Finding Joy!!!

Working on my Garden Tea today......setting up, finding centerpieces, decisions....long table, small tables??.....by the garden or in the yard?? Gathering teapots, teacups, dishes.....All the fun details to make it a very pleasant experience for all who attend............

Praying, step by step that God will keep me going and bless the works of my hands so that these women can relax, find a moments peace and enter into a couple hours of JOY in simple beauty.
I realized, I do not do this on my own, I so totally rely on God and His strength moment by moment....asking Him to hold me up, make all the food come out ok, for there to be enough....
Mostly, starting each day knowing and reminding myself again.....
"The JOY of the Lord is my Strength!"
Neh. 8:10

Next post..........Garden Tea!! Cannot wait, see you then. :)
The girls and I decided last night that the new Pride and Prejudice soundtrack would make WONDERFUL Garden Tea background music! :)

Muffins Anyone??

Do you remember the "Barrel o'Muffins" recipe from way back in the 80's?? Well, I made that ahead and just scooped it out for our brunch that day.....easy, easy.

Barrel O'Muffins

2 C Boiling water

5 tsp soda

1 C shortening or 1 C oil

2 C sugar

4 beaten eggs

5 C flour

4 C All-Bran Buds (Kelloggs)

Optional: 2 C raisans or dates

1 C chopped nuts

1 Qt. buttermilk

1 tsp salt

Mix water with soda and let cool. Crem shortening or oil, sugar and eggs in large 10 qt. container. Add other ingredients and mix.

Put batter in lined muffin tins, bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

This mixture can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks (with shortening), about 4 weeks (with oil).....Scoop out and bake as needed!!

How easy is that!?!?!?

However, upon mixing this and buying the ingredients I did realize, I have seriously changed my families eating habits since that time and will have to experiement with some more natural ingredients and see how long it would last.....for example the Bran Buds have all kinds of junk in them I do not normally eat (high fructose corn syryp, hydrogenated fats, etc)....so would start with looking for a natural cereal alternative. I have already changed the shortening to oil which helps and I do not use white sugar, I would

love to try this with honey???

Now!!! I must get busy, very full day of tea prep......mmmm.....Peach Ice Cream, Raspberry Scone Dough, Boysenberry Tarts.....Rhubarb Jam to sell.....Oh My!! Better get busy!!!

Titus 2 Meeting.....

I and three other younger ladies have began meeting to encourage each other in the Spirit of Titus 2, share ideas and learn new skills.

We are reading through the book "Created to be His Helpmeet" by Debi Pearl, discussing the questions at the end of each chapter.

Then we "DO" something!!

Our September theme: "End of Summer....Back to School / Easy Meal

Ideas for those Busy School Days!!"

So, first we talked about easy/make ahead meal ideas, then we made some very quick muffins. Easy/busy school day meals may be freezer meals or just quick and easy or even making ahead some bulk mixes to have on hand.

We ended our time with Brunch out in our "Outdoor

Dining Room"........

On the menu were Watermelon, Quiche, Bran Muffins, Cucumber Sandwiches and to top it off Cookies and Tarts all with Tea of course. :)

Next time (I am really excited about this) we are making aprons!! We will also assemble an "Easy Oven Lasagna" for our lunch. This can also
go right to the freezer.

I LOVE to encourage women in their homes. This is my passion.

There are some good suggestions and helps at New Harvest Homestead. Lisa will send you a Titus 2 Meeting Guide if you would like to do something like this. We meet twice a month, some only meet once a month.... Her link is off to the side here in my links. Check it out.

The Blessing of Zucchini.......

Yes!! The day has arrived, zucchini is ALL done!!

6 bags of grated for the freezer, 12 pints of soup base for the freezer, 8 pints of sweet relish and 8 half pints of sweet relish to sell at my tea this Saturday.

What a Blessing!!