November Blessings...

This past month was filled with lots of little blessings.  It's those little things that God sends us everyday that remind me of His faithfulness and love.

1.  Saturdays with Titus.  Spending time watching airplanes land and take off, waiting for the train to come so we could wave at it and playing at the park were just some of the things we did.

2.  Sweet Margie came to visit and we enjoyed a delicious lunch of Colombian treats

3.  Spending a whole day showing Margie how to roll a pie crust and decorate cookies.

4.  Showing Danielle how to make pomegranate jelly

5.  A wonderful visit for Thanksgiving with the Cosentino's!

 6.  Seeing snowflakes fall for the first time!

7.  Three days of lovely snow flurries that turned the yard into a Christmas postcard!

8.  Catching snowflakes on your tongue...

9.  Safe flight to and from the East coast.

10.  Celebrating 15 years at my office during the Service Awards Luncheon this week!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Gratitude {Grooming a heart of thankfulness}

For each new morning with it's light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

DIY Thanksgiving Tablecloth

Thanksgiving is just two weeks away (can you believe it!) but there is still time to make this great personalized Thanksgiving tablecloth.  It is inexpensive and requires no sewing!  And if you are brave enough you could even get the whole family to help you put it together.

I came across this great idea last Fall on Blue Cricket Design's blog.

What you need:

1. One fabric drop cloth (I bought mine from Lowe's) It already comes hemmed!
2. Several permanent ink markers (different sizes)  I used large and medium Sharpies 
3. A can of scotch guard
4. A "thankful" list

Directions:

Ask your family members to put together a list of things they are thankful for (as long or short as you'd like).  Iron the drop cloth to get all the wrinkles out.  Lay the drop cloth on the floor.  Armed with your "thankful" list and sharpies start writing on the cloth.  Begin writing on the cloth using different sizes of letters, fonts, and styles.  Trust me this is the fun part!  Keep moving around the perimeter of the cloth keeping in mind people will be reading this while seated at your table. After you are all done filling in the cloth with all the words on your list spray it with scotch guard to help with cleaning in case of any spills.

Enjoy making memories!  This will be a unique, one of a kind, personalized family keepsake you can use again and again every year.

Rosie the Riveter {or Ruthie the Registerer}

"We Can Do It!"

Today is October 31 and our office for the past several years has celebrated with a fun dress up day.

So here I am as "Rosie the Riveter" or should I say "Ruthie the Registerer"!

I love costumes that don't cost a lot!  I spent $2.50 on fabric for the scarf and 50 cents for the poster board.  Thanks to my friend Dee who let me borrow the tool belt and drill =)  Here are a few other in the office that dressed up!  Gotta love my office family!

The Colors of Fall

It's pomegranate season!  Time to enjoy these beautiful ruby gems full of delicious goodness!

Comfort Food {Chicken Pot Pie}

Today I made a dish that I had never tried making before.  With the weather changing and cloudy cooler days I was in the mood for some comfort food.  I remembered that a few weeks ago I had come across a recipe for Chicken Pot Pie here.

It looked delicious and so right after church I headed for the grocery store with ingredient list in hand.  I did a few adaptations of my own.  I roasted my own chicken legs and thighs instead of buying a whole rotisserie chicken from the store.  Also, I didn't have cognac on hand so I substituted some white wine instead. Oh, and not really being a fan of bought pastry crusts I made my own.  Of course if you want to make this faster by all means go ahead and use it.  Make one and share one with a friend!

Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
3 Tbs Butter
1/2 Onion, chopped
2 large Russet Potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
3 Carrots, cut into inch pieces
1 container of baby Belle Mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup white Wine
3 Tbs Flour
1 1/2 -2 cups Chicken Broth
3/4 cup Milk (I used fat free)
2 1/2 -3 cups Chicken, cooked and cut into small pieces (I used 3 drumsticks and 3 thighs)
1 cup Peas, frozen or fresh
1 tsp Thyme, dried
1/2 tsp Rosemary, dried
A few springs of fresh Thyme
1/2 tsp Poultry seasoning
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Pie Crust, unbaked
1 Egg yolk + 1 tsp Water for the egg wash

Add first five ingredients to a heavy pot (dutch oven).  Cook for 10 or until the veggies are a bit soft.  Add the wine and then the flour and cook for a minute or two.  Then add the chicken stock and milk and cook until thickened.  Add the chicken, peas, and seasonings adjusting as needed.Transfer the mixture to the baking dish of your choice.

Roll out pie crust and cu some vent holes.

Place over the mixture in baking dish and press dough over the edges to seal.

Brush the top with the egg wash 

and put in a preheated oven (425) for 12 minutes.  Cover with foil and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until top is golden.  Enjoy!

Baking Pies for Noah's Heart Fundraiser

This past Friday I spent the evening baking some pies for a fund raiser.  (Read about Noah's Heart here)

I decided to make two pumpkin and one apple.  Since I was baking these to raise money I opted to buy an inexpensive but cute pie plate instead of the disposable foil ones.  I found this really cute one at the local Marshall's store.  It said "Stay Calm and Make a Pie" along the rim.

The other had an apple pie recipe printed on the inside of it.  Cute, cute!

My favorite recipe for pumpkin pie comes right off of the Libby's can but I have adapted it and changed it up a little to suit my taste.  I posted it last November.  This time I used cinnamon, allspice, ginger and pumpkin spice.  If you want to you could just pour the recipe into a glass baking dish minus the crust.

This year I also used an old recipe I have had written down on a little piece of paper.  I believe it came from one of my Mom's cookbooks.  It is a really fool proof pie crust recipe.

Never Fail Pie Crust Recipe (from my Mom's Amish cookbook)

The secret to a good crust is to use ice cold water and don't over mix or handle the crust too much.  Just combine until the ingredients are mixed together. I like to mix up the pie crust ahead of time (the day before) and then refrigerate it in round discs ready to be used.  The recipe makes two pie crusts.

Silouettes in the evening

Silhouettes and sunsets... one of the many things I'll miss about summer.

This time of year I am usually driving home right at sunset.  The dark silhouettes contrasting against the painted sky make for a beautiful picture.  I will miss this next month when the time changes and I'll be driving home in the dark.
  

A sweet little girl turns 4!

This past Saturday my friend's little girl turned 4.  To celebrate we had a little birthday party at the beach!  Kate is a little miracle and a big blessing from God.  She is growing up so fast.

Her little friends were excited to celebrate with her...


and so were her bigger friends!

Lighting the candle with the ocean breeze going was a bit of a challenge but daddy got it done.

I think her favorite gift was a guitar which she immediately began to play and entertain us all!  

Happy Birthday dear Kate!!!

Rescue Tape to the Rescue!

If you are at home and you hear water dripping or running somewhere nearby it's never a good sign.  Last week sometime I was at home by myself and heard some kind of water spraying noise outside.  I didn't pay much attention to it because I thought it was just the neighbor lady who has been coming over to feed the birds and water the plants in the front yard.  So off I went that afternoon and didn't get back home until quite late and I forgot all about it.  The next afternoon I heard it again.  Then the neighbor knocked on the door and informed me that the hose that waters the bird feeder had sprouted a big leak and did I know who to call...

Uhhhh.....

my landlady is away for the summer in Vermont...

her son is off on vacation in Mexico for two weeks...

Uhhhh....

Do I know who to call??

NO!   Help, anybody?

....insert cricket sounds here....

So I went up and took a look.  Sure enough there was the leak arching beautifully across the lawn and hitting the awning.... spray... drip... spray... drip...

OK, I can do this!  So off I went to the laundry room /garage in search of...   What am I looking for?  What could I use to fix this?  Duct tape maybe?

And then, there it was hanging oh the wall! Imagine a beam of light coming down and and a chorus singing...

Rescue Tape!   Where have you been all my life.  This stuff is great!  Why had I never heard or seen this stuff before!  There it was in black and white 

"...excellent for emergency hose repair..."

So here's to whoever invented this great stuff... THANK YOU!

Now go to the store and get yourself a package of Rescue Tape right now.  You never know when you'll need it!