Early Spring

We have been having snow today....

Yes, snow, then hail, then the sun

comes out :D, then just black clouds....

then it does it all over again!!

Spring comes soooo slowly here

in the high desert......

May I just dream of sunny

warm afternoons spent in

the shade of the porch.........

Today our high has been about 45 degrees,

by Sunday we are supposed to be

up to the mid 60's....

Oh Happy Day!!

Easy Granola

Low fat and very tasty......

1/3 C oil

1/2 C honey

1/4 C water

1 tsp vanilla

7 1/2 C uncooked rolled cereal

(wheat, oats...above I used a 7 grain

cereal because that is what

I had on hand)

1/4 C shelled sunflower seeds

1/4 walnuts

1/2 C powdered nonfat milk

1 C raisins or other dried fruit

(I used coconut instead)

You can easily play around with the

ingredients, incorporating what you

like in granola and the flavor

you want.....like, how about maple??

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a saucepan, heat oil, honey, water and vanilla until well blended.
• In a large bowl, combine cereals, nutsand powdered milk.
• Pour liquid ingredients over dry and mix well.
• Sread mixture on two jelly-roll pans or cookie sheets or whatever you have.
• Bake for 10 min. stirring occasionally.
• Remove from oven; add raisins.
• Let cool until crisp before storing in airtight container.

(Makes about 10 cups)

We enjoy this with yogurt for breakfast

and snacks!!

(Homemade yogurt coming soon...:)

Sign of Spring.....

My neighbor friend sent me this picture of her new

babies!! They are sooooo adorable.

Saturday we had our Titus 2 Group meeting.

This time our Bible Study was about

"Becoming a Titus 2 Woman"

How that requires a focus and different

lifestyle than we might otherwise choose without

that as our goal.

Whether we are striving to be all Titus 2 implies

now as we raise our children, love our husbands

and learn to stay home.....

or even as we are striving to be that

older woman for others in our life.....

Either way, it involves abandonment.

We must abandon our desires, hopes, dreams,

family, friends......etc. Wrap them up in a

blanket and lay them on God's doorstep!!

Walk away.......the new owner (God) will

now take care of

those abandoned things......

this does not mean we will never have

a life......it only means we are not in

charge anymore. :)

"Others may surrender......

we must abandon."

Then we talked about planning our

gardens and growing more this

year, and growing enough to feed our

families and even be able to put some up

for over the winter. How soon we can

get started on that...trying some cold hardy

crops now with plastic on them.

Then off to Gramma Belle's for more

crocheting!!

It was a good day.

Today......

Today is restful compared to yesterday!!

Yesterday was full of bread making and canning

and making several pans of Enchiladas, some

for the Shepherd's House on Monday

and one for our dinner and one for

a freezer meal (yay!! love it when that happens!!)

Today...I am blogging....studying for our Titus 2

Group tomorrow....this afternoon we get to go to

a friends for our monthly "Sewing Circle" (no one really

sews anymore, but sometimes.....)

Then come home take a "homemade" pizza crust out of the

freezer, spread it with some of that "homemade" spaghetti

sauce, top with "cheapo" pepparoni from Costco that is in

the freezer and some cheese that

is already grated and in the freezer.

WOW!

How easy is that?!?!?

My kind of day. :D

I ran across this quote this morning...it is so good for so

many circumstances in life, I just have to share it....

it is from an old magazine from 1993...

I think that word "inconveniences" can be translated to

mean anything that we are dealing with...

it could be something in our past, it could be illness,

unemployment,.....anyway, here it is.......

"God uses all those inconveniences to plant

tender seeds of endurance when

you are not even looking.

And before you know it, tiny sprouts of

perseverance and contentment

begin to crop up where resistance

and impatience used to thrive. You hardly

notice itin the beginning, but one day there it is -

the sweet flower of long-suffering

bloomingright there in your very irritation.

God has us here inthis flower garden of

patience, long-suffering,

and perseverance."

Have a great weekend!! See you Monday!!

Spring Fling!!

Remember I said I had another tea since I had been on here.....

Spring Fling!! A Healthnut Tea

My color theme was mostly purple and green, but I could

not pass up these very SPRINGY daffodils since they

were 2 bunches for $3!!!!!

The tables were drapped with a sheer green cloth in the

middle topped with purple pansies......

The little bag is actually a bath bag. That was the take-
home gift for the ladies. Filled with luscious smells
and lavender......
My....there is that beautiful cabinet that my
dear sweet husband made for me.....
it just keeps showing up in the pics :D

Touches of spring all around......

Love this little butterfly candle holder. There is a

set of 3...each table got one. They were a gift

to me several years ago and I have had fun

using them....especially at Spring Teas!!

Oh, yes,....and there was food.....

Menu

Spring Greens with Strawberry Vinegrette

Boysenberry Whole Wheat Scones

Cucumber on Dilled Whole Wheat Canape

Yogurt Cheese and Sprouts on Wheat
Pepper Roses

(instead of more bread for a healthy tea :) I

found these cute little roses, filled

with cream cheese

and parsley.

Mmmmmm, then dessert!!

Carob Confections

Apple Carrot Cake

Honey Pound Cake

Whole Wheat Shortbread

Strawberries

And the finale...

Rhubarb Sweetie

(all of the desserts were made with either honey

or Stevia or Turbinado)

One of the ladies brought me this sweet gift,

it is actually a salt and pepper shaker.

Happy workers!!

Next to me in the purple is my daughter and then

her friend who both helped serve at tea. And then

her friends sister stayed to help clean up.

Thank you girls!! Your the best!!

This was one of my favorite teas, this is how we eat

anyway, so it was all very good to us!! LOL.

New Background

Well.....there you have it!! I will try this for awhile.

I could not find ANYTHING "springy" that suited

me or that I liked.......so here it is,

just thought it would be a fun one for awhile

since I will be sharing some recipes, canning and such.

Winter Preserving

Well, I guess technically it is Spring!! But it is still very

cold here like winter!!

I enjoy canning in the winter when it is not so hot.

Here is my recipe for some easy Spaghetti Sauce to can

and have on hand. Very nice to open a jar for spaghetti or

pizza or chili or soup or.........whatever you like!!

Spaghetti Sauce
1 can Tomatoe Paste

(the large almost gallon size, I get this at

Costco for around $3)

2 cans of water

1/4 C Italian Seasoning (to taste)

(I buy this in bulk from my food co-op, so

it is not very expensive)

2+ T Salt (to taste)

(also in bulk from food co-op)

Mix all together and warm in pan on top of stove,

stirring occasionally to keep from scorching.

Warm your jars and lids.

Fill jars, wipe rims, put lids on.

Cook in boiling water bath for 20 minutes.

This makes 8 or 9 quarts.

I have not calculated the cost of my seasonings exactly,

but this comes out to be right around 30-40 cents

for a quart. I do not know about your area

but we do not ever see a sale like that!!

TIP: When you bake your bread, roll out a couple

pizza crusts for the freezer, nice to be able to just take

those out, use this sauce, do some toppings, have

grated cheese in the freezer and VOILA! Easy Pizza!

Other things that are fun to can in the winter are

soups, beans and meats and things that you do not

have to do something with right now because it

is ready in the garden.

Yummy Muffin Recipe

This is a Chocolate Chip Bread recipe that can be changed

to use whatever you have and you can make bread

or muffins. It calls for mashed banana, I keep "old" dark

bananas in the freezer. If I am thinking ahead, I peel them

and stick them in ziplocs or I just toss them in the freezer

peel and all, then zap them in the microwave about

20 seconds and can peel them and mash them for

the recipe. Never throw away an old banana!!

Recipe: Just About Anything Bread/Muffins

(Makes 1 Loaf or 1 dozen muffins)

1. Set aside 1/2 - 1 C Chocolate Chips or Raisins or Nuts or

Berries or "just about anything"

2. Blend and set aside:

1/2 C plain yogurt

1 tsp baking soda

3. Blend in order:

1/4 C oil

3/4 C honey

2 eggs

1 C mashed banana

1 tsp vanilla

4. Blend in another bowl:

2 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

5. Alternately blend dry and yogurt mix into liquid, fold

in chocolate chips or raisins, etc. last

6. Fill pan, bake, til knife comes out clean in center

7. Cool 10 minutes, remove from pan, if bread, lay on

side to cool.

These are with raisins, because that is
what I had on hand. :D
Yummy for a Sunday Morning!!

Also, just a side note: Slightly sweet muffins arevery good with some soups or macaroni andcheese for lunch or dinner.

Valentines Tea

During the daytime tea everything was "PINK"...even the

food was pink.

Our daytime menu consisted of.....

Cranberry Whip (pink*)

Heart Shaped Scones

Heart Shaped Cucumber Sandwiches

Strawberry Cream Cheese Sandwiches (pink*)

Broiled Salmon & Chedder on Canape (pinkish*)

Linzer Hearts (pink*)

Chocolate Truffles

Berry Tarts (pink*)

and the finale....

Black Forrest Torte (oozing with pink*)

The ladies enjoyed themselves, lingered and slowly filtered
out as we began preparations for our next
group, the couples.......who were greeted
by twilight glows in the yard as the arrived....
Hurricanes along the walkway in the snow :)........

I was sooooo EXCITED to find these roses!!

I found them at the Dollar Store!! They were a dollar

each, but that is less than half of what that normally cost.

The Couples menu was almost the same, only they

had Greens with Strawberry Poppy Seed Vinegrette and

with the sandwiches they had beef or chicken pasties

and with the finale....they had choices,

Black Forrest Torte or Apple Upside Down

Torte with Caramel Sauce or Cheesecake with

Rhubarb Sauce. :) Yum!

For the couples, I added these table toppers to give

them a more "elegant" feeling......

I was happy to be able to use something I had on hand,

my sister-in-law gave me a whole roll of this decoraters

fabric, I also plan to make curtains out of it!! :) But I

thought it went well and was fun to dress up the

tea tables for a "Candlight Tea".

And those "little bit bigger" red teacups I bought for

the gentlemen...well, they worked very well.

Happy couples!!

Happy Tea Time!!

We all had fun, none of my helpers were available, so my daughter served as usual, but my husband had to help us, especially with pouring tea!! It was funnyat first, but he was AWESOME!! It actually added a touch of class having agentleman serve tea. The ladies especially loved it.

I'm Back...........

Although, I am not sure where I have been!! LOL.

Just busy, living life and taking care of the family!!

Anyway, I am sorry for those of you who are so kind to

check in regularly that there has been nothing new since

Valentines Day.....but I will take the next few

days to catch up, I promise. :)

I loved this winter cheer in my kitchen window.......

It bloomed just in time for the Valentines tea,

gave us a touch of fresh red.....

So, where have I been, what have I been up to??

On Valentines day I did two teas....

one for the ladies at noon.

and one for couples that evening......

I am still canning.....I am trying to stock up on some meals
and have a back up if I should not be able to use my
freezer or the electricity would go out or something.......

This is, from the left, kidney beans, spaghetti sauce
and chili without beans.
I am thinking I could use one of each and have a pretty good chili.

In this time some where we had another Titus 2 meeting.
We talked some about gardens, brought healthy, easy kids snacks
to share and had "Gramma Belle" come to help with
our crocheting. She loved it so much, we are
going to her house next time. :)

We have also been keeping our daughters dog for a bit, she can
not have animals where she is renting.....our only grandchild..... :)
Oh me, then since I talked to you last....I have done another tea!!
Spring Fling, Health Nut Tea
and of course, I keep on baking.....
Sunday morning Banana Raisin Muffins.

My husband has been very slow for work but he has just enough
to keep us going mostly. And we are very thankful and
Praising God for providing work in May that will help us alot.
We are looking forward to that. In the meantime,
we keep going, keep busy, and most of all keep our
eyes on Jesus the only one who can work all this out.

I am planning on getting some recipes on here soon, as well as
more canning info. Right now, though, I am "home alone".... :),
so I think I shall go spread all my stuff out on the table and make
a plan for my garden!! Just bought seeds and want to try some
early covered with plastic, so I need to make a plan.

I will show you all these things as they happen, as well as
catch up on some of what has already happened.

Hope your still with me....are you enjoying spring weather where
you are? We will have a "spring" day, then a snow day....
that is why I am not too worried about changing my background

yet...it looks "springy" to me :) our joke is for the rest of the world

April showers bring May flowers....i

n our part of the world April (snow) showers
might bring a few May flowers. :D

Happy Valentines Day!!!!

"A friend LOVETH at ALL times".

Proverbs 17:17

Enjoy those you love today!!!! Share God's Love with

those around you and may He Bless

you with His LOVE!!

Just Dreaming and Keeping Busy......

Dreaming.......

Gathering a few seeds, reading up to see what can be planted early.

I am determined to try this year to grow some things in

a cold frame type structure......planning it out.......

More Dreaming.......

Have you ever seen these books?!?!?

I just got these three from the library. I had run across the

name awhile back when one book was part of a give

away over at "Warm Pie, Happy Home".

I have NEVER had so much enjoyment from

reading a cookbook. I am sure we are related, when

I browse through these books I just

feel a connection with this woman!! :)

Between my garden books, "The Pioneer Lady", reading

"Granny Miller's" blog and some of her links.....

I am anxious to grow more this year, trying to

supply us with our years food. I am excited,

we will see how it goes.

My husband built this new addition to our back

sunroom/dining room.....I love it, there will be doors later.

It is all from scraps off a job he did. It is right in the corner as

a built in....someday off the side of it will be

a bench that goes to the corner and around

for seating at a table. All built in...like an old

farmhouse breakfast nook. :)

Besides dreaming, I have been

Busy..........
Made some Nutty Coconut Granola.....

Bought a 25 pound bag of carrots to freeze or can....
and a large box of apples....
so....how about Apple Carrot Cake!!

Our food co-op had some end of season apples for a

very LOW price....when they came,

they were actually free!!

So, I am also drying a few for winter snacks and lunches.

And then, yes, it is time for yet another Tea!!

Valentines Tea in the waiting......

I am doing two Teas on Valentines Day!!

Ladies Victorian Pink Tea

and

Couples Candlelight Tea

in the evening. 21 ladies at noon and 7 couples that night.

In the above picture are some teacups I found for the

men, a bit bigger and a bigger handle that they

can hold on to. Can you believe they were 50 cents!!

Not my usual choice for a teacup, but they are red

and will go very well with the decos and I think

look quite elegant once on the table.

Best get busy....making Cornish Chicken Pasties today,

made the Cornish Beef Pasties yesterday. These are for the couples

since there will be men with heartier appetites.

Which, by the way, I was beyond excited when in

one of the "Pioneer Lady" cookbooks, I found

the recipe for Cornish Pasties.....and they

sounded EXACTLY like what we had in Cornwall.

I made some to try for lunch yesterday and

they are just the same.

Now, if I could just get down that

Cornish Clotted Cream recipe. There is

nothing here or a recipe for "mock" creams that

comes even close. But a friend found one on line

that looks and sounds just like the real

thing. Tried it the other day with store bought

cream and it does not work, you need unpasturized

cream for it to work properly. Alas, I shall search!!

Probably won't be back until after Tea....lot's to do!!

In the meantime, have a WONDERFUL

VALENTINES DAY!!

"Greater LOVE hath no man than this, that a

man lay down his life for his friends".

John 15:13

"We LOVE, because He first LOVED us".

I John 4:19