 cup flour
1 heaping tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsp baking powder
¾ cup buttermilk
1 egg, beaten
1 med. Onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped, optional

Mix all dry ingredients together. Add milk, egg, onion, and pepper. Mixture will be thick but should not be dry. If a little dry, add a little more buttermilk. Carefully drop batter from a small spoon into a deep fryer of peanut oil, turning as they brown to a golden color. Drain on paper towels.
Serve southern style with fried catfish, any other fish, shrimp or seafood!

**  De Lime in De Coconut Cheesecake
 Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
½ cup sweetened shredded coconut
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
3 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling
4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 (15-ounce) can sweetened cream of coconut milk
½ cup sour cream
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
1/4 cup freshly lime juice
Whipped cream and Lime wedges for garnish (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. To prepare crust, combine all ingredients with the bowl of a food processor. Process until just blended. Press in bottom and about ½ inch up the sides of a 10-inch spring form pan.
3. To prepare filling, place cream cheese in a large bowl and beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until smooth. Reduce speed to low and add eggs, 1 at a time; beat well.
4. Add remaining filling ingredients and beat well, scraping bottom and sides of the bowl occasionally. Scrape filling into crust.
5. Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Garnish with whipped cream and lime wedges, if desired. Serves 12.

Note: I made this in a 9 ½ inch pan and it would not hold all of the batter…so don’t even try to put too much in one pan either…it WILL cook over and out of the pan. I speak from experience!

*********

So get your happy cooking self ready and enjoy. Let me know what makes you happy. Here’s wishing you a happy and blessed week full of joy. Oh and go pay Erin a visit…she’s a cool knitter with an Etsy shop, a former pediatrician, and she loves to cook.



        

Ultimate Questions of Wonder

Spreading Some Spring!

Now I know you have always wondered about these things:

1. How can the emotion of crying mean both happiness and sadness?

2. What is partly cloudy and partly sunny anyway, aren’t they the same?

3. Just how far is the east from the west?

My answer: One nail scared hand to the other. Think about it…

4. Why do doctors leave the room when you change?

They're going to see you naked anyway…..

I guess strip shows at the Doctor’s Office are illegal. Ya think?

5. If laughter is the best medicine, why do we say we 'died laughing'?

I see you laughing at this one…go ahead it won’t kill you!

6. Why do we sing "Rock a bye baby" to lull a baby to sleep when the song is about putting your baby in a tree and letting the wind crash the cradle on the ground?

Now that’s just plain stupid if you think about it! LOL

7. Why do dogs like the smell of other dog’s butts?

I have no answer to this one!

8. If we came from monkeys…where did the monkey come from?

Having been taught in school the theory of evolution….I always question their logic of such tales which attempt to explain man's existence without a Creator. God plainly said in Genesis that He created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Then in verse 26-27 God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

So to sum it all up…God made all the animals, including the monkeys and apes, then, when satisfied with those, He made Man and Woman from His image, not a monkey’s.

…and this also answers this age old question…

9. Which came first the chicken or the egg?

DUH!

10. Doesn't expecting the unexpected make the unexpected expected?

11. On Gilligan's Island, how did Ginger have so many different outfits

when they were only going on a 3 hour tour?

LOL

12. What is another word for "thesaurus"?

~Lexicon. Now you know!

13. What happens to an 18 hour bra after 18 hours?

 I hope I never have to wear one that long at one time to find out. But I do know what happens to one when the strap gets around the dasher in the middle of the washer!

14. What if the hokey pokey really is what it's all about?

Oh Hokey!

15. Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible crisp,

which no decent human being would eat?

I give up...I don’t even like the semi-dark brown setting…

I have to get a knife and scrape it at the sink. YuK!

16. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

I say you have succeeded to fail and did it with great success…Bravo!

17. If Darwin still insists that apes evolved into humans…well then why are

there still monkeys and apes running around?

Are they rejects that didn’t change into humans?

No way! They are still here because we need them in the zoo...It wouldn't be

the same without them, they are cute!! :)

18. Why does the nightly news start with "Good Evening" and then

they tell you everything that's wrong in the world? ? ?

****************

Because you asked, I will have the recipe up for the "Slap Yo Mama Italian Bake" soon.  And Cinner wanted to know what kind of food a hush puppy is. Well, it's a deep fried ball of cornbread, made with cornmeal, flour, eggs, buttermilk and onions;

and sometimes jalapenos!  Usually served with fish and shrimp.

I will share Mama's recipe later too!

tasteofhome.com

Thanks for asking...I love sharing!

(: A smile can start a conversation without saying a word :)

Share one with someone today!

                   

Not Tonight Honey

What a beautiful and wonderful Easter weekend!! God is good, life is good, and all is good. We are blessed beyond measure and cannot even begin to imagine the sacrifices that Christ made for us…just for us…me and you!

Our weekend was spent with joy and lots of good eating…Holly and Richard were home from New Orleans with us. After spending a couple of hours with us on Friday afternoon, they had dinner with Richard’s parents…a feast from what I was told! Then to bed at our house late and up early Saturday morning with Jackie and Richard off on the hunt for wild turkey…not the kind in the bottle either; and Holly and I off to the vet’s office for annual shots for the troops.

*vet prices are so much cheaper here in Alabama than in NOLA*.

Jackie called up a big gobbler sniffing out some hens, for Richard. They watched him strut his stuff and parade for the ladies…but he never came within shooting range, but a show he did perform! We met them later for breakfast, ran some errands and returned home to prepare lunch. I had made one of my faves, "Slap Yo Mama Italian Bake" It’s so good you will want to slap someone! :)  A combination of ground beef, pepperoni, Italian sausage, spaghetti sauce, three pastas, and three cheeses…baked together in one dish served with garlic cheese bread and a green salad.

Do I hear a "YuM YuM"?

That night, like we ever got hungry after the lunch feast, we had all this:

Fresh gulf shrimp and oysters fried in Louisiana Shrimp fry batter, baked sweet potato fries, homemade cole slaw, hush puppies and grilled Alligator Sausage home grown and made in…you guessed it…Louisiana. Supper was finished off with my homemade

De Lime and De Coconut Cheesecake! Can you say "Oh My"?

Easter morning my kitchen swirled with the smell of cinnamon, bacon and caramel. Homemade cinnamon rolls with pecans and cream cheese icing, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs and Crème Caramel coffee from World Market.

Another "Oh my"! for all these great

taste-bud-pleasing and breath-taking smells!

After a beautiful morning of worship, observance of the Lord’s Supper and singing Easter praises, we went out to eat some good ole Mexican food!………

Now can you say "Pepto Bismol" and "Rolaids"?

I do NOT need to eat anything for another week!

Did I cook last night?...NO

Will I cook tonight?...NO, not tonight honey!

Maybe I will later in the week… *winking*

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My English peas are in full bloom and I have a head of broccoli the size of a quarter!! I love going out into my garden early with the morning sun shining and the coolness from the night. My flower seeds are bursting up through the ground and I planted some petunias in a pot hanging from a whimsical sign that says… "Maters". This is my place where I see my rewards unfolding before me…slowly but surly.

 I love it!

Thank you for letting me share my weekend with you. I hope yours was as equally good, blessed, and inspirational. I know mine was!

My loves and their pets made it back to New Orleans safely with God as their pilot!

                When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living.I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

*********

For those of you who asked about the cupcake holders in my last post:

they are Wilton silicone bakers, found at WalMart 12 for $9.99!!

No Eggs...Just Chocolate

No eggs...Just chocolate...No fooling!